The market’s response to bad news is scarily predictable. War, sabotage by hackers, inflation, new strains of COVID-19… you name it. If the news is bad, energy stocks go up. And by “energy” I mean extractive, petroleum-based energy producers like Exxon-Mobil (XOM), Chevron (CVX), not to mention natural gas, shale, and coal companies which are not household names.
This time around, things looked a little different. BP (BP) and Shell (SHELL), which held major positions in Russian oil, saw their share prices drop.
Most notably, green energy stocks saw a notable rise throughout the industry:
FuelCell Energy (FCEL) was up 26% over the last week.
ChargePoint (CHPT), an electric vehicle charging network, was up nearly 10 percent over the same time period.
Plug Power (PLUG) and Workhorse (WKHS) also sported one-week gains above 15 percent. Usually clean energy stocks ebb when petroleum prices rise, but not this time. Has green energy finally reached enough capacity to emerge as a viable alternative to fossil fuels?
We may not be all the way there yet, but that didn’t stop me from picking up Ford (F) and NextEraEnergy (NEE) shares while they are still relatively affordable. Add up the market capitalizations of every clean energy company mentioned in this article (including Ford) and you still don’t come close to Exxon-Mobil, valued at $335B. To me that signals room to grow.
Pain at the gas pump is endurable, in a way that gunfire and rocket attacks are not. In response to Putin’s brutal invasion of Ukraine, it is time for a complete and total ban worldwide ban on Russian oil exports. SWIFT needs to do its part. The United States and other nations have greatly evolved our capacity for telecommuting since the dawn of the pandemic. Even if gas prices rise to $10/gallon in the short term, the pain is worth it. It will drive innovation to reduce our dependence on foreign energy and slow the pace of climate change—still the gravest danger humanity faces.
DISCLAIMER
Lotus Rose is not a registered investment, legal or tax advisor or a broker/dealer. All investment and financial opinions expressed on Lotus Trader are from the personal research and experience of the owner of this newsletter and intended for educational and informational purposes only. Although every effort is made to ensure that all information is accurate and up-to-date, occasional unintentional errors may occur.
All charts are sourced from Robinhood.com, 3/1/2022, after close of regular trading hours.