Update: Ten Speculations for 2008
A year ago, I brought you 10 Alternative Energy Stocks I thought were worth speculating on for 2008. I revisited these in June, when a balanced portfolio of the 10 was "up 11.4% for the year, compared to the S&P 500 which is down 4.2% and the NASDAQ Clean Edge US Index, which is down approximately 14.3%." Speculative picks tend to do better than the market as a whole in bull markets, and worse in bear markets, so given the steep drop in markets since then, I would normally expect these more speculative picks to fare worse. This is...
Ten Clean Energy Stocks For 2014: September Update and Thoughts on the Finavera Deal
Tom Konrad CFA Clean energy stocks and the market in general rebounded strongly in August. My broad market benchmark of small cap stocks, IWM, rose 4.5%, returning to positive territory up 1.7% for the year. My clean energy benchmark PBW also jumped back into the black with an 11.1% gain for the month and 10.8% for the year to date. The less volatile defensive stocks in my 10 Clean Energy Stocks for 2014 model portfolio rose 1.9%. For the year to...
AAER: Tailwinds Or Hot Air?
Charles MorandLast week, I added a little to my position in AAER (AAERF.PK). I first took a long position in AAER, the Canadian-based MW-size wind turbine maker, over two years ago. I've since pared down it significantly, both because I wanted to take some profit after a meteoric rise in share price in Q4 2007 and later because of the company's seeming inability to get orders for more than a couple of turbines at a time. Although there was, before the credit crisis hit, a severe shortage of wind turbines and wind turbine components, barriers to...
Shares in Hoku Scientific Purchased
This morning I purchased shares in Hoku Scientific, Inc. (HOKU) for my personal portfolio and an average price of $9.47. I was unable to purchase shares in this stock for the mutual fund since it is a recent IPO that came to the market in early August. Hoku is a fuel cell membrane manufacture that is based out of Hawaii. They have strategic partnerships created with Sanyo Electric and Nissan. This company also has the honor of being one of the select few companies in this sector that is actually profitable. Another amazing aspect of this company is...
What 11 Clean Energy Stocks Did on My Summer Vacation
Tom Konrad CFA August Overview I was traveling for much of the month of August, and so did not keep up with most of my stocks. But not much happened while I was gone, with the broad market and renewable energy stocks both producing small gains for the month of a little over three percent, as measured by my benchmarks, the Russell 2000 index (^RUT, 3.4%), and the most widely held clean energy ETF, the Powershares Wilderhill Clean Energy ETF (PBW, 3.2%). My Clean Energy model portfolio also had a relatively uneventful month,...
Shares of Daystar Technologies Purchased
DayStar Technologies Inc (DSTI) has been on my radar for some time and the recent operational update created some renewed interest in the company. The stock traded up nicely over the past couple of days and it is now trading back down to the near term support due to some profit taking on the news. I have been looking for a good entry point on this stock and I feel like today is the day to make the move. Technically, the downside of this stock is that it may not be able to hold its currently levels and could...
Ten Clean Energy Stocks for 2013: Summer
Tom Konrad CFA It's been a busy summer for me and my Ten Clean Energy Stocks for 2013 model portfolio. While I delayed my monthly update, the companies in the model portfolio have been very busy reporting (and restating) earnings. Overall, the portfolio was flat for July and August, with 1.2% of dividends offsetting a 1.1% decline in stock prices. This put it further behind my benchmarks, the iShares Russell 2000 Index (IWM) for the broad market, and the Powershares Wilderhill Clean Energy Index (PBW) for clean energy stocks. These each notched up 2%...
Optionetics Story on Alt E Stocks
Fredric Ruffy from Optionetics.com has written a cautionary article about investing in Alternative Energy stocks. If alternative fuel companies made lots of money, there would be no energy crisis today. Unfortunately, most of these companies don't. You will start to see more and more stories about this sector now that gas prices are starting to cross the $3 per gallon mark and head even higher. As I said in a previous article, this sector is currently in a trading market. While he cautions investors that are looking for the long term viability of this investment, he...
