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HOUSING PRICES ARE WAY UP, BUT EXPERTS DISAGREE ON WHY

Posted on May 29, 2013 by AllenCaron

Photo courtesy of thejewishdenver.com

What is driving the recent rapid rise in housing prices? And is this a sign of a
sustained economic recovery? Those were among the questions during a segment
covering U.S. housing on CNBC May 28 (http://www.cnbc.com/id/100769361). Home
prices during the first quarter of 2013 were up by 10.2 percent nationally,
according to the S&P/Case-Shiller Index, the highest since 2007. Phoenix and Las
Vegas, two of the regions hit hardest by the recession, were up the most.

Experts point to the very low mortgage rates (held artificially low by the Fed)
and the low inventory of houses as among the reasons for the increase. Very few
new houses are being built so sales are cutting into the inventory, increasing
demand for the few left for sale.

Those who believe the housing market will continue to prosper say population
growth will be a driver: One million new households a year are being created.
Naysayers, who believe the price increases are not sustainable, say the market
is being driven by investors who are buying and renting. They also point to
still low construction employment numbers and the fact that college graduates,
who should be a major factor in first time homebuyers, are not getting jobs and
are shackled with $1 trillion in student loan debt.

While there is little doubt that houses are being appraised at higher prices,
the small cap home builders, who had been on a tear since last summer, have seen
their valuations flatten out. Here is an update on the home builders we have
been following for the past year:

Red Bank, NJ-based Hovnanian Enterprises (NYSE: HOV, http://www.khov.com/)
specializes in single-family detached homes, condominiums and town homes and
operates in two segments: homebuilding and financial services. As recently as
October 2011 HOV was trading for $0.89. But since March HOV has been hovering
around the $6 mark. HOV closed May 28 at $6.15, up 11 cents for the day with
a market cap of $856 million. Its 52-week trading range is $1.52-$7.43.

Los Angeles-based KB Home (NYSE: KBH, http://www.kbhome.com/) is a home building
and financial services company catering in large part to first time buyers. KB
is an old Southern California home builder, founded in 1957 and formerly called
Kaufman and Broad. As recently as last Aug. 31 KBH traded for $11.04 with a
market cap of $851 million. It closed May 28 at $23.16, up 5 cents for the day
with a market cap of $1.9 billion. Its 52-week trading range is $6.46-$25.14.

Columbus, OH-based M/I Homes Inc. (NYSE: MHO, http://www.mihomes.com/) builds
single family homes primarily in the Midwest, Mid-Atlantic and southern parts of
the U.S. The company was founded in 1973 and, like most of the other builders,
has homebuilding and financial services divisions. It also had a run up into
March and closed March 20 at $26.03 with a market cap of $584 million. MHO
closed May 28 at $26.47, up 29 cents for the day. Its 52-week trading range is
$12.24-$29.07.

Atlanta-based Beazer Homes USA (NYSE: BZH, http://www.beazer.com/) builds and
sells single-family and multiple-family homes in 16 states in the U.S. It also
acquires, improves and rents homes. The company operates through commissioned
home sales counselors and independent brokers. Back in mid-September BZH was
trading for $3.77. It closed March 20 at $16.86 with a market cap of $410
million. On May 28, BZH closed at $21.79, up 44 cents for the day, with a market
cap of $547 million. Its 52-week trading range is $3.46-$23.29.

Irvine, CA-based Standard Pacific (NYSE: SPF,
http://www.standardpacifichomes.com/) builds single family and detached homes
and targets a wide range of homebuyers. It also provides mortage financing
services through its mortage finance subsidiary, Standard Pacific Mortgage. SPF
closed March 20 at $9.07 with a market cap of $1.9 billion. It closed May 28 at
$9.52 down 16 cents with a market cap of $2.1 billion. Its 52-week range is
$4.39-$9.97.

Westlake Village, CA-based The Ryland Group (NYSE: RYL, http://www.ryland.com/)
is a homebuilder and mortage finance company. RYL covers many aspects of the
home buying process including design, construction, title insurance and
escrow. RYL closed March 20 at $42.16 with a market cap of $1.9 billion. It
closed May 28 at $47.60, down 86 cents, with a market cap of $2.2 billion. Its
52-week trading range is $19.25-$50.42.

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Posted in Bull market, Construction & Engineering, Economic indicators,
Education, Financial services, Home building, Mortgage availability, Mortgage
finance, mortgage origination & servicing, Recession recovery, smallcap growth,
Smallcap value, Unemployment reports | Tagged Beazer Homes, condominiums,
detached homes, escrow, homebuilders, Hovnanian Enterprises, Kaufman and Broad,
KB Home, M/I Homes, mortgage finance, S&P/Case-Shiller Index, Standard Pacific,
Standard Pacific Mortgage, The Ryland Group | Leave a comment

THE FUTURE OF GREEN TECH INVESTMENT

Posted on May 24, 2013 by AllenCaron

According to a recent article in Green Technica by author Joshua S. Hill, green
tech investment could “skyrocket” by 2030. Hill cites research from Bloomberg
New Energy Finance, including a detailed analysis of three different potential
scenarios. As their research shows, wind and solar could have the efficiency and
popularity needed to bring the renewable energy industry into its own.

Although clean energy ETFs have been underperforming in an era where fossil
fuels have largely recovered from recession-era prices, each of the three
scenarios explored by Bloomberg New Energy Finance shows an increase in green
technology investing. A 230% increase in annual investment by 2030 would mean
increasing to a total of $630 billion per year. Bloomberg New Energy Finance
largely attributes this to the decreasing cost of wind and solar technologies,
as compared to fossil fuel alternatives. The report also shows increased use of
hydro power, geothermal and biomass.

Michael Liebreich, Bloomberg New Energy Finance’s chief executive, believes that
we have already passed the “tipping point” for clean energy technology. He
points out that, even though most news coverage is discussing the future of
fossil fuels, costs for green energy and implementation are falling. He says,
“The news right now is dominated by stories of pain caused by overcapacity on
the supply side of clean energy, and the lure of cheap shale gas, but this is
playing out against the falling costs of renewable energy and of all the
technologies required to integrate it into our energy system, and falling costs
win. What it suggests is that we are beyond the tipping point towards a cleaner
energy future.”

The three scenarios explored by Bloomberg New Energy Finance are “New Normal”,
“Barrier Busting” and “Traditional Territory”. “New Normal” is cited as the most
likely, and ends with a probable $630 billion per year in green tech investing.
Each scenario calls for growth in the renewable energy sector, notably in solar
and wind energy, along with decreases in fossil fuels. Even the modest
“Traditional Territory” scenario shows green tech investment increasing to $470
billion by 2030.

