Tag - Rsol

There are only three letters that investors need to know to be able to find stocks that have the potential for big gains.

Those letters are P, E, and G. Combine these and you get PEG, an acronym for the most simple and powerful stock analysis metric for identifying growth stocks today.

Opening volume was higher in this morning's session with all the major indices, except the Dow, trading in the negative. As of press time at 10:40 A.M. Eastern the Dow is trading just positive at 8,768.67 while the Nasdaq and S&P 500 were down 0.10% and 0.04%, respectively.

Leading small cap gainers today was Real Goods Solar (Nasdaq:RSOL) up 42% on news of a $30 million contract to install a solar power program for the Freemont Union School District in California. RSOL is a commercial solar energy integrator in the California and Colorado markets.

Other gainers in this morning's session include Cadiz (Nasdaq:CDZI) up 40%; American Woodmark (Nasdaq:AMWD) up 18.9% on posting a surprise Q4 profit; and Chinese solar firm Renesola (NYSE:SOL) up 16.9%.

Small cap decliners include United PanAm Financial (Nasdaq:UPFC) down $1.02 to $2.96 for a loss of 26.1% after a notice of delisting from the Nasdaq; Hawkins (Nasdaq:HWKN) down 14.1%; Exide Technologies (Nasdaq:XIDE) down 16.2%.

No sooner do I say that the news cycle is turning negative, we get some significant upgrades in the financial sector. Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) got an "outperform" rating and rose 5.2%.

RBC Capital Markets called KeyCorp (NYSE:KEY) a "top pick" and the shares ramped 20%. And Fifth Third Bancorp (Nasdaq:FITB) rose 7% after it reported that it has filled the capital shortfall identified during the Treasury's "stress tests."

At least for a day, the financials re-took their leadership for the markets. Though it should be noted that the Financials ETF (AMEX:XLF) has not made a new high, and the financials are sharing the stage with energy stocks.

*****Money managers report that a lot of cash is sitting in the sidelines. Both individual and institutional investors have been slow to get back into the stock market.

Of course, that's exactly the scenario that can keep stocks moving higher. At least, so long as the economic data doesn't take a turn for the worse.

*****Citigroup reported in a research note that put options volume is picking up and so is the Volatility Index, the VIX. Investors buy put options to profit form downside moves for stock prices. Institutional investors protect gains in large portfolios with put options.

The VIX measures the cost of put options. When it rises, it means that investors see increasing risk in the stock market. Citigroup's chief technical analyst, Tom Fitzpatrick, believes the rise in the VIX is showing "strong warning signals" for the rally.

*****Bulls vs. Bears, fear vs. greed - that's what it always comes down to. Will the analysts who see better times ahead for the banks win out? Or will those who see "warning signs" be right? As always, we'll see…

*****The gains just keep coming for SmallCapInvestor PRO stocks. Since March, we've seen a 152% gain from our top oil stock, and we had Genco Shipping (NYSE:GNK) hit triple-digit territory before recent weakness took it below that threshold. 

Now, one of our top China stocks is knocking on the triple-digit door.  The obvious catalyst for this stock will is that it moves off the over-the-counter market and starts trading on the Nasdaq as soon as today. I expect the increased exposure to help drive the share prices higher. 

This stock blew through our conservative $8 price target. The new listing and rising prices for its product will have a positive influence on shares. Our target price is being raised to $14 per share. That's about 40% higher from current prices. 

I am very bullish on Chinese stocks. And SmallCapInvestor PRO now has 3 Chinese stocks in the portfolio. In fact, we just added one on Wednesday. I've put all three stocks in a brand new Special Report called "Going for Growth: 3 Top Chinese Stocks to Buy NOW." Find out how to get your copy HERE.

www.gtsolar.com
(Nasdaq:SOLR)
Scheduled for week of July 21
$500 million estimated proceeds
$2432 million estimated post-money valuation

I’m starting to think that solar power deals are on par with special-purpose acquisition companies (or SPACs) and dry bulk shipping this year. After all, there have been two others to date: Real Goods Solar (Nasdaq:RSOL), which raised $55 million in May, and ReneSola (NYSE:SOL), which brought in $130 million in January. In a year with only 35 IPOs, that makes solar power a bona fide hot spot.

GT Solar makes equipment used to fabricate photovoltaic cells, which collect sunlight and convert it into electricity. These are big machines needed to produce solar cells but sold to only a handful of buyers worldwide. For the fiscal year ended March 31, 2008, 62% of the company’s revenue came from just one customer. In years past, the customer base has been more diversified, but just barely. In fiscal 2007, for example, three customers contributed 70% of revenue. No matter how big the solar power industry becomes, GT Solar will always face a concentrated customer base. A good analogy is semiconductors, which are in everything these days but are fabricated by just a few companies.

The company made $36.1 million in net income on $244.1 million in revenue for the March 31, 2008 fiscal year, its first profit ever. The year before, it had a net loss of $18.4 million on revenue of $60.1 million. The outlook for fiscal 2009 is good; the company has an order backlog of about $1.3 billion and deferred revenue from equipment shipped but not yet billed of $164.2 million. Profits should stay . . .

(Nasdaq:LLACU)
Scheduled for the week of May 19
$350 million estimated proceeds
$378.4 million estimated post-money valuation

If buying stock at an initial public offering is an act of faith, investing in special-purpose acquisition companies (SPACs) — startups with no operating assets (and no guarantee they will find any) — is an act of blind faith.

A SPAC is created with the sole purpose of acquiring an operating business with shareholders' money. Despite the fact that few SPACs have found anything to buy, new ones keep cropping up. Liberty Lane’s big selling point seems to be that it’s the first one that mighty Goldman Sachs is bringing to market, which may make it seem more legitimate in a sector once dominated by squirrelly shell companies traded in Vancouver.

Its founding officers, Paul Montrone and Paul Meister, had long tenures with Fisher Scientific, a manufacturer of scientific and industrial instruments now known as Thermo Fisher (NYSE:TMO). Montrone served as CEO from 1991 to 2006, and Meister was the company’s CFO from 1991 until 2001, when he was named vice-chairman of the board.

Fisher Scientific grew in part through 60 acquisitions, so the draw is that Montrone and Meister know to find acquisition candidates and structure good deals. Liberty Lane isn’t the only SPAC with experienced dealmakers at the helm, but not all have that distinction; several SPACs have executives who are more figureheads than deal-makers (Heckmann Corporation (NYSE:HEK) has on its board former Notre Dame football coach Lou Holtz and former U.S. Vice President Dan Quayle).

But no matter how good a track record Montrone and Meister have, they still have to find a good business to buy in the next two years, and that’s tough to . . .