In this effort, we have focused on the former peaks from the 2007 to 2008 glory days, if applicable. The run higher seems like a bubble, but you will see that the bubble of today is nothing compared to the bubble of 2007 and 2008, when energy and alternative energy were flying high.

24/7 Wall St. evaluated the likes of First Solar Inc. (NASDAQ: FSLR), SunPower Corp. (NASDAQ: SPWR), MEMC Electronic Materials Inc. (NYSE: WFR), GT Advanced Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: GTAT) and SolarCity Corp. (NASDAQ: SCTY) in the stock coverage. We also wanted to highlight exchange traded fund (ETF) performance and historical data on the Guggenheim Solar (NYSEMKT: TAN) and PowerShares WilderHill Clean Energy (NYSEMKT: PBW).

First Solar Inc. (NASDAQ: FSLR) is the de facto solar leader, and its shares have done what seemed nearly impossible just a few months ago. This stock went from less than $30 from late in 2006 after its initial public offering (IPO) to more than $300 in mid-2008 at the peak of the energy craze. Then came the “heads I win, tails you lose” trading, in which First Solar lost literally half of its value from July 2008 to December 2008. By June 0f 2012, First Solar shares were at a low even under $12, and the stock closed out 2012 at $30.86. Now we have shares up around $56, implying year-to-date gains of 81% and gains from last June’s lows of nearly 400%.

SunPower Corp. (NASDAQ: SPWR) remains a miracle recovery, but we question why on earth Total S.A. (NYSE: TOT) has not acquired the rest of the company when the stock was less than $5. It is the largest holder by far, and it could have taken this outfit over on the cheap. This stock trades around $21.60, after a drop of more than 4% on Tuesday, but shares hit a high of $23.76. SunPower shares peaked at more than $100 in 2007 and again in 2008.

MEMC Electronic Materials Inc. (NYSE: WFR) has been the less-followed winner for its solar materials making, but its rise has been massive as well. After hitting a low of $1.44 in the past year, the stock closed out 2012 at $3.21. With shares around $6.70 now, this is a gain of close to 400% from the lows, and a gain of more than 100% so far in 2013. Keep in mind that MEMC peaked at $96 in late 2007, and this was a $17 stock by the end of 2008.

GT Advanced Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: GTAT) shares are back up to $4.60, but we would caution that this one came public as one of the last solar players out there in late 2008. It makes equipment for solar panel makers and providers, and it does not fit the same historic pattern as it missed much of the 2007 and 2008 silliness. This stock is up 75% from its low of $2.61 from March 4, 2013. GT is also up just over 50% from its closing price of $3.03 in 2012.

If you want to see just how fast a good thing can come to a crashing end … SolarCity Corp. (NASDAQ: SCTY) is supposed to be the new kid on the block, and its shares hit a new all-time high of $52.77 just on Monday. After a double-digit drop, this one is back to $45. Do not feel too bad for those shareholders because, even after this last sudden drop, we have this 2012 IPO up a whopping 275% or so year-to-date from the $11.93 close for 2012.

The Guggenheim Solar (NYSEMKT: TAN) ETF is solar-focused and is still up 1.9% at $26.04 so far on Tuesday, but that is down from a high of $27.87 earlier in the day and up from a 52-week low of $12.60. Even after pulling back from the highs, this ETF is up a whopping 64% year-to-date from the closing price of $15.64 at the end of 2012. Trading volume has been elevated, and even exponentially higher of late. A reverse split has clouded the comparisons back to 2008 when this ETF was created.

There is also the PowerShares WilderHill Clean Energy (NYSEMKT: PBW) ETF, which has a more diversified angle of alternative energy, cleaner energy and conservation, rather than just being solar. This one just hit a new high of $5.87 for the year and shares are up less than 1% at $5.67 as of last look. Even after the pullback, this is up almost 38% year-to-date from the $4.08 close at the end of 2012. Keep in mind that this ETF was above $28 at the peak back to late 2007 and in 2008, but by the end of 2008 it back to less than $10 per share.

