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Today concludes SmallCapInvestor.com’s Roundtable. In this final installment, our experts examine the alternative energy sector, compare the tech bubble burst with the current implosion of financials and take the temperature of the current state of the credit market. Taking a look at the international investing landscape, our experts still perceive the emerging nations, particularly China, to be the hottest destination for investment. And lastly our experts on average forecast the small-cap index Russell 2000 will end the year higher than it is today. (This is part five of a five part series.)

What do you think about alternative energy? Do you think that energy prices need to remain inflated for the alternative energy space to remain profitable? 

Oberweis: “No, the key for alternative energy is the subsidies, quite frankly. The real danger to buying solar stocks right now is there’s some momentum in the Spanish and German markets, which are the two of the large consumers and drivers of the adoption of solar energy, to reduce or remove the subsidies that are making the technologies economical and affordable. That’s probably a much bigger and more important driver of the success of solar companies than the actual price of oil.”

O’Halloran: “Alternative energy is an industry where we have very strong forces helping the companies. We have three holdings in solar energy: SunPower Corp. (Nasdaq:SPWR), Energy Conversion Devices, Inc. (Nasdaq:ENER) and JA Solar Holdings Co., Ltd. (Nasdaq:JASO). This year we have more wind energy companies in the portfolio because wind energy is just starting to ramp up aggressively like solar did over the past couple of years. 

“American Superconductor (Nasdaq:AMSC) and Woodward Governor Company (Nasdaq:WGOV) — whose equipment is used to adjust turbine-generated power for conveyance to electrical grids — are a couple. There are also companies such as RBC Bearings Inc. (Nasdaq:ROLL) and Kaydon Corp. (NYSE:KDN), which make bearings for the wind turbines. Another is ITC Holdings Corp. (NYSE:ITC), which is in the process of rebuilding electrical transmission lines as part of a federal government initiative. These upgrade lines will help take energy from [wind farms], put it on to the electrical grid and get it into homes. Fuel cells and their technology and ethanol are either too early or not profitable enough for us to be involved with . . .