For years, it's been called the fuel of the future. But I wasn't expecting THIS vision just yet.

Hydrogen fuel cell technology was first embraced a few years back by carmakers eager to go green. The big obstacle? Hydrogen at the pump wasn't available, and was expensive to produce.

But one inventor hope to change that.

Hubbing through Hong Kong, Taras Wankewycz showed me a table-top hydrogen power station that can extract hydrogen from water to be used in fuel cells.

The Hydrofill uses electricity from the outlet (as well as solar panels if you're particularly green), and produces hydrogen that can then be stored in refillable cartridges. The system can pump out 2.5 watts of power.

(And brushing Hindenburg nightmares aside, the company insists the technology is safe.)

No word yet on the cost. Online chatter puts it at about $200 for the whole kit, but Taras himself is mum on giving an exact number because he's still in talks with retailers. He expects to have it on shelves at the end of the year.

Taras' company, Singapore-based Horizon Fuel Cell Technologies, is also pushing out a range of products which can use the cartridges to power up smartphones, lights and other devices including a zippy RC hydrogen fuel cell car.

Taras is confident his invention is the very first step to a so-called hydrogen economy where hydrogen displaces oil as our chief source of energy.

One interesting upside - hydrogen is a compact and relatively light source of power... which is why the US military has been developing hydrogen-powered drones.

Of course, the obvious big upside of hydrogen is that it's clean. Hydrogen fuel cells produce only water vapor as a by-product. But power is still needed to produce the stuff.

My own private... wind turbine? (Hat tip to Constance Cheng, my Eco Solutions producer.)

New York - The latest jobs report provided more confusion than clarity about just where the U.S. economy is headed.

Twenty thousand more Americans found themselves out of a job in January. Over the course of this recession 8.4 million jobs have been lost - much more than originally thought. And it's a gigantic hole to climb out of.

But buried in the report were some rays of light. While overall payrolls dropped again, the number of temporary workers jumped and hours worked increased; two things that typically happen right before companies start hiring permanent workers.

Another reason for hope - the unemployment rate dropped to 9.7 percent.

Sure, some of that may be due to the fact that discouraged workers, people who have been out of work for an extended period of time, simply stopped looking.

But some economists say the household survey, which is used to calculate the unemployment rate, is better at picking up small business hiring and may be better at signaling a turn in the economy.

That is encouraging. But I can't help but worry that it is going to take a long time for the consumer to feel confident about jobs.

The severity and speed with which companies slashed workers in this last recession was a clear indication that employees are viewed as little more than a commodity.

I heard someone call it the evolution from just-in-time inventories to just-in-time firing.

Companies may be start to hire, but workers know they won’t think twice about letting them go the minute business dips or profit margins come under pressure.

This isn't completely new. Anyone who has worked in construction knows that when the project is completed it is time to look for work again.

But the approach seems to be spreading to the white collar world. Job security, to the extent it existed at all, seems to be dead.

And the unemployment rate will have to get a whole lot lower before managers worry that staff isn’t easily replaceable.

That worry is bound to weigh on consumers and impact their spending decisions. I guess it is what people mean when they talk about the new normal.

Each year, the world’s wealthiest and most powerful gather at the World Economic Forum to debate opportunities in the region. SOURCE: AFP/GETTY IMAGES

It was one of those moments where I needed to run a reality check of my own as I was preparing for our live coverage from Davos and an interview with Bob Diamond of Barclays Bank.

Diamond appeared on the first panel at this year’s World Economic Forum, ringing alarm bells about the impact of the proposed banking reforms by the Obama administration on his sector and the overall economy.

That message circled the globe quickly, and 24 hours later Diamond came to our live-shot location to give us his analysis after the State of the Union address.

President Obama was preceded on the subject the night before in the Swiss Alpine Resort by his French counterpart Nicolas Sarkozy - who positioned himself off of the bar charts to the left.

In case you missed the subtleties, this is a high-stakes showdown within the G20. While Sarkozy is flanking the left; Diamond and his core set of commercial bankers are on the right.

I posed a question on the correct solution to this challenge and received the most balanced response from Stanley Fischer, who has spent time in all three camps as Deputy Managing Director of the IMF, as a private banker for Citigroup and now as the Central Bank Governor of Israel.

Fischer believes that some intervention is needed and the line between investment banking and general consumer banking often gets blurred within the world’s largest institutions.

