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« October 2005 | Main | December 2005 »
Ormat Technologies (ORA) said it has agreed to buy a 50.8 percent partnership interest in Orzunil I de Electricidad Ltd., owner of a geothermal plant in Guatemala, for $14.8 million. The Zunil project includes one power plant with a capacity of 24 megawatts that is expected to generate $12.5 million in revenue next year and boost Ormat's net income by $1.9 million in 2006. [ more ]
Distributed Energy Systems Corp (DESC) announced that they received its third award from the University of Nevada Las Vegas Research Foundation (UNLVRF) to continue its work on hydrogen fueling stations for automobiles and other motor vehicles.
The fueling station's design is expected to incorporate a high-capacity electrolyzer, capable of generating up to 12 kilograms per day of hydrogen -- enough to fuel at least two fuel cell light duty vehicles. [ more ]
Evergreen Solar Inc (ESLR) shares were down yesterday since an SG Cowen analyst said that the Evergreen partnership deal announced this week will reduce the expected profits for 2006. The analyst diluted his estimates for per-share losses in 2006 by a penny to 18 cents and reduced his 2007 earnings estimate by 6 cents to 19 cents per share. Many of the analysts still think this partnership deal is very positive for the company, they just expect that it will postpone profitability out another year.
The stock was down over 5% yesterday and it is trading lower this morning in pre-market trading. I have been looking for a good entry point to start a position in this stock and it looks I will be getting there soon. This is where patience is key when your trying to get a good entry price on a stock.
The stock has been a strong mover up for the last couple of months and when you look at the RSI indicator, it is still showing a slight over-bought condition. I fully expect that this downward pressure will take the stock down to the $10 level soon and roughly a 50 on the RSI. I would be a buyer of an initial position in the stock at this level. A move down to the firm support at $8 is also possible and the RSI would definitely be in an oversold position. I would load up on this stock if it got to these levels.
PowerShares (the maintainers of the Alternative Energy ETF) are coming out with a new exchange traded fund that focuses on a Water Resources Portfolio.
The PowerShares Water Resources Portfolio is based on the Palisades Water Indexâ„¢. The objective of the Palisades Water Indexâ„¢ is to capture the substantial economic value of water that will inevitably be unlocked as the global population adjusts to the linkage between human health, economic development and resource sustainability. [ more ]
This new ETF is set to launch sometime in December and is expected to trade with the ticker symbol PHO. While this EFT is not related to Alternative Energy, I wanted to point it out that it many be an excellent vehicle to own for the future. Also water stocks typically fit into most Socially Responsible Investment portfolios.
I will most likely be adding this ETF to one of my other personal portfolios when the fund starts to trade. I have been very happy with the entire PowerShares ETF product line and have shares in the Dividend Achievers ETF, China ETF, Zacks Microcap ETF, Nanotech ETF, and Alternative Energy ETF in my personal portfolios.
A couple of weeks back the Treehugger.com website had a link to a company called Green Field paper that makes recycled holiday cards. [ more ]
Well I needed to purchase some cards to send out to clients. So I decided to give them a try.
I went to the website and was amazed at all the different choices in recycled card stock. But the cards that suprised me the most are the Grow-a-Note cards. These cards are made from handmade paper and are embedded with a variety of wildflower seeds. So the receipient of the card can just plant it in the soil and wild flowers will bloom the following spring. I thought that was a very novel idea.
When I ordered, I had a slight problem with my order and I had the opportunity to talk with the owner Rick Smith via e-mail. He was very attentive and the company and service has been great. The cards arrived in the mail today and the quality of the printing is outstanding and compares to something you would see in your local Hallmark. This is an unpaid endorsement and I just wanted to spread the word about the company. Please consider Greenfield Paper for your holiday card needs (or anytime of the year for your paper needs.)
P.S. If your one of my clients, you will be receiving this card in the mail soon :-)
Hoku Scientific, Inc. (HOKU) maintained an "outperform" rating and $12 target price from a Piper Jaffray analyst.
"Hoku will continue to record substantial revenue growth driven by accelerated technology development in preparation for commercial markets," Piper analyst Jesse W. Pichel wrote in a recent report. [ more ]
I'm still waiting for Marketocracy to add this ticker to the stock universe so I can buy it for the mutual fund. If I had additional money in my personal portfolio, I would purchase more at this level.
