ONE-TWENTY TWO: Trading Financial Markets
Exploring the poetry in financial markets for students of money and economy since the year 2000.
Famous short-seller Dick Chanos visited the CNBC set on April 14 and talked about his expanding list of targets that includes alternative energy, especially First Solar (FSLR). In response, the stock dropped 2.7% that day and did not stabilize until the stock lost almost 10% over the course of a week. Directly ahead of another … Read more
(This is an excerpt from an article I published on Seeking Alpha. Click here to read the entire piece) Perhaps it is not a good idea to use the term “watershed” twice in a year when referring to solar stocks, but it seems to me that Total Group’s acquisition of a 60% controlling stake in … Read more
Last week, I suggested that the nuclear power crisis in Japan could usher in a watershed moment for solar energy and its constituent stocks. For all of two days, most solar stocks soared. For example, First Solar (FSLR) gained 14%. However, March 15th marked a sort of peak in the market’s concern over Japan’s nuclear … Read more
Higher oil prices are not helping solar stocks. Instead, earnings disappointments and hand-wringing in Italy over solar subsidies and policy have put downward pressure on almost the entire sector. While it seems the second half of 2011 could be rough for solar stocks, the current sell-off seems to be creating some buying opportunities. First Solar … Read more
On Wednesday, Wunderlich Securities issued a trading call on solar stocks citing a correlation with oil prices. First Solar (FSLR) was the prime beneficiary of this research. Eric Rosenbaum from TheStreet.com beat me to the punch critiquing this call in “Should Solar Stocks Trade on Rising Oil?“, but I will add my two solar panels … Read more
On Monday, Goldman Sachs added First Solar (FSLR) to its conviction buy list with a $165 price target. The market’s response was swift with FSLR ending the day up 6% and a closing price of $156.40. I wish I had received the memo because I sold off the last of my FSLR positions on Friday. … Read more
Another earnings-related presentation, another yawn from the stock market – such is the life of First Solar (FSLR). On December 14, First Solar hosted a conference call to discuss its guidance for 2011. Overall, it was a relatively bullish call. However, the stock had rallied over 10% into the call and, presumably, expectations were high. … Read more
GT Solar International Inc (SOLR) jumped 15% on news that it secured two large orders for its sapphire crystallization systems used in the manufacture of LED products. From the press release: GT Solar has “…has received its first two orders totaling more than $84 million for sapphire crystallization systems. The orders come from Jiangsu Jixing … Read more
After the stock market’s sharp rally off the March, 2009 lows, most solar stocks stopped appreciating by that summer. For the remainder of the year, they experienced wild swings up and down in price in quick succession. In the summer of 2010, it appeared prospects had finally turned around for the better for solar stocks … Read more
Rallies in solar stocks would be more exciting if they were not so fleeting. In early September, I noted a “stealth rally” was underway in solar stocks. In early October, I wrote breathlessly about a “soaring September” for solar stocks. Just three weeks later I had to warn that selling volume was picking up in … Read more