It’s nice to see a Monday morning rally on Wall Street. The DOW is currently above 8000, always a good sign. With the news of the Citigroup rescue, stocks surged this morning. Obama is also pledging to get an economic rescue plan approved as soon as possible. Such optimism is refreshing when not only our markets but public sentiment is drowning in negativity.
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First Solar Inc. (FSLR) has been forecasted today to close down. Now normally I have felt pretty confident in there position in the solar energy sector, but lately this sector has seen some fading. FSLR derives more than half its sales in Europe, mainly Germany. Germany just announced they were officially in a recession. In there latest conference call they announced all solar projects outside of Germany have stopped. People are loosing faith in solar companies–sentiment for FSLR has recently become bearish and they have a down forecast. What do you think FSLR’s immediate future holds? In my opinion, when Obama comes to office in January, I think alternative energy will get a much needed kick start as a lot of the focus of Obama’s campaign will be towards going green.
I’ve been waiting for the release of Research in Motion’s (RIMM) Blackberry Storm for quite some time and it has been an utterly disappointing experience. I too got caught up in the buzz of the “first touch screen Blackberry” and while I still like the idea and the phone, I can’t help but be extremely angry at how Research in Motion is handling the entire production and sale of this phone. Lets see, lets heavy promo this phone, make a huge deal out of it, push back the release date days, then weeks, then months, make customers even more agitated, and then I’ve got a great idea, lets only give Verizon stores between 10-200 phones each so they will sell out within the first 2 hours. Brilliant RIMM, absolutely. It just seems like bad business to not be able to keep up with a demand you created. Apparently the next production of phones wont even be available till the middle of December. Am I a little bitter I don’t have a Storm in my hand right now? Yes, I am.
Research in Motions stocks may be riding this Storm wave right now, but we’ll see how long it lasts as customers grow weary and completely frustrated. Sentiment for RIMM is bullish now, but in the past RIMM has proven to be an extremely dippy and volatile company that is often hard to predict. I’m curious to see where they will be in January. I’m predicting UP today because I know RIMM is still a fire with Storm buzz, although at heart I still feel pretty bearish about this company. I