Ballard Power (BLDP) Chairman and Interim President and Chief Executive Officer, John Sheridan, was in Beijing, China today, along with representatives from Ballard's Alliance partner, DaimlerChrysler, and Chinese industry and government officials, to attend the launch of three Mercedes-Benz Citaro fuel cell buses. The buses, powered with Ballard® heavy-duty fuel cell engines, will enter revenue service in the city as part of a two-year demonstration project being led by the Chinese Ministry of Science & Technology, with support from both the Global Environment Facility and the United Nations Development Program. [ more ]
This is the latest in a series of fuel-cell powered bus demonstrations that Ballard has been performing all over the globe. They estimate full commercialization of the fuel cell automotive solution to be viable by 2010. You can read more about their demonstration projects and commercialization time line on their website. [ more ]
Evergreen Solar Inc (ESLR) and Q-Cells AG (QCE.DE), the world's largest independent manufacturer of crystalline silicon solar cells, today announced a partnership with Renewable Energy Corporation ASA (REC), based in Hovik, Norway. The world's largest manufacturer of solar-grade silicon and multicrystalline wafers, REC is joining EverQ, a strategic partnership between Evergreen Solar and Q-Cells that is currently building a 30-megawatt solar wafer, cell and module manufacturing plant in Thalheim, Germany. [ more ]
This is another piece of good news and the market seems to think so as well. Shares of ESLR are trading up almost 3% this morning compared to the market which is trading down on the day. I have been waiting to purchase Evergreen for the mutual fund on any sign of a pullback. That pullback just hasn't materialized and now I'm thinking I should just jump on board with a 1/3 position.
Shares of Calpine Corp. (CPN) suffered a greater than 20% loss yesterday and is now down almost another 13% today. All of this was caused by a court ruling stating that they will be unable to use the $395 million in cash they received from the sale of oil and gas fields earlier this year for the purpose of buying natural gas to run its power plants.
The dispute stems from the Bank of New York's decision in September when, acting as trustee for Calpine bondholders, it withheld proceeds from Calpine's sale in July of North American oil and gas fields.
The bank froze the money after the bondholders said money from the sale couldn't be used to buy fuel futures but should be used instead to buy other assets or pay off debt.
The move prompted Calpine to file a lawsuit against the Bank of New York and Wilmington Trust Co. seeking release of the funds, arguing that buying natural gas in storage is allowed under the terms of its notes. [ more ]
When I purchased this stock for the mutual fund I mentioned it was a very speculative play.
Shares in FPL and Calpine Purchased August 15
Calpine Corp. (CPN) is the other utility that I started a position in today. This one is a more aggressive play, but has the potential to generate better results. Calpine supplies electricity from natural gas-fired and geothermal power plants to wholesale and industrial customers in North America. This company has had some serious financial difficulties in the past and is trying to right itself. This is a very speculative purchase and I did not commit very much money into it. I purchased this stock with an average entry price of $3.35 for the mutual fund only.
With the stock now sitting at a dollar and change the big question is should I sell now? As I stated above I didn't purchase a large amount of the stock, so this loser doesn't seriously affect the portfolio. If they would have gotten a positive ruling then the small amount of stock would have seen some good gains. It was a gamble and one that is lost. There are now fears that bankruptcy is just a couple of quarters away. I'm going to sit with my shares for now since it is sitting at the 52 week lows. I will continue to watch this stock to see if they can get an appeal, but the hopes are fading quickly. The company still has a book value of over $6, so it could see itself purchased by a larger company in the future. So I will hold for now.
This is also just another reminder that many of the stocks in the Alternative Energy sector are very small companies. Many are on the verge of breaking out big over the next couple of years, but there are also many that can blow up in your face. So as they say, make sure all your money is not in one basket.
Xantrex Technology Inc. (XTX.TO) has been awarded US $873,000 from the U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) under its Photovoltaics Manufacturing Research and Development Initiative. Xantrex will match the funding from NREL during the course of the project for a total budget of $1.74 Million. This program will take place at the Xantrex facility in Livermore, California.
Xantrex PV inverters are America's leading choice for large-scale solar installations. Presently, utility-interactive, three-phase inverters are available in models ranging from 10 kW to 225 kW, and multiple inverters can be paralleled for larger power installations. [ more ]
Xantrex is one of my favorite companies in the power inverter space. The stock is also acting very well right now and is close to what technicians call a "Golden Cross" with the 50 day MA crossing over the 200 day MA. This is typically a very bullish stock pattern. I would be a buyer of this stock now, but I'm not able to purchase the stock since in only trades on the Toronto exchange.
