Vestas Wind Systems

[Trek]

I saw the CEO of Vestas on a CNN Business International program and got a little interested in his company. See his interview here:

Vestas - TV interviews - 2007 interviews

I tend to think there will be (if not already) long term demand for alternative energy in the future and might like to have some money invested in that sector. Denmark seems to be one of the leaders (if not THE leader) in wind energy. See what you think about these guys. Here are some links if anyone is interested.

Vestas - Profile

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Current news article:

NEW ENVIRONMENT STRATEGIES / Wind power firms target Asia : World : DAILY YOMIURI ONLINE (The Daily Yomiuri)

Using my local European brokerage account my buy/sell price for Danish stocks are 0.3%.

 

[greg]

VWSYF.PK (on Yahoo)

I own a bit of it in an etf I recently bought--on the dip: GEX

 

[greg]

Found this short, related article:

Ardour Global Index of Alternative Energy Stocks Up 41% YTD

GEX is supposed to track this index. Vestas makes up about 14%.

 

[Trek]

VWSYF.PK (on Yahoo)

I own a bit of it in an etf I recently bought--on the dip: GEX

Thanks for the post Greg! It made me look into "green funds." I noticed that your fund has 10.97% invested in Vestas.

I found some other green funds, some older like PBW touted as the "granddaddy of alt energy funds", but they have no Vestas holdings. Nor does QCLN. Wonder why, since Vestas alone supplies 30% of the worlds wind turbines.

I'll continue to look into it.

 

[Trek]

Found this short, related article:

Ardour Global Index of Alternative Energy Stocks Up 41% YTD

GEX is supposed to track this index. Vestas makes up about 14%.

Thanks again, I made my last post before I saw you posted this one.

AGI Europe AGIEM USD 3,166.83 +73.54%

I think the price is way too high for me to get in on this one.

 

[greg]

Trek:

There's a wind mill manufacturer in India that I was thinking about buying about six months ago. I liked it because their costs were low (that month I was worried that wind mills would commoditize in the next few years). You might be interested in. But I deleted it (an Indian listing only) one weekend while on a computer clean up rampage. I'll try to look for it over the next day or so. My thinking at the time was that SE Asia at some point would want a lot of wind created electricity and wouldn't want to pay dearly for it, e.g. cheap windmills and lower transportation costs to bring it on site. I'm not so sure of that thinking now.

You said: " I think the price is way too high for me to get in on this one" about GEX. You very well may be correct . . . but . . . if you sort of think about this stuff as "early steel industry" or "early auto industry" then maybe not. I personally think renewable and alternative energy is still in it's infancy. I bought GE for their water and windmill tilt--not their financial side. And where their going, not where they've been.

 

[Peaceful_Warrior]

You said: " I think the price is way too high for me to get in on this one" about GEX. You very well may be correct . . . but . . . if you sort of think about this stuff as "early steel industry" or "early auto industry" then maybe not. I personally think renewable and alternative energy is still in it's infancy. I bought GE for their water and windmill tilt--not their financial side. And where their going, not where they've been.

I tend to also feel that alternative energy is in its infancy, and it's something I believe in so I'm looking to invest.

What are the solid alternative energy funds out there, anyway?

 

[greg]

Trek:

Welcome to Suzlon Energy

I believe it has to be purchased on a Euro exchange or on the Indian one. Let me know what you think because I'm still a bit interested.



I recently sold a bit of PBW which is primarily focused on our domestic alternative energy market and bought GEX, which has a broader international focus. I think the rest of the world is advancing toward alternative fuels and energy sources much faster than us, so GEX, to my mind, will benefit sooner.

I own PHO also, but recently added CGW for the very same reason. CGW has larger, more developed, and int'l water companies in it. I think they are ripe for making money in this domain (clean water). I also have a current bias toward large cap stocks, figuring they will do pretty well because they'll be focused directly on making money and not so absorbed with internal expansion issues. CWG has more of these larger, mature companies with good integration and development skills.

There are at least two (probably more) alt energy mutual funds too.

 

[HFWR]

These are too risky for me. I mean, what if the sun quits shining, or the wind quits blowing? Huh?

 

[Nords]

These are too risky for me. I mean, what if the sun quits shining, or the wind quits blowing? Huh?

And what if the governments stop subsidiznig solar & wind power, requiring utilities & customers to educate themselves on the deferred gratification of capital expenditures?

 

[Trek]

Trek:

Welcome to Suzlon Energy

I believe it has to be purchased on a Euro exchange or on the Indian one. Let me know what you think because I'm still a bit interested.



I recently sold a bit of PBW which is primarily focused on our domestic alternative energy market and bought GEX, which has a broader international focus. I think the rest of the world is advancing toward alternative fuels and energy sources much faster than us, so GEX, to my mind, will benefit sooner.

I own PHO also, but recently added CGW for the very same reason. CGW has larger, more developed, and int'l water companies in it. I think they are ripe for making money in this domain (clean water). I also have a current bias toward large cap stocks, figuring they will do pretty well because they'll be focused directly on making money and not so absorbed with internal expansion issues. CWG has more of these larger, mature companies with good integration and development skills.

There are at least two (probably more) alt energy mutual funds too.

Thanks Greg. Suzlon looks very interesting and seems well suited to continue it's expansion in India and move into China, two hot markets indeed.

I did notice that Vestas purchased NEG Micon a few years back and looking at the Indian Wind Turbine Manufacturers List that Vestas still has manufacturing capabilities there via NEG Micon India as well as Vestas India. So maybe they are well suited for increased expansion in the local markets as well using cheaper local labor for production keeping them competitive.

Also, looking at the American Wind Energy Association, Vestas has had a strong showing in Installed Capacity for the last 5 years in the U.S. market but with Suzlon making a showing in 2005 and growing in 2006.

So, I have a lot more research to do but I'm liking GEX the more I look into it.

 

[greg]

Trek:

Thanks for the response. Usually when I'm looking in a new area for stocks I make a list of my favorite three or five then compare, contrast, and mull among them for my final choice. Suzlon was in that group but fell away when I started paying attention to alt energy funds and etfs. I also hate the cost of foreign purchases (much less the difficulty of gathering good info) and end up caught between a rock and hard place. I usually like to average into stocks with two or more purchases over time, but with costs high on those foreign listed ones, it getss real expense, really fast--no $7 trades. This slows me way down.

Here's an American company listed only in London (to my knowledge): CRPWF.PK (Clipper Windpower)

Here's a couple etfs/funds from a list I found: PZD, PUW, GAAEX.