Alternative Energy Stocks

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by Paula Mints Transmission and distribution is the process of getting electricity from the point of generation to the point of use. Unfortunately, upgrades, maintenance, and the need to extend the electricity infrastructure from point a to point b are often ignored. Also ignored are infrastructure designs that support a distributed grid with renewable energy sources of electricity. Transmission bottlenecks are the utterly foreseeable consequence of accelerated solar and wind deployment. As countries worldwide were announcing RE goals, holding auctions, and providing incentives, system operators everywhere were warning about the need to add new and upgrade existing infrastructure while also warning about...

There is no shortage of things to worry about as we start 2023.  The Federal Reserve is (rightly, in our opinion) worried about inflation becoming entrenched, and so is likely to continue hiking interest rates for much of 2023.  Putin looks unlikely to concede defeat in Ukraine, and his desperation may lead to escalation, potentially even of the nuclear variety.  California seems to be washing away while remaining in a drought.  China has loosened the zero-Covid policies that helped the country continue functioning during the first stage of the pandemic, while much of the rest of the world shut down. ...

By Tom Konrad Ph.D., CFA The market for reliable back-up power in homes and businesses is booming. With more people working from home and increasing news coverage of power outages due to severe weather events and public safety power shutoffs in California (not to mention domestic terrorism), power reliability seems like it’s destined for a long term boom. New Competition A decade ago, if you wanted backup power, a generator was the only option.  Now, there are an increasing number of battery-based alternatives beginning to compete with generators to provide back-up power.  While most battery-based solutions are better than gas or propane generators...

Here are the numbers.  I hope to write some market commentary to go with them soon. Disclosure: Long all the stocks in the 10 Clean Energy Stocks model portfolio.

by Tom Konrad Ph.D., CFA Why Green Buildings are Profitable Buildings Buildings are responsible for approximately a third of greenhouse gas emissions, so making buildings more efficient and switching them to renewable sources of energy is an essential part in addressing climate change. Fortunately, new technologies such as cold climate heat pumps, heat pump water heaters, induction stoves, as well as the ever falling cost of renewable electricity and improvements to insulation and building envelopes often provide opportunities to improve buildings while achieving extremely attractive investment returns from the energy and maintenance savings alone. Because of the great financial returns, building owners who...

By Tom Konrad, Ph.D., CFA With the launch of my (green dividend income focused) hedge fund early this year, I had to take a hiatus from publishing my annual list of 10 Clean Energy Stocks that I feel will do well in the coming year.  Since my duty to clients takes precedence over readers, I could not tell people about stocks I liked before buying them for the fund. As we complete the first half of the year, the fund is now largely invested, although I am still keeping some buying power back in anticipation that the overall market could easily...

By Tom Konrad, Ph.D., CFA With the launch of my (green dividend income focused) hedge fund early this year, I had to take a hiatus from publishing my annual list of 10 Clean Energy Stocks that I feel will do well in the coming year.  Since my duty to clients takes precedence over readers, I could not tell people about stocks I liked before buying them for the fund. As we complete the first half of the year, the fund is now largely invested, although I am still keeping some buying power back in anticipation that the overall market could easily...

By Tom Konrad, Ph.D., CFA Because of rising fertilizer prices, farmers are planting more soybeans than corn.  Soybeans are a legume, meaning that they can fix their own nitrogen in the soil, meaning that they need less nitrogen fertilizer, the price of which is spiking due to rising natural gas prices.  Corn, in contrast, needs more nitrogen than most other crops.   High gas prices are rising because of Putin’s war on Ukraine, which is also preventing Ukrainian farmers from planting this year’s wheat crop, while sanctions are likely to disrupt wheat supplies from Russia as well. Corn and (to a lesser extent,...

By Tom Konrad, Ph.D., CFA Horrific, Tragic, Unprovoked, Heartbreaking.  There is no lack of adjectives to describe Putin’s war on Ukraine.  And while there probably can’t be too much coverage of the tragedies and war crimes, many others can write those far better than I. As an economic and stock market commentator, the adjective I will focus on is world-changing.  There is no doubt that the first land war in Europe since World War II, piled on top of a global pandemic, is already reshaping the economy in dramatic ways. Some of those changes, like Europe switching away from Russian gas and...

Tom Konrad, Ph.D., CFA I don’t spend much time reading investment company ESG reports, but a friend asked me to take a look at a copy of the TIAA’s 2021 Climate Report.  I was deeply unimpressed.  Here are a few things in the report that triggered my greenwashing radar: TIAA wants to work with companies to improve their behavior.  They call this company engagement.  “e do not expect to account for the majority of our emissions reduction — we are primarily focused on company engagements” page 9. Much of TIAA’s emphasis is on reducing emissions from their own operations,...

By Tom Konrad, Ph.D., CFA The Ten Clean Energy Stocks for 2021 model portfolio had a decent year.  With a 13.2% total return, it handily beat its clean energy income stock benchmark, the Global X Renewable Energy Producers ETF (RNRG, formerly YLCO), which fell 12.1%.  It did not, however, compare as well to the wider universe of income stocks, which had an excellent year, with its benchmark SDY up 27.2%. The poor performance of clean energy stocks in 2021 was largely due to the bursting of a clean energy bubble which formed in the second half of 2020 fueled by speculation...

By Tom Konrad, Ph.D., CFA Monthly Performance Returns for the Ten Clean Energy Stocks for 2021 model portfolio are shown below.  It was a good month for clean energy stocks as well as the broader stock market, with the portfolio up 4% for a 20% total return through the end of October.  Its clean energy benchmark (RNRG) was up more (8%) but is still down 6% for the year.  Its broad market benchmark (SDY) rose 5% and has caught up with the model portfolio at a 20% return year to date. Earnings Third quarter earnings season has started.  Below are some notes I’ve...

by Roel Aerts Greystone Logistics (GLGI) designs and manufactures plastic pallets for the logistics industry. They use recycled plastic which would otherwise be destined for landfill. They grind and pelletize the plastic in house. Injection molding and proprietary resin blend is used to manufacture the pallets. Greystone is headquartered in Oklahoma and has its manufacturing plant in Iowa. Recent results and Financials · The company had invested heavily in manufacturing equipment several years ago, that loaded them with quite some debt. Over the last years they worked on a massive reduction in debt. In 2 years they reduced it from 21.6M$ to 9.4M$...

The movement to divest pension funds, universities and colleges, faith organizations and foundations from fossil fuels, and invest in climate solutions, has reached new heights in the fight for meaningful, ambitious climate action.  In the lead up to COP26, join a global coalition of organizations to announce a historic slate of groundbreaking divest/invest commitments, unveil a new “state of the D/I movement” report, including an update of assets under management committed to divestment, and celebrate major victories.  Join us on Tuesday October 26th at 11am EST for this monumental event.  RSVP Here to join the Invest-Divest 2021: A Decade of Progress...

By Tom Konrad, Ph.D., CFA The risks of playing politics The American news media often tries too hard to be “balanced” when talking about politics. Depending on which news sources you rely on, you may be hearing that “congress” is having trouble passing bills to fund the government and raise the debt ceiling. More partisan sources will be blaming it on the Democrats or the Republicans, depending on their political bent. I generally consider myself an independent who cares deeply about the environment and competent government. Since the rise of Donald Trump, the Republicans have shifted from being the party of big business...