SatCon Technology Corporation (SATC) announced that two of its utility grade Powergate® solar inverters are being utilized as the power conditioning units for the new 502-kilowatt solar electric system installed at New Jersey American Water's Canal Road Water Treatment Plant located in Somerset, NJ. [ more ]
I have been taking a close look at SatCon recently for a possible addition to my portfolio. The stock price has been under pressure recently and seems to be retesting the lows of the last six months. The news of some sales and installations above and also some recent work they are doing with the Navy on propulsion are giving me an indication that they might be ready to bounce off this low.
Altair Nanomaterials (ALTI) announced that it has been awarded a $250,000 grant from the Indiana Advanced Energy Technologies Program (AETP) initiative. The grant funding must be used to manufacture products containing products that are not currently in the U.S. market, and that are above industry standard in terms of energy efficiency (e.g. hybrid automobiles, fuel cells) and/or incorporate an innovative technology, such as nanotechnology, that allows the product to save energy. [ more ]
The grant money will be used for test equipment for the manufacturing of lithium ion cells, batteries, and battery packs. The stock gapped open this morning with a quick 5% gain on the news but has since pulled back.
Some companies have send out stock promotion faxes that people think are coming from Alt Energy Stocks.
We don't send out any faxes. If another company is using our name, they are they are doing so without our knowledge or permission.
If you did receive a fax, please use the following information so that you can report the company.
How the FCC Can Help
The FCC has taken numerous enforcement actions, including the issuance of citations and fines, against companies for violations and suspected violations of the TCPA’s prohibition against unsolicited faxes. If you have received unsolicited faxes you are encouraged to contact the FCC regarding the incident(s). You may need to provide documentation in support of your complaint, such as copies of the fax(es) you received.
If you have received an unsolicited fax or received a fax from someone who does not have a business relationship with you or who has not received your prior express permission, you may file a complaint by completing the FCC’s on-line Consumer Complaint Form at: www.fcc.gov/cgb/complaints.html, or by calling the FCC’s Consumer Center at 888-CALL-FCC (888-225-5322) voice or 888-TELL-FCC (888-835- 5322) TTY.
You can also send a letter summarizing the complaint to:
Federal Communications Commission
Consumer & Governmental Affairs Bureau
Consumer Inquiries and Complaints Division
445 12th Street, SW
Washington, DC 20554.
Your Complaint Should Include:
your name, address, and a telephone number where you can be reached during the business day;
the telephone number through which you received the fax advertisement;
the property, goods, or services that are advertised on the fax; the name of the business offering such property, goods, or services, if included in the fax; and any telephone numbers or addresses included in the fax;
a copy of the fax advertisement, if possible, or confirmation that you have retained a copy of the fax;
as much specific information as possible, including whether you ever gave the advertiser permission to send faxes or ever did business or have had any other contacts with the advertiser.
As I mentioned yesterday I had a limit order to purchase SunPower Corporation (SPWR). The stock was scheduled to start the day at $18 and I expected that the stock would be up big in the morning, so I set a limit order at $20. Well when the stock started trading it opened up at over $27. Mid-day the stock seemed to rest around the $25 level and that is when I entered the stock with a 1/3 position in my personal portfolio at a price of $25.70. The stock is not available for purchase at Marketocracy, so it will have to wait to be added to the mutual fund.
Sunpower is the solar division of Cypress Semiconductor. Cypress still owns 52% of the new Sunpower stock. They plan to use up to $55 million of the new IPO money to triple their manufacturing capacity and will still have plenty of cash left over to fund R&D and continue operations.
I also mentioned yesterday that I was feeling under the weather. I'm on the mend today fueled by Diet Coke and decongestants.
DISCLAIMER: I am not a registered investment advisor. The information and trades that I provide here are for informational purposes only and are not a solicitation to buy or sell any of these securities. Investing involves substantial risk and you should evaluate your own risk levels before you make any investment. Past results are not an indication of future performance. Please take the time to read the full disclaimer here.
SunPower Corporation (SPWR) announced its initial public offering of 7,700,000 shares of its Common Stock at $18 per share and the stock will begin trading today. I currently have a limit order sitting in my personal account waiting for the stock to open. I will not be able to buy the stock in the mutual fund since Marketocracy doesn't list the stock yet.
