Tag - Stp

"The way to win in solar is to invest in the industry leaders and SunTech Power Holdings Ltd.  (NYSE: STP) is a big as they come," says Toby Smith.

In his ChangeWave Investing the growth stock expert adds, "The Chinese government recently announced a plan to offer massive subsidies to Chinese solar companies; this in turn will benefit SunTech."

"As the leading Chinese solar firm, Suntech will do very well from the generous offering that's estimated to cover half the cost of entire installations.

"This solar subsidy -- the biggest solar stimulus in the world -- is targeted at Photovoltaic (PV)-integrated building design construction projects in urban areas, and building construction projects with PV application design in rural and remote areas.

"Public-use buildings such as schools, hospitals and government organizations are among the priorities.

"Amazingly, China currently represents only a 1% share of the solar market worldwide. But, now that there are new incentives and government mandates, this will change very rapidly. We expect the domestic Chinese market will soon be a key driver for STP.

"For the second half of 2009, STP's financial performance will improve, thanks to the fact that polysilicon prices are dropping faster than its solar module prices.

"Additionally, the boost in domestic demand should also ease manufacturing costs, which have been hampered by low utilization rates.

"The way to win in solar is to invest in the industry leaders and SunTech is a big as they come. Not to mention that it is the leader in what promises to be the fastest-growing market during the next several years."

Small-cap stocks remained lower into midday trading, but were also well off the morning lows as oversold conditions, erratic bargain-hunting, firm tech and retail stocks helped limit some of the gloom surrounding the latest economic news. The market continued to fret about the fate of domestic automakers, and continued to suffer money flow exit into safe-haven docks. Some of today’s small-cap gainers are Gymboree Corp. (Nasdaq:GYMB), KLA-Tencor Corp (Nasdaq:KLAC) and Dress Barn (Nasdaq:DBRN).

Other Market Watch highlights today included:

• The Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund was off 6.7% at mid-session.  
• Crude oil prices tumbled below $50 a barrel, reaching the lowest point since May 2005 and energy stocks were taking a beating today.  
• The market continues to fret about the fate of domestic automakers, and continued to suffer money flow exit into safe-haven docks.  
• The chart structure for small caps is awful right now, with the Russell 2000 in freefall mode through support points that date back more than five years.

Small Cap Gainers:

• Gymboree Corp. is up 25% in afternoon trading as the children’s retailer beat the earnings forecast. See (Nasdaq:GYMB).  
• Analysts' projections of KLA-Tencor Corp. remain unaffected after the semiconductor company announced it would cut 15% of its workforce. Shares up 10.3%. See (Nasdaq:KLAC).
• Dress Barn up about 10% on an increase in Q1 net earnings. See (Nasdaq:DBRN).
• True Religion Apparel up nearly 6% today following a surge in Q3 profits reported earlier this month. See (Nasdaq:TRLG).

Small Cap Losers:

• Media General shares lost as much as 54% of their value on Thursday after Harbinger Capital sold stock in the newspaper publisher. See (NYSE:MEG).
• Arbor Realty Trust hit a new 52-week low of $1.90, down from a 52-week high of $19.20. Shares are currently down 31%. See (NYSE:ABR).  
• REITs continue to bleed red in the weathered economy and ProLogis is no exception. Shares of the REIT are down over 22%. See (NYSE:PLD).  
• Suntech Power Holdings cuts forecast, shares fall to all-time low of $5.33. See (NYSE:STP).

Small-cap stocks are expected to open lower, following yet another decline in stock markets around the world overnight and by a startling rise in unemployment claims in the U.S. Further weakness could be tied to a slide in crude oil prices and further investor flight out of stocks and into credit instruments. It should be noted however, that the market is oversold, Libor rates were lower and Swiss central bankers cut rates, which could help limit early losses. Some of today’s small-cap gainers are Ultrapar Participacoes  SA (Nasdaq:UGP), Randgold (Nasdaq:GOLD) and Gymboree (Nasdaq:GYMB).

Other Market Watch highlights today included:

• The chart structure for small caps is awful right now, with the Russell 2000 in freefall mode through support points that date back more than five years.
• Yields on two-year notes hit record lows overnight, and the yield on T-bills is now near the panic lows from October.  
• The yield on benchmark 10-year notes was down a stunning 5.2% into the stock market open, reaching the lowest level since June 2003.  
• Crude oil prices were off some $3 a barrel into the stock market open, slipping below $50 for first time since January 2007.

