Portfolio

The Obama Effect continues to make my annual ten picks shine. Tom Konrad, Ph.D., CFA This is the second performance update on my 10 Clean Energy Stocks for 2009.  In the first quarter, the model portfolio was up a tiny 1.6%, but still managed to beat the benchmarks handily (by 8% and 9%), since they were both down significantly. In the last three months, the market has turned around, logging significant gains, but my ten picks have continued to outperform. Company  Ticker Change 12/27/08 to 7/2/09 Dividend & Interest The...

Yesterday, I outlined a strategy to approximately replicate the performance of a Clean Energy mutual fund at much lower cost, with only a couple hours of effort.  I gave a cost example based on $5000 invested in 5 stocks, with another $1000 worth of a single stock added in each subsequent year.   This is the procedure I would use to select the initial five stocks. Collect all the top five or ten holdings of the available Clean Energy mutual funds.  This data is available from Morningstar, and on fund sponsor's home pages. A few of these holdings may...

by Aurelien Windenberger I’ve been a fan of Tom Konrad’s annual renewable model portfolio for years, so I’m happy to be able to assist Tom with some of his monthly updates. After two chilly months to start off 2016, the outlook turned considerably warmer in March, both for the market and for clean energy stocks. The Russell 2000 (IWM) jumped 8% for the month, as market participants took to the “risk-on trade” following Fed Chairwoman Yellin’s dovish commentary. Clean energy stocks did even better, buoyed by a reversal in the broader energy sector. Tom’s ...

Tom Konrad CFA The first half of 2015 saw a mild advance in the broad market, but concerns about rising interest rates and the ongoing Greek debt drama sent income stocks, clean energy, and most non-US currencies down decisively.  My Ten Clean Energy Stocks for 2015 model portfolio has heavy exposure to not only clean energy, but income stocks (6 out of 10) and foreign stocks (4 out of 10.)  Despite this the stormy market for all three, the portfolio delivered admirably. The model portfolio ended the second quarter up 9.7%, compared to its broad market...

Ten Clean Energy Stocks For 2014: June Update Tom Konrad CFA While the major market indexes were hitting new highs in May, small capitalization stocks and clean energy stocks (most of which are small cap) continued to lag.  The broad market benchmark IWM gained just 0.2% and is down 2.3% for the year, while my clean energy benchmark PBW fell 3.2% cutting its gains for the year to a slim 1.2%.  Meanwhile my 10 Clean Energy Stocks for 2014 model portfolio managed to eke out a 0.3% gain. ...

Tom Konrad CFA Every year since 2008, I've published a list of ten (or eleven in 2012) clean energy stocks I expect to do well over the coming year.  The list is intended as a model portfolio which could be used by a small investor looking to avoid the relatively high costs of clean energy mutual funds, most of which have expense ratios around 2%, in addition to the trading costs they incur with fairly high turnover ratios.  My list also reflects my belief that the best returns and least risk in clean...

Tom Konrad CFA 2015 got off to a rocky start for both the broad market in general, as well as clean energy.  My Ten Clean Energy Stocks for 2015 model portfolio dd not fare any better, since the main bright spots for the portfolio were its three Canadian stocks, but these were dragged down by the 9% decline in the Canadian dollar for the month. For the month, the model portfolio was down 3.6% in local currency terms, but fell 7.2% in dollar terms.  For comparison the broad universe of US small cap stocks was...

Tom Konrad CFA What the Election Brought to Energy Stocks Obama's reelection did not bring on a new bull market for Clean Energy stocks, as some had hoped.  My Clean Energy model portfolio was flat (+0.4%) for the month, while the widely held Powershares Wilderhill Clean Energy ETF (PBW) fell 1.6%.  In contrast, the broad market, as measured by the Russell 2000 ETF, (IWM) rose 1.1%.  If Obama's re-election had a strong effect on any energy sector, it was coal stocks: the Market Vectors Coal ETF (KOL) was down 8.5% over the same...

Index to the Clean Energy Shopping List Series, and a few Bonus Stocks. Tom Konrad, Ph.D., CFA I started my "Clean Energy Shopping List" series on the premise that the market was near a peak, and it would be better to wait than to buy now.  My market call turned out to be premature (or just plain wrong... time will tell) and the market has since advanced more than I thought it would.  But I feel the challenges facing our economy and financial system are too grave not to bring down the market from its current heights eventually, so...

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...

Tom Konrad CFA  My Ten Clean Energy Stocks for 2015 model portfolio held on to first quarter gains in April, despite a 29% fall for one of the stocks.  (For details on that decline, see the Power REIT (NYSE:PW) section below.)  The portfolio as a whole was rescued by the recovering Canadian Dollar and Euro, as well as mild advances for most of the other stocks across the board.  That includes a 4.9% gain for TransAlta Renewables (TSX:RNW, OTC:TRSWF), and a 5.8% gain for FutureFuel (NYSE:FF) which I singled out...

Last week, we alerted you to a report from Germany's Energy Watch Group called “Coal: Resources and Future Production,��? which predicts peak coal by 2025.  Readers of AltEnergyStocks are doubtless familiar with peak oil, the inevitable fact that as we consume a finite resource (oil reserves) at some point the rate of that consumption must peak, and taper off.  Serious arguments about peak oil center around "when" oil production (and consumption) will peak, not "if."   The same it true for other finite natural resources, such as natural gas, uranium, and even coal.  The difference with coal is the received...

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...

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...

Tom Konrad, CFA I recently published a quick guide to a green or fossil fuel free stock portfolio aimed at the small investor.  For most people, the best options will be to use mutual funds or an investment advisor.  Some of us like to do things ourselves, and build a portfolio from scratch, using individual stocks.  Doing so could rapidly become a full-time job, but it does not have to be.  Instead, you can use information which mutual funds disclose to piggy-back on their research.  Garvin Jabusch, Co-Founder and CIO of Green Alpha Advisors in...

Tom Konrad CFA The last two months have not been kind to clean energy stocks.  Most commentators attribute the weakness to declining oil prices and the Republicans' strong showing in the midterm elections.  Whatever the cause, my 10 Clean Energy Stocks for 2014 model portfolio was dragged into a loss for the year where it had previously looked to return a small gain.  A large part of the decline was in the dollar's strength.  Measured in local currency, the average stock was flat, but the 8% decline in...