Right now I'm staying home sick waiting for the stock to open, once I get a fill, I'm heading back to bed.
ENDESA (ELE) reported a 52 percent increase in third-quarter profit Wednesday and said it will distribute almost 2.12 billion euros ($2.48 million) in dividends for the year. The company said it will pay out nearly 2 euros ($2.34) a share in dividends for 2005. [ more ]
The increased dividend is an attempt to ward off a hostile takeover attempt by Gas Natural. The stock way paying an almost 4% dividend yield and this move takes the divendend up near 12% with the special payout.
Today I purchased the second third of my planned holdings for ELE in the mutual fund.
I purchased shares of Mechanical Technology Inc (MKTY) and Medis Technologies Ltd. (MDTL) this morning for the mutual fund and also my personal portfolio.
Both of these companies are working on the miniaturization of liquid fuel cells so that they can power portable electronic equipment like cell phones and laptop computers. Both companies have also secured contracts from the military to research portable fuel cells for military applications. Both companies announced earnings recently and still show no signs of becoming profitable in the near future. However, they have both made progress on trimming their losses. I feel that one of these companies will strike it big in the future so I’m buying both and hedging my bet. Both of these stocks will not see substantial gains until they start producing equipment that makes it out of the beta stage in the next few years.
Both companies are starting to trade at the lower end of their recent trading ranges and are entering the lower risk entry point.
Medis should be a good buy at this price level since it is now sitting on some firm support.
Mechanical Tech is currently sitting on some light support at the $3 level but could trade lower from here down to the $2.50 level and I would buy more that that point.
I purchased a 1/3 holding in each for the mutual fund and a full holding for my personal portfolio.
MDTL was purchased at an average price of $14.93
MKTY was purchased at an average price of $3.04
DISCLAIMER: I am not a registered investment advisor. The information and trades that I provide here are for informational purposes only and are not a solicitation to buy or sell any of these securities. Investing involves substantial risk and you should evaluate your own risk levels before you make any investment. Past results are not an indication of future performance. Please take the time to read the full disclaimer here.
Solar power equipment maker SunPower Corp., a unit of Cypress Semiconductor Corp. (CY) raised the expected price of its planned initial public offering to between $16 and $18 per share from a previous range of $12 to $14. The company expects to list its stock on the Nasdaq under the symbol "SPWR" sometime this week.
I have always found the IPOHome.com website helpful tracking this type of information down. [ more ]
You can also find a great deal of info at NASDAQ.com as well for new IPO's. [ more ]
Shares of Capstone Turbine Corp (CPTC) are rising sharply this morning with high volume and gapped up with a gain of over 35% this morning. There is currently no news to cause this increase today and I will be digging deeper to find out what is going on. This is good news for the stock and also the portfolio. My holdings are now up over 50% in about 10 days.
If you were thinking of buying the stock now, you should wait till some news confirms this move.
Update at 12:15 EST: The only news I can find on the this move is from the Yahoo message boards and an expected announcement of Wall Mart working with United Technologies to supply the PureComfort CHP system for a store in Colorado. The UTX system utilizes the Capstone microturbine. I place zero reliance on message board posts and feel that this news is not the reason. I will keep digging.
Update at 1:25 EST: The Wall Mart story has been confirmed. At least the rumour of a potential big purchase by Wall Mart story has been confirmed. Well even message board posters can get it right sometimes.
Shares of Capstone Turbine Corp (CPTC) , a maker of microturbine generators powered by natural gas, jumped 36 percent on Tuesday on a television report that Wal-Mart Stores Inc. will place a big order for the company's machines. [ more ]
Update at 5:30 EST I should have known this was a Jim Cramer induced rally. He was the one that floated the Wall Mart rumor last night on his TV show. I don't watch him and don't like his hype. The hype is great for traders because it create volatility. So I fully expect this stock to settle back down over the coming weeks as large owners take profits. If you don't have a position in the stock and want to own it for the long term, I would wait and buy below the $3.00 level. I do believe in this company and I have no plans to sell my holdings, I just would not be a buyer at this price level.
Beacon Power Corp (BCON) reported revenue of $304,064, compared to revenue of $80,902 in the third quarter of 2004, an increase of $223,162, or 276%. Revenues for the nine months ending September 30, 2005, were $1,258,503, compared to $264,793 for the same period in 2004, an increase of $993,710, or 375%.
