All sustainable energy stocks clobbered (week ending 9/5)

Author: Mark Henwood

Emerging markets (EEM -7.7%),EAFA (EFA -6.5%),and commodities (DJP -5.8%) drop sharply also.
With only 3 of the 87 companies in Camino's indices rising, this week ranks as the worst one week period since we started our commentary.

And the underlying news, for instance in Solar stocks, wasn’t too bad:

• LDK Solar (LDK) inks contract with Japanese company (9/5)
• Suntech (STP) selected for 1 MW solar system (9/4)
• Yingli (YGE) inks contract with Fire Energy (9/4)
• Canadian Solar (SCIQ) inks supply contracts with GCL (9/3)

Solar stocks, and other strategies, are being swept up in broader market trends, including declines in oil prices. While generally exhibiting moderate correlation with oil (.22 price correlation over the last 365 days), in the last two weeks Solar has move closer with oil (.47 correlation).

For the year investors in sustainable stocks are now under deep water:

With the sector’s high volatily and negative returns I wouldn’t be surprised to see funds in ETFs and mutuals start to decline. That said, bargin hunting should start to pick-up, particularly for companies where sales aren’t linked tightly to overall market conditions.

Mark is the founder of Camino Energy, an information provider specializing in globally traded sustainable energy stocks.