Small Cap Gainers:

• Ultrapar Participacoes  rose 16% as the fuels distribution and chemical firm rose on light volume buying. See (NYSE:UGP).  
• Randgold up 7.4% in pre-market on news that it aims to swallow assets of rivals. See (Nasdaq:GOLD).
• Retail sales lift Gymboree fiscal 3Q profit, analyst upgrades small cap to "overweight" from neutral." Shares climb about 5% in pre-market. See (Nasdaq:GYMB).  
• NICE Systems wins $20 million order from an EMEA government agency; shares climb slightly higher in pre-market. See (Nasdaq:NICE).

Small Cap Losers:

• Suntech Power Holdings Co. Ltd. is down 29% on sour earnings news. See (NYSE:STP).
• Woodward Governor Co. lost 27% as the energy solution provider took an earnings lump. See (Nasdaq:WGOV).  
• VeriFone Inc. tumbled 26% as the electronic payment firm made a preliminary comment on quarterly results. See (NYSE:PAY). 
• Oil and gas exploration company Linn Energy down 3% in pre-market as the majority of stocks in the energy sector are being hurt by falling crude oil prices. See (Nasdaq:LINE).

Small-cap stocks tumbled to new lows on the open, pressured by a gloomy report on employment in the United States and sinking equities around the globe. Safe haven flows continue to pummel stocks as investors move money into credit products. At 10:03 a.m. ET, the Russell 2000 (NYSE:IWM) was down 11.07, or 2.68%, at 401.31.

The weekly unemployment claims report produced another sour picture of the nation’s jobs situation. More people filed for unemployment insurance last week than any previous 16 years. What’s more, the four-week moving average was at a 25-year peak and continuing claims – the number of people remaining on unemployment insurance – reached 4.012 million, the highest in nearly 26 years. When the claims report came out, stock index futures were only off about 0.5%, but tumbled to 2% losses by the opening as the market absorbed the claims numbers.

In addition to the gloomy claims report, data on manufacturing from the Philly Fed Survey came out below expectations at 39.3 and the leading indicators report came in at minus 0.8%, below the forecast for a drop of 0.6%.

Around the globe, stocks were in retreat mode once again. In Japan, the market was down 6.9% as the world’s second-largest economy reported that exports to its Asian trading partners was down for the first time in six years, yet another sign of slowing activity among emerging economies. Speaking of emerging markets, Russia and Turkey were off some 4% heading into the U.S. open, and the whitewash for emerging market equities has been brutal, with those countries down a combined 62% for the year. Elsewhere overnight, Hong Kong was down 4%, Taiwan off 4.5%, Australia off 4.1%, Singapore down 3.1%, South Korea down 6.6% and India down 3.6%.

Crude oil prices were in full retreat mode again this morning, pulling down energy and commodity stocks as well. Crude oil prices were off some $3 a barrel into the stock market open, slipping below $50 for first time since January 2007. Copper futures were limit down in Shanghai overnight; copper is seen as a barometer of . . .

Small-cap stocks pushed higher on the opening, showing a resilient rise in the face of yet another downbeat economic report. Today’s monthly employment release showed unemployment at 14-year highs, but the market was oversold and a dreary report was already priced into expectations. Today’s small-cap gainers are LandAmerica Financial Group (NYSE:LFG), Fuel Systems Solutions Inc. (NYSE:FNF) and Zhongpin  (Nasdaq:HOGS).

Other Market Watch highlights today included:

• Energy stocks performed well in Europe ahead of the jobs report this morning; commodities in general have been clobbered again this week and could be ripe for a little corrective bounce.  
• Crude oil edged slightly higher this morning, mimicking minor losses in the U.S. dollar.  
• Small-cap stocks pushed higher on the opening, showing a resilient rise in the face of yet another downbeat economic report.  
• The market is coming off the worst two-day drop since the 1987 crash, leaving room for a corrective bounce ahead of the weekend. 

