The Alternative Energy Stocks Paper Portfolio
Here at AltEnergyStocks we try to give the best advice to help our readers sort quality alternative energy investments from the simply overvalued and the dangerous poseurs. How well are we doing? Putting Play Money Where our Mouth Is. As regular readers know, both Charles and I invest in many of the same stocks we recommend. I take a broad portfolio approach, with small stakes in almost everything I think is interesting, and larger stakes in companies I'm more bullish about, while Charles has a highly focused portfolio consisting of a small number of companies he expects to perform...
Ten Clean Energy Stocks for 2013: January Update
Tom Konrad CFA Clip art by Philip Martin January has been a great month for clean energy stocks, and the stock market as a whole. My clean energy benchmark, the Powershares Wilderhill Clean Energy Index (PBW), returned 10.9%, while the broad universe of small cap stocks which I benchmark with the iShares Russell 2000 Index ETF (IWM) is up a lesser but still impressive 9.5%. My ten clean energy picks for 2013 (introduced here), are up a...
Ten Clean Energy Stocks For 2014: February Update
Monthly update on NYSE:HASI, TSX:PFB,TSX:CSE,TSX:PRI,Amsterdam:ACCEL,TSX:NFI,NASD:AMRC,NYSE:PW,TSX:AXY,TSX:RPG,TSX:FVR
Shares of Hydrogenics Purchased
Hydrogenics Corp (HYGS) is a developer of fuel cell technology and hydrogen generation. They are also working with wind farm technology in the generation of hydrogen. Back in January of this year they successfully completed the purchase of Stuart Energy which compliments their product portfolio. Shares of the stock have been under pressure for the last couple of months due to missed expectations on Q1 revenue results. There is also some major concern about an increase in product backlog. In August, HYGS issued their most recent quarterly earnings and are attempting to reassure the...
See You Later, Hannon Armstrong
by Tom Konrad Ph.D., CFA
Sustainable infrastructure financier Hannon Armstrong (NYSE:HASI) is not in my Ten Clean Energy Stocks model portfolio for the first year since its IPO in 2013. I still love the company and its business model, but I have become concerned about its short term prospects.
Dividend Disappointment?
In my last update on the 2017 portfolio, I wrote,
“Sustainable infrastructure and clean energy financier Hannon Armstrong reported earnings on November 1st. The headline numbers were lower than expected, but for a very good reason. The company has spent the last few months locking in low interest rates by refinancing its...
Dipping a Toe in the Golden Stuff
And I'm not talking about gold, but I liked the play on this title. Last December, I wrote about a report that claimed that solar stocks were the best play on the cleantech revolution. In that article, I analyzed the two solar ETFs: the Claymore/Mac Global Solar Index ETF (TAN) and the Market Vectors/Van Eck Global Solar Energy ETF (KWT). At the end of the article, I said I had an open buy order on TAN. That buy order expired unfilled in January as the suckers rally progressed, but TAN then dropped to the...
Ten Clean Energy Stocks For 2018: First Half Update
The first half of 2018 has been difficult for most investors, including clean energy investors and dividend income investors. Through June, my broad dividend income benchmark SDY lost 0.6%, while my clean energy income benchmark YLCO lost 4.7%, including dividend income.
My picks were also down for most of the year, finally struggling back into positive territory at the end of May. They finished the first half up a solid 5.9%. The real money strategy I manage, the Green Global Equity Income Portfolio (GGEIP), also squeaked in to positive territory by 1.2% at the end of June.
Details of then stocks'...
Fuel Cell Companies Purchased for Portfolio
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...
In Review: 10 Clean Energy Stocks for 2009
Tom Konrad, CFA 2009 was a banner year for my clean energy stock picks, which are up 57% over 12 months, greatly exceeding their benchmarks. Over the last 12 months, my ten green energy stocks for 2009 are up 57% vs. 29% for the S&P 500, and 12% for my clean energy benchmark, the iShares S&P Global Clean Energy Index (ICLN), the two indexes I specified for benchmarks when I published the list a year ago. Below is a detailed rundown of the results. Company Ticker Change 12/27/08 to 12/27/09 Dividend &...
Ten Green Gambles for 2010: Q3 Update
Tom Konrad CFA To my surprise, the market came back in the 3rd Quarter, and my portfolio of put options designed to hedge a market decline is predictably down. However, my benchmark (a put against the Dow Jones Industrials has performed even worse than my picks.) I don't have a lot to say about the performance of my Ten Green Gambles for 2010 so far this year. These gambles were a bet on a market decline in 2010. Since we're now into the 4th quarter and the market is still...
High Income Green Investing For Small Investors
Tom Konrad Ph.D., CFA Until recently, green income investing was an oxymoron. Most companies people think of as green (think Tesla Motors (TSLA) or First Solar (FSLR)) are relatively new companies that are investing all of their profits (such as they are) back into the business. Meanwhile traditional income sectors like utilities, oil and gas, and coal mining are deeply tied into fossil fuels. Real Estate Income Trusts (REITs) are the sole exception. A REIT is as green as the property it owns, and a few such companies are real leaders in sustainable buildings......
Ten Clean Energy Stocks For 2017: Summer Harvest
Tom Konrad Ph.D., CFA
Colossal Fossil Failure
With a president actively hostile towards renewable energy and focused on promoting fossil fuels, it would be easy to think that clean energy stocks would underperform their fossil cousins. The exact opposite has been true. Despite the administrations' efforts and tweets bragging about new highs for the Dow, energy funds are down over 10% for the year. For example, the Energy Select Sector SPDR (XLE), largely composed of oil and gas companies, is down 13% for the year. The tiny coal sector did better, with the VanEck Vectors Coal ETF up 18%.
Even so, Trump's...
Ten Clean Energy Stocks For 2015: Marching Ahead
Tom Konrad CFA My Ten Clean Energy Stocks for 2015 model portfolio added a second month to its winning streak, with a 6.1% gain for the month and a 5.7% gain for the year, despite a continued drag by the strong dollar. If measured in terms of the companies' local currencies, the portfolio would have been up 7.5% for the month and 10.5% for the quarter or year to date. For comparison, the broad universe of US small cap stocks rose 1.5% for the month and 4.0% for quarter, as measured...
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...
Ten Clean Energy Stocks for 2010
Tom Konrad, CFA A mini-portfolio of stocks that not only are green, but should outperform the market in an environment of increasing concern about climate change and peak oil. This is the third annual list of green stocks I have published. In 2008, it was a list of ten speculative alternative energy companies (in three parts) that I thought might catch public notice that year. As we all now know, 2008 was a horrible year for speculative stocks, and my stocks were no exception, losing an average of 55% that year, although that still ended up being better than...
Two Canadian IPPs For Your Portfolio
Most alternative energy investors are aware of North American wind power's very bright growth prospects. In past articles, we discussed encouraging projections for the US and Canadian (PDF document) wind markets between now and 2015. While onshore European capacity is fast being exhausted, North America is only beginning its foray into wind and some major capex can be expected in this space over the coming years. Besides solid expected growth, another phenomenon is currently impacting the wind industry; consolidation. This is a global movement that is affecting all of the power gen sector, and that has no-doubt been...