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The Need for a Fuel
Cell Index
Fuel Cell and
other Alternative Energy stocks are part of a hot sector which
is here to stay. In the past, this sector was a money-loser and
was largely ignored by Wall Street. Since Alternative Energy
stocks had failed to deliver on their promise for so many decades,
there was some measure of institutionalized contempt for the
idea that they could make money for investors. Thus, when FC
stocks really started to go up in the Fall of '99, there was
no index in place to measure or bring attention to the trend.
The Hydrogen Fuel Cell
Institute's goal is to calmly reveal that the old days are gone.
Alternative energy firms really can do well, make great products that will be practical, and thus reward their investors with profits. By showing how investing in clean energy is producing some sound returns (although past performance is no indication of future results), we accomplish the additional
goal of encouraging development of these technologies. As activitists
for change in the Energy Technology fields, we feel this is a
worthwhile goal. Notes to the WilderHill Fuel Cell Index:
01-22-2004: Review of Some Fuel Cell Investing Issues From 2003.
Graphs and Index raw
numbers are based on delayed quotes and update once every fifteen
minutes during trading hours. (9:30 AM EST to 4:00 PM EST)
Stocks
Presently In the WilderHill Index:
| TICKER |
COMPANY
NAME |
COMPANY
WEBSITE |
SECTOR |
NOTES |
| Asrnf
|
Astris Energi Inc. |
http://www.astris.ca/home/index.html
On their site there is a link to their fuel cells for sale.
|
Alkaline Fuel Cells |
Ontario, Canada Company with claims to pioneering Alkaline Fuel Cells Since 1983. Added to Index 01-30-04. |
| Bldp
|
Ballard
Power Systems |
http://www.ballard.com/ |
Fuel Cells |
Very important leader, rise of BLDP circa 1995 with Daimler investment sparked the first wave of investor interest in fuel cells. Serious Projects with Daimler Chrysler, Ford and have delivered for testing to Nissan. Interesting project with Coleman to make home-generator Fuel Cells. |
| Desc |
Distributed Energy Systems. Subsidiary: Proton
Energy Systems |
http://www.distributed-energy.com/
http://www.protonenergy.com/ |
Fuel Cells, On-site H2 generation and storage. |
"Proton Energy Systems, Inc. designs, develops, and manufactures Proton Exchange Membrane, or PEM, electrochemical products that it employs in hydrogen generating devices and in regenerative fuel cell systems that function as power generating and energy storage devices." |
| DKNDF |
Dynetek Industries |
http://www.dynetek.com/ |
Hydrogen And Alternative Fuel Storage Cylinders and Systems |
Trades as DNK on the Toronto Stock Exchange. |
| Ener
|
Energy
Conversion Devices |
http://www.ovonic.com/ |
Hydride H2 Storage, additional membrane fuel-cell "battery" technology? |
A much different animal than almost any other alternative energy company. Largely a materials-engineering R+D company specializing in thin-films, amorophous materials and membranes, with very serious products and patents and established business in PV solar energy, Hydrogen Storage, Environmentally-OK NiMH rechargeable batteries, not to mention computer memory. Parternships and stock interest from such companies as Texaco, Canon, Bekaert. 30-40 years of disappointing buy-and-hold investors makes them the grandfather of tilting-at-windmill-class stocks, but there's no disappointment in the products themselves. With the turnaround in A-E stocks, their investors' ship might finally come in.