Guy Turner, the head of economics and commodities for Bloomberg New Energy
Finance, says that renewable technologies will be the “anchor of new generating
capacity additions” in all scenarios. He points out, “The main driver for future
growth of the renewable sector over this timeframe is a shift from policy
support to falling costs and natural demand.” Read the original article.

When we last looked at solar energy in particular, we noted that 2013 is a
slower year for installations due to an oversupply of solar panels. However, by
bringing this technology to end-users more quickly and at lowered prices, we
explored the idea that solar energy may be closer to being at parity with fossil
fuel based energy. Also helping the situation is a budgeted increase in spending
for the Department of Energy, including a 75 percent increase in spending on
advanced vehicles to $575 million, and a 29 percent increase in spending on the
ongoing effort to integrate solar and wind power into the national electric
grid.

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Posted in Alternative energy, climate change, Global warming, Greentech, Hydro
electric power, Oil and gas, Renewable energy, Solar energy, Technology
investment, Uncategorized, Water, Wind energy | Tagged Alternative energy,
cleantech, climate change, green tech investing, Greentech, renewable energy,
Solar energy, solar panels, solar power, Sustainable energy, tech investment,
technology investing, wind power | Leave a comment

IT’S A SMALL CAP WORLD (FOR NOW) – RUSSELL 2000 INDEX UP NEARLY 18 PERCENT
FOR YEAR

Posted on May 22, 2013 by AllenCaron

The stock market finally “took a breather” on Monday of this week, as the Wall
Street Journal characterized it. The resilient bull market of 2013 has seen only
four sessions in May that had a decline in the Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index
and Monday was one of them. This year’s bull market rally has recently been
across the board–Asian markets have been up, European markets turned up, and
market watchers are anxiously waiting for tomorrow, Wednesday, May 22, when
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke is scheduled to testify to Congress and
the Fed releases the minutes from its last public policy-setting meeting. Will
Bernanke offer up any clues about his next steps?

Most importantly for Smallcap World, the Russell 2000 index, which tracks the
performance of smallcap U.S. equities, climbed above the 1,000 level for the
first time Monday, a metric that MarketWatch considers “psychologically
important” for smallcap stocks. As of Monday morning, May 20, the Russell 2000
was up 17.9 percent for the year-to-date, according to FactSet (The Associated
Press reported the Russell 2000 up 17.5 percent for the year).

The conventional wisdom is that small caps stock are doing well because they are
more U.S. focused than the large caps, which tend to be multi-national. And the
U.S. economy is recovering as opposed to other economies around the world. But
many large caps are doing well, too,

You don’t have to look far to find small cap stocks at 52-week highs, even “all
time highs.” Of course the question always is, how much higher can these stocks
go? Buy now or wait for the correction that so many experts have been predicting
is right around the corner for months now?

We’ve selected a few stocks we know are at all-time or 52-week highs, and others
we’ve covered lately that seem to be on the upswing.

Calabasas, CA-based National Technical Systems * (Nasdaq: NTSC,
http://www.nts.com/) is a relatively unknown smallcap stock but also the world’s
largest independent engineering services and testing company. It’s biggest
markets include aerospace and defense, but also works in the automotive and
telecommunications markets, among others. NTSC closed at an all-time high of
$13.09, up 94 cents on May 21, with a market cap now of about $150 million. NTSC
is lightly traded, only about 7,500 shares a day, although that is trending up.

Northville, MI-based Gentherm * Incorporated (Nasdaq: THRM,
http://www.gentherm.com/) is a global developer and marketer of thermal
management technologies for a broad range of heating and cooling and temperature
control technologies. Best known for its Climate Control Seat systems that
actively heat and cool seats in more than 50 vehicles made by the world’s
leading automobile manufacturers, Gentherm (formerly called Amerigon) has
branched out into heated and cooled bedding systems, cupholders, storage bins
and office chairs. THRM also reached a 52-week high of more than $18 this week,
then closed May 20 at $17.78, down 33 cents for the day. Its market cap is now
$594 million. As recently as last July THRM was trading at just above $10.

We recently featured Cincinnati-based LSI Industries (Nasdaq: LYTS,
http://www.lsi-industries.com/) , a company that offers a different take on an
LED lighting company. LYTS creates LED video screens and LED specialty lighting
for sports stadiums and arenas, digital billboards and entertainment
companies. It closed April 29 at $7.09 with a market cap of $170 million. LYTS
closed May 21 at $8, up 1 cent for the day, with a market cap now of $192
million.

Analysts at CRT Capital recently upgraded Atlanta-based Beazer Homes USA (NYSE:
BZH, http://www.beazer.com/), a company that builds and sells single-family and
multiple-family homes in 16 states in the U.S., to a “Buy” with a $29 price
target. BZH also acquires, improves and rents homes. The company operates
through commissioned home sales counselors and independent brokers. As recently
as last Sept. 14 BZH was trading for $3.77. It closed March 20 at $16.86 with a
market cap of $410 million. BZH closed May 21 at $21.75, down 98 cents for the
day. Its market cap is now $538 million.

San Jose, CA-based SunPower Corp. (Nasdaq: SPWR, http://www.sunpowercorp.com/),
like many solar stocks, have been on the upswing lately. SPWR closed May 8 at
$15.36, down 6 cents for the day, with a market cap of $1.8 billion. It closed
May 21 at $21, down $1.70 for the day but got up to $23.76 just last week.
Its 52-week trading range is now $3.71-$23.76.

Fremont, CA-based Procera Networks (Nasdaq: PKT,
http://www.proceranetworks.com/) works with mobile and broadband network
operators providing intelligent policy enforcement solutions for managing
private networks. PKT’s products are sold under the PacketLogic brand name to
more than 600 customers in North America, Europe and Asia. PKT’s 52-week trading
range is $10.12-$25.99. At mid-day May 2 it was trading at $11.22, with a market
cap of $229 million. At market close May 21 PKT was trading at $13.89, down 3
cents for the day, with a market cap of $282 million.

* Denotes client of Allen & Caron Inc., publisher of this blog.

