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Published: October 31, 2009
This week has brought
several news items on the green front ...
Earlier this week, Fisker revealed its plans to convert a
defunct General Motors plant in Delaware into a facility to
build plug-in hybrid electric cars. GM closed the plant as part
of its post-bankruptcy restructuring and Fisker's plan will be
the first major redevelopment of a piece of the old automaker.
Fisker, based in California, touts itself as "A green American
premium sports car company with a mission to create a range of
beautiful environmentally friendly cars that make environmental
sense without compromise."
The company received a $528 million loan from the Department of
Energy in September to speed up work on a $48,000 hybrid car
known as "Project Nina" and another hybrid, called the Karma,
which will retail for $89,000. Fisker has stated that one of its
goals is to bring the U.S. back to the forefront of the car
industry and taking over the Delaware plant will be a good step
in that direction.
You can't invest in Fisker, as the company is privately held,
but there are lots of other green stocks related to the auto
industry that satisfy our requirements for investment.
The U.S. Congress has been intensifying its debate on a bill
that would help to curtail greenhouse gas emissions. According
to one of the bill's sponsors, Barbara Boxer, a Democratic
Senator from California, the bill would allow Americans to have
"home-grown energy rather than foreign oil" for mere pennies a
day, in addition to cleaner air and economic benefits from new
sources of power.
The bill strives to reduce air pollution and global warming by
creating a limited marketplace for emissions permits and by
subsidizing and financing for research encouraging business and
industry to switch to wind and solar power (and other green
technologies) from carbon fuels.
While the bill does have some critics, others say that it will
help create jobs while improving our environment. Already, $80
billion in the economic stimulus package has been distributed to
green energy programs.
In fact, my third piece of green news relates directly to
stimulus spending. On Tuesday, President Barack Obama was in
Florida to announce a $3.4 billion investment in a new energy
grid that will be better able to support the development of
solar power, wind power and other green electricity sources.
During his speech at the solar power plant in Arcadia, Florida,
the largest of its kind in the U.S., Obama stressed the need for
more funding to continue green projects like the new power grid.
In his speech, he said, "We're on the cusp of this new energy
future. In fact, a lot of it is already taking place." Now, to
find out how you can take advantage of it...
Maxwell Technologies (MXWL) is one stock benefiting from
the switch to more efficient power grids that use green energy
sources and the switch to hybrid and electric cars. The stock
was first recommended by Cabot Green Investor Editor
Brendan Coffey in March and purchased for that publication in
May. (Brendan got in at $10 and the stock is now around $18,
giving subscribers a cool +80% gain... but Brendan believes
there's more to come.)
Maxwell Technologies makes ultracapacitors that rapidly store
and release electric energy. Maxwell focuses its efforts on the
renewable energy industry, primarily applications that work in
tandem with wind turbines, automobiles and other forms of
transportation.
This is what Brendan wrote when he first recommended the stock:
"The main market for its ultracaps is wind. Because wind speed
varies, turbines have trouble maintaining a steady voltage flow.
The ultracapacitor stores and discharges energy to complement
the turbine's speed and helps send out a more level electrical
flow. Maxwell's systems are also used to adjust the speed and
angle of the turbine blades according to the weather.
"Since starting to sell the product for wind in 2004, Maxwell
has sold over two million units, but almost all to one customer
-- a German turbine company called InterCon. Recently however,
Maxwell purchased a license to the method InterCon had patented
so it can sell the ultracaps to other customers. Companies in
the U.S. and China in particular have since started using
Maxwell's licensed offering.
"An equally exciting application is the use of ultracapacitors
in transportation. Maxwell powers 200 municipal buses in New
York, Chicago and Long Beach, California, with groupings of 500
to 700 ultracapacitors that are used to capture energy from
braking and then redistribute it to accelerate the bus. The end
result is that buses have 90% fewer emissions and are 25% more
fuel-efficient because the ultracapacitor accelerates the bus
from zero to 30 miles per hour, not the engines... The obvious
next market for ultracaps is automobiles, where the sheer scale
of the car market could make Maxwell a significant revenue
generator."
And as noted above, Brendan still thinks this stock has big
things ahead. This is what he wrote about it recently:
"Maxwell Technologies shares retreated back to support at 17.50
in recent sessions, but volume indicates it's nothing more than
a little pullback. The company will announce earnings after the
market close on November 3. Expectations are for a net loss of
three cents a share, but we expect that even if the company
doesn't beat that, the outlook should generate enthusiasm.
Technically, the bullish story remains intact, so if you don't
have any, these levels are still a good place to buy."
It's not too late to take advantage of the shift to green... and
MXWL looks like a good place to start.
-- Elyse Andrews
Editor
Cabot Wealth
Advisory |
