Siemens Aiming At 30% Of World Wind Turbine Market - Reuters

[hatrack]

COPENHAGEN - "Denmark's Vestas may not be able to call itself the world's biggest wind turbine maker for long after German engineering giant Siemens said it was eyeing a market share of more than 30 percent.

"We would very much like to reach a market share of around 30 percent," Siemens divisional director Martin Jorgensen told Reuters at a wind industry conference in Copenhagen on Thursday. The German company entered the wind market in October when it bought Danish wind turbine maker Bonus. Through its ownership of Bonus, Siemens currently only has a modest 6.6 percent market share, but has made it clear it will not make do with that level for long.

"We have entered into this arena in order to become either number one or number two," Jorgensen said. "We have a growth plan that involves doubling our revenues before too long."

At the end of 2003, Vestas commanded a 32 percent share and has said it plans to raise that to 35 percent."

EDIT

http://www.planetark.com/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/28417/story.htm

[Stephanie]

1. How do I invest in this?

I will buy stock - I have never bought stock but I will buy this.

[amazona]

2. is it traded in the U.S. market?

I tried to do a quick search on Yahoo finance but didn't come up with any firms named Siemens that were traded in the U.S. markets. THis could be because my search skills are less than good, or because the company is private and not open to public investment, or because it is not traded in the U.S. market. I came up with 7 companies named Siemens traded on the world market, mostly in Frankfurt and Stuttgart, and likely related to each other, but I didn't have time to go further. Because the dollar is so weak against the euro, I don't think it is a good time to buy an EU stock. You may have missed the boat on this one.

In general, trading stock is very easy and has become relatively cheap since the late 1980s because of deep discount online trading. Sign up for a reputable online brokerage, put some money in the account, and you are pretty much good to go. I use tdwaterhouse but if you have less than $25K to invest, they have some small account fees, so you may want to look elsewhere.

I don't believe that a new technology stock is a good investment for a new investor who can't afford to lose her money. There is very high risk and very high volatility in this area. But who knows, even a reputable "widows and orphans" stock can be a bad deal these days. Just look at T (ATT&T) or F (Ford) since the late 1990s.

Still, with the inherent risk of a new and mostly unproven technology, and the currency issues of trying to get into a German stock with our soft dollar...I'm not seeing where you could win on this investment.

I am not an expert, and anyone who can poke holes in my perhaps somewhat ill-collected thoughts is welcome to do so. I'm always eager to learn.

[hatrack]

3. You may be able to get ADRs for Siemens if they're not NYSE listed

ADR = American Depository Receipt. It's not the actual shares of stock, but it's a note held by a broker/bank showing that they hold shares of a foreign company in your name.

Check The Moneypaper. If you do DRIPs, they let you buy a relatively small number of shares from a company for a nominal commission, and from then on out you can deal directly with the company.

[Stephanie]

4. Thanks all

There's no excuse for my ignorance on the whole investment world. I want to invest based on my psychic prediction that this will be huge - probably not what you learn in business school. I am going to look into your suggestions. Thanks!

[jpak]

5. Siemens is also a major manufacturer of photovoltaic panels

Looks like there's gold in them thar sunbeams...

:)

[Dr Batsen D Belfry]

6. Meanwhile they built

a state-of-the-art fuel cell manufacturing facility in Pittsburgh that has been sitting empty for three years.

DBDB