If this sounds as though we have the pom-poms out cheering on the solar rally, we actually want investors to consider the risks more than just chasing the gainers. Our first point to make is that when you see articles of this magnitude cheering a great recovery, then perhaps the easy money has already been made. If you want proof of how volatile and wild price moves are expected, an at the money straddle or spread using the June-2013 $55 strike prices in puts and calls would cost you about $8.25 if you tally up both prices. That implies that the stock would have to rise to above $63 or fall to under $47 before the bets pay off.

The solar sector moves have been impressive. Make that more than impressive. The problem is that we are in a different valuation world now compared to the bubbles of the past. The partial austerity-driven, tax-credit-expiration world we live in now and the tariffs (trade wars) have changed the landscape to the point that it seems almost incomprehensible that the old bubble days of 2007 and 2008 could return. Some of these companies will continue to go on to do great things in the years ahead. Other solar players may fade into the history books, even after we have seen many bankruptcies in this sector.

Some longer term questions remain. Will solar companies get to form master limited partnerships? Will they become utilities? Is a market cap of almost $5 billion for First Solar crazy, or is it cheap compared to 2007 and 2008? Is Solar City’s $3.5 billion market cap valuing it as the utility of the future? Is much of the volume being driven by short covering? Or is the volume being driven by ETFs influencing the sector?

Sirius XM ended 2012 with 23.9 million users and ended the first quarter with 24.4 million users. Today’s projection is to end the year with roughly 25.3 million subscribers.

If you want to know just how much difference the company sees between it and Pandora Media Inc. (NYSE: P) and terrestrial radio, the numbers are rather stark. Sirius XM showed $142.34 in revenue per subscriber in 2012. That compares to only $6.51 per active Pandora user and $12.91 per Clear Channel listener.

A driving force, no pun intended, is new car sales. Sirius XM says that of the 14.5 million new cars sold in 2012 the company had 67% penetration in them. The forecast used to derive the higher subscriber numbers appears to be based on expected car sales growth. The company used projections of 15.3 million new cars sold in 2013 and 15.9 million in 2014. From 2015 to 2017 it used 16.3 million cars on a static basis per year. Sirius even sees more than 100 million Sirius XM-enabled vehicles in operation in 2017 to 2018.

Financial guidance for 2013 calls for revenue of more than $3.7 billion, although we would point out that Thomson Reuters already has a consensus estimate of $3.79 billion and the street-high estimate is $3.86 billion. The company sees 2013 EBITDA above $1.1 billion and free cash flows of about $915 million. The self-pay net subscriber additions are put at about 1.6 million, and total net subscriber additions are targeted to be about 1.4 million.

Out of the company’s $2 billion stock buyback plan, Sirius XM said that it has repurchased a total of 209 million shares as of April 26. Its special dividend of $0.05 at the end of 2012 also came to a $327 million total payout to its shareholders.

Sirius XM shares are up two cents at $3.52, against a 52-week trading range of $1.80 to $3.59. Its market capitalization is currently listed as $22.4 billion.

FULL SIRIUS XM SLIDE SHOW

Dish Network Corp. (NASDAQ: DISH) has tendered a competing offer for Clearwire at $3.30 a share.

Our biggest question is whether many of the key Clearwire shareholders will agree that the Sprint bid offers enough of a premium. Sprint’s prior buyout price was $2.97 per share and today’s offer is a 14% premium on top of that. At some point, it should be addressed that Clearwire shares had broken under the $1.00 mark before the Sprint-Softbank merger broke. It also should be pointed out that the new offer is a 162% premium to Clearwire’s closing share price the day before the Sprint-SoftBank discussions were first confirmed.

Clearwire dissidents may want to take note here. Sprint said, “The offer represents Sprint’s best and final offer.” The revised offer has been submitted to the Clearwire board of directors and is subject to its formal approval. Sprint even went on to say that Clearwire has received commitments from Comcast Corp. (NASDAQ: CMCSA), Intel Corp. (NASDAQ: INTC) and Bright House Networks. These companies collectively own about 26% of Clearwire’s shares not affiliated with Sprint and they are in support of the transaction.

Shares of Clearwire were halted and closed at $3.26 yesterday ahead of what was going to be a revised offer. Shares were up 6% at $3.46 before the halt against a 52-week range of $0.83 to $3.49.