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Posted in Aerospace testing, Aircraft & aerospace, Alternative energy,
Automotive, Bull market, Business Services, Construction & Engineering, Consumer
Products, Defense stocks, Economic indicators, Greentech, Home building,
Internet, Renewable energy, smallcap growth, Smallcap value, Solar energy,
streaming video | Tagged Amerigon, Beazer Homes, Ben Bernanke, Bull market,
Climate Control Seat systems, Corp., CRT Capital, Gentherm, LED, LED lighting,
LED video screens, LSI Industries, multiple-family homes, National Technical
Systems, PacketLogic, Procera Networks, Russell 2000 Index, single family homes,
Standard & Poor's 500 index, SunPower | Leave a comment

TESLA A BRIGHT SPOT IN STILL DIM, BUT IMPROVING ELECTRIC CAR INDUSTRY

Posted on May 16, 2013 by AllenCaron

Photo of Nissan Leaf S courtesy of evworld.com

Anyone watching the still slow but improving progress of the electric car
industry may have seen the Bloomberg Businessweek story on the “Tale of Two
Electric Car Makers: Tesla Soars, Fisker Flops”
(http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2013-05-08/a-tale-of-two-electric-car-makers-tesla-soars-fisker-flops).
Tesla Motors not only produced a profit in the first quarter, as advertized, but
also increased its guidance on sales for the year, from 20,000 to 21,000
cars. TSLA revenues were up 83 percent year-over-year to $562 million and the
stock is soaring (see below).

While the article outlines supply chain and battery issues and other “kinks
in its processes” Tesla needs to iron out, their stock is soaring and the
outlook looks good. The contrast was provided by Anaheim, CA-based Fisker
Automotive, which is laying off employees and hiring bankruptcy consultants, the
article reports. Another electric car maker, Los Angeles-based CODA Automotive,
recently filed for bankruptcy protection and announced it was “focusing its
business strategy on the growing energy storage market,” according to a company
filing.

For more positive electric car news, the BBC posted an article this week on the
Nissan Leaf (http://www.bbc.com/autos/story/20130509-leaf-charges-into-mid-life)
as it “charges through mid-life.” The Leaf, billed as “the first truly global
mass-produced electric vehicle,” now includes the Leaf S, a lower cost model
“designed to lower the barrier of entry to EV ownership.” One of the cost
cutting moves was to move its assembly line from Japan to another Nissan factory
in Smyrna, TE.

The BBC put the Leaf through its paces and managed to get 75 miles from a full
charge, right about in line with Nissan estimates. Competitors mentioned in the
article include the Toyota Prius PH-V and Ford C-Max Energi, both plug-in
hybrids.

If anyone out there is charged up about the electric vehicle market, and knows
of a small cap stock play in this market, please let us know. Meanwhile, we’ve
been following a few small caps, plus Tesla to see how their stock is moving.
We’ve also added a new company, Car Charging Group, to our list.

Palo Alto, CA-based Tesla Motors (Nasdaq: TSLA, http://www.teslamotors.com/)
manufactures the Tesla Roadster, the Model S and other electric vehicles and
electric powertrain components. It’s way too large for our small cap blog
focus, but just as a reference, the last time we looked at Tesla last February
20 it was trading at $38.90 with a market cap of $4.4 billion. As we mentioned,
TSLA stock has been on a huge roll. It closed May 15 at $84.84, up $1.60 for the
day. Its 52-week trading range is now $25.52-$97.12.

Santa Rosa, CA-based ZAP (OTC: ZAAP.OB, http://www.zapworld.com/) makes a
variety of all-electric vehicles including trucks, motorcycles, shuttle buses
and sedans and was formerly known as ZAPWORLD.COM. When we last checked on Feb.
20 its stock closed at $0.08 with a market cap of $24. ZAAP closed May 15 at
$0.14, up 3 cents for the day, with a market cap of $42 million. Its 52-week
trading range is $0.06-$0.27.

San Diego-based Maxwell Technologies Inc. (Nasdaq: MXWL,
http://www.maxwell.com/) was formerly known as Maxwell Laboratories. The company
manufactures ultracapacitors that are energy storage devices and power delivery
systems for use in transportation, automotive, IT and industrial electronics.
MXWL closed back on Feb. 20 at $10.01 with a market cap of $292 million. It
closed May 15 at $6.36, up 11 cents for the day, with a market cap of $185
million. Its 52-week trading range is now $4.90-$11.08.

Miami Beach-based Car Charging Group (OTCQB: CCGI, http://www.carcharging.com/)
caught our eye with the announcement March 12 that it was acquiring EVPass, a
company building destination charging networks for EV charging. CCGI is also in
the business of building charging station networks and has been busy making more
acquisitions. Earlier this month, CCGI announced it had acquired 350Green LLC.
CCGI closed May 15 at $1.34, up 4 cents for the day, with a market cap of $70.8
million. Its 52-week trading range is $0.60-$2.

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Posted in Alternative energy, Auto parts, Automotive, Automotive OEM supplier,
Bull market, buses, Energy Storage, Fuel saving, Greentech, HEVs, EVs, PEVs,
Renewable energy, smallcap growth, Smallcap value | Tagged 350Green LLC, BBC,
Bloomberg Businessweek, Car Charging Group, Coda Automotive, destination
charging networks, electric car charging stations, electric cars, electric
powertrain, energy storage market, EVPass LLC, Fisker Automotive, Ford C-Max
Energi hybrid, Maxwell Laboratories, Maxwell Technologies, Nisan Leaf S, Nissan
Leaf, plug-in hybrids, Plug-In vehicles, Smyrna Tennessee, Tesla Model S, Tesla
Motors, Tesla Roadster, Toyota Prius PH-V, ZAP, zapworld.com | Leave a comment

WARREN BUFFETT’S ‘WORLD’S LARGEST SOLAR POWER DEVELOPMENT’ UNDERWAY NEAR LA

Posted on May 9, 2013 by AllenCaron

Photo courtesy http://www.earthtechling.com

It’s being billed as the “world’s largest solar power development,” the joint
construction effort started in January by Berkshire Hathaway’s MidAmerican Solar
and SunPower Corp. north of downtown Los Angeles in Kern and Los Angeles
counties. Officially called the Antelope Valley Solar Projects, the
3,230-acre development in two co-located projects are scheduled to generate 579
megawatts, or enough energy to power 400,000 average California homes or about 2
million people.

MidAmerican Solar is a subsidiary of MidAmerican Energy Holdings Co., which is
controlled by Berkshire Hathaway. Warren Buffett is the primary investor,
chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway.

The two companies calculate that the electricity powered by the project will
displace an estimated 775,000 tons of carbon dioxide annually, which they say is
equal to taking about 3 million cars off the road over the next 20
years. MidAmerican owns the development and SunPower is the designer, engineer
and contractor for the construction and will operate and maintain the project.
Southern California Edison is the customer that will purchase the power when it
is completed by year-end 2015.