Small Cap Gainers:

• LandAmerica Financial Group stormed 78% higher on news that Fidelity National Financial will buy LFG for $126 million in stock. See (NYSE:LFG).
• Fuel Systems Solutions Inc. is up 26%, receiving an earnings lift. See (NYSE:FNF).  
• Zhongpin expands prepared meat capacity by 114%; shares up nearly 12% in pre-market. See (Nasdaq:HOGS).
• Bristow upbeat on Randgold Resources despite 3Q loss; shares of Randgold are 4% higher in pre-market. See (Nasdaq:GOLD).  

Small Cap Losers:

• Delta Petroleum Corp. is down 31%, gapping lower on news that Tracinda Corp. will not proceed with a previous tender offer. See (Nasdaq:DPTR).  
• Genworth Financial sliding 24% in pre-market, Q3 results down versus a year ago. See (NYSE:GNW).  
• Shares of Lear Corp. are down 24% after the automotive supplier recorded a $77.3 million loss in Q3. See (NYSE:LEA). 
• Suntech Power Holdings completes solar photovoltaic installation at Caltech on Wednesday; shares are dropping 24% today. See (NYSE:STP).  

Stocks tumbled yet again today, with the Russell 2000 (NYSE:IWM) closing down 3.65%, losing nearly 10% in the first two days after the U.S. presidential election. Today’s small-cap gainers are inVentive Health (Nasdaq:VTIV), Global Crossing (Nasdaq:GLBC) and Lumber Liquidators (NYSE:LL).

Other Market Watch highlights today included:

• For the year, the Russell is now off 35%, while the Dow is down 34% and the S&P 500 is down 38%.
• Goldman Sachs is predicting that a jolting 300,000 people lost their jobs last month (the consensus forecast is minus 180,000). Goldman also is looking for the unemployment rate to jump to 6.4%, up 0.3% from last month.
• Monthly confidence survey today among corporate CEOs read that 66% of CEOs expect employment to fall in coming months.
• Among S&P sector groups, only homebuilders managed a 1% rise, but there were 10 sectors generating declines greater than 10%.
• Commodities got hammered today, with copper slumping 5%.
• Crude oil fell to 19-month lows yet airline stocks stayed negative; when those two trade in tandem, recession is dominating psychology.
• Energy stocks were a major drag on the market, with the Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund sinking nearly 7%.

Small Cap Gainers:

• inVentive Health Inc. jumped 38% as the provider of commercialization services to pharmaceutical and health care firms reported a jump in third-quarter revenues. See (Nasdaq:VTIV).
• Global Crossing Ltd. rallied 19% as the IP solutions provider also got an earnings-related lift. See (Nasdaq:GLBC).
• Lumber Liquidators' income rose 48% in Q3; shares closed up 18.8%. See (NYSE:LL). 
• Simcere Pharmaceutical Group reports rise in Q3 profit, reaffirms FY08 . . .

Shares of Akeena Solar, Inc. (Nasdaq: AKNS) are rocketing in pre-market after the designer and installer of solar power systems said this morning that it will distribute its solar panel technology through a licensing agreement with Suntech Power Holdings Co., Ltd. (NYSE: STP) in Europe, Japan and Australia.

Andalay, as the technology is called, improves on conventional solar panels by including built-in wiring, grounding and racking designed to provide better rooftop performance for consumers.

This licensing agreement, which is effective this month, is in addition to Suntech’s previous agreement to manufacture Andalay solar panels.

Shares of Akeena (AKNS) rocketed 43.84%, or $3.49, to $11.45 in pre-market trading. Solar Shares of Akeena Solar have been trading in the range of $2.97 to $10.05 for the past 52 weeks.

Combining two hot investing topics—solar energy and China—seems like a win-win proposition. But when it comes to China’s Solarfun Power Holdings Co., Ltd. (Nasdaq: SOLF), investors seem to have taken a dim view following a December 2006 offering in the U.S. markets.

Based in China’s Jiangsu province, Solarfun Power makes the photovoltaic (PV) cells and modules that are used to convert light into electricity, and provides services and supplies to make solar systems work. Founded in 2004, Solarfun sells its products primarily in China. Production capacity makes Solarfun the world’s sixth-largest PV cell manufacturer and is the second-largest U.S.-listed Chinese cell maker after global leader Suntech Power Holdings Co., Ltd. (NYSE: STP).

