By Jeff St. John

Opponents of plans to reduce global greenhouse-gas emissions say they will add too much to the cost of energy. But, the International Energy Agency says doing nothing about climate change will be even more expensive.

A group of utility companies have banded together to push for clean energy policies in the United States in response to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s stance on climate laws. They stand to gain from any new policies, which puts some ETF in a position to perform if ideas one day become reality.

A group of utility companies have come together to create American Businesses for Clean Energy. Most of the companies joining the group stand to gain from new energy policies in the United States. Keith Johnson for The Wall Street Journal reports that this action comes in response to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s opposition to current legislation.

By Jeff St. John

The world will have 250 million smart meters by 2015, representing a $3.9 billion market, according to a report from Pike Research released Monday.

President Barack Obama unveiled an initiative to help fund the largest energy grid modernization in United States history. The investment could have a wide-ranging impact on ETFs.

The Obama Administration has announced that it’s investing $3.4 billion in order to fund this project. Through the plan, 100 private companies, utilities, cities and manufacturers will receive grants ranging from $400,000 to $200 million in order to build a smart energy grid, reports Lynn Sweet for The Chicago Sun-Times. So far, these awards are the largest Recovery Act awards ever made on one day.

By Jeff St. John

The Department of Energy pulled the trigger on its $3.4 billion smart grid investment grant program Tuesday, announcing it would give the entire amount to 100 deserving smart grid projects – and leave about 300 other applicants out of luck.

By Jeff St. John

The Department of Energy is set to announce winners of $3.4 billion in smart grid stimulus grants on Tuesday, Reuters reports.

Not all ETFs are right for every investor. If you can’t find an ETF that matches your needs or risk tolerance, though, it’s possible to find alternative ways to get the exposure you’re seeking.

Often, investors who want to play energy would simply look at energy shares or ETFs. But the institutional approach is to look around for the cheapest way to get this exposure. For example, explains Steven M. Sears for Barron’s, if they’re looking to buy energy, they’d check out commodities, bonds, stocks, options and even credit default swaps.

Below is a summary of sector performance for the week of September 14th-18th. Conglomerates, the smallest of the group based on the number of stocks, was the best performer. The sector was led by Gencorp and GE, up 14.4% and 13.17% for the week.

On a forward looking basis, healthcare still looks like the most attractive based on valuation. However, one should watch Washington closely in the coming weeks as any healthcare bill could lead to added volatility in the sector. (For momentum based portfolio strategies, please visit Scott's Investments.)

The bulls and bears fought to a standoff on Friday and next week could be a significant turning point in the course of the markets this year. Bull or bear is "dealer's choice" because this market feels much more like a poker game than a stable platform upon which to make investing and trading decisions.

Here are the current cross currents and arguments for each side:

In response to Congressional pressure for greater energy market transparency, new EIA director Richard Newell said his agency will now harvest more information about the energy markets and conduct deeper assessments of price factors.

“EIA’s traditional coverage of ‘fundamentals’ such as energy consumption, production, inventories, spare production capacity, and geopolitical risks is essential, but moving forward EIA must also assess other influences, such as speculation, hedging, investment, and exchange rates, as we seek to fully understand energy price movements,” Mr. Newell said in a statement.

The Energy Information Administration (EIA) recently released its short-term energy outlook for a variety of energy sources. Their forecasts could impact a wide range of energy-focused ETFs.

Remember, though, that while forecasts are informative, unforeseen events could cause the reality to play out differently. While you keep these predictions in mind, have an entry and exit strategy if you’re thinking of investing in energy ETFs.

Here is a list of 73 exchange traded funds with at least $100 million market-cap, at least $1 million daily Dollar trading volume, and at least 3% annualized last dividend yield.

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The cost-cutting climate we’re living in has had a negative impact on utility ETFs. Companies that have announced earnings aren’t terribly optimistic about the near future, either.

The few utility companies that managed to beat expectations did so by cutting costs and raising rates, explains Melinda Peer for Forbes. Many executives also delivered a dire warning for the sector: pricing weakness will continue and no meaningful improvement will be evident until 2011, at the earliest.

There has been relatively little discussion as of late on utility stocks. They appear to be the forgotten sector with comparably more attention given to the “USD hedge” sectors such as energy, materials and emerging markets.

However, we would like to draw your attention to the utility sector because of the attractive fundamental valuations and the “constructive” behaviour of many utility stock prices.

"Shiller's P/E" is a straightforward valuation concept. Take Tuesday's price (S&P 905) and divide it by the last 10 years of earnings results.

According to the team of Arnott and West at Research Affiliates, the historical valuation level for this metric is 16.4; today's Shiller P/E is not far off at 15.8. (Back in March, the same measure had dipped as low as 11.2.)

Even the most vocal supporters of passive management and indexing have to admit that certain investor track records are far too stellar to attribute entirely to luck. While I’ve frequently disparaged the concept of active investing, I’m still eager to hear what trends legendary investors are following.

The Wall Street Journal’s Gregory Zuckerman recently compiled some thoughts from George Soros, John Paulson, and others on the current economic environment. So what are these experts betting on? Some of the answers might surprise you:

By Jeff St. John

The Department of Energy has issued its long-awaited guidelines for utilities and companies hoping to get a piece of the multibillion-dollar smart grid stimulus grant package – and security has emerged as a top concern for projects that want to get funded.

By Jeff St. John

Could the Department of Energy's rules for spending its $4.5 billion in smart grid grants be coming out today?