Beazer Homes USA Inc. (NYSE: BZH) was cut to Neutral from Buy at Stern Agee.

CarMax Inc. (NYSE: KMX) was cut to Market Perform from Outperform at William Blair.

Carnival Corp. (NYSE: CCL) was cut to Neutral from Buy at UBS.

CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ: CME) was cut to Neutral from Outperform at Macquarie.

Coach Inc. (NYSE: COH) was cut to Equal Weight from Overweight at Morgan Stanley.

Deutsche Bank A.G. (NYSE: DB) was cut to Neutral from Overweight at J.P. Morgan.

Life Technologies Corp. (NASDAQ: LIFE) was cut to Underperform from Outperform at CLSA.

Oil States International Inc. (NYSE: OIS) was cut to Neutral from Buy at Stern Agee.

V.F. Corp. (NYSE: VFC) was cut to Market Perform from Outperform at Wells Fargo.

Wellcare Health Plans Inc. (NYSE: WCG) was cut to Neutral from Buy at Goldman Sachs.

See also: Top Analyst Upgrades and Positive Calls This Monday

Aetna Inc. (NYSE: AET) was reinstated as Buy at Goldman Sachs.

American Tower Corp. (NYSE: AMT) was raised to Outperform from Neutral at Macquarie.

BlackRock Inc. (NYSE: BLK) was raised to Outperform from Neutral at Macquarie.

Cray Inc. (NASDAQ: CRAY) was started as Buy with $25 price target at Stern Agee.

Cubist Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: CBST) was raised to Hold from Sell at Cantor Fitzgerald.

Hasbro Inc. (NASDAQ: HAS) started as Overweight at Piper Jaffray.

IntercontinentalExchange Inc. (NYSE: ICE) was raised to Outperform from Neutral at Macquarie.

LeapFrog Enterprises Inc. (NYSE: LF) was started as Overweight at Piper Jaffray.

Mattel Inc. (NASDAQ: MAT) started as Overweight at Piper Jaffray.

Sony Corp. (NYSE: SNE) was started as Buy at Jefferies.

Stifel Financial Corp. (NYSE: SF) was raised to Market Perform from Underperform at Wells Fargo.

Goldman Sachs has raised its 2013 S&P 500 price target to 1,750 from 1,625, and it raised the S&P 500 price target for 2014 to 1,900 from 1,775.

See also: Merrill Lynch Recommends Specialty Metals and Mining Stocks to Buy

S&P based the downgrade after earnings fell by 79%. It also downgraded Dell’s commercial paper rating to “A-2″ from “A-1″ as a part of the move. All ratings remain on CreditWatch with negative implications.

What S&P is signaling is that the ratings will likely be lowered again in the future. The real warning is that the downgrade warning ahead signals that it would be outside of investment grade parameters if the $24.4 billion acquisition by Michael Dell and Silver Lake is actually completed.

Another weakness is highlighted in the company’s computing segment that accounts for 63% of sales having seen its operating margins fall to 2.5% from 6.5% a year earlier. S&P sees highly competitive market conditions continuing in the PC market. S&P believes that this will pressure cash flow and EBITDA margin. Another issue is that Dell’s expected $2 billion in operating costs will not fully be realized before the end of fiscal year 2015.

Dell shares closed up 1-cent at $13.41 on the day. That still leaves only 1.7% of merger arbitrage profits left until the deal closes.

The firm chose companies in the following segments: Aerospace & Defense; Auto, Auto Parts and Auto Retailers; Coal & Precious Metals; Engineering & Construction; Construction Materials & Diversified Industrials; Oil & Gas; Services; and Shipping & Transportation Equipment. We included a street-consensus target from Thomson Reuters and put in firm data specific to these calls today.

The Boeing Company (NYSE: BA) was the top pick for Aerospace & Defense “given our updated commercial aircraft forecast coupled with our view that Boeing’s gross order book will be >1.0x in 2013/2014. Longer-term, given the cash flow dynamics with ramping production and improving 787 cost curve, a 50% move in Boeing shares is achievable before the peak of the cycle in 2015.” Boeing’s $120 price target at Stern Agee compares to a current price of $98.92 and compares to a consensus price target of $103.90. BE Aerospace (NASDAQ: BEAV) was also shown as a top pick after Boeing with big upside. BE Aero trades at $62.95 and Stern Agee’s $72 target compares to $69.17 from Wall Street.

Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F), General Motors Company (NYSE: GM) and TRW Automotive Holdings Corp. (NYSE: TRW) led in the Auto, Auto Parts and Auto Retailers. The firm said, “We believe all three companies are well positioned to benefit from the global demand trends, as well as the likelihood of company specific actions to enhance shareholder value.” Ford is the only one of these three with a dividend.

Consol Energy Inc. (NYSE: CNX) was Stern Agee’s Coal & Precious Metals top pick as the low-cost provider with a solid balance sheet. The firm said, “We note the solid potential of upside to Northern Appalachian thermal margins as scrubbed utilities and international power companies seek out high heat coals, with enhanced met coal margins once pricing recovers and added shale exploitation success. We believe the market will accelerate its appreciation of the asset value compiled at Consol, especially with an overcapitalized balance sheet.” Shares closed at $33.97 recently, way under the $60 target price from Stern Agee. That implies almost a double your money call, but we would caution that Wall Street’s consensus price target was $42.22 per share on last look.

Fluor Corp. (NYSE: FLR) was the top pick in Engineering & Construction and Stern Agee said, “We expect continued strong cash generation, balance sheet strength and margin expansion as the current cycle evolves. With the approval of the second U.S. LNG export facility last week, we believe these opportunities continue to become more tangible providing further catalysts for Fluor.” Stern Agee see Fluor going to $80 and Wall Street has a consensus of $75 on the stock versus $64.57 recently.

Martin Marietta Materials Inc. (NYSE: MLM) is the top pick for Construction Materials & Diversified Industrials as the number-two producer of construction aggregates with a strong balance sheet and significant operating leverage of over 60% to a volume recovery. The firm said, “For investors in housing-related stocks looking for what’s next, we think MLM is it.” At $110.91 now, the consensus target is actually under the current price at $110.67. Stern Agee has the street-high target of $128 for this stock.

Whiting Petroleum Corp. (NYSE: WLL) was the top exploration and production pick in Oil & Gas. Stern Agee said, “Given increasing activity in the Permian Basin and Niobrara this year, we see upside to 2013E production of 94.8 mboe/d. With a possible monetization of the mature Postle field and/or a joint venture in an emerging basin as 2013 catalysts, we believe shares remain attractively valued relative to our $62 price target.” Whiting’s current price is $46.54 against a consensus price target of $60.50 on the stock.

Superior Energy Services, Inc. (NYSE: SPN) was said to remain as a top pick in the Services sector which should post strong earnings and cash flow growth in 2014-15. Stern Agee likes its improving U.S. land market and rising Gulf of Mexico activity coming with strong international growth initiatives. The price of $28.44 compares to a Stern Agee target of $34.00 and a consensus target price of $32.93.

The Greenbrier Companies, Inc. (NYSE: GBX) is Stern Agee’s top pick in Shipping & Transportation Equipment. The firm said. “We believe GBX is poised to benefit from continued strong order flow for tank cars, a re-acceleration in non-tank car backlog growth, and robust margin expansion over the next two years as more higher margin tank and automotive cars are delivered out of the backlog.” Shares trade at $24.45 and hit a new 52-week high of $24.45 today, and Stern Agee sees the stock going up to $28 versus a $26 consensus price target.

Eagle Materials Inc. (NYSE: EXP) was also given a positive reiterated Buy rating. Stern Agee said that the construction recovery remains on track, as does the company’s frac sand business. Both are expected to be strong drivers over the next few years. At about $77 now, Stern Agee has a target price of $85.00 and the consensus price target is $83.50.

As you can see, some of these picks are very aggressive while others are very much in-line with Wall Street consensus target price expectations.

Silver hit a low not seen since late in 2010 this morning, and the price of gold has again broken back under the $1,400 per ounce mark. Gold is back up to $1,486 on last look. Kitco.com was bearish earlier showing silver could break under $20 before it showed the total numbers of speculative bullish positions in gold, silver, platinum, and palladium.

