Boots & Coots International Well Control, Inc. (WEL) and Continucare Corp. (CNU) are two such stocks. Each has recently been added to the Russell 3000. Boots and Coots is a well services firm. The name comes from Boots Hansen and Coots Matthews, who founded the company in 1978. They were disciples of the legendary Red Adair of oil well fire fighting fame. The company has expanded from well fire fighting to a much more robust, well-rounded, well services company. CEO Jerry Winchester has grown the company from $25M in revenues in 1998 to $210M in revenues today. The fire fighting services amount to only 10% of the company revenue now.

A dramatically transformed financial landscape was the setting for the late June Renewable Energy Finance Forum ((REFF)) – Wall Street in midtown Manhattan. This year’s REFF brought together renewable energy industry leaders and sent a message to Washington: give us guidance on the promised grants and loan guarantees to get capital flowing to finance deals in solar, wind and other cleantech sectors.

• The number of rigs drilling for natural gas in the United States unexpectedly rose again, the second gain in seven months, according to a report on Thursday by oil services firm Baker Hughes in Houston.
• The report showed U.S. gas drilling rigs edged up 1 to 688 this week, still 851 rigs, or 55 percent, below the same week last year, when there were 1,539 gas rigs operating.
• Tighter access to credit and a 70 percent slide in natural gas prices to about $3.50 per mmBtu, after peaking above $13 last July, have forced many producers to scale back drilling operations.
• But, with the natural gas drilling rig count below 700, most analysts expect to see year-on-year output declines soon, which should help tighten the overall supply-demand balance.

This hits on the important short-term factors for gas. Supply is still elevated, and while the rig count went up by one this week, it is substantially down from last year in efforts to balance supply and demand. For gas prices, this could be more uncertainty, but likely some bouncing around at these levels until demand picks back up.

SI's PM is usually below 5%, but let's be conservative and reduce Siemen's profit 10% PM. Subtract the present value of 100 million dollars fine at 10% over fifteen years and 14 million earnings a year PV, and you have a net decrease in PV of ~$0.0724, $0.65 at 9x PE.

Such concerns may be unrealistic and for three reasons:

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1. On June 9, I reported on the upcoming IPO for Magma Energy Corp., a geothermal exploration company. The IPO's size will be upped from an initial C$50 MM to C$100 MM, a sign of increased market appetite
2. SunPower Corp.(SPWRA) raised $418 MM in early May through a share and debt offering, and recently announced it had reached a $100 MM deal with Wells Fargo (WFC) to fund commercial-scale solar PV projects across the US
3. John reported a few days ago that A123 Systems had amended the SEC registration statement for its proposed IPO, positing that it could be much larger than initially anticipated
4. In late May, Suntech Power (STP) raised $277 MM from a follow-on offering of its American Depositary Shares (ADSs), and recently received a $50 MM convertible loan from the IFC
5. On June 23, Yingli Green (YGE) raised $193 MM through a follow-on offering of its ADSs
6. On June 25, Trina Solar (TSL) secured credit facilities of about $57 MM
7. New Energy Finance just reported a slight increase in asset financing for Q2 2009, although it cautioned that money flows into renewable energy projects were: (1) down substantially from what they were a year ago (~66% in the US); and (2) far below the level where they need to be if greenhouse gas emissions are to be brought under control by 2020

As noted by both New Energy Finance and John, requirements for matching funds under the ARRA mean that firms that want to access government grants will have to put up some of their money, potentially leading some of them to go to market even if conditions aren't ideal.

• Five clean transport stocks,
• I looked at why it makes sense to wait for better prices,
• Five Energy Efficiency stocks (always my favorite sector), and
• Five Electric Transmission Stocks.

This article takes a look at two of the most economical clean electricity generation technologies, landfill gas and geothermal.

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Evergreen Solar is rallying today on a big upgrade from JP Morgan, and at least one trader is betting that it will more than triple by late this year.

In potentially ominous news, Gazprom has entered an agreement with Azeri national energy company SOCAR to purchase Azeri gas at a price of $350/thousand cubic meters. Initial volumes of 500 mcm for 2010 are modest, but Gazprom is allegedly to be a preferential buyer (whatever that means) for gas from the second stage of the immense Shan Deniz field.

The price in the deal is very interesting, given that Gazprom (OGZPY.PK) is balking at paying the same price from Turkmenistan (admittedly the Azeri gas is closer to market, and should receive something of a premium). Indeed, recent reports tend to confirm my initial conclusion that the gas pipeline “explosion” in Turkmenistan was just a consequence of the Russian reneging on its contract to buy gas at $345 from the Turkmen, a price that seemed like a good deal at the time, but which looks very rich given the current market:

J.P. Morgan analyst Christopher Blansett Thursday morning shuffled his ratings on some solar stocks, advising investors to “shift to a more defensive stance.” For the second half, he expects “an uncertain landscape for solar energy companies with both positive and negative forces in play that are likely to cause solar energy stock prices performance to be choppy and relatively range bound.” Here’s a rundown on his revised ratings:

• Energy Conversion Devices (ENER): Launches with Overweight rating. “We think the company is currently trading like a value stock while participating in a high-growth industry.” He writes ENER has been one of the most aggressive in cutting capital spending and conserving cash, “causing us to believe the stock has limited downside risk.”
• Evergreen Solar (ESLR): Upgraded to Overweight from Underweight, “as there appear to be few expectations built into this stock.” He asserts that the stock trades at a significant discount to peer module makers due to its historical poor product development performance, but that the company’s new Devens facility is operating smoothly, allowing ESLR to participate in the next demand upturn and perform at least in line with peer module makers.
• Ascent Solar (ASTI): Upgraded to Neutral from Underweight, “as the company looks to be ahead of schedule in terms of product development. A new focus on military and aerospace applications is “very positive as it allows Ascent to sell high-margin products with little competition,” although he adds that “risk stil remains as the company has yet to ramp into full production.”
• First Solar (FSLR): Downgraded To Neutral, from Overweight. “We the current stock price does nto reflect a potential negative margin reset or the possibility Germany could make a larger than sceduled subsidy reduction in 2010,” he writes. The analyst all worries that crystalline silicon modile makers who are benefiting from low poly prices will continue to price aggressively, even at their own cash costs.
• SunPower (SPWRA): Upgraded to Neutral from Underweight. “SunPower will benefit from lower poly costs and a rebound in the U.S. market, but is spending excessive cap ex in our view and is fighting a declining module ASP trend.”

In Thursday’s trading:

If there seems to be no correlation between the two, it is because U.S. and Canadian refineries are just now running crude oil they purchased earlier this year. The typical shelf time in shipping from the well to the refinery is about six weeks and crude oil in the tank at the refineries is still at around $40 a barrel. So who do we blame? The greedy oil companies, those evil Wall Street speculators or is it just plain simple Gasoline Marketing 101?

This all brings us to today. The Kazakhstan government has said that they will not renegotiate any contracts after talking with their partners in the country, but investors seemed hardly moved by this announcement and the damage was done. Many still felt that the government was going to somehow increase its grip on the mines in the country and that its previous announcement indicated that the Kazakhs were interested in not only being the world’s largest producer of uranium, but owning the production as well.

1. Most instruments trading within tight ranges established over the past 8 weeks on the daily charts awaiting clarification on the world economy.

ChangeWave’s latest survey presents a mixed picture of the U.S. consumer. Overall spending is still rising in June, but far more shopping dollars are flowing towards the gas tank – leaving fewer dollars to spend on things like consumer electronics items and household repairs/improvements.