One of the other big solar power stories of the week, “The Incredible Shrinking
Cost of Solar Energy
“(http://www.juancole.com/2013/05/incredible-shrinking-projects.html notes that
thanks to the “dramatic fall in the cost of solar power generation” solar is at
grid parity in many parts of the world, including Germany, Portugal, Italy and
Spain, as well in the southwestern U.S.

Other data points in these stories include:

* The cost of the best Chinese solar panels fell in cost by 50 percent between
2009-2012. Over the next two years, cost reductions will “slow” to a 30
percent rate.
* By 2015 solar panels are expected to fall to 42 cents per watt.
* U.S. solar installations rose 76 percent in 2012.
* Hybrid plants that include both solar and wind turbines dramatically increase
efficiency and help integrate into the electrical grid.

Given some of the interesting developments in solar power, how have some of the
solar stocks fared in the past few months?

San Mateo, CA-based SolarCity Corp. (Nasdaq: SCTY,
http://www.solarcity.com/ designs, installs and sells or leases solar energy
systems to residential and commercial customers, as well as electric vehicle
charging products. It closed March 15 at $16.74 with a market cap of $406.5
million. By April 12 it was trading at $19.97 with a market cap of $1.5 billion.
SCTY closed May 8 at $24.16, up 50 cents for the day with a market cap of $1.8
billion. Its 52-week trading range is $9.20-$28.23.

Ontario, Canada-based Canadian Solar (Nasdaq: CSIQ,
http://www.canadian-solar.com/ ), which sells a variety of solar products,
closed back on March 15 at $3.50 with a market cap of $151 million. It closed
April 12 at $4.07 with a market cap of $176 million. CSIQ closed May 8 at $5.29,
down 17 cents for the day, with a market cap of $228 million. Its 52-week
trading range is $1.95-$6.09.

San Jose, CA-based SunPower Corp. (Nasdaq: SPWR, http://www.sunpowercorp.com/),
which makes a wide variety of solar products and systems and is one of the
principals in the Antelope Valley Solar Project, closed back on March 15 at
$11.80 with a market cap of $1.4 billion. SPWR closed April 12 at $11.06. It
closed May 8 at $15.36, down 6 cents for the day, with a market cap of $1.8
billion. Its 52-week trading range is $3.71-$16.04.

China-based Trina Solar Ltd. (NYSE: TSL, http://www.trinasolar.com/) designs,
manufactures and sells photovoltaic modules worldwide. Back on March 15, TSL
closed at $4.11 with a market cap of $291 million. It closed April 12 at $4.19
with a market cap of $335 million. TSL closed May 8 at $4.72, down 22 cents for
the day. Its 52-week trading range is now $2.04-$7.67.

China-based Yingli Green Energy Holding Co. (NYSE: YGE,
http://www.yinglisolar.com/ makes photovoltaic products including cells, modules
and systems. YGE closed back on March 15 at $2.47 with a market cap of $387
million. It closed April 12 at $2.12 with a market cap of $324 million. YGE
closed May 8 at $2.20, down 7 cents for the day, with a market cap of $356
million. Its 52-week trading range is $1.25-$3.68.

China-based Suntech Power Holdings (NYSE: STP, http://am.suntech-power.com/),
the world’s largest producer of solar panels, closed at $0.70 back on March 15
with a market cap of $127 million. It closed May 8 at $0.51, down 7 cents for
the day, with a market cap of $92 million. Its 52-week trading range is
$0.30-$2.67.

St. Peters, MO-based MEMC Electronic Materials (NYSE:WFR, http://www.memc.com/)
manufactures and sells silicon wafers and photovoltaic materials. Through
SunEdison, it’s a developer of solar energy products. It closed March 15 at
$4.53 with a market cap of $1 billion. WFR closed April 12 at $4.76 with a
market cap of $1 billion. WFR closed May 8 at $5.33, down 6 cents for the day,
with a market cap of $1.2 billion. Its 52-week trading range is $1.44-$5.70.

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Posted in ADR, Alternative energy, Automotive, Bull market, China, climate
change, Construction & Engineering, Electric grid; smart grid, Global warming,
Greentech, Renewable energy, smallcap growth, Smallcap value, Solar energy |
Tagged Antelope Valley Solar Projects, Canadian Solar, carbon dioxide, MEMC
Electronic Materials, MidAmerican Solar, photovoltaic cells, photovoltaic
materials, photovoltaic modules, silicon wafers, Solar energy, solar panels,
solarcity corp., Southern California Edison, SunPower Corp., Suntech Power
Holdings, Yingli Green Energy Holding Co. | Leave a comment

TECH STOCKS NEAR SEVEN-YEAR LOWS, BUT SOME SAY ‘BUYER BEWARE’

Posted on May 2, 2013 by AllenCaron

Is it time to buy tech stocks? You might think so if you just read the
headline above this week’s

Photo courtesy of berfrois.com

Bloomberg News article heralding that tech stocks are “the cheapest in seven
years”
(http://www.bloomberg.com/news/print/2013-04-28/tech-stocks-cheapest-in-seven-years-as-profit-estimates-decline.html).

But tech stocks, which Bloomberg reports make up “the second-best industry of
the past decade,” could be headed for more losses since many analysts have
reduced profit estimates for the second quarter of 2013. Government spending
cuts and reduced spending by consumers have prompted analysts to predict that
earnings at computer companies will fall 5.5 percent in the second quarter,
according to the Bloomberg story.

If you are a bull, the low cost of technology stocks may just be too hard to
pass up. If you’re a bear, the spending cuts plus the weakening economies in
Europe and China make it the wrong time to start buying technology stocks.

Two large cap tech stocks–Apple and IBM–are examples of the low prices in the
technology sector. Apple closed out the week of April 22-26 at $417.21, “41
percent lower than the peak reached in September,” according to the Bloomberg
story. Apple jumped up a bit from there, and at mid-day May 2 was trading at
$447.83, up $8.54. IBM shares have been tumbling as well as the company missed
forecasts for the first time since 2005, Bloomberg reported.

So “buyer beware” may be the takeaway from this report for tech stocks in May.
Here are five small cap tech stocks chosen randomly so do your homework before
investing.

Petaluma, CA-based Calix Inc (NYSE: CALX, http://www.calix.com/) provides
broadband communications access systems and software for fiber- and copper-based
network architectures that enable communications service providers to connect to
residential and business subscribers. CALX has a Unified Access Infrastructure
portfolio made up of carrier-class hardware and software products. In February
2011 Calix acquired Occam Networks and in November 2012 acquired Ericsson’s
fiber access assets. CALX’s 52-week trading range is $4.25-$9.48. At mid-day May
2 it was trading at $8.64, up 43 cents with a market cap of $422.5 milllion.

