Have been adding funds back to equities

Over the past few weeks I've been a net buyer of stocks. I don't trust the feeling that the market wants to go up, but this just feels different than the long grind of most of last year. I had raised my portfolio to a fairly high level of cash - well over 50% - so it'll take me a while to move back in, but here's some of my main stock holdings as of the end of today

NEU Newmarket corp - petroleum additives
TEO Telecom Argentina - Telecom
LHCG LHC Group - home health
CLF Cliff's Natural Resources - iron ore / coal
CHL China Mobile - wireless
EBAY Ebay - retail / paypal
ASML ASML Holding - semiconductor equip
DAR Darling Int'l - grease recycling / biofuel
HITK HiTech Pharmacal - generic drugs
BBL BHP Billiton - oil / gas / mining

along with some smaller positions in much more speculative
GTAT GT Advanced Tech - solar
WFR MEMC Electronics - solar
ESIC Easylink services
ARCI Appliance Recylcing

still a lot of cash on the sidelines, but less than 2 months ago.

Good article on Apple iPhone manufacturing and supply chain

Here's a really good article detailing several key drivers pushing electronics manufacturing to Asia - with the specific example of Apple's iPhone used to illustrate. Here's the article: Apple, America and a Squeezed Middle Class
quote:

For Mr. Cook, the focus on Asia “came down to two things,” said one former high-ranking Apple executive. Factories in Asia “can scale up and down faster” and “Asian supply chains have surpassed what’s in the U.S.” The result is that “we can’t compete at this point,” the executive said.

Restatement of Existing Home Sales by NAR

The National Association of Realtors just "restated" their existing homes sales from 2007 to present. While it was in their interest to keep the boom going and make the market seem better than it is, this should be enough of a datapoint to make you never trust their announcements regarding home sales going forward.

Here's the chart showing the initially reported homesales over the past 4 yrs. vs. restated figures. The decline was much worse and more rapid than initially reported.

Solar "gardens"

New models for solar - solar gardens
from Forbes. Pretty cool idea.

"The first such project in the country is currently underway in Colorado Springs, Colo., where an old landfill is being given a second life as a community solar garden. Three-and-a-half acres of the 40-acre site will soon host 500 kw of solar panels, all owned by local residents who will be seeing an average 10-percent reduction on their energy bills (the panels cost $550, with a minimum purchase of two panels)."