Working on regenerative fuel cells. Texaco has purchased a 20% equity stake in ECD. |
| Fcel
|
FuelCell
Energy |
http://www.ercc.com/ |
Fuel Cells |
One of the real big hits, stock has appreciated so much the Index had to sell some of it. Investors also did very well from EVRC (Nickel Zinc batteries) spinoff. |
| HYGS
|
Hydrogenics Corporation |
http://www.hydrogenics.com/ |
PEM Fuel Cells, also system integration, testing, diagnosis. |
HYG on the Toronto Exchnage |
| IDA
|
Idacorp |
http://www.idacorpinc.com/ |
Fuel Cells |
Idaho Utility with focus on Fuel Cells. Bears Dividends. |
| Imco
|
Impco
Technologies |
http://www.impco.ws/ |
H2 Storage in Pressure Tanks |
Unusual in this sector for having sizable current revenues. Is doing considerable hiring of H2 FC engineers and building strengths here, with an emphasis on transportation applications and hydrogen storage under pressure. |
| ITMPF |
ITM Power PLC |
http://www.itm-power.com/ |
Fuel Cell Technology, Polymer Materials |
Trades as ITM on the Alternative Investment Market in Great Britain. |
| MCEL |
Millennium
Cell |
http://www.millenniumcell.com/ |
R+D NaBH4 Fuel Cell Technology |
Intriguing use of sodium borohydride to both store and generate hydrogen safely; might potentially play an important role in answering the key H2 storage question for transportation and stationary uses. |
| Mdtl
|
Medis Technologies, Ltd. |
http://www.medistechnologies.com/
|
Smaller Fuel Cells (cell phones, computers) |
Could be real competitor in the race to put FCs in the highly visible micro applications. An incubator staffed by Israeli/Russian scientists, is also active in other sectors such as medical technology fields. 07/15/01: Several recent announcements regarding smaller ethanol high-efficiency fuel-cells. This is unusual in that ethanol was not previously widely discussed as a possible fuel cell fuel and it is presently made from renewable sources (usually Corn). |
| MEOH
|
Methanex |
http://www.methanex.com/ |
Methanol from Natural Gas |
Methanol is under consideration by some as an interim fuel on the way to an H2 Economy. |
| Mhtx
|
Manhattan
Scientifics |
http://www.mhtx.com/ |
Smaller Fuel Cells for Bicycles, cell phones etc. |
Some work with Methanol? Announcements seem to indicate bike project progressing. Stock dilutions with no sign of revenues a negative sign. |
| Mkty
|
Mechanical
Technology |
http://www.mechtech.com/ |
R+D in new-energy solutions, Helped form and has investments in SATC, PLUG, BCON. |
39 year old company. Albany NY. Investments in PLUG, SATC make the index more weighted to those companies. |
| Plug
|
Plug
Power |
http://www.plugpower.com/ |
Fuel Cells for homes using Natural Gas and Propane |
Latham, NY... some work with GE... 11/99 IPO helped spark Fuel Cell Stock boom. 2 million per quarter in revenues vs. 02/23/01 3/4 Billion dollar market cap. ... 07/22/01: GE's "Homegen 7000" is a fuel cell designed and manufactured by Plug Power planned for mid-2002 release. |
| Qtww
|
Quantum Fuel Systems Technologies Worldwide Inc |
http://www.qtww.com/ |
Hydrogen, compressed natural gas (CNG) and liquid propane gas (LPG) handling and gaseous fuel storage system technologies for Fuel Cells, Alt-Fuel Vehicles, Refueling Infrastructure |
Spun off from IMCO 7-23-02. Worth keeping in Index because of many activities relevant to fuel cells. |
| Satc
|
Satcon |
http://www.satcon.com/ |
Electric Controllers, Converters, Power and Energy Management Products |
Fuel Cell power converters for IDA, HPOW. Power inverters for PLUG. Part-owned by MKTY which also part-owns PLUG. BCON (flywheels) is also a subsidiary or associate. |
| Synm
|
Syntroleum |
http://www.syntroleum.com/ |
Natural Gas into Synthetic Liquid Fuels |
Recent work with FCEL. Economics of natural gas and syn-gas industries recently dictated by higher-prices. Some Big-name Hydrocarbon companies work with them. Relevance to Fuel-Cell sector debatable, but in index for now. |
Only small and mid-cap
stocks are tracked by this index. Large Diversified Companies
such as General Electric, United Technologies and Texaco have
a tremendous influence and involvement with fuel cells, but their
stock prices reflect their diversified interests and so it is
difficult to use them for a fuel-cell stock index.
Under consideration to buy:
NVRA: After they're listed and have been trading for awhile. Arthur Little connection carries weight.
FCT.V
Under consideration to sell:
AVA: They seem to be giving indication that they're moving away or want to spin off the Fuel Cell side of their business.