Atlantica Q1, Buying Hannon Armstrong
By Tom Konrad, Ph.D., CFA
Here are two more updates from last week on Patreon. Also, I realize I neglected to publish the monthly performance chart for my 10 Clean Energy Stocks model portfolio here at the start of the month, so here it is as well:
Atlantica Sustainable Infrastructure Earnings
(published May 11th)
Atlantica Sustainable Infrastructure (AY) released its first quarter earnings announcement and financial statements on May 6th.
Atlantica is one of the higher yielding Yieldcos, 5.3% at the new quarterly dividend rate of $0.43 and a $32.50 stock price. The dividend is safe, since most of Atlantica's debt is fixed rate,...
10 Clean Energy Stocks for 2011: Q2 Update
Tom Konrad CFA Some investors buy clean energy stocks because it's the right thing to do, others because we know that the diminishing availability and increasing environmental impacts of traditional fuels will eventually force society to adopt more sustainable solutions. Cartoonist Scott Adams says we're all wrong, and we should invest in companies we hate. Although Adams' column is meant to amuse, rather than as investment advice, it's funny because he touches on two very important truths about investing. Although a few investors can outperform the market over the long run, the vast majority can't,...
Ten Clean Energy Stocks For 2018: Stormy Winter
Tom Konrad Ph.D., CFA
While the broad market has been turbulent for the start of 2018, clean energy stocks have fared worse than most. The Trump administration's anti-environmental efforts had little effect on clean energy stocks in 2017 (it was a banner year for this model portfolio). So far, this year has been quite different. Last year, investors seemed unfazed by the chaos in Washington, but with the single "win" of the Republican tax give-away to corporations, investors now seem to think that Trump may indeed be able to deliver on his polluter-funded agenda.
Income-oriented stocks have also been taking a...
Ten Clean Energy Stocks For 2014: Spooky October
October was a spooky month for clean energy stocks. My benchmark Powershares Wilderhill Clean Energy Index (PBW) cringed down 2.9% like the young Supergirl who jumped when a mechanical ghost startled her at my door Haloween night. My 10 Clean Energy Stocks for 2014 model portfolio was more like Supergirl's slightly older brother, who was dressed as a SWAT team member and insisted that he wasn't scared: It rose a slim 0.9% since the last update on October 3rd. For the ten months since I launched the portfolio on December 26th, PBW...
Shares in Energy Conversion Devices Purchased
Energy Conversion Devices Inc (ENER) opened up trading this morning with a gap down to the $33 level. For the last hour it has been steadily rising up from this point. As I said in my earlier post, I have been looking for a good entry point in this company and feel that the near term support of $33 is an ideal area to place an order. The stock has been on a run for several months and it is always hard to take a new position in a stock that has already seen dramatic increases...
10 Clean Energy Stocks For 2019 – First Two Months Results
It's hard to find anything to complain about in the first two month's performance of my 10 Clean Energy Stocks for 2019 model portfolio. Unfortunately, I'm about to go on vacation and don't have time to do an update on all the earnings reports that have come out over the last two weeks. I will try to get to them individually as I have time.
Strategically, I'd like to say I'm getting very nervous about this market rally, and think that readers should be taking profits opportunistically and increasing your cash positions.
High Conviction Paired Trade – Short Tesla Motors And Buy Exide Technologies
John Petersen Short sellers are the bane of every securities lawyer who represents small public companies. In over thirty years of practice I've never advocated a short sale because I hate the idea of profiting from someone else's misery. Based on recent quarterly reports filed by my short-list of pure play energy storage companies, which includes Tesla Motors (TSLA) as an honorary member, I'm compelled to break with tradition and suggest a paired trade that involves a short sale of Tesla coupled with a long purchase of Exide Technologies (XIDE). The following table summarizes the year-to-date and...
May Dividends Rise: Ten Clean Energy Stocks For 2015
Tom Konrad CFA My Ten Clean Energy Stocks for 2015 model portfolio had a good May, despite headwinds from the strengthening dollar and declines in clean energy stocks in general. As a whole, the model portfolio rose 2.2% for the month, the same as my broad market benchmark. In general, clean energy stocks did worse, with the Powershares Wilderhill Clean Energy ETF (PBW) down 1.9% for the month. The portfolios clean energy benchmark, which blends PBW with the more income oriented Utility ETF, JXI, was flat. For the year to date, the portfolio is up 7.4%, ahead...
