I’m interested in finding renewable energy funds in which to invest my 401k. Could you direct me to an archived story regarding this and if there isn’t one, when can I expect to see something like that? Thank you for your time. — Chip A., Milwaukee, WI
Chip, Thanks for your note. Below is a list of the current Exchange traded Funds (ETF’s) that are currently trading on the markets and how their performance has been since 6-1-2008 compared to the standard indexes you normally see in the paper.
Obviously they have taken the same sort of beating that the average solar stock has taken (actually a bit less). However, I think it may be the time to take a closer look at the sector now that it has been beaten down and we have a new, very pro solar, administration in Washington.
As I have said in the past, I would make sure that you approach this newly emerging solar sector with caution and with higher risk tolerant capital. In addition, you may want to take a look at each of the listed ETF’s webpage and check to see how each of them are weighted (you can usually click on each ETF’s page and get a listing of the stocks they own and the percentage of the fund in each stock) in regard to solar stocks, some may have too much of certain stock you may feel is more risky or less in line with your investment focus.
| Symbol | ETF Names | Performance % |
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| The WilderHill Clean Energy Index | -57.2 | |
| First Trust Global Wind Energy Fund | -59.1 | |
| Market Vectors Global Alternative Energy ETF | -58 | |
| Market Vectors Solar Energy | -60.3 | |
| PowerShares Global Clean Energy Portfolio | -56.1 | |
| PowerShares Wilderhill Clean Energy | -56.3 | |
| PowerShares WilderHill Prog. Energy | -50.8 | |
| PowerShares Global Wind Energy Portfolio | -57.1 | |
| PowerShares Cleantech Portfolio | -50.3 | |
| First Trust NASDAQ Clean Edge U.S. Liquid Series Index Fund | -55.6 | |
| Claymore/MAC Global Solar Energy Index Fund | -61.5 | |
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| Standard Indexes | |
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| DJIA | Dow Jones | -29.2 |
| SPX | Standard and Poors 500 | -33.5 |
| NASD | NASDAQ | -34.7 |
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