LDK recent conference call saw earnings of 82 cents when consensus estimates were 42 cents. Revenues were 441.7 million, while estimates were 277 million. Guidance on revenue was also raised from 1.1 billion to 1.7 billion. The one downer of the conference was about margins. Margins were down from 27.7 percent to 25.4 percent. The main problem is the capability of LDK to produce more polysilicon which many companies have had troubling doing.

What is interesting here that has me favoring this stock is next quarters estimates are 41 cents. Therefore, even if LDK fails to improve on its 82 cents per share which is a big possibility, 41 cents is almost a given. Oh yea, LDK has some big big plans, check them out
here. If the plant is a success, this one will sky rocket.

BTW LDK’s chart is finally looking bullish as well

Reviewing the insurance quotes should be mandatory before anyone signs in a life insurance or even a health insurance since that is equally important. In this regard dental insurance gets rebuffed the most. And just because pet insurance concerns your pet, that does not mean it should be dealt with in a minor fashion.

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I put together a list of solar companies to see how these companies traded in sync with each other and to also track the performace of solar in the past 6 months. Below are the charts of 10 solar companies and TAN, the solar fund. With the exception of First Solar, which recently released higher than expected earnings and a good outlook, the rest of the solar stocks have traded similarly in the past 6 months. 4 of the companies are trading higher than 6 months ago with FSLR leading the way up over 30% while 6 companies are trading lower with Suntech retracing the most (30%+). All stocks seem to have traded higher in May and June and significantly lower after that. On the other hand if you had bought TAN when it first released you are down about 15%. I’m not going to recommend solar right now as oil prices are decreasing however I wanted to point out something about solar. FSLR is widely regarded as the market leader, usually the market leader will pull the other companies higher and lower respectively but in this case FSLR is trading in its own pattern, one that is consolidating sideways for the past 2 months.

Note also that TAN has only been out 4 months so I can’t really compare it to the 6 month charts
What do you guys think of solar trading similarily with each other?

Energy Conversion Devices makes solar panels and batteries. What was interesting though was the type of solar panels and batteries. The solar panels they make through a thin-film process are flexible, lightweight, and actually serve as part of the roof. ENER is not affected by the polysilicon shortage which is toxic and scarce. The company has signed deals with semiconductor companies Samsung, Elpida, Hynix, Qimonda, and ST Microelectronics. They are also expanding their solar production production from 50 to 180 MW due to efficiencies in scale and production. Fundamentally, revenues are up 24 percent from last years second quarter and 155 percent higher than 3^rd quarter of 2007. Gross margin also improve from 19.2 to 30.7 percent. Energy Conversion Devices will report earnings on August 7^th and $0.20 is the target, very attainable. Technically, this one is mixed. The MACD and RSI say the stock is oversold but the upward trend line is still in tact. I would wait for this to play out 10 days and see where it stands. As this gets close keep an eye out.

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Trina Solar reports on Monday at the tail end of many Solar company earnings. Trina is expected to have gross margins of 24% which is a number they should be able to surpass since they did 27% last quarter. Recently, Trina has made deals with Silfab and DTK to diversify its polysilicon supplier base and have a safeguard against shortages. I think this is a big hit or miss situation for Trina because of the recent rise in Solar stocks and would could be the grand finale or grand drop of solar. If Trina reports higher than expected earnings and maintains guidance, look for this stock to shoot past the lower 50’s and break a 5 month old resistance point. If not, we will have to see if the stock can withstand support at the 200 day moving average of roughly 43. Either way, I think this is a good short-term play on solar, and maybe one of the last for the next couple of weeks. Check out the chart