Naperville, IL-based Tellabs Inc. (Nasdaq: TLAB, http://www.tellabs.com/)
designs and markets equipment and services to communications services providers
worldwide, enabling them to deliver wireless and wireline voice, data and video
services to business and residential customers. Its customer base includes
distributors, OEMs, system integrators and government agencies. Its 52-week
trading range is $1.90-$3.89. at mid-day May 2, TLAB was trading at $2.04, up 3
cents, with a market cap of $746 million.

Oakland, CA-based Zhone Technologies (Nasdaq: ZHNE, http://www.zhone.com/)
designs and manufactures communications networks equipment for
telecommunications, wireless and cable operators worldwide. Its products enable
network service providers to migrate from traditional circuit-based networks to
packet-based networks and from copper-based access lines to fiber-based access
lines without abandoning their existing infrastructures. Zhone makes the MXK
Multi-service Terabit Access Concentrator or MXK. It’s 52-week trading range is
$0.40-$1.24. At mid-day May 2, ZHNE was trading at $0.98, up 4 cents, with a
market cap of $30.5 million.

San Jose, CA-based NetGear Inc (Nasdaq: NTGR, http://www.netgear.com/) is a
global networking company that operates in three business units: retail,
commercial and service provider. Products include Ethernet switches, wireless
controllers, internet security appliances, unified storage products, routers, IP
telephony products and many more. Its 52-week trading range is $26.82-$40.97. At
mid-day May 2 NTGR was trading at $29.31, up 42 cents with a market cap of $1.1
billion.

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Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Apple, Calix Inc., Ericsson's fiber access
assets, government spending cuts, IBM, MXK, MXK Multi-Service Terabit Access
Concentrator, NetGear, Occam Networks, PacketLogic, Procera Networks, technology
stocks, Tellabs, Unified Access Infrastructure, Zhone Management System, Zhone
Technologies | Leave a comment

LED: LOOKING ALOT LIKE LIGHTING’S FUTURE

Posted on April 30, 2013 by AllenCaron

Our interest in small cap lighting companies was piqued this week with
the announcement April

Photo courtesy of trinamao.en.busytrade.com

25 that New York-based ForceField Energy (OTCQQB: FNRG) had signed a letter of
intent to acquire a 60 percent interest in 1-800 NY Bulbs.

The combination seems to make sense. During its 25 years of existence, Bulbs has
more than 8,000 commercial clients, is an authorized dealer and distributor of
GE Lighting Products and has projected about $5 million in revenue in 2013,
according to the press release announcing the letter of intent. ForceField is
focused on renewable energy, energy efficiency and LED (Light Emitting Diode)
products.

LED lights are the latest in modern technology and energy efficiency, but have
been slow to become the standard in households because of their price, according
to Time magazine
(http://business.time.com/2013/04/25/light-switch-why-youll-start-using-led-bulbs-this-year/).
But the Time report suggests LED prices are coming down. Also, the Energy
Independence and Security Act, passed in 2007, requires lightbulbs to become
more energy efficient and has led to the phasing out of standard 100-watt and
75-watt incandescent bulbs, with the 60-watt and 40-watt bulbs to follow.

So the day of the LED light could be near, as could be an intriguing jolt of
energy to small cap lighting companies.

FNRG (http://www.forcefieldenergy.com) is a lightly-traded, $87 million market
cap, pink sheet company with a 52-week trading range of $2.20-$5.64. It is also
involved in transforming waste heat from manufacturing and other sources into
electricity. It owns 51 percent of TransPacific Energy Inc. FNRG closed April 26
at $5.35, no change for the day.

Charlotte, NC-based Revolution Lighting Technologies (Nasdaq: RVLT,
(http://www.nexxuslighting.com/) designs, manufactures and sells commercial
grade LED replacement light bulbs and LED-based signage under the Array Lighting
and Lumificient brands (Lumificient Corporation is a subsidiary). It was
formerly called Nexxus Lighting and operates mainly in the global commercial,
hospitality, institutional, retail and sign markets. RVLT closed April 29 at a
52-week high of $4.01, up 45 cents for the day with a market cap of $140
million. Its 52-week trading range is $0.11-$4.01.

Cincinnati-based LSI Industries (Nasdaq: LYTS, http://www.lsi-industries.com/)
is a different take on an LED lighting company. LYTS creates LED video screens
and LED specialty lighting for sports stadiums and arenas, digital billboards
and entertainment companies. Its 52-week trading range is $5.81-$7.77. It closed
April 29 at $7.09, up 18 cents for the day, with a market cap of $170 million.

Solon, OH-based Energy Focus Inc (OTC Pink: EFOI,
http://www.energyfocusinc.com/) makes LED lighting products as well as products
based fiber optic and other energy-efficient technologies. EFOI focuses on the
government and public sector markets, as well as the general commercial and pool
markets. Its 52-week trading range is $0.16-$0.40. It closed April 29 at $0.22,
up 3 cents for the day, with a market cap of $8.4 million.

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Posted in China, Consumer Products, Emerging Markets, Greentech, Manufacturing,
smallcap growth, Smallcap value, The Pink Sheets | Tagged 1-800 NY Light Bulbs,
Array Lighting Lumificient, digital billboards, energy efficient lighting,
Energy Focus Inc, Energy Independence and Security Act, fiber optics, ForceField
Energy, GE Lighting Products, LED, LED signage, LED video screens, LSI
Industries, Lumificient Corporation, Nexxus Lighting, Revolution Lighting
Technologies, TransPacific Energy Inc. | Leave a comment

BOOM IN OIL, GAS PIPELINE BUILDING COULD BE BOON FOR SMALL CAPS

Posted on April 24, 2013 by AllenCaron

Putting controversy aside for the moment, there are a variety of companies that
may prosper

Photo courtesy of neteon.net

from the current recovery in oil and gas pipeline building. It’s the kind of
boom that can create strange bedfellows, considering the pipe now being built
from Iraqi Kurdistan to Turkey scheduled to open in the third quarter of 2013.
The Kurds and Turks are not known for being friends.

The recovery in oil and gas pipeline building should be fueled by investment in
unconventional domestic energy sources like gas shale and oil sands, pressure to
repair and replace aging infrastructure and the uptick in the residential
construction markets, according to a forecast from IBISWorld.