Beacon Power reported a net loss of $2.1 million, or ($0.04) per share, compared to a net loss of $1.9 million or ($0.04) per share for the third quarter of 2005 and 2004, respectively, representing an increase of approximately $0.2 million or 16%.
They ended the third quarter of fiscal 2005 with approximately $3.4 million in cash and cash equivalents. On November 8, 2005, the Company raised approximately $15 million, before expenses of approximately $0.8 million, from ten institutional investors in a private placement. The Company expects to use the proceeds to begin development of its Smart Energy 25 flywheel, which is a key component of the Company's Smart Energy Matrix system for frequency regulation. [ more ]
Electro Energy Inc (EEEI) receive $1.5 million from the 2006 budget of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) for continued development and demonstration of its bipolar wafer-cell Nickel Metal Hydride (NiMH) battery energy storage program.
The funding was included in the Fiscal Year 2006 Energy & Water Development bill, which was passed by the U.S. Congress today and is expected to be signed by President Bush within the next week. The 2006 funding, will bring DOE's total investment in the development of the bipolar wafer-cell NiMH battery, in the energy storage program, to approximately $6.5 million. [ more ]
You may have noticed that I'm starting to buy again. Well I also purchased shares in XSUNX Inc. (XSNX) this morning for my personal portfolio. Marketocracy will not allow me to purchase this stock in the mutual fund since it trades over the counter as a penny stock. The stock has been a strong mover since early September and I have been waiting for a pull back that has never materialized. I decided to purchase a 1/3 position here at this point.
XsunX is a development stage company that I have profiled in the past. Since I started following this company I have seen many other people pick up on their story as well. This stock is a penny stock and we will not see some serious stock appreciation until they finish the development of Power Glass. You should consider this one highly risky if you want to add it to your own portfolio. I see the purchase of this stock as a nice gamble for a long term hold. The big win is once they finish development of Power Glass and either go into production or are acquired by a larger company. I don’t see this happening for several years.
Shares were purchased for my personal portfolio at an average price of $0.38.
DISCLAIMER: I am not a registered investment advisor. The information and trades that I provide here are for informational purposes only and are not a solicitation to buy or sell any of these securities. Investing involves substantial risk and you should evaluate your own risk levels before you make any investment. Past results are not an indication of future performance. Please take the time to read the full disclaimer here.
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 that all of the officers of the company are in their early 30's.
The company is currently working hard to increase manufacturing capacity and should have a new production line fully operational soon.
DISCLAIMER: I am not a registered investment advisor. The information and trades that I provide here are for informational purposes only and are not a solicitation to buy or sell any of these securities. Investing involves substantial risk and you should evaluate your own risk levels before you make any investment. Past results are not an indication of future performance. Please take the time to read the full disclaimer here.
I purchased shares in
Altair Nanomaterials (ALTI) this morning for both my personal portfolio and also the mutual fund. ALTI is a holding company that specializes in nanomaterials and also contains a life sciences division. The materials company has research in high performance batteries, fuel cells, and photovoltaics.
Altair announced earnings today and the stock is up on the morning trading.
Revenue Increases 68 Percent for Third Quarter and 230 Percent for Nine-Month Period
"An increase in revenue of 230 percent for the first three quarters of 2005 is representative of the significant progress Altair has made over the last nine months," said Altair Nanotechnologies Chief Executive Officer and President Alan J. Gotcher, Ph.D. "We are experiencing solid business development progress and opportunities in both our Performance Material and Life Sciences divisions in several target markets. We expect these opportunities to mature and to produce recurring and sustainable revenues." [ more ]
Today they reported a net loss of $0.04 which is compared to a net loss of $0.03 for the comparable quarter. The increase in this loss is attributed to an increase in investments for new contract R&D projects. The company has been performing well and the number of these new R&D contracts has been increasing.
I started a 1/3 position in ALTI today with an average purchase price of $2.54.
DISCLAIMER: I am not a registered investment advisor. The information and trades that I provide here are for informational purposes only and are not a solicitation to buy or sell any of these securities. Investing involves substantial risk and you should evaluate your own risk levels before you make any investment. Past results are not an indication of future performance. Please take the time to read the full disclaimer here.
