Clean Energy’s "Dirty Truth"

Let’s stay on the subject of EV and other things “clean.”

Within the last week, we’ve seen a few Lithium stocks get downgraded by Wall Street, some solar stocks scramble for financing terms, and of course, the Ford news we just talked about.

It all adds up to a great “Walk Down Main Street” for the Clean Energy sector.

Looking back over the last five years, the only thing that has been a catalyst for higher prices in the Clean Energy space is government funds.

Whether it’s tax credits for solar panels on your roof and electric vehicles in your garage or funding companies to build infrastructure, the Government has been the largest catalyst for higher prices of Clean Energy stocks. 

That’s the dirty truth.

Want proof? The passage of the Inflation Reduction Act in August 2022 marked the last time the Clean Energy ETF (ICLN) saw a 30% rally. Since then, it’s been in a serious bear market trend that’s about to get worse.

Follow that theory and Clean Energy has problems in 2024.

The current administration – staunch supporters of Clean Energy – is now focusing their political dollar in other areas of the market. Home ownership, eliminating student debt, and other funding projects to pander a wider group of voters are now at the top of the list.

In other words, the politician’s line-item budget for pandering to the clean energy crowd has been spent.

My technical breakdown of the sector shows that there are only a few stocks that aren’t in a technical bear market trend. Bear market trends in solar and other alternative energy sectors have become the weight around the neck of this drowning group and that trend is going to continue into 2024.

Bottom Line: The ICLN and Invesco Solar ETF (TAN) are both breaking below their bearish 50-day moving averages. Historically, we’ve seen an acceleration in selling when this happens. I don’t expect any deviation from history this time around.

About the Author

Chris Johnson (“CJ”), a seasoned equity and options analyst with nearly 30 years of experience, is celebrated for his quantitative expertise in quantifying investors’ sentiment to navigate Wall Street with a deeply rooted technical and contrarian trading style.

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