And if the proposed 1,700-mile Keystone XL pipeline from Canada to the Texas
Gulf Coast gets approved, and its fate certainly remains in doubt, that would
only add to the local boom. Supporters say it would create thousands of jobs,
while environmentalists say it will endanger the environment and possibly the
ground water supply. A decision from the Obama Administration is expected by
summertime.

A random search turned up four small caps of the many companies involved in oil
and gas pipeline business. We’re not endorsing them by any means. Please do your
homework before investing.

Dallas-based Crosstex Energy (Nasdaq: XTXI, http://www.crosstexenergy.com/)
builds oil and natural gas pipelines, among other services, and operates about
3,500 miles of natural gas and oil pipelines, as well as 10 natural gas
processing plants and 10 fractionators as well as barge and rail terminals and
product storage facilities. If you’d like to learn more, tune in to the
company’s first quarter 2013 financial results conference call at 11 a.m.
Eastern, May 9. XTXI closed April 23 at $18.64, up 21 cents for the day, with a
market cap of $886.5 million. Its 52-week trading range is $11.32-$19.51.

Calgary-based North American Energy Partners (NYSE: NOA, http://www.nacg.ca/)
provides a range of construction and pipeline installation services to customers
in the Canadian oil sands, industrial construction and pipeline construction
markets. NOA’s primary market is the Canadian oil sands where it supports its
customers’ mining operations and capital projects. NOA closed April 23 at $4.38,
up 16 cents for the day, with a market cap of $159 million. Its 52-week trading
range is $2.23-$4.70.

Houston-based Willbros Group Inc. (NYSE: WG, http://www.willbros.com/) is a full
service engineering and construction company serving the oil and gas and power
industries. Founded in 1908, WG has “developed a brand as a preferred
contractor, with a reputation for quality, cost, efficiency and safety over its
more than 100-year history,” according to The Motley Fool
(http://beta.fool.com/asiavalue/2013/03/25/willbros-low-valuations-insufficient-to-compensate/27767/?source=eogyholnk0000001).
Back in 2007, before the recession, WG was trading for more than $13. It closed
April 23 at $9.79, up 56 cents for the day, with a market cap of $481 million.
Its 52-week trading range is $4.07-$10.45.

Sarver, PA-based Geospatial Holdings (OTC: GSPH,
http://www.geospatialcorporation.com/) provides pipeline management technologies
and services for managing pipeline infrastructure assets in the U.S. Geospatial
Mapping Systems, which provides centerline mapping of pipeline infrastructure,
is a wholly owned subsidiary. GSPH closed April 23 at $0.08 with no trading for
the day and a market cap of $3.5 million. Its 52-week trading range is
$0.05-$0.22.

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Posted in Bull market, Construction & Engineering, Infrastructure, LNG exports,
Low-cost natural gas, natural gas, Oil and gas, Oil Service, Shale energy,
smallcap growth, Temporary workers, Uncategorized | Tagged Canadian oil sands,
Crosstex Energy, fractionators, Geospatial Holdings, Geospatial Mapping Systems,
Keystone XL pipeline, North American Energy Partners, oil and gas pipelines,
pipeline installation, Willbros Group | Leave a comment

WHITHER TECH INVESTMENT BANKING? PETER BLACKWOOD TALKS ABOUT DEAL FLOW AND
WHAT’S HOT

Posted on April 18, 2013 by AllenCaron

Peter A. Blackwood is a Managing Director, and heads the Technology & Media
investment banking group at Philadelphia-based Janney Montgomery Scott LLC, a
bank whose roots go back to 1832, and probably the most prominent mid-Atlantic
regional full-service investment bank, broker-dealer and asset manager (with
more than $55 billion in assets under management). Prior to joining Janney in
2009, Peter was a Principal and Head of the Internet & Digital Media Group at
Merriman Curhan Ford & Co. He joined Merriman from SoundView Technology Group,
and began his career at E*OFFERING, a startup investment bank later acquired by
SoundView. He went to school at Ohio Wesleyan University.

I met Peter at Merriman not quite 10 years ago when we were working with a
digital media company headquartered in London, which was at length acquired by a
larger digital media company that Peter had worked with. We had a chance to
talk on April 16 about the current state of the technology industry vis-à-vis
investment banking, and what he foresees for 2013 in terms of deal flow, what he
sees as “hot” in technology these days, and what kinds of public and private
deal structures are most common in this market.

JA: How is 2013 compared to 2012 in terms of deal flow?

PB: The first few months of 2013 have been busy for us. A number of
transactions we were working on last year were delayed as people worried about
the negotiations in Congress over the sequester, and moved into this year. In
the first quarter our team was quite busy executing and completing these
transactions, as well as evaluating and pitching new business opportunities.
With regard to Q2 and the balance of the year, we are witnessing a marked
increase in activity with regard to public offerings, both with companies
selecting underwriters and working through the registration process.

JA: Interesting that you mention IPOs first. What is the situation these days
with regard to IPOs vs PIPEs?

PB: Over the past 2 years, PIPEs, or Private Investments in Public Equities,
have fallen somewhat out of favor. Today traditional unregistered PIPEs from
the mid-2000s are few and far between. We are seeing a preference for
Registered Direct (RD) offerings, and even more for CMPOs or Confidentially
Marketed Public Offerings, a variant of RD offering. Both the CMPO and
Registered Direct offerings are based on shelf registrations, but the Registered
Direct is an agented offering and the CMPO is an underwritten offering.

Many issuers now prefer a CMPO structure because it opens up the number of
institutions that can participate due to the underwritten vs. agented format.
Some institutional investors have charters that restrict their ability to buy
agented offerings vs. underwritten offerings – which means they are excluded
from Registered Direct offerings, because they are not underwritten, even though
they are fully registered and tradable. The difference is that the CMPO
provides a publicly-filed prospectus supplement prior to pricing, even though it
is marketed to a limited number of institutional investors, so the fact of the
offering is public knowledge, and it can be underwritten by the investment
bank. As a result, CMPOs have been quite popular over the last few years.

With that said, this year we are beginning to see a bit of resurgence in
structured deals, or PIPEs. We are learning that buyers are more risk-friendly
now than they have been for a few years, and are looking to invest in structured
deals, which are most commonly PIPEs with common stock and warrants, with
registration being filed only after the deal is completed.

JA: How about size of deals? Are you seeing small-caps back in the public
offering market?

PB: At our firm, and particularly in technology, the size of companies we deal
with is quite broad. For example, we recently closed a sell-side advisory deal
for under $20 million, and are actively working on several deals over $200
million today. For us, deal size is not the primary motivational factor for new
business, but is rather driven by our ability to add value to help a client
achieve their goals. So, if we see an emerging technology that has potentially
great demand, we will look to be involved regardless of the size of the company.