I placed several trades for the mutual fund this afternoon to start building a position in some of the fuel cell companies. This sub-sector has been under pressure the last couple of months but seems to be building a nice base of support at the current levels. I feel this entire sub-sector is ready for a nice up move and the stocks have been behaving nicely the last week or so. The one stock I seriously considered not adding was Quantum. The stock has been in a steady decline and there is no sign that it’s going to slow down. I'm betting that the general area of support for all the companies in this sub-sector will help to provide some support to this stock. There are also some smaller stocks in this sub-sector that I'm watching as well and may add them soon.
I took a 1/3 position in the following companies for the mutual fund portfolio.
Ballard Power (BLDP) at the average price of $5.03
Fuelcell Energy Inc (FCEL) at the average price of $9.13
Millennium Cell Inc (MCEL) at the average price of $1.63
Plug Power Inc (PLUG) at the average price of $5.91
Quantum Fuel Systems Technologies Worldwide Inc (QTWW) at the average price of $2.72
I also took a position in Millennium Cell Inc (MCEL) as well in my personal portfolio.
DISCLAIMER: I am not a registered investment advisor. The information and trades that I provide here are for informational purposes only and are not a solicitation to buy or sell any of these securities. Investing involves substantial risk and you should evaluate your own risk levels before you make any investment. Past results are not an indication of future performance. Please take the time to read the full disclaimer here.
Altair Nanomaterials (ALTI) has been designated to receive an additional $2.5 million in Federal grant funding during 2006-2007 for the continued development of nanotechnology, nanosensors, and nanomaterials research, development and deployment. The $2.5 million funding was included in the Congressional Energy and Water Development Appropriation for Fiscal Year 2006, which was passed by the U.S. Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives on November 8, 2005. We anticipate the appropriation will be signed by the President within the next week. [ more ]
ALTI had a nice 10% jump in the price yesterday on this news.
Quantum Fuel Systems Technologies Worldwide Inc (QTWW) announced that it received a contract from the U.S. Army's National Automotive Center (NAC) for an additional HyHauler Plus(TM) transportable hydrogen refueling station. This contract represents an expansion of Quantum's Mobile Hydrogen Infrastructure program with the U.S. Army that will demonstrate "in-time" solutions to meet emerging hydrogen fuel demand as fuel cell technologies are deployed throughout the military as part of the 21st Century Base initiative. [ more ]
As you may have noticed from my Firefox tip yesterday, I'm starting to take a serious look at the Fuel Cell stocks again. All of these stocks have been under pressure recently and they are all trading at lows. Many of them have been building some nice bases of support and are looking very attractive at these price levels.
Joel Makower has posted a link to the Renewable Energy Policy Network for the 21st Century report on his website.
Joel sums the report up nicely:
All told, it's an upbeat and encouraging assessment that renewable energy around the world is being embraced by an audience far more important than environmentalists, technologists, or even high-ranking government leaders: the big-bucks investors capable of growing the kinds of large-scale, sustainable markets we'll need to create a renewable-energy future. [ more ]
Investment into this sector is growing at a very fast pace and I feel that investors that join in early will reap some nice rewards in the years to come.
This morning I purchased shares of Capstone Turbine Corp (CPTC) in both my personal portfolio and the mutual fund. I have been waiting for the stock to show some strength after its recent declines. The stock appears to have some nice support at the $2.25 level as a bottom. They will be announcing quarterly earnings on November 10th.
Capstone Turbine developments and manufactures microturbine generators. The company’s microturbines can also be used as generators for hybrid electric vehicle applications. It also offers Model C60 integrated combined heat and power systems (CHP). A one third stake have been purchased at an average price of $2.75.
DISCLAIMER: I am not a registered investment advisor. The information and trades that I provide here are for informational purposes only and are not a solicitation to buy or sell any of these securities. Investing involves substantial risk and you should evaluate your own risk levels before you make any investment. Past results are not an indication of future performance. Please take the time to read the full disclaimer here.
Evergreen Solar Inc (ESLR) announced its largest sales agreement to date. Evergreen Solar and PowerLight Corporation have entered into a definitive agreement for a guaranteed contract which calls for Evergreen Solar to ship a minimum of $70 million of photovoltaic (PV) modules to PowerLight over the next four years. There are defined options which could increase the value of the shipments in the contract to approximately $170 million. Shipments to PowerLight are scheduled to commence during the first half of 2006. [ more ]
The stock has gapped up over 14% this morning on this news. Cramer from CNBC has been talking about this stock recently as well, which has also generated some interest in the stock. I spent sometime preparing for the trading day today and took a quick glance at this stock last night. It has a solid uptrend but I felt that it was reaching the top of the current trading range so decided to hold off and wait for it to cycle near the trading range lows to enter the stock.
