By Michael Kanellos

Rentech (RTK), which makes biofuel from a modified version of the Fischer-Tropsch process, has signed a deal with eight airlines to provide their ground utility trucks at Los Angeles International Airport with 1.5 million gallons of fuel annually. That's enough to handle all of the the needs of ground service trucks, according to Rentech.

Below is a summary of sector performance for the week of August 10-14th. Healthcare was the best performer, and given some of the weekend news developments with the potential 'watering-down' of the healthcare initiative, we could continue to see outperformance in that sector. The best performing stock (with a $1 minimum share price) is also listed for each sector.

The performance by capitalization for last week showed a propensity for risk-aversion, which is contrary to what I noted the previous week where the smaller caps outpaced the large caps. Below is a chart of capitalization performance, including the best performing stock in each capitalization (minimum $1 share price):

Data Source: FINVIZ

Dan Mathisson of Credit Suisse (CS) held a conference call with clients yesterday, providing an update on his views of Flash Trading and Dark Pools.

The debate over Flash orders and Dark Pools has been heating up. Politicians have been railing against high-speed trading, the SEC has hinted at new impending rules, and some exchanges have voluntarily withdrawn their flash order type. Meanwhile, thrown into the regulatory mix are possible changes to Reg ATS and Reg NMS, new short- selling disclosure rules, and a new uptick or circuit breaker rule.

F3Q09 Earnings Call

August 11, 2009 1:00 pm ET

Earnings season is not traditionally kind to Rentech (RTK) investors. For years, the stock drifted lower as the company posted loss after loss.

4:18 PM, Aug 6, 2009 --

• NYSE down 40.5 (0.6%) to 6,517.67.
• DJIA down 24.7 (0.3%) to 9,256.
• S&P 500 down 5.6 (0.6%) to 997.08.
• Nasdaq down 19.9 (1%) to 1,973.

GLOBAL SENTIMENT

Q2 2009 Earnings Call

May 12, 2009 1:00 pm ET

By Jeff St. John

Rentech Inc. (RTK) wants to put its technology to the commercialization test with a Southern California plant that it says will churn out 600 barrels per day of ready-to-use diesel fuel and other products, as well as generate about 35 megawatts of electricity.

F1Q09 Earnings Call

February 10, 2009 1:00 pm ET

F4Q08 Earnings Call

December 16, 2008 1:00 am ET

Pure play? or Diversified? When it comes to alternative energy companies, the list is long and there is certainly reason today to believe that it is about to get a whole lot longer. Already on the Seeking Alpha homepage today, we have seen multiple submissions by socially responsible and sustainability-focused firms heralding the opportunities that are now present thanks to the new President.

We share the optimism in the alternative energy space; however, we see that there are clear differences in how to approach this strategy. First, while there may be a lot more spending by the government on alternative energy resources, let's be clear how the project and approval process works in Washington. Let’s just say it isn’t necessarily an efficient arbiter of the optimal solution set. Far more likely, we will see intense lobbying, back room hand shakes, and the politics of the usual sort to choose the most “appropriate” investments and expenditures. 

F3Q08 Earnings Call

August 11, 2008 1:00 pm ET

Is there anything more pressing on the minds of American’s right now than the high cost of energy? What if I told you that there was a company that has successfully produced usable synthetic fuel right here in the United States, would anyone be interested? In a press release today, a small company named Rentech (RTK) has produced what it has termed “ultra clean” synthetic fuels at its Colorado facility. This has the potential to be an enormous breakthrough as a large portion of this fuel has been made from liquefied coal—which the United States has in great abundance. The technological implications are awesome and this is exactly the kind of innovation that high energy prices can spur.

Rentech has scored a breakthrough for the U.S. energy crisis; its synthetic fuel is clean, homegrown, and in production now. The excerpt below is taken directly from a recent Business Wire release from RTK and describes for the layman the company’s process for cleanly converting coal to synthetic fuels:

In today’s world, the stock markets are too volatile for the traditional investor to buy a stock and leave it in a portfolio until retirement. Without constant monitoring, there is a risk of losing the entire investment.

Making money in the U.S. and Canadian stock markets requires that an investor constantly buy and sell company stocks.

Rentech, Inc. (RTK)

Q2 2008 Earnings Call Transcript

Last month the Wall Street Analyst Forum staged an investor conference in New York City. Most of the first day was devoted to the "green" stocks of alternative energy or energy efficiency companies. Listening to the presentations, it became clear that some "green" stocks may just be too green to pick.

Among the five presentations, Rentech, Inc. (Amex: RTK), was probably the most developed. With $144 million in trailing revenue, it looks like Rentech has proven both the feasibility and marketability of its version of the Fischer-Tropsch process for producing fuel products. Unfortunately, the revenue is from the production and sales of nitrogen products at a fertilizer plant acquired by Rentech in 2006. Rentech only pulled in $504,000 from the sale of alternative fuels in fiscal year 2007 (September 2007).

Wall Street Analyst Forum Presentation

March 26, 2008 9:50 am ET

F1Q08 Earnings Call

February 8, 2008 01:00 pm ET