Solar Power Gets a Boost

It’s been a pretty topsy-turvy ride for Energy Conversion Devices, Inc. (ENER - Analyst Report) this week. While the stock lost 18.5% of its value on Tuesday after one of its major clients lowered its 2H08 guidance, ENER almost made up for the losses on Wednesday with a surge of 13% to close at $63.79. Today, ENER seems to have lost steam and is up only 0.65%, trading at $64.20.

First Solar (FSLR - Analyst Report), too, is fairly flat with a gain of 0.22%. However, other some of the gainers of the previous day, like ReneSola (SOL - Analyst Report) and Trina Solar Ltd. (TSL - Snapshot Report) continue their march with gains of 3.03% and 2.52% respectively. Wednesday’s other hot stock China Sunergy Co., Ltd. (CSUN - Snapshot Report) is up 0.91%, but is trading close to its 200-Day Moving Average.

The Wednesday boost came on the U.S. Senate’s decision to extend $18 billion worth of solar tax incentives to producers and consumers of solar energy for eight years -- a news item that got buried in the hurly burly of the negotiations of the $700-billion finance industry bailout package.