But it has been predicted that alternative energy is the upcoming bubble, so investors should be cautious. I don’t have the source with me right now, but the theory is that a new bubble forms as the old one collapes. The housing bubble is collapsing, so I guess the gods of the economy would welcome this new one.

Not that dot coms, housing or alternative energy are bad things. It’s just that to have winners in the investment world you need losers. Bubbles generate large numbers of losers among foolish investors so that others may prosper. Especially, for example, Wall Street folks who reaped huge year-end bonuses even as housing and mortgage bubbles burst around the less elite.

Of course, Hawaii could gain in the process. On the personal level, though, “Don’t take any wooden nickels” or invest in any wooden windfarms.