While the world’s wealthiest and most powerful debated the merits of greater regulation, I was watching the conferences on Yemen and Afghanistan from a distance. The debate in Davos: proprietary trading and bonuses. The debate in London: halting the rapid decline of two potential failed states.

Prior to this deep and prolonged economic crisis - made worse by loose lending and trading by Western institutions - the wealthier Gulf states started to invest their surpluses closer to home, with a particular eye on Egypt, Jordan, Tunisia and Morocco. But vast swaths of the Middle East and North Africa - part of the Muslim community - are being left behind.

In Yemen, 43 percent of the population lives on less than $2 a day according to the Organization of the Islamic Conference.

“You can understand everyone below the age of 25 is revolutionary,” said Abu Bakr al-Qirbi, Yemen’s foreign minister, “He becomes more so when he does not have a chance for a job.”

The London conference on Yemen was convened to halt the country’s rapid decline into a failed state. As a base for an al Qaeda cell and with conflict on the border with Saudi Arabia, the government is fighting what appears to be a losing battle.

Policy makers and business leaders from the West and the East are mindful of the wealth gap in the Muslim world but have been slow to take action. At the London Conference, Yemeni officials say only seven percent of the $5 billion pledged to Yemen five years ago has been delivered.

In total, there are 1.5 billion Muslims, a big potential market, but 39 percent live below the poverty line, according to the World Islamic Economic Forum.

The chairman of the World Islamic Economic Forum, Musa Hitam was in London to address the issue of economic empowerment.

"One and a half billion Muslims to begin with. Wow! Big figure. But that figure in terms of value in terms of value and potential and economic terms is relatively much smaller than a western market say of 200 million," he said.

That is today’s reality. Per capital income in Yemen is roughly $2,500 a year according to the IMF. Next door, in Saudi Arabia it is ten times more. It is a similar story in Sudan, which is also home to vast natural resources.

Successful Muslim economic models, with reform programs well underway certainly exist. Southeast Asia’s largest market Indonesia is a member of the G20 - along with Turkey and Saudi Arabia.

Today Muslim countries represent one fifth of the world’s population but only six percent of global output. It is a figure leaders shy away from discussing, but know all too well needs to be addressed.

Here in Hong Kong, investors can "feng shui" their finances.

A girl dresses as the Chinese zodiac figure of the tiger.

The Year of the Tiger starts February 14th. But the Feng Shui Index, produced by Asian investment bank CLSA, marks the start of the year today - February 4 - as the first day of spring according to the solar calendar.

Solar/lunar issues aside, it's gonna be a bumpy year.

Tiger years are usually marked by dramatic changes. According to the guide, "Markets (in Hong Kong) will be volatile with a surge in the first month followed by a decline that turns upwards in June, dips and then swings up again in September."

The Feng Shui Index identifies the year's big winners by analyzing the elemental sign that they're aligned with. For example, companies associated with metal elements will have a great run, and the index predicts that gold will break $2000 an ounce this year.

But water-related industries - like shipping, logistics and transport - could see their positions weaken.

The popular index made its debut in 1992. Despite its tongue-in-cheek tone, some of their past forecasts have been on the money - like gold breaking $1,000 an ounce and the resurgence of the China property markets during the last year, the Year of the Ox.

In terms of the Zodiac, a great year is in store for those born in the year of the Dragon, Sheep and especially the Horse. A relatively good year is ahead for Rats, Cows, Rabbits, Roosters, Dogs and Pigs. But for the Tigers, Snakes and Monkeys out there - it will be a rough one.

I'm a Tiger.

Thankfully, there are feng shui measures to bring a bit of good luck in a bad year like the wearing of red underwear (I'm not making this up).

That to be continued... in another post.

"Warrior" is a 75 year old shoe brand from Shanghai. Its original mission? To outfit China's athletes with a simple and lightweight canvas trainer.

Shanghai’s Warrior shoes is trying to beat Nike and Adidas on its home court.

Known in Chinese as "Hui Li" (回力), the brand was a footwear favorite in China from the 60s to the early 80s. Today, not so much. Most Chinese youth prefer to be seen in Nike or Adidas.

But these days, "Warrior" is out to score a new audience in the West by positioning itself as a sort of hipster trainer with a story to tell.

And let it be known, these are award-winning shoes. According to its China-based website, "Warrior" shoes have "successively won the State Silver Medal for Quality, the prize of the Chemical industry Ministry for high-quality products and the prize of Shanghai for products."

Booyah. Or, as they say in China, 加油!

