Love to short

Confessions of a Shallow Solar Trader

High Voltage, the best ETF to play the solar sector is TAN.

Further Thoughts on Trina Solar and the Solar Space

Jack,

Any thoughts on the TSL downgrade to sell today from Goldman? Goldman suggested the company has a fairly week balance sheet which could cause a great deal of downside risk from possible capital raises or dilution. Thoughts?

Profiting from Panic-Selling in Trina

Trader Mark,

Let me start off by saying that the vast majority of your articles are great with solid reasoning and analysis. And I agree with you that TSL has great long term prospects and is one of the cheapest stocks in the solar space. And again, you are right in saying that 90% of investors only pay attention to the headline number when it comes to earnings. However, based on that notion, investors should position themselves in a manner that takes that into account. If a trader knows that everyone will be looking only at the headline number, then holding a stock through the annoucenement means that the trader believes the overall market will react favorably to the annoucement. That said, although TSL beat estimates, the expecations were extremely high for the report. This is exemplified by the solid rally the stock saw leading up to the annoucement. Further, the whisper number was actually much higher than the consensus estmates, making for lofty expectations. So sure, the figures based on the company's operations were strong, but the currency loss must be factored in given that expectations were so high. So although the headline number did not give a fully accurate depiction of the company's performance, when expecations are so high, there only needs to be one little negative factor that can create the market to sell the stock. So the better trade would have been to sell the stock into the rally, get some more clarity on the company from the report, and then re-enter with a position. That is not applicable to all stocks, but just the ones that have such lofty expectations.

That said, TSL down below 37 is now VERY attractive, so I will be taking a position in myself. Best of luck with the fund.