Assuming that the recent BLP-Rowan report is fairly accurate, and assuming that it does represent a marketable breakthrough in alternative energy - then among the many implications for vorticians are: is there a way to 'play' this by investing on the stock market (assuming you were not wiped out by recent circumstances) ?
BLP itself is private, but is that the end of story? No, in fact the best play of all may be WR Grace. That is for several reasons; and one of them is that there could be a LENR application for a competing system which also depends on Raney Nickel. After operating for more than seven years in Chapter 11 (due to asbestos lawsuits, I believe), chemical giant W.R. Grace & Co. is getting close to emerging from bankruptcy -- and the stock could be interesting on its own - even if the company did not make Raney nickel and own the trademark. Although the catalyst has been around for over 80 years, Raney is a registered trademark of Grace and there are trade secrets involved. The more generic product which can be called "sponge-metal nickel catalyst" may be used as a substitute which may have physical and chemical properties similar to those of Raney nickel; and will possibly work as well, but it could take other producers years to get into the market. Usually the first on the scene is the wisest choice, especially if there are trade secrets. CAVEAT: I am perhaps the worst stock picker of all time; and you would probably do better throwing darts at a copy of an old issue of WSJ. Jones