Tokyo, Japan - It’s been a rough start to 2010 for some of Japan’s top executives.

Toyota Motor Corp’s management has been in damage control mode, out to protect its now-tarnished brand. The global recall for its sticking accelerator pedals has meant hundreds of millions in lost revenue but more importantly, battered the automaker’s reputation for reliability and quality.

But Toyota is just the latest Japanese corporate icon to lose its way.

A few weeks ago, Japan Airlines executives were feeling similarly uncomfortable, though for a different reason. Japan Airlines filed for bankruptcy, one of Japan’s largest ever corporate failures. The airline collapsed under a mountain of debt, accumulated by ballooning pensions and unprofitable flights.

They’re two very different companies struggling with two very different problems. But analysts agree what they do share is getting too big, too quick, and losing focus of the basics.

Tokyo based financial advisor Timothy Kirkwood says it’s a path that Japanese companies have taken as they’ve expanded globally. In Toyota’s case, it was so focused on cost cutting while becoming the world’s #1 automaker that it lost focus, like making sure the accelerator wouldn’t stick.

“There has been some outward looking management that’s enjoyed the global consumer spending boom in the good times. But they were overexposed to the downside. That’s what’s causing the problems in Japan right now,” said Kirkwood.

But he follows that up with the strong belief that if there will be a company that can recover from being overexposed, it’s Toyota, a well-run company with years of a proven brand.

It will only happen, though, as long as Toyota’s boardroom takes a hard look at itself and gets back to basics.

It’s perhaps the strangest opening of an academic paper on investing – a fall 2008 article cowritten by a Yale University finance professor and editor of the “Journal of Portfolio Management” that begins by recounting a scene from HBO mob drama, “The Sopranos.”

Tony Soprano, head of a New Jersey mob family, turns to his lieutenant Silvio Dante and says, “Sil, break it down for ‘em. What two businesses have traditionally been recession-proof since time immemorial?”

“Certain aspects of show business and Our Thing,” Sil replies.

As the authors of the paper, “Sin Stock Returns,” wrote: “Viewers of this HBO series knew what Sil meant. ‘Certain aspects of show business’ meant the adult entertainment that was often seen at Tony’s strip establishment, the Bada Bing Club, and ‘Our Thing’ meant organized crime, which involves many activities that exploit the vices of frail humanity.”

The researchers at Yale University and Stetson University put Tony Soprano's thesis to the test – not by examining organized crime, but by examining the historical returns of businesses that are considered morally suspect: alcohol, tobacco, defense, biotech, gaming and adult services. They examined 267 companies in 21 international markets from 1970 to 2007.

What did they find? The average annual return of the companies was about 19 percent, while the average stock market produced a return of just under 8 percent.

Gaming industries had the best return of 33.5 percent a year, followed closely by defense (33 percent), biotech and tobacco (both 22 percent), adult services (18 percent) and alcohol (about 13.5 percent).

No industry is full proof. For example, in the most recent downturn, the Vice Fund – a mutual fund which buys stocks in alcohol, tobacco, aerospace defense and gaming industries – fell 42 percent in 2008, mainly out of fears casinos were expanding too fast and taking on too much debt.

Still, if you have the moral stomach for this sort of investment, ‘This thing of ours’ might be the thing for you.

Davos, Switzerland (CNN) – A great deal can unfold in the span of 24 hours in Davos. That certainly was the case on the issue of banking regulation. The annual meeting of the forum opened with a panel of financiers pulling out their crystal balls for 2010/11. One in particular stood out, Bob Diamond, CEO of Barclays, who takes issue on the effort by the Obama administration to separate out or govern proprietary trading by banks who collect deposits. He says it will stifle innovation and the economic recovery.

French President Nicholas Sarkozy was on the other end of the financial spectrum and sounded like he wants to ban market making forces altogether. Again President Obama made it a central issue of his State of the Union address, right along job creation. The news cycle was rounded out when Diamond came on CNN today sounding almost like a statesman when he noted, “creating an environment conducive to economic growth and job creation is critical.”

See CNN's full Davos coverage

One needs to read between the lines here. These power players are marking their turf. Diamond did not borrow money from G-7 governments to get bailed out during the crisis – he took investments from Middle East sovereign funds in Qatar and Abu Dhabi instead. As a result, he feels freer to speak his mind about what banking might be faced with after the high profile bonuses being paid out in the shadow of the worst downturn in 60 years.