02/25/02: MEOH: While Methanol is a candidate for many fuel cell efforts, MEOH does not produce it renewably and they obviously do not share any of the renewable-sustainable-energy and environmental principles that many fuel cell industry companies do. This is particularly evident in their NAFTA lawsuit to force Californians and others to use the environmentally nasty product MTBE additive in fuel as an Oxygenate.
SYNM: Inadequate relevance?
Topics of Debate:
How relevant are biofuel investments to Fuel Cell investing? Here is an interesting discussion of ethanol fuel cell efforts. The Renewable Fuels Association website, ethanolrfa.org, also tends to carry such information and news releases. Here is an example.
EFCX, Metallic Power (not yet IPO'd): Are Some Zinc-Air Batteries
Fuel Cells? If they can do the job, does it matter? Other Fuel-Cell Related
Stocks and Companies:
Alti Apd Asrnf.ob Coleman (working with Ballard on portable fuel cells) Dnk.to Dqe Dte Ec Efcx Egyv.ob Fact Fct.V Jmplf (Johnson Matthey, PLC... Stock symbols for Companies outside of the US can often vary widely on US stock quote servers, so you may need to look them up by name) Kse Mag Px Sgg Snwa.to (an interesting, but older presentation) Stg.v Sthk Superior Micropowders (private) Ucr Uqm
Other Fuel Stocks (biofuels, fuel-from-waste, fuel-from-fossil-fuels):
Adm Atf.v Cpo Dymtf Ecco Efti Ftek Hipc Jlmi Mwgp Ncx Rei
Rtk Sspc Stde Wmb Wmi
Mutual Funds:
NALFX, Nuveen Fuel Cell Sector Fund (you will need to search their site a little)
MNE.L (on yahoo): Merrill Lynch is apparently offering a "New Energy Technology" fund in Britain. 09/12/01: Apparently US Investors might be able to invest, with some tax and commission difficulty, by looking into the "investment trust" way of buying shares rather than the mutual fund way of buying. This question was researched by h2fc.com
[please note: the stock symbol lists above are neither comprehensive nor perfect. We try to review our own lists, but it is very difficult to stay up-to-date with the recent flurry of exciting fuel cell investing developments. It is also very challenging to classify this or that company or technology. Lastly, it is always a challenge to remind ourselves in our investing excitement that many press releases and symbols, particularly of smaller companies, represent some attempt to cash in on the fuel cell investing phenomenon. We can only try to remind our readers to be careful and use these lists only as starting points for their own research. A superb site for building lists of fuel cell related companies, and classifying them, is H2fc.com Also, eco-web.com has a good database of companies in "green" fields in general, worldwide.]
Stock Additions and
Subtractions:
Inception: 09/13/99:
Ava Bldp Ener Erc Imco Mdslf Mhtx Mkty Satc Synm
09/20/1999: ERC symbol change to FCL
11/02/1999: PLUG added after market close
11/09/1999: DCHT added after market close
11/17/1999: 3:2 FCL stock split
11/18/1999: AVA .12 dividend reinvested after close
01/04/2000: GBTOF, an American Dollar version of GLE.TO on the
Toronto Exchange, added after market close.
01/10/2000: MHTX announces temporary symbol change to MHTXE
02/09/2000: After the close MHTXE delisted from NASD OTC BB Exchnage
and moved to Pink Sheet Exchangepink sheets under symbol MHTX.
(Pink sheet historical data taken from clearstation.com)
02/16/2000: AVA .12 dividend reinvested after close
04/13/2000: MKTY 3:1 stock split
05/18/2000: AVA .12 dividend reinvested after close
05/25/2000: MHTX restored to OTC BB Exchange trading.
06/05/2000: MDSLF ceases trading after market close. MDTL exchanges
1.37 shares for every share MDSLF. MDSLF shares removed and replaced
with 1.37 shares MDTL
06/06/2000: FCL moves from AMEX to NASDAQ, symbol change to FCEL
08/17/2000: AVA .12 dividend reinvested after close
09/06/2000: FCEL 100% Stock Dividend shareholder of record date
(i.e., 2:1 stock split)
09/14/2000: HPOW, MCEL, PRBL added after market close.