Today's news has completely blown past that trading range top. So I will just have to see if it’s too late to jump into this name. The RSI is telling me it’s not currently overbought, but with todays large up move, we are certainly heading into overbought territory.
Evergreen will also be announcing their quarterly earnings today at 10AM. You can hear the announcement via the conference call page.
Update: ESLR reports a net loss of $0.07 per share, compared with a net loss of $0.10 per share for the third quarter of 2004.
Several key indicators I follow have put me back into a buying mood. But sadly I will be spending most of my day in meetings and will not have much time to follow through on any purchases. I wanted to post a quick update about the stocks I'm following.
I will be averaging down on some of my current holdings this week and also looking to add some new stocks to the portfolio. Here is my short list of new stocks I'm taking a close look at to add to the portfolio:
Capstone Turbine Corp (CPTC)
Color Kinetics Inc. (CLRK)
Distributed Energy Systems Corp (DESC)
Hoku Scientific, Inc. (HOKU)
XSUNX Inc. (XSNX)
Xantrex Technology Inc. (XTX.TO)
I may also take a look at some of the larger names in this sector like Ballard, Fuel Cell, Quantum, and Plug.
Hopefully I will have some time tonight to do some research.
Xantrex Technology Inc. (XTX.TO) received an order for wind converters valued at $12M from Clipper Windpower Technology Inc. of Carpinteria, CA for delivery in 2006. This order exceeds the framework agreement announced on September 15, 2005 for approximately $10 million over two years. These Xantrex converters will be used in Clipper's new 2.5 megawatt Liberty wind turbine. [ more ]
I spent sometime talking with the people at the Xantrex booth at the recent solar conference and they have a firm commitment to the Alternative energy marketplace. They have also started a concentrated effort to release new products into the marketplace and they are proving it with a steady stream of new press releases. I have been using one of their power inverters for some time in my car to power various electronic devices and the products are high quality and work well.
My main problem with the company is its difficult to purchase shares of the company in the US since they only trade in Toronto. People that I have spoken with at the company state they currently have no plans to move to a US exchange. Xantrex is a company I want to own for a long term hold. The stock is very attractive under the $6 (CDN) level and has some near term support at $5 (CDN). I make all my stock transactions online and a purchase of a foreign stock requires that I would have to call in the purchase order which usually doesn't give you the flexibility to toy with your buy limit orders. This also means the transaction costs are going to be much higher for me. But I do believe owning this company in the future may be worth the inconvenience and extra costs.
The markets have been in flux the last couple of weeks. I feel we are at a make or break time for the general trend of the market. Yesterday the S&P 500 was trying to close above the 200 day Moving Average but it failed. A close above this level will give me good reason to start investing some money again. Today the markets are down again and when you look at the S&P the 1210 level looks to be some solid resistance.
People may wonder why I'm so concerned about the very short term trend of the stock market when my time horizon for these investments is so far out into the future?
Well my reasoning is that even though I'm using a buy and hold methodology for these stocks, the key is to buy them at a cost basis as low as possible. When the general market trend is down, all stocks tend to go down as well. It's the old stock concept of all ships rise (or sink) when the tide comes in (or out.)
Also just like everyone else, I have set aside a specific amount of money I want to invest in these stocks. So I can't just keep buying to lower my cost basis over the coming months and years. I will quickly run out of money using that methodology. When I'm buying I look at the short term picture of the general stock market to see if now is a good time to invest in general. I then look at the short term trading patterns of the individual stock to see if it is an ideal time to buy that particular stock.
When I want to own a stock I decide how much of my total portfolio I want to own in the company. I will then leg into positions buying a third at a time so that I can start a position and still have money left over to purchase more in the future at a hopefully lower cost basis. This all assumes that I feel the stock that I'm buying is a solid company and I have good prospects for this stock to be a real winner in the future.
Right now I still feel uncertain about the general trend of the market. So I will continue to wait and keep researching new companies to add to the watchlist. Many of you have been sending me e-mails with new stocks to add and research. I would like to thank everyone that has and I look at everyone of these stocks for inclusion into the watchlist. So keep them coming.
I also wanted to apologize for the lack of posts recently. The workload at both my work and also side businesses has really picked up the past couple of weeks. This should be ending soon and I will be able to dedicate more time to this site.
