T. Boone Pickens' plan to move the U.S. economy from petroleum to wind/solar/natural gas has been getting plenty of attention. What's been absent is how investors can play this move if it grows beyond Pickens' initial order of 667 wind turbines from GE.
Which companies are best positioned to supply a new building boom in wind towers? That isn't clear yet. Let's say the next presidential administration needs to put a lot of out-of-work former homebuilders and mortgage brokers into some new WPA-type program building renewable energy infrastructure. Any such undertaking would presumably, for political reasons, look first to U.S.-based sources for materials and expertise. Some potential players:
GE: Great 5yr ROE, subpar 5yr EPS growth. Too much exposure to the broad U.S. economy to be a good wind pure-play.
Trinity Industries: Subpar 5yr ROE. Not for me, thanks.
Broadwind Energy: Too young to have good long-term data! No thanks.
But if the priority is for rapid build-up of capacity and not political sensitivity, maybe Vestas and other foreign wind suppliers would get a piece of the action. Hard to say at this point, so I'll wait until some large utilities start placing big orders. The next few years may see dot-com-like enthusiasm for anything green, in which case solar and wind ETFs might make sense.
Nota bene: Anthony J. Alfidi does not hold a position in any of the companies mentioned here at the time this commentary was published.
Which companies are best positioned to supply a new building boom in wind towers? That isn't clear yet. Let's say the next presidential administration needs to put a lot of out-of-work former homebuilders and mortgage brokers into some new WPA-type program building renewable energy infrastructure. Any such undertaking would presumably, for political reasons, look first to U.S.-based sources for materials and expertise. Some potential players:
GE: Great 5yr ROE, subpar 5yr EPS growth. Too much exposure to the broad U.S. economy to be a good wind pure-play.
Trinity Industries: Subpar 5yr ROE. Not for me, thanks.
Broadwind Energy: Too young to have good long-term data! No thanks.
But if the priority is for rapid build-up of capacity and not political sensitivity, maybe Vestas and other foreign wind suppliers would get a piece of the action. Hard to say at this point, so I'll wait until some large utilities start placing big orders. The next few years may see dot-com-like enthusiasm for anything green, in which case solar and wind ETFs might make sense.
Nota bene: Anthony J. Alfidi does not hold a position in any of the companies mentioned here at the time this commentary was published.
