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Solar Stocks Soared Wednesday Amid Post-Debate Optimism
First Solar (FSLR) Led Gains On The...
Investopedia
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First Solar (FSLR) led gains on the S&P 500 Wednesday as solar stocks got a boost on the heels of Tuesday's presidential debate between former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris.
During the debate, Trump said Harris would “go back to solar,” if she wins the presidency, adding that he’s “a big fan of solar,” according to an ABC News transcript.
First Solar shares popped more than 15% Wednesday, while SolarEdge Technologies (SEDG) gained over 8%, and Enphase Energy (ENPH) added nearly 6%.
Other green energy stocks also advanced as investors weighed the possibility of Harris continuing the Biden administration's climate policies, with Polymarket still predicting a Trump win and PredictIt increasing its likelihood of a Harris one.
While Harris didn’t address solar energy during the debate specifically, she has been a proponent of the Biden Administration’s Inflation Reduction Act, which includes tax credits for rooftop solar and other clean energy initiatives.
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Dangote Refinery, one of Africa’s largest oil refineries, has expressed concern over the lack of patronage from petroleum marketers due to low pricing strategies on its product sales.
Devakumar V.G. Edwin, vice president of Dangote Industries Limited, disclosed this on a Twitter Spaces session organised by Nairametrics. He revealed that despite the refinery’s efforts to supply affordable petroleum products, many traders in Nigeria have refused to purchase from the refinery, preferring to continue importing refined products from abroad.
Speaking during the session, Edwin highlighted the initial vision behind the establishment of the Dangote Refinery, which was aimed at reducing Nigeria’s reliance on imported petroleum products.
“The whole purpose of doing this refinery in Nigeria was to utilize our local crude instead of exporting raw materials and importing finished products,” he explained. “We should be able to refine and use the finished products within Nigeria and produce more to export the surplus.” Despite the refinery’s large production capacity, local marketers are only purchasing about 3% of the output.
He noted that the remaining 97% of the refinery’s production, including diesel and jet fuel, is being exported due to a boycott by local traders who refuse to buy at the refinery’s lower prices. This has forced the refinery to explore international markets, exporting the majority of its refined products, even though it was originally intended to supply the Nigerian market.
Edwin said: “I’m selling 2 to 3% to small traders who are willing to buy, while the rest 95 to 97% I’m forced to export,” while speaking about the quantity of the refinery’s Products sold locally. He suggested that there is a deliberate attempt by some marketers to block the refinery’s operations, as they prefer to import products rather than support local refining.
He further revealed that local marketers wrote to President Bola Tinubu, complaining about the refinery’s pricing strategies. “They wrote to His Excellency, the president, claiming that we are disturbing the market by dropping our prices,” Edwin disclosed.
He explained that in response to market dynamics, the refinery reduced prices twice to encourage sales, but this only led to further resistance from the marketers, who accused the refinery of undercutting the market. Edwin further said since that local marketers have been blocking the distribution of their products within the country, the refinery has been exporting most of its petroleum products.
Edwin said that the refinery can produce up to 54 million liters of refined petroleum products per day, depending on crude oil supply. However, local crude supplies have been inconsistent, forcing the refinery to rely on imported crude from countries like the U.S. and Brazil. This situation has been exacerbated by international oil companies (IOCs) prioritizing foreign markets, often selling crude oil at prices significantly above the market rate for local buyers
He added that the refinery’s production capacity is more than sufficient to meet Nigeria’s petroleum needs. He stated that 44% of the refinery’s output is enough to cover 100% of the country’s demand for refined products.
Investopedia
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Major U.S. equities indexes recovered from early losses to close Wednesday's session higher.
The volatile trading day followed the morning's release of the latest Consumer Price Index (CPI) data, which showed price pressure abating in August and solidified expectations for a minimal interest-rate cut at the Federal Reserve's upcoming meeting. Market participants also digested the financial implications of Tuesday evening's presidential debate.
The S&P 500 gained 1.1% on the day, while the Dow added 0.3%. Outperformance in the tech sector, buoyed by a recovery in shares of Nvidia (NVDA) and other artificial intelligence (AI) players, helped the Nasdaq jump 2.2%.
Vice President Kamala Harris's debate performance helped boost shares of companies in the green energy industry. If Harris wins the election, she is likely to continue Biden administration policies aimed at promoting clean energy solutions. Shares of solar panel maker First Solar (FSLR) led the S&P 500 higher, skyrocketing 15.2%.
