Crude oil is credited with upsurge
The DJIA gained nearly 185 points for the week and NASDAQ went up 62. Wall Street suggests the surge is related to increased crude oil prices. The 20 Solar Stocks Index took another slide to finish at 385.89, an 11% drop from last Friday.
On July 11, 2008 crude oil was at $146.65 a barrel and the Dow took a 129 point hit that day. The high oil prices back then were bad for the stock market because expensive oil absorbs capital the could have gone to other areas. Today, as crude sits around $74 a barrel, up from $40/barrel not long ago, the increase to many suggests the economy is recovering. It seems to be the inverse from last year.
Either way, the market still seems to be inextricably tied to the cost of crude. Crude oil, the dirty stuff, that powers most forms of transportation.
Solar power is gaining popularity nationwide but even though panel prices are a record lows, the weak economy is keeping many potential buyers on the sidelines. Low panel prices come as a result of oversupply of both panels and actual silicon wafers. Thin-film companies like UniSolar, First Solar and (indirectly) Applied Materials see their sales faltering likely because crystalline panel pricing has dropped to the point of being the same or cheaper than their PV offerings. Also, high-concentration PV makers, who use lenses to magnify the output of smaller silicon chips, have less of a play in the solar market because they counted on silicon prices staying high. With today's glut of crystalline panels and wafers, the HCPV approach is neutralized.
Spiking electricity costs are still the biggest motivation to go solar and wind. As the economy bounces back and the need for power surges, solar will surge along with it. Besides, many states either have or are about to institute clean energy mandates that public utilities will have to meet. For the time being solar will have to bear these challenging times just like virtually all other sectors.
20 Solar Stocks Index Week of August 17-23, 2009
| Monday Open | Friday Close | Up/Down | % Change | Close 1/5/09* | Close 3/6/09** | |
| Dow Jones DJIA | 9321.40 | 9505.96 | +184.56 | =1.980% | 8952.89 | 6626.95 |
| NASDAQ | 1985.52 | 2020.90 | +62.38 | +3.185 | 1628.03 | 1293.85 |
| Akeena Solar AKNS | 1.21 | 1.17 | -.04 | -3.420 | 2.28 | .61 |
| Amtel Systems ASYS | 4.91 | 5.05 | +.14 | +2.851 | 4.00 | 2.73 |
| Applied Materials AMAT | 13.55 | 13.74 | +.19 | +1.402 | 10.67 | 8.70 |
| Canadian Solar CSIQ | 16.54 | 15.98 | -.56 | -11.24 | 7.00 | 3.0601 |
| ECD (UniSolar) ENER | 13.35 | 12.36 | -.99 | -8.009 | 29.33 | 17.45 |
| Entech Solar ENSL.OB | .2010 | .1750 | -.026 | -14.85 | .28 | .23 |
| Evergreen Solar ESLR | 2.00 | 1.89 | -.11 | -5.820 | 3.60 | 1.03 |
| First Solar FSLR | 141.78 | 121.54 | -20.24 | -16.65 | 157.80 | 108.49 |
| GT Solar Int. SOLR | 5.50 | 5.38 | -.12 | -2.230 | 4.00 | 4.02 |
| JA Solar JASO | 4.17 | 3.79 | -.38 | -10.02 | 5.09 | 1.91 |
| Kyocera KYO | 81.45 | 79.85 | 11.60 | -2.003 | 71.87 | 54.21 |
| LDK Solar LDK | 9.22 | 8.94 | -.28 | -3.132 | 14.84 | 4.40 |
| MEMC Elect. WFR | 16.82 | 17.00 | +.18 | +1.070 | 15.76 | 13.68 |
| Renesola SOL | 5.38 | 5.53 | +.18 | +2.788 | 5.15 | 2.1201 |
| Satcon SATC | 1.90 | 1.96 | +.06 | +3.157 | 1.60 | 1.23 |
| SolarFun SOLF | 6.70 | 5.51 | -1.19 | -21.59 | 6.12 | 2.30 |
| SunPower SPWRA | 27.65 | 26.25 | -1.40 | -5.33 | 45.13 | 23.39 |
| SunTech STP | 17.64 | 15.30 | -2.34 | -15.29 | 13.55 | 5.34 |
| Trina Solar TSL | 28.31 | 25.93 | -2.38 | -9.178 | 10.09 | 7.23 |
| Yingli YGE | 12.43 | 11.07 | -1.36 | -12.28 | 7.25 | 3.888 |
| 20SSI Weekly Cumulative: | Previous 410.71 | Current 385.89 | Change -43.19/-11% | Avg Stock -6.21% | 1/05/09* 415.41 | 3/06/09** 266.01 |
** NOTE: Consensus "new" bull market began on Monday, March 9, 2009.
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