Is the Tesla home battery pack worth the money? + MORE May 8th

(The Associated Press)
CALGARY – When Tesla Motors announced its home-powering battery was going to be available in Canada next year, it did so with much hype, promising a convenient way of storing energy for overnight or backup use.
But beyond the fanfare, questions remain whether it is worthwhile for Canadians to purchase the sleekly packaged Powerwall batteries.
“In the short term, for the consumer walking into Home Depot tomorrow, it probably doesn’t have a lot of impact,” says Ian Rowlands, a renewable energy expert at the University of Waterloo.
That’s because in Ontario, where almost all solar power in Canada is produced, homeowners with solar panels can sell excess power back to the grid at a premium. That cuts out the incentive to spend money to store power.
The batteries could be useful in areas where electricity costs change at different times of the day, with consumers charging the battery at times of low cost and using the battery power at peak times. But the price differences aren’t big enough in Canada for that to make financial sense, says Rowlands…

(Peter Dazeley/Getty Images)
Not many investors are enthusiastic about bonds these days, and it’s hard to blame them. While rates have ticked up in the last few weeks, they’re still so low that even some sophisticated investors have abandoned them altogether. I’ve spoken to some investors who are ready to follow that advice, though they are not prepared to ride the roller coaster of a 100%-equity portfolio. So they’re asking whether they should just swap their bonds for cash.
At first blush, this looks like a good strategy. As of May 6, the yield tomaturity on short-term bond ETFs is barely 1% after fees. Even broad-based bond ETFs (which have average maturities of about 10 years) have a yield to maturity well below 2% after accounting for management fees. Meanwhile, most investment savings accounts (ISAs) are paying at least 1%, and if you hunt around you can find high-interest savings products with much better yields: Equitable Bank offers one at 1.45%, while People’s Choice has a savings account at 1…

Will Oliver/EPA
So it turns out Britain isn’t the tottering, ungovernable mess many predicted it would become after yesterday’s election after all. At least not quite. Trouble may lurk ahead. But more on that in a moment.
First, let’s take stock. David Cameron’s Conservative Party defied expectations and exit polls to win a majority government. There will be no hung parliament, no unwieldy coalition, no threat of another election in a year’s time. Cameron has a clear mandate from a plurality of British voters.
Labour Party Leader Ed Miliband took responsibility for his party’s poor performance and stepped down. Miliband would be a tragic figure if his character traits were grander, his fatal flaw something nobler than a sort of mushy mediocrity that makes people look elsewhere. King Lear had blinding pride. Gordon Brown was a dark and brooding obsessive. Miliband is awkward. The only time he really looked like a leader was when he announced his resignation.
A lot of Labour supporters will now be wondering whether Ed’s brother David, whom they rejected in a leadership contest five years ago, will come home from New York and save them…

Abundant money goes to financial engineering, rather than investment. And Sen. Elizabeth Warren wants to blame it all on business.

NEW YORK, N.Y. – The following is a list of initial public offerings planned for the coming week. Sources include IPO ETF manager Renaissance Capital, and SEC filings.
Week of May 11:
Arcadia Biosciences Inc. – Davis, Calif., 7.15 million shares, priced $13 to $15, managed by Credit Suisse, J.P. Morgan, and Piper Jaffray. Proposed Nasdaq symbol RKDA. Business: Developing a portfolio of crop productivity traits for genetically modified seeds.
EQT GP Holdings LP – Pittsburgh, 20 million common units, priced $21 to $24, managed by Barclays, Goldman Sachs, and BofA Merrill Lynch. Proposed NYSE symbol EQGP. Business: Owns GP and LP interests in midstream energy MLP EQT Midstream Partners.
Fenix Parts Inc. – Westchester, Ill., 11 million shares, priced $9 to $11, managed by BMO Capital Markets, and Stifel. Proposed Nasdaq symbol FENX. Business: Recently formed rollup of eight recycled auto parts providers.
Fortress Transportation & Infrastructure Investors LLC – New York, 20 million shares, priced $19 to $21, managed by multiple bookrunners…