The S&P is having a good month with a 2% gain and is back in a range that it hasn't seen since before the financial crisis in 2008. 60% of the stocks in the S&P are positive for the month, however today we're going to focus on one of the stocks in the other 40%, First Solar (ticker: FSLR). FSLR is down over 27% so far in March, making it the worst performing stock in the S&P 500.
Not only is the company having a rough month, but also a rough year and decade. With oil prices at elevated levels, one might wonder why solar isn't getting more respect from the investing community but most likely natural gas is a commodity that more directly competes with solar technology. As has been noted on this blog several times (
the last time being on March 4), natgas prices are at historic lows. The declining price of FSLR also is not necessarily an indictment of solar technology in general, but of FSLR's (and other U.S. based solar manufacturers) ability to compete globally in the solar market. Here's the line chart of FSLR going back to the beginning of 2011:
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