When Solarfun’s American Depository Receipts were offered on the Nasdaq Global Stocks market last Dec. 20, the IPO was priced at $12.50. Solarfun closed its first day of U.S. trading at $9.96—and has seemingly been treading water since then.

Despite some flickers of hope since the stock offering, including a 52-week high of $17.69 seen in April, analysts remain lukewarm about Solarfun: four analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial all have this relative newcomer at the equivalent of a “hold.” The stock closed at $12.27 on Monday.

Investors looking to jump into China or into solar are left wondering if Solarfun is a potential sleeping giant that could shine brightly, or if the company is something of a poorly lit bulb in their investment strategy.

There has been a gold rush of solar-related Chinese companies following the successful IPO of Suntech in December 2005, which has seen its share price nearly triple over the past two years.

Interest in solar overall has skyrocketed as prices for energy products derived from petroleum have risen dramatically in the last few years. In turn, the demand for polysilicon, a necessary component in solar energy technology, created a shortage that has driven up prices for the key material.

Solarfun competes with Suntech in an increasingly crowded marketplace for PV cells. On Thursday, Suntech reported its net income nearly doubled in the third quarter and said it’s expecting “extremely strong demand” for solar cells in 2008, according to a press release.

The Russell 2000 small cap index looked up for the second day in a row as the major U.S. indices rallied on news that core producer prices stayed calm in May. The Russell 2000 moved up 4.58 points, or 0.55%, to finish at 837.12. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 71.38 points, or 0.53%, to 13,553.73.

Core U.S. producers price increased 0.2% in May, the Labor Department said this morning. That’s in line with economists expectations.

China’s solar energy industry is growing, but not everyone will profit. In fact, there will be many losers, most likely the late entrants and smaller players.

For sure, the country’s photovoltaic (PV) sector is booming, with the industry now the world’s third largest producer of solar-energy technology. Production capacity of the PV cells – the plates that absorb the sun’s rays and convert them to electricity – in 2005 rose almost 375%, to 250 MW, from 52.8 MW in 2004, while production capacity of modules—the panels comprised of the PV cells—grew 350%, to 400 MW, from 88.8 MW.

International demand for the clean-energy technology, fueled in large part by higher gasoline prices, has resulted in annual growth of around 15%. Some analysts predict that the sector could generate global revenues of up to $40 billion by 2010. China, with its low-cost manufacturing advantages, could seize up to one-forth of the bounty and become the world’s number one producer by the end of the decade. The country itself is projected to increase its install PV-electricity production capacity up to 0.3 GW in 2010 and 1.8 GW in 2020.

Such bright prospects have led to an investment frenzy on Chinese solar stocks. The leader of the pack is Suntech Power Holdings Co. Ltd. (NYSE: STP), the country’s largest PV manufacturer whose IPO listing on the New York Stock Exchange in December 2005 was the largest for the year for a technology company. Smaller cap companies include Trina Solar Limited (NYSE: TSL), Canadian Solar Inc. (Nasdaq: CSIQ) Solarfun Power Holdings Co. Ltd. (Nasdaq: SOLF), and China Sunergy Co. Ltd. (Nasdaq: CSUN). The newest to join the crowd is LDK Solar Co. Ltd. (NYSE: LDK), which had its IPO on June 1.

Chinese stocks are proving to be highly popular with small-cap investors, and the reason is simple: the Chinese economy is going to keep on growing.  And as with most investments, the key to cashing in is to beware of the minefields, and use common sense.

For a time it seemed as if the bull-run for Chinese stocks ended on February 27, when the Shanghai Exchanged dropped 8.8% in one day, to 2,581. The dip ignited fears that China’s phenomenal growth, which has recently averaged an incredible 10% a year, was coming to a screeching halt. However, two months later, the Chinese market has more than recovered, with the Shanghai Index topping 3,800 points (as of May 4, 2007), up more than 30% for the year. Chinese stocks listed abroad are also doing well.  The year-to-date gain for the Matthews China Fund (Nasdaq: MCHFX), a mutual fund basket of big- and small-cap Chinese stocks, is hovering around 10%, compared with about a 6% gain for the Dow Jones Industrial Average.

Despite this growth, many observers believe the Chinese stock market is a bubble waiting to burst (the Shanghai Index is up more than 80% from this time last year), pumped up by excess liquidity from Chinese investors mortgaging their homes in order to have money to invest.