GH

An In-Depth Look at Solar Stocks

Geez. It is such a waste of time reading the vast majority of SeekingAlpha articles. There are about 3 really competent authors, and then hundreds who are rank amateurs who put maybe a week into reading some books and articles and think they know enough about a sector as huge as solar power to write an "in depth" article.

No more for me, thanks. Goodbye, SeekingAlpha.

Expecting Strong Earnings Upside from First Solar and Solarfun Power

"US presidential candidates Barack Obama and John Mccain's strongly support solar and wind energy,"

This is half true. Obama strongly supports alternatives to fossil fuels. However, McCain has never stated specific support for either solar or wind. Since he would like to retain his long-standing massive backing from Big Oil, he is unlikely to.

SCE Contracts Push First Solar Ahead

Wayfarer,

Assuming SCE has sufficient space for either one, the solar efficiency is immaterial to their decision; what matters is dollars per watt.

Lithium-Ion Batteries and Centerfolds

"Size, weight and energy density are critical in cell phones and laptops, but far less important in transportation and alternative power applications"

In the sentence above you betrayed yourself as either ignorant or a liar. No need to care which; I stopped reading your drivel right there.

American Superconductor: An Ultimate Winner in Wind Power

For another, purer play on wind and wires, look at CPTC.

Solar Shorts Keep On Rising Even As Oil Surprises

"Number of shares short" has no value for comparisons. How about showing short shares as a percentage of the float? And include STP, please!

Thanks!

Canadian Solar: The Next Solar Takeover Target?

"More importantly, both US presidential candidates are leaning towards renewable energies, especially solar and wind."

Absolutely false in the case of McCain. Do your homework, check his voting record when it mattered (close votes). He's in the pocket of Big Oil, just as Bush was.

If you invest in alternative energy, this is your biggest risk factor. Research deeply. Consider who will be put in cabinet positions, heads of agencies etc.

IEA's Oil Market Outlook: Off the Mark

"I'd like to see the indexers and those circumventing current trading rules removed by the CFTC."

As would many others. Two problems:
1) The CFTC is corrupt, starting at the head placed there by Bush the Oil Pusher.
2) The CFTC is disabled, due to the Enron Loophole and other problems introduced by corrupted legislators like Phil Gramm in 2000-2001 and being actively preserved today - and prevented from being exposed via debate by Republican filibusters.

On Oil and Its Manipulation

Andrew,

GREAT job with this article! Please stay on this topic and keep digging and keep posting. Make sure you see all the Senate Commerce Committee hearings from June; the video is at the cspan web site.

Some things you can dig into:
- Intentional conflation by Big Oil sycophants of the terms "speculation" and "manipulation", to mislead listeners about what's being stated and discussed by experts
- Republican use of filibusters to prevent debate (on CFTC-related legislation) which would clarify the manipulation issue and expose the current crop of Phil Gramm wannabes
- Conflation of sweet crude (for which demand is outstripping supply) with sour crude (of which supply is abundant) by Saudi Arabians and Libyans, to hide their inability to increase supply of sweet crude
- Ignorant conflation of sweet vs. sour crude by mainstream media (including online sources like MarketWatch), exacerbating misunderstandings of Saudi and Libyan statements
- Israeli cabinet members helping Goldman-Sachs and Morgan Stanley further drive up WTI oil futures by hyping mideast tensions, thereby manipulating more retail investors and fund managers into buying more USO, XLE, etc.

Adjusted for Income & Fuel Efficiency Increases, Gas Today is Almost 50% Below Record High

This article should be linked into Wikipedia as an example of "lying with statistics":
1) Why does the "Average MPG" chart cut off at 2005? Hint: SUV sales peaked in 2006.
2) Why consider improvements in Average MPG, unless you also consider increases in average miles driven per year?

Promising Solar Power Technologies

Road Runner,

Did you even read the article, much less follow any of the links? Evidently not. Ausra's technology is good - but it has room for further improvement. This can lower the cost of Ausra's technology.

TTM Speculative Activity Actually Decreased on the NYMEX

jjason,

You're exactly right.

Be aware that speculation on NYMEX has moved to the unregulated "London" ICE (actually run by a USA company and using terminals here in the USA) and greatly expanded. Those who put out "speculation is down" stories are at best being misled.

Kling's Oil Speculation Question

Beware. There are two kinds of oil. There is currently an excess of sour crude, and a shortage of sweet crude. This is what allows Libya and Saudi Arabia to say there is an abundance of supply and that the price is higher than it should be, yet the price to continue higher. The Iranian tankers are full of sour crude.

This conflation of the two kinds of crude is being purposely planted by various players - the same ones who are hiding their manipulation behind the word "speculation". This is the latest favorite style of lying: use an ambiguous word. Various media that should know better are happily playing along to attract eyeballs.

How Big a Contribution Comes from Oil Speculation?

"So-called speculative net long positions fell to 25,867 contracts on the New York Mercantile Exchange in the week ended May 27 from a record 127,491 on July 31, according to a U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission report on May 30.""

That trading moved from the NYMEX to the ICE to dodge regulation. Bush's head of the CFTC is in on this con, which was originally set up as Enron's loophole by Phil Gramm (McCain's chief economic advisor) and his wife. I believe Senate Commerce Committee testimony before I believe anything on SeekingAlpha (although Mr. Hamilton seems to have an excellent understanding in my humble opinion).

The Enron Loophole

Good start, Vinny, but you need to dig deeper. The Farm Bill's clauses that supposedly re-enable the CFTC to do its job, in fact put all sorts of limits and hurdles in its path. It was, in short, a con to fool those who were trying to attack this problem. That's why it got a veto-proof majority: because it doesn't materially change anything.

Play the entire C-Span video of the hearing again. Listen carefully to all the testimony. It will be the best 2 hours and 18 minutes you'll spend this year.