July 27-31: Dow, NASDAQ Creep Up; Solar Drops 5.8%

Dow's best month since Oct. '02

The Dow Jones Industrial Average recorded its best month in nearly seven years, posting an 882-point boost since Friday, July 3. In fact it was the best July for Wall Street in twenty years. Gains for the week for the Dow and NASDAQ were meager however, with both gaining less than a percent. The 20SSI decreased 5.8% from last week's close but the net gain since July 3 was nearly 22 points.

Company earnings and earnings outlooks continue to lead the surge on the major indexes. The big gainer for solar this week was Entech Solar which announced "successful completion of the preliminary design review and prototype of the next-generation concentrating solar product, ThermaVolt II." The company is also completed preliminary design for a tubular skylight. To be frank, many solar investors may have decided to take short-term profits on the terrific gains made in the industry earlier on the month.

Being active in the solar business, this blogger sees renewed interest in PV systems as the summer gets hotter in California and can last into November. Power rates are high and demand shoots up with the gross necessity of air conditioning--especially in the inland deserts which are getting more inhabitants resulting from cheaper land. Places like Palm Springs, Palm Desert, Indian Wells and Indio are beginning to see some serious traffic. There is a thriving town called Ridgecrest farther north with its own solar-powered junior college. Ridgecrest is 17 miles from Death Valley, the hottest spot in the contiguous 48 states. Inland desert temperatures range from 98-123 degrees in the hot months and the AC required to stay comfortable can result in electricity bills that look more like mortgage payments. ROI for solar installations here is quick and painless.

(Picture: A parabolic trough array in the California desert near Victorville.)

Week of July 27-31, 2009

	Monday Open	Friday Close	Up/Down	% Change	Close 1/5/09*	Close 3/6/09**
Dow Jones DJIA	9093.24	9171.62	+78.38	+.8619%	8952.89	6626.95
NASDAQ	1965.96	1978.5	+12.54	+.6378	1628.03	1293.85
Akeena Solar AKNS	1.41	1.3101	-.0999	-.0763	2.28	.61
Amtel Systems ASYS	5.56	5.74	+.18	+3.237	4.00	2.73
Applied Materials AMAT	13.19	13.80	+.61	+4.625	10.67	8.70
Canadian Solar CSIQ	15.57	14.54	-1.03	-7.084	7.00	3.0601
ECD (UniSolar) ENER	15.22	14.24	-1.03	-7.084	29.33	17.45
Entech Solar ENSL.OB	.1900	.2300	+.0400	+21.05	.28	.23
Evergreen Solar ESLR	2.34	2.10	-.24	-11.43	3.60	1.03
First Solar FSLR	169.43	154.39	-15.04	-9.741	157.80	108.49
GT Solar Int. SOLR	6.16	6.20	+.04	+.6493	4.00	4.02
JA Solar JASO	5.32	4.81	-.51	+10.60	5.09	1.91
Kyocera KYO	78.83	80.17	+1.34	+1.699	71.87	54.21
LDK Solar LDK	11.81	10.94	-.87	-7.952	14.84	4.40
MEMC Elect. WFR	18.74	17.62	-1.12	-6.356	15.76	13.68
Renesola SOL	6.20	5.45	-.75	-1.376	5.15	2.1201
Satcon SATC	1.80	1.89	+.09	+.5586	1.60	1.23
SolarFun SOLF	7.50	7.20	-.30	-4.166	6.12	2.30
SunPower SPWRA	32.04	32.20	+.16	+.4993	45.13	23.39
SunTech STP	20.49	18.39	-2.10	-11.42	13.55	5.34
Trina Solar TSL	31.10	28.26	-2.84	-10.05	10.09	7.23
Yingli YGE	15.10	13.27	-1.83	-13.79	7.25	3.888
20SSI Weekly Cumulative:	Previous 458	Current 432.75	Change -25.25/-5.8%	Avg Stock -3.208%	1/05/09* 415.41	3/06/09** 266.01

* The starting date of the 20 Solar Stock Index (20SSI).
** NOTE: Consensus "new" bull market began on Monday, March 9, 2009.