The move is trying to bring favor back to miners. The Market Vectors Gold Miners ETF (NYSE: GDX) top ETF is up by 4.5% at $27.58 and the Market Vectors Junior Gold Miners ETF (NYSE: GDXJ) is up 4.8% at $10.96. The reality is that these bounces are off of 52-week lows and much may be short covering. Gold itself was down over 19% in dollar terms so far in 2013 before today’s bounce. Now compare that to the miners, where the “GDX” was down literally about 45% just in 2013 as of this morning’s new lows.

Silver Wheaton Corp. (NYSE: SLW) frequently trades in tandem with silver and its shares have recovered by 4% to $22.62 so far this Monday. The iShares Silver Trust (NYSE: SLV) was down as much as 29% in 2013 at this morning’s lows, while Silver Wheaton was down about 41% year to date as this Monday’s lows.

ETFS Physical Platinum Shares (NYSE: PPLT) is up 2% at $147.74 so far today, but this broke under $142 earlier and the platinum ETF was down by only 6% so far in 2013 at the lows this morning.

Our view is generally that trying to call an exact bottom is a very painful game. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t, and there are equal numbers of reasons for each. That being said, here is a view of the latest action in the price of gold via stockcharts.com showing you where the GLD ETF was trying to hold some support this Monday.

Bank of America Corp. (NYSE: BAC) was cut to Market Perform from outperform at KBW.

Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. (NASDAQ: BBBY) was cut to Hold from Buy at Jefferies.

BlackRock Inc. (NYSE: BLK) was cut to Market Perform from Outperform at KBW.

Brinker International Inc. (NYSE: EAT) was cut to Market Perform from outperform at Wells Fargo.

Charles Schwab Corp. (NYSE: SCHW) was cut to Underperform from Market Perform at KBW.

Kansas City Southern Corp. (NYSE: KSU) was cut to Sell from Hold at Stifel Nicolaus.

Leap Wireless Inc. (NASDAQ: LEAP) was cut to Sell from an already cautious Hold rating at Deutsche Bank.

Lowe’s Companies Inc. (NYSE: LOW) was cut to Perform from outperform at Oppenheimer.

NeuStar Inc. (NYSE: NSR) was cut to Neutral from Buy at Goldman Sachs.

Red Hat Inc. (NYSE: RHT) was cut to Market Perform from Outperform BMO Capital.

Ruby Tuesday Inc. (NYSE: RT) was cut to Market Perform from Outperform at Wells Fargo.

SanDisk Corp. (NASDAQ: SNDK) was cut to Neutral from Buy at Nomura.

TD Ameritrade Holding Corp. (NYSE: AMTD) was cut to Underperform from Market Perform at KBW.

See also: Top Analyst Upgrades and Positive Calls This Monday

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE: ABT) was raised to Buy from Neutral at Goldman Sachs.

Accenture PLC (NYSE: ACN) was raised to Buy from Neutral at Goldman Sachs.

NetEase Inc. (NASDAQ: NTES) was raised to Buy from Neutral at Citigroup.

Deutsche Bank gave its top oil services stocks to buy today.

J.C. Penney Co. Inc. (NYSE: JCP) was raised to Buy from Hold at Maxim Group.

Michael Kors Holdings Ltd. (NYSE: KORS) was started as Buy at Canaccord Genuity.

Oppenheimer gave a list of top consumer and business services stocks to buy.

Pandora Media Inc. (NYSE: P) was raised to Equal Weight from Underweight at Barclays.

Priceline.com Inc. (NASDAQ: PCLN) was raised to Buy from Hold at Deutsche Bank.

T-Mobile US Inc. (NYSE: TMUS) was raised to Buy from Hold at Deutsche Bank.

Read also: Today’s Top Analyst Downgrades and Cautious Research Calls

The quiet period for Taylor Morrison Home Corp. (NYSE: TMHC) has ended and we have seen the following coverage calls from Wall Street: started as Buy at Citigroup, started as Outperform at Credit Suisse and started as Overweight at J.P. Morgan.