Energy

Short Interest in Solar Stocks Continues to Rise (CSIQ, FSLR, GTAT, WFR, SPWR, JASO, LDK, STP, TSL, YGE)

Alternative Energy sources
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We have tracked the short interest in the following North American Solar companies as of February 28: Canadian Solar Inc. (NASDAQ: CSIQ), First Solar Inc. (NASDAQ: FSLR), GT Advanced Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: GTAT), MEMC Electronic Materials Inc. (NYSE: WFR) and SunPower Corp. (NASDAQ: SPWR). In the Chinese solar sector we tracked the following short interest changes: J.A. Solar Holdings Co. Ltd. (NASDAQ: JASO), LDK Solar Co. Inc. (NYSE: LDK), Suntech Power Holdings Co. Ltd. (NYSE: STP), Trina Solar Ltd. (NYSE: TSL) and Yingli Green Energy Holding Co. Ltd. (NYSE: YGE).

For China-based firms, the percentage of shares short is not available because the companies are also listed on other exchanges.

Canadian Solar Inc. (NASDAQ: CSIQ) saw short interest rise 3.5% to 2.14 million shares, which is 7.1% of the company’s total float.

First Solar Inc. (NASDAQ: FSLR) short interest increased by 6.4% to 17.77 million shares, which represents 29.5% of the company’s float.

GT Advanced Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: GTAT) showed an increase of 8.3% in short interest, to 38.26 million shares, or about 32.2% of GT’s float.

The short interest in MEMC Electronic Materials Inc. (NYSE: WFR) grew 2.1% to 16.74 million shares, about 7.3% of MEMC’s float.

SunPower Corp. (NASDAQ: SPWR) saw short interest rise by 11.9% to 9.93 million shares, 25% of the company’s total float.

J.A. Solar Holdings Co. Ltd. (NASDAQ: JASO) showed an increase of 15.4% in short interest to 3.36 million shares.

LDK Solar Co. Inc. (NYSE: LDK) saw short interest decline of 19% to 3.55 million shares.

Suntech Power Holdings Co. Ltd. (NYSE: STP) showed a rise of 4.2% in short interest to 28.46 million shares.

Trina Solar Ltd. (NYSE: TSL) saw short interest rise of 5.6% to 19 million shares.

Yingli Green Energy Holding Co. Ltd. (NYSE: YGE) showed a rise of 5.6% in short interest to 5.67 million shares.

Shares of the Chinese solar stocks continue to be volatile, and share prices are tied to news related to government spending on planned solar installation in China during 2013. First Solar’s weak earnings brought some shorts back. And short interest in SunPower jumped again, likely due to the belief that there is not much good news coming from the firm, which has seen share prices spike in the first few months of the year.

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