10/27/2000: PRTN added after market close.
11/16/2000: AVA .12 dividend reinvested after close
01/19/2001: Sold part of FCEL at market close prices, reducing stake from 25% of Index to 2/17 (i.e., to a mere double-share). It had done so well it was disproportionately represented in the Index.
01/19/2001: Purchased MEOH and IDA at market close prices.
02/11/2001: Discontinuation of reinvestment of dividends.
05/04/2001: SRNYF added after market close.
06/19/01: FCEL 2 for 1 split adjustment after close.
10/01/01: SATC dividend of .3023 shares BCON per share SATC, at fair market value of $1.52 per share BCON. Sold and reinvested in SATC.
11/30/01: HYGS added after market close.
07/23/02: QTWW spun off from IMCO, one share for one share. QTWW added to index.
10/22/02: DCH removed.
03/25/03: HPOW acquired by PLUG. .8305 shares of PLUG exchanged for each share of HPOW. HPOW taken off index, PLUG weighting adjusted.
11-05-03: Global Thermoelectric (Nasdaq GBTOF, Toronto GLE) acquired by FCEL. .279 shares FCEL for every share of Global. FCEL weighting adjusted.
12-10-03: PRTN becomes a subsidiary of DESC. 1-for-1 share exchange. Symbol changed accordingly in index.
01-30-04: AVA removed for decreased relevance.
01-30-04: ASRNF added.
01-18-05: SRNYF (Stuart) removed (Acquired by HYGS).
01-18-05: PWBL (Powerball) removed for decreased relevance.
01-18-05: DKNDF (Dynetek) added.
01-18-05: ITMPF (ITM Power) added.
Other Notes:
07/17/01: Further comments on fuel cell investing and other topics.
About our own investment strategies and the need for caution:
The Index is *definitely* not intended to induce people to regard these
stocks as safe investments at which they can blindly throw money. Clearly
there is *tremendous* risk inherent to many of these stocks, and this is
not just talk. Considerable caution is essential. We are not just saying
this as a disclaimer, but as a real idea that we practice. While we feel
generally positive about the idea of making money in the fuel cell sector
over the long term, the list of index and related stocks is not intended
for people to go out willy-nilly and feel that these stock symbols are
somehow sanctioned by us. While it is true that we may do our best to
follow these companies, we fully expect many of them to have problems and
even someday to see a few of them go way down. That's life. That's risky
investing. And it's definitely part of alternative energy investing.
Historical Data Sources:
Only a few quote sources provided the necessary end-of-day historical
data in table format. Originally the source chosen was yahoo.com
(CSI) because of their convenient downloadable spreadsheet format.
Present Historical Data Research sources are:
- NASDAQ.COM
for almost all historical data. (The trick is to click on "charting"
and then fill in your stock and then fill in your time period.
You can then click on the chart and get a copy-able table of
data. Other methods won't lead to this table).
- clearstation.com (A good source for those really
tiny stocks whose data is hard to find.)
- tse.com
(Toronto Stock Exchange)
For comparison purposes, here is a 2 year (logarithmic) graph of the NASDAQ.
DISCLAIMER
Under no circumstances does any information presented by The Hydrogen Fuel Cell Institute, or by any persons associated with the Institute, or does the WilderHill Index itself, represent any recommendation to buy or sell any stocks. Nothing in this site is intended as, or should be construed as a recommendation to buy or sell any security. All of the stocks listed on this site are risky. There is no guarantee that any of these companies will be successful or that their securities will ever increase in price. While neither the Hydrogen Fuel Cell Institute, nor its associates can provide investment advice or recommendations, they do welcome feedback, and invite you to send it to addresses at Contact Us.
Neither the Hydrogen Fuel Cell Institute, nor any persons associated with it have been compensated by any of the companies covered herein. Persons associated with the Institute are however long term believers in clean alternative energy, and hydrogen and fuel cell stocks, and may hold long positions in several or all companies in the Index, and sector
THE HYDROGEN FUEL CELL INSTITUTE, AND ITS ASSOCIATES, DISC |