On the financing front, today we are primarily oriented toward working on
financings for public companies, either IPOs or Follow-Ons. When it comes to
M&A transactions we will seek to work with both private and public companies.
At the moment, we are seeing venture capital at an unfavorable inflection point
these days, and we’re not looking at VC deals as a result.

JA: What’s hot in terms of tech sectors? What can we expect to see industrywide
in terms of new issues?

PB: Many companies across the technology and media landscape today are
positioning their solutions as SaaS (Software as a Service) or a Cloud-based
solution – for the obvious reasons pertaining to valuation. So I would say
those are two of the hottest sectors. There are so many companies claiming to
be SaaS or Cloud-based that it is creating some confusion, as a matter of fact.

Broadly speaking in software land, perpetual software licensing business is
being transitioned to term-based licensing. Companies with traditional software
licensing strategies are in the midst of trying to convert these perpetual
relationships to hosted and recurring-revenue models. So we are seeing, for
instance, a business that might have been 65% perpetual licenses, 20%
maintenance, and 15% term licenses actively converting or sunsetting these
perpetual licenses to either term licensing or recurring, seat-based
licensing.. As the value proposition goes, it is more cost-efficient on the
client to pay for what they are using.

JA: What other sectors are you seeing more of?

PB: Another emerging area that we are quite excited about is where e-commerce
and technology intersect, and the emergence of next-generation e-commerce
platforms, many of which are SaaS-based.

To give you a case study for the growing need for these eCommerce platforms, let
me run through a brief example. Ten years ago, if you were a company such as
Best Buy, as a traditional retailer also seeking to sell goods online with the
growth of the Internet. With the rapid growth in web-based business
opportunity, an entire department was created to focus on your web presence,
from website creation to product description, pricing, and IT/server management.
Today, much of these eCommerce initiatives are being contracted to a third-party
provider due to the increased complexity with so many new customer interaction
‘channels’ being used, which is broadly referred to as Omni-Channel.

A few examples of leading brands that have outsourced their eCommerce solutions
include UnderArmour and Crocs.

In pre-Internet days, maybe you would have received a catalog from someone like
Best Buy, for instance. You would flip through it and then call in your order
on the telephone. Today, with the rise of these Omni-Channels, you may still
get that catalog, or you may get it digitally. But if you get the catalog you
throw it in your briefcase and look at it on the train or bus while you are
going to work. You use your smartphone or tablet or Kindle and have a look at
the items you are interested in. You get to the office, go on your desktop and
have a look at the website to see a bigger image. You scroll down and look at
the reviews. Maybe on your way home you actually stop by a Best Buy store to
look at the laptop or television that caught your eye, but then you go on home.
They maybe you make the actual purchase on the desktop at home. So you had a
catalog or a digital catalog, a smartphone platform, a visit to the store, a
visit to the website from a desktop, and a purchase made from a different
desktop at home. All of these consumer touch points have to be tracked and
managed seamlessly; order execution has to be flawless, and the branding has to
be identical across all platforms. The retailer, in my example, Best Buy, is
now collecting information about your various visits to understand what is
attracting you about the product, what you like. Typically they do not have all
that expertise in-house and have no intention of building an inside empire to
address it.

Another area we are focused on is within the marketing & advertising space, and
also where this content meets technology platforms. Whether it’s the growth of
video-based advertising over traditional display, or the emerging channels of
mobile and social, we expect to see this ecosystem to be fertile ground for both
new equity issuance and M&A activity for several years to come.

JA: Are retail investors back in the market, or are all these deals
institutional?

PB: From our perspective, the retail investor is very much back in the market.
Janney has completed 23 public equity offerings so far this year, and retail
participation from our platform has been significant across the board. We find
that the retail investor has gotten much more active on IPOs and follow-on
offerings than for several years past. For quite a while now, the retail
investor has focused on yield – dividends, interest, and other forms of income.
What we’re seeing this year is retail beginning to be more open to risk by way
of more traditional equity, and pursuing capital appreciation over traditional
yield.

Retail investors have traditionally been more interested in large caps, but we
are seeing them reach into the mid-caps now as well. We have more than 95
retail offices at Janney, and 10 institutional offices, so we are clearly
weighted toward serving the retail constituency by those numbers.

JA: What are a couple of the deals that the tech group at Janney has
participated in recently?

PB: Over the past year, we worked with Angie’s List (ANGI) on their IPO and
follow-on offering, CaféPress on their IPO, and on a secondary offering for WNS
Holdings (WNS), which is a business outsourcing company. We also recently
worked on the acquisition by Lexmark (LXK) of Twistage, a unique cloud-based
media management platform, and expect to continue to be active in M&A through
the balance of the year.

JA: Is Janney likely to stay regional or will it follow some of the other
middle-market banks and go national or international?

PB: Founded in Philadelphia in 1832, I would say it is a safe assumption that
Janney is and always will be a mid-Atlantic firm. We have offices in most major
metropolitan areas of the United States, but our strongest coverage in terms of
sales and trading is geographically centered in the mid-Atlantic. I am in San
Francisco with a part of the technology team, and Janney has had both sales &
trading and equity research here for a while but we only added investment
banking here in mid 2012 – I was in Philadelphia before that.

Janney’s capital markets presence has seen significant growth over the last few
years, across our sales & trading, research and investment banking divisions.
Today, we are not seeing many new investment banks being formed. There are some
boutiques out there who are working on specialized deals, mostly in M&A. The
consolidation of Wall Street as a whole after 2007-2008 has been an opportunity
for us to pick up key talent as people have been displaced from other banks. So
in many respects, the last few years have been a time of opportunity for Janney.

JA: Thanks, Peter.

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Posted in Behavioral advertising, Cloud Computing, Cloud computing, CMPO,
Confidentially Marketed Public Offering, Deal flow, eCommerce, Enterprise
software, Follow-on offering, High tech, interactive marketing, Internet,
Investment banks, IPO, IT spending, M&A, Omni-Channel Marketing, PIPEs,
Registered Direct, Retail investors, SaaS, Sequester, smallcap growth, Smallcap
value, Structured Deals, Uncategorized | Tagged Angie's List, CafePress, capital
appreciation, cloud computing, CMPO, deal flow, eCommerce, Follow-on offering,
investment bank, IPO, Janney, Janney Montgomery Scott, Lexmark, M&A transaction,
mid-Atlantic, midcap, Omni-Channel Marketing, perpetual software license,
Philadelphia, PIPE, Public Offering, registered direct, retail investors, SaaS,
Smallcap, Technology & Media, Twistage, WNS Holdings, yield investing | Leave a
comment

OBAMA BUDGET PROPOSES BIG INCREASES FOR SPENDING ON CLEAN ENERGY

Posted on April 13, 2013 by AllenCaron

Photo courtesy of KMBC.com

President Barack Obama’s fiscal year 2014 budget proposal made headlines this
week mainly for its changes to Social Security, but the increases proposed in US
government support for clean energy spending did not go unnoticed. Reuters News
Service called the increases for electric cars, wind power and other green
technology “dramatic,” particularly because they arrive in the face of
Republican criticism.