Shares of Albemarle (ALB), the world's largest lithium producer, soared 13.6% following reports that a major battery producer in China intends to scale back its lithium production. Slumping lithium prices have weighed heavily on Albemarle's share price performance this year, but UBS analysts believe the production cuts could help rebalance global supply-and-demand dynamics, representing a possible inflection point in the lithium market.
AES Corp. (AES), a Virginia-based power utility with a clean energy focus, may have also benefitted from the bright outlook for green energy following the debate, as its shares jumped 8.6%. In addition, the investment bank Jefferies initiated coverage of AES stock with a "buy" rating and a $20 price target. Analysts praised AES for its diverse portfolio of energy infrastructure assets around the world, highlighting the company's shift toward U.S. renewables and away from coal exposure.
Shares of health insurer Humana (HUM) tumbled 5.3%, posting the steepest loss in the S&P 500. Wednesday's drop extended declines suffered by the stock earlier this week after a report highlighted downside risks to the Star ratings of Humana-operated health plans. The results of the presidential debate added to downward pressure on healthcare stocks, with analysts suggesting that increased odds for a Democratic victory could hurt investor sentiment on Medicare-related businesses.
Conagra Brands (CAG) shares lost 4.0%, receding from a 52-week high posted in the previous session. The company recently added to its strong snack portfolio by acquiring Sweetwood Smoke & Co., the maker of Fatty Smoked Meat Sticks. However, the packaged food company issued lower-than-expected guidance when it reported results in July, citing a difficult consumer environment.
After 155 years in existence, Campbell Soup (CPB) announced a rebranding initiative that includes dropping "soup" from its corporate name. Newly minted as "The Campbell's Company," the firm also owns snack brands such as Pepperidge Farm and Snyder's of Hanover, and it recently added Rao's tomato sauce to its portfolio. Shares of the company fell 3.8% following the rebranding news.
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Shares of Albemarle (ALB), the world's largest lithium miner, rose more than 13% following reports that a key Chinese battery producer intends to reduce lithium production levels.
Lithium prices have tumbled in recent months amid an uncertain demand outlook for electric vehicles (EVs), whose batteries represent a key driver of demand for the metal. High levels of supply, particularly in China, have exacerbated the price weakness.
According to , the EV battery and energy storage system producer Contemporary Amperex Technology (CATL) on Wednesday said that it would curtail lithium production at its large mine in Yichun City in the Chinese province of Jiangxi. The mine has reportedly been a key driver of soaring lithium supply in the country.
In a research report, UBS analysts indicated that CATL's strategy shift could reduce monthly lithium carbonate production in China by 8%. Analysts believe this could prove to be an important inflection point for the lithium market, with more balanced supply-and-demand dynamics supporting a recovery in prices while reinvigorating profitability for producers like Albemarle.
The slump in lithium prices has dragged heavily on Albemarle's share price performance. The stock fell following the lithium miner's latest quarterly report in August, which showed a loss of $188 million for the period on a year-over-year revenue decline of nearly 40%.
Despite Wednesday's gains, Albemarle stock is still down nearly 40% in 2024.
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Instablog9ja
3 hrs
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Popular food critic, Opeyemi Famakin, has shared messages from Cubana ChiefPriest after giving an honest review of his restaurant in Owerri, Imo State.
Opeyemi has said everything in the eatery was okay but for the pastries and bread-cake and hand-burger.
Click to watch
Investopedia
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Bank of America (BofA) (BAC) shares lost ground Wednesday after news that Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A)(BRK.B) again reduced its stake in the bank.
In a regulatory filing Tuesday, Buffett holding company Berkshire reported that it sold a total of approximately 5.8 million Bank of America shares valued at about $228.7 million in separate moves on Friday, Monday, and Tuesday. The average sale price was$39.5 per share.
With this latest sale, Berkshire held about 858.2 million shares in BofA at the time of the filing, still a stake greater than 11%. It has sold off more than $7 billion worth of the stock since mid-July.
When asked about Buffett’s decision, Bank of America Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Brian Moynihan said at Barclays Global Services Financial Services Conference, “look, he's been a great shareholder."
"I don't know what exactly he's doing because, frankly, we can't ask and we wouldn't ask, but on the other hand, the market is absorbing the stock, and it's a portion of the volume every day, and we're buying the stock, a portion of the stock, and so life will go on," Moynihan added.
BofA stock was off about 1.5% at $38.66 around 2:30 p.m. ET. Even with the day's losses, shares of Bank of America are up about 14% year-to-date.
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