Welcome to the Green Chip Weekend Edition — our insights from the week in everything alternative and cleantech, as well as links to our most-read Green Chip and sister publication articles.
Will the BP oil spill be an energy game-changer?
It's the question everyone has; it's the question no one can answer.
Because honestly, no one knows...
Obama's looking for an ass to kick. Pelosi wants BP to suspend dividends. The UK is supporting its namesake company (I guess they love BP as much as we love GM)...
There's no plume. Wait, there is a plume — Kevin Costner is somehow a key figure at Senate committee hearings. And the Chamber of Commerce wants you to pay for this mess.
And while officials can't decide who to blame, how to react, or how to pay for it...
The majority of people — save for those on the Gulf Coast — don't really seem to care.
Sure, the spill is making national headlines. But that's not what people are looking and searching for...
With the kick-off of the World Cup, the recent end of the Stanley Cup, the ongoing NBA finals, and that creepy Van der Sloot... there's been more than enough fodder to distract the herd.
A quick stroll around Google Trends yesterday showed that 'ESPN World Cup Schedule' and 'Nelson Mandela granddaughter' were much more popular searches than anything having to do with the oil spill.
I guess fleeting sports moments make for better water-cooler chat than dead wildlife.
And this willful ignorance hit on the very core of investment strategy in today's new stock market.
Welcome to the new market
With even the most followed experts searching for direction in this fragile market, investors are left to respond to the news of the day.
Jobs numbers. Retail sales. Consumer sentiment. European debt woes.
The market is now at the mercy of the sentiment du jour.
That's the reason 100+ point swings — once a major market event — are now a common occurrence. We've seen a handful of them just this week:
It's how BP (NYSE: BP) can lose $96 billion of its market cap before any firm value is assigned to the cleanup. And it's how, as happened on Friday, it can gain $14 billion of it back just because the UK government said it's willing to help out the troubled oil major.
I want you to digest this properly...
When the world thought the Deepwater Horizon was leaking 20,000 barrels per day, BP lost half its value. But the day the world learned the spill was twice as bad as previously thought — up to 40,000 barrels per day — the stock appreciates, earning back $14 billion of it's market cap, just because the UK says it's got BP's back.
Welcome to the era of government bailouts. Welcome to the new free market.
Fighting irrationality
We're at a fork in the road... But that doesn't mean we can't go both ways.
On the one hand, we have to roll with the punches. By that, I mean staying ahead of wanton shifts in sentiment — placing bets prior to earnings, trading the news, following government money.
Take US Geothermal (AMEX: HTM) and A-Power Generation (NASDAQ: APWR) as this week's examples:
Each surged 30% this week on what boils down to pure sentiment. U.S. Geothermal said “it's closer to getting a federal loan worth up to $102.2 million and A-Power “raised its full-year outlook on expectations of stronger turbine exports.”
These companies are moving on press releases alone.
But that doesn't mean the profits aren't real. I told you A-Power would be a good bet the day before it surged.
On the other hand, it means staying the course — drowning out the political and media noise, looking hard at the future global energy picture, and investing in the companies that will succeed in it.
We'll continue to help you do both every week at Green Chip Stocks.
Call it like you see it,
Nick
Investing in Algae-Based Biofuels: The Biofuel Game-Changer We've Been Waiting For
Green Chip Editor Jeff Siegel discusses a game-changing development in the production of algae-based biofuel.
Senate to Lay the Smack Down on Oil Companies: The Future is Murky for Offshore Drillers
Publisher Brian Hicks comments on new legislation that could hold oil companies liable for blunders in light of the BP spill in the Gulf.
A Shift in the Global Wind Industry: Wind Companies to Adapt... or Die
Green Chip Editor Nick Hodge chronicles current problems facing the wind industry, how they're being overcome, and where to look for profit.
The R-Track System: Delivering Investors 32% Every Month
Readers following this system closed 45 winning trades in the last 12 months. . . and we'll tell you about #46.
The Impact of Electric Car Subsidies: Up to $10k in Subsidies for Electric Cars
Green Chip's Jeff Siegel discusses new legislation that could bolster support for electric vehicles
Platinum Thieves Clean Up Emissions: The Green Precious Metal
Publisher Brian Hicks shares with readers the details of an eye-opening phone call regarding palladium, the "green precious metal."
Natural Gas Emerging as Oil Alternative: The New Role of Natural Gas
Energy & Capital Editor Nick Hodge calls for natural gas to corner several niches of the energy market, including new baseload generation and fleet vehicles.
The Year of the Electric Car: How to Profit in 2011
Editor Christian DeHaemer has a lunch date with a hot, rich girl... Not only does he have a very nice time, but he learns an investment secret.
Profit from Natural Gas Price Cycles: Playing Seasonal Shifts in Nat Gas Demand for Profit
Wealth Daily's Brian Hicks explains why now is the time to buy natural gas and nat gas stocks as we head into the summer months.
Edison’s Evil Plan: American Hero’s Invention Intentionally Flawed
Since its birth 130 years ago, Edison’s light bulb has long been a symbol of American innovation… But most people are completely unaware that the light bulb was created inefficiently on purpose. Lighting costs this country $18bil a year due to this very inefficiency – and it’s created the opportunity for you to net you 14-18 times your money before the end of 2010.
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The Real Alt., fuel is VRNM = w/ 400 patents and 300 more pending and is into Bio/Fuels/Pharma products.
Pfizer Chairman say ALL Drugs will go to Plant based away from Animal Based and paid 125 million for (1)
Enzyme vs., VRNMs 100s of Patented Enzymes.
With (2) 36mgy plants coming -One in Highlands ,Fl., and another in the Gulf.
Yes BP screwed up, but, some may recall that Mexico said sorry "soverign immunity" when came to cleaning up US shores fouled by its Pemex Ixtoc well blow-out (almost equal in spillage) in 1979 - which by the way it cleaned-up very quickly, in spite of lack of containment because of oil consuming microbes.
The media, politicians, and the scam artists have already gotten their pay day.