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Energy

And Suddenly, Solar Back To Bonkers (FSLR, LDK, SPWRA, TAN, SOLR, STP)

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By Douglas A. McIntyre Updated Published
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The sudden strength in the stock market and the rise in the price of oil is suddenly making the key solar sector stocks rise.   Solar shares also appear to be benefiting from China’s support of a subsidy program. DigiTimes noted that while the government supports the development of solar energy, no time line for any subsidy has been give.  Unfortunately, DigiTimes.com website was not connecting, so no link can be offered.  We have seen reports on this throughout the week noting the possible “assistance” on huge solar projects in China, but this is taking shares of First Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ: FSLR), LDK Solar Co. (NYSE: LDK), SunPower Corporation (NASDAQ: SPWRA), Claymore/MAC Global Solar Energy (NYSE: TAN), GT Solar International, Inc. (NASDAQ: SOLR), and Suntech Power Holdings Co. Ltd. (NYSE: STP) are all rallying sharply.  These are just some of the screaming gainers in the sector, but you will see double-digit gains, sometimes huge double-digit gains, across the board:

First Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ: FSLR)  $155.38 (+$21.40)
Day’s Range: $135.65 to $158.49; 52wk Range: $85.28 to $317.00
Volume:    5,305,547; Avg Vol: 4.1 million

LDK Solar Co. (NYSE: LDK) $8.35  +$2.46; +41.77%)
Day’s Range: $6.20 to $8.47; 52wk-Range: $3.75 to $52.40
Volume:    8,962,559
Avg Vol: 2.2 million

SunPower Corporation (NASDAQ: SPWRA) $27.81 (+$3.77; +15.68%)
Day’s Range: $24.91 to $29.73; 52wk-Range: $18.50 to $107.00
Volume:    3,455,101; Avg Vol: 2.1 million

Claymore/MAC Global Solar Energy (NYSE: TAN) $7.36 (+$1.18; +19.09%)
Day’s Range: $6.25 to $7.56; 52wk-Range: $4.65 to $30.79
Volume:    1,097,490; Avg Vol: 333,459

GT Solar International, Inc. (NASDAQ: SOLR) $5.72 (+$0.84; +17.37%)
Day Range: $5.00 to $5.86; 52wk-Range: $0.88  to $14.45
Volume:    1,445,524; Avg Vol.: 751,000

Suntech Power Holdings Co. Ltd. (NYSE: STP) $11.69 (+$3.84, 48.92%)
Day Range: $8.25 to $11.99; 52wk-Range: $5.09 to $51.75
Volume:    15,707,293; Avg Vol: 2.9 million

What will end up being more amazing than just this move is whether or not it can hold without profit taking and short sellers betting against it.  If commodities keep rising, you will likely again see just how many alternative energy stocks are in fact essentially leveraged oil and gas stocks.

Jon C. Ogg
March 26, 2009

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About the Author Douglas A. McIntyre →

Douglas A. McIntyre is the co-founder, chief executive officer and editor in chief of 24/7 Wall St. and 24/7 Tempo. He has held these jobs since 2006.

McIntyre has written thousands of articles for 24/7 Wall St. He is an expert on corporate finance, the automotive industry, media companies and international finance. He has edited articles on national demographics, sports, personal income and travel.

His work has been quoted or mentioned in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, NBC News, Time, The New Yorker, HuffPost USA Today, Business Insider, Yahoo, AOL, MarketWatch, The Atlantic, Bloomberg, New York Post, Chicago Tribune, Forbes, The Guardian and many other major publications. McIntyre has been a guest on CNBC, the BBC and television and radio stations across the country.

A magna cum laude graduate of Harvard College, McIntyre also was president of The Harvard Advocate. Founded in 1866, the Advocate is the oldest college publication in the United States.

TheStreet.com, Comps.com and Edgar Online are some of the public companies for which McIntyre served on the board of directors. He was a Vicinity Corporation board member when the company was sold to Microsoft in 2002. He served on the audit committees of some of these companies.

McIntyre has been the CEO of FutureSource, a provider of trading terminals and news to commodities and futures traders. He was president of Switchboard, the online phone directory company. He served as chairman and CEO of On2 Technologies, the video compression company that provided video compression software for Adobe’s Flash. Google bought On2 in 2009.

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