As one high profile banker said to me before we took the stage on a plenary session, don’t forget these ideas have to become law. The banking sector is already marshalling forces against such a move – as the multi-trillion dollar showdown gets underway.

Davos, Switzerland (CNN) – They often say flight time is quality thinking time. That was my experience on the transfer from Riyadh to Davos last night. I had the pleasure of sharing that flight on the invitation James Turley the Global Chief Executive of Ernst & Young.

It was Turley’s first Global Competitiveness Forum in Riyadh and mine as well so we shared insights into the effort by King Abdullah to transform the Kingdom’s economy and its people. It was not his first visit to the Saudi capital. Like many smart, leading global chief executive, he spotted the opportunity early.

Since we had more than five hours together in our transfer from “Sand to Snow”, I took the opportunity to get his insights on leadership. Turley has spent 33 years at E&Y, the last decade as CEO for 145,000 people all over the globe.

See CNN's full Davos coverage

He is your classic Davos Man, on the road and in the air 75 percent of the time, spending as he noted more of his energies in the East than in the West because that is where the growth is. I asked how he avoids being caught in the CEO bubble, where the boss is insulated from information. The answer was quite simple, by traveling at 40,000 feet and getting insight from clients, government leaders and his employees.

Sometimes in this BlackBerry, all wireless-world, I wonder if values are lost along the way since leaders like Turley are moving so fast. But that concern was quickly wiped away. When asked what his most important leadership traits are, he listed three that drive his day-to-day life: Integrity based on a solid foundation, mutual respect with his employees and listening. He called the latter “vital” since one has to be open to ideas from the young talent rising through the organizations.

For Turley (and me) the quality time is over, as Davos just begins to rev up.

All eyes will be on Apple on Wednesday. Most will be watching to see just what the company unveils at San Francisco. Others will watch for signs of a growing rivalry between Apple and Google.

At a glance, they don’t make obvious competitors. Apple doesn’t have a search engine and Google doesn’t make computers. But the two companies are slowly encroaching on each others’ turf, from phones to web browsers.

It wasn’t always this way. The two used to be close allies. The proof is in the hands of millions of people around the world: The iPhone. The default search engine on the iPhone is Google. The built-in Maps application runs on Google Maps. And every iPhone has a dedicated application to access Google’s YouTube. Google CEO Eric Schmidt appeared at the iPhone’s unveiling in January 2007 to tout these features and the close ties between the two companies.

(Just before launch, Schmidt was seen in this video proudly showing off the iPhone he received for sitting on Apple’s board of directors.)

By November, the first real signs of competition appeared. Google announced that it was partnering with mobile manufacturers like Motorola and HTC to build Android, an open software platform for mobile phones. It culminated in the launch of the Nexus One: An Android phone from Google itself, sold on Google.com.

It’s not just in phones that Google is challenging Apple. Google’s Chrome web browser passed Apple’s Safari in market share at the end of 2009 according to Net Applications. And while an open-source, lightweight operating system designed for netbooks doesn’t sound like a competitor to Apple’s Mac OS X, Chrome OS was specifically cited as a reason for Schmidt’s resignation from Apple’s board by CEO Steve Jobs.

“Unfortunately, as Google enters more of Apple’s core businesses, with Android and now Chrome OS, Eric’s effectiveness as an Apple Board member will be significantly diminished, since he will have to recuse himself from even larger portions of our meetings due to potential conflicts of interest,” said Jobs.

While Google’s moves are fairly public, Apple’s moves against Google are cloaked in the company’s trademark veil of secrecy. Reports across the web say that Apple bought a mapping company called Placebase in 2009. The source? Tweets and the apparent relocation of much of Placebase’s staff to Apple — according to their profiles on LinkedIn. Good luck trying to verify that: Neither Apple nor Placebase has said anything, and Placebase.com was effectively taken offline

Perhaps Apple’s boldest move came earlier this month when it bought Quattro Wireless, which specialises in delivering ads over mobile phones. Advertising is where Google makes its money. And Apple’s acquisition comes two months after Google bought a mobile ad company of its own, AdMob.

Why the sudden interest in mobile ads? Google’s latest acquisition points the finger, ironically, at Apple. On the company blog, AdMob founder Omar Hamoui said that through the iPhone, Apple “showed all of us the way forward and their efforts have led to a landslide of rapid improvements in our space.”

Still, the most surprising sign of the rift came just last week. BusinessWeek reported that Apple was in talks to replace Google as the default search engine of the iPhone... with Microsoft’s Bing.