While many government agencies get slimmed down in the budget proposal, the
Department of Energy would get an 8 percent increase to $28.4 billion next year,
Reuters reported. Included are a 75 percent increase in spending on advanced
vehicles to $575 million and a 29 percent increase in spending on the ongoing
effort to integrate solar and wind power into the national electric grid,
Reuters reported. Support for biofuels would increase by 24 percent.

“These increases in funding are significant and a testament to the importance of
clean energy and innovation to the country’s economic future,” the Obama
administration wrote in the budget proposal, according to the Reuters report.

While Republicans have criticized the US backing of companies like Solyndra, a
solar panel maker that went bankrupt, and Fisker Automotive, a hybrid sports
care maker which is struggling and laying off employees to hold off
bankruptcy, President Obama has maintained that clean energy is a key to the
country’s future.

Government support for the clean energy industry “has nearly doubled (the US)
energy generation from wind, solar, geothermal and other renewable energy
sources” since Obama took office in 2008 and maintaining this level of support
“could lead to breakthroughs in the years to come,” Reuters reported.

We’ve been following several wind and solar energy companies, including:

Newbury Park, CA-based Sauer Energy (OTC: SENY, http://www.sauerenergy.com/) is
a development stage company developing vertical axis wind turbines for
commercial and residential uses. Formerly BCO Hydrocarbon Ltd., the company
disposed of its oil and gas interests and in July 2010 purchased Sauer Energy
and in May 2012 purchased Helix Wind Corp. Back on Dec. 24 it was trading for
$0.24. It closed April 12 at $0.10, down 1 cent for the day. Its market cap is
now $9 million and 52-week range is $0.08-$0.39.

China-based China Ming Yang Wind Power Group (NYSE: MY,
http://www.mywind.com.cn/) is a wind turbine manufacturer focused on designing,
manufacturing, selling and servicing megawatt-class wind turbines. Last July, MY
announced it was considering a joint venture with China-based Huaneng Renewables
Corp. to develop wind power and solar power projects in China and overseas
markets. MY stock closed Dec. 24 at $1.21. It closed April 12 at $1.35, up 1
cent for the day. Its market cap is now $169 million and 52-week trading range
is $1.06-$2.47.

Chatsworth, CA-based Capstone Turbine Co. (Nasdaq: CPST,
http://www.capstoneturbine.com/) develops and markets microturbine technologies,
including technologies used to provide on-site power generation for wind power.
It closed Dec. 24 at $0.91 with a market cap of $278 million.CPST closed April
12 at $0.93, down 4 cents for the day. Its market cap is now 282 million and
52-week trading range is $0.73-$1.20.

San Mateo, CA-based SolarCity Corp. (Nasdaq: SCTY, http://www.solarcity.com)
designs, installs and sells or leases solar energy systems to residential and
commercial customers, as well as electric vehicle charging products. It closed
March 15 at $16.74 with a market cap of $406.5 million. SCTY closed April 12 at
$19.97, down 41 cents for the day. Its market cap is now $1.5 billion and
52-week trading range is $9.20-$21.40.

Ontario, Canada-based Canadian Solar (Nasdaq: CSIQ,
http://www.canadian-solar.com/ ), which sells a variety of solar products,
closed back on March 15 at $3.50 with a market cap of $151 million. It closed
April 12 at $4.07, down 3 cents with a market cap of $176 million. Its 52-week
trading range is $1.95-$5.15.

San Jose, CA-based SunPower Corp. (Nasdaq: SPWR, http://www.sunpowercorp.com/),
which makes a wide variety of solar products and systems, closed back on March
15 at $11.80 with a market cap of $1.4 billion. SPWR closed April 12 at $11.06,
up one cent for the day. Its market cap is now $1.8 billion and its 52-week
trading range is $3.71-$13.88.

China-based Trina Solar Ltd. (NYSE: TSL, http://www.trinasolar.com/) designs,
manufactures and sells photovoltaic modules worldwide. Back on March 15, TSL
closed at $4.11 with a market cap of $291 million. It closed April 12 at $4.19,
up one cent, with a market cap of $335 million. Its 52-week trading range is
now $2.04-$7.99.

China-based Yingli Green Energy Holding Co. (NYSE: YGE,
http://www.yinglisolar.com/) makes photovoltaic products including cells,
modules and systems. YGE closed back on March 15 at $2.47 with a market cap of
$387 million. It closed April 12 at $2.12, down 5 cents, with a market cap of
$324 million. Its 52-week trading range is $1.25-$4.12.

China-based Suntech Power Holdings (NYSE: STP, http://am.suntech-power.com), the
world’s largest producer of solar panels, closed at $0.70 back on March 15 with
a market cap of $127 million. It closed April 12 at $ 2012, and then rose to
$1.87 in early January, but has been falling since. STP closed March 15 at
$0.75, udown 12 cents for the day, with a market cap of $135 million. Its
52-week trading range is $0.30-$2.96.

St. Peters, MO-based MEMC Electronic Materials (NYSE:WFR, http://www.memc.com)
manufactures and sells silicon wafers and photovoltaic materials. Through
SunEdison, it’s a developer of solar energy products. It closed March 15 at
$4.53 with a market cap of $1 billion. WFR closed April 12 at $4.76, down 6
cents, with a market cap of $1 billion. Its 52-week trading range
is $1.44-$5.70.

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Posted in Algae products, Alternative energy, Automotive, Bull market, Business
bankruptcies, Electric grid; smart grid, Greentech, Oil and gas, Renewable
energy, smallcap growth, Smallcap value, Solar energy, Wind energy | Tagged BCO
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Yang Wind Power Group, clean energy, clean tech, Department of Energy, fiscal
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cells, photovoltaic modules, renewable energy, Reuters News Service, Sauer
Energy, solar panels, Solyndra, SunEdison, SunPower Corp., Suntech Power
Holdings, Trina Solar Ltd., wind power, Yingli Green Energy Holding Co. | 1
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