Best Solar Stocks To Buy For 2014

It's been a little over a month since Suntech Power (NYSE: STP  ) refused to pay bondholders the money they were owed, which eventually left the company's Chinese operations in insolvency. The company isn't quite bankrupt yet, but all indications are that it's headed that way, because even Chinese banks want to liquidate operations.

Today, LDK Solar (NYSE: LDK  ) , which is the second largest maker of solar wafers, said it has "partially defaulted" on $23.8 million in bonds due yesterday. The company negotiated a settlement with holders of $16.6 million of the bond and is "ready and willing" to discuss a settlement with the others. �

Keep this in mind: If LDK doesn't have enough cash to pay $23.8 million in loans, how could it ever repay the $3.1 billion in debt on its balance sheet? It doesn't look good for LDK Solar.

A step closer to the edge
The way LDK Solar is playing out right now is similar to what happened to Suntech Power last month. Suntech originally said 60% of bondholders agreed to a delay in payment, but the other bondholders didn't, and Chinese banks that were also owed money took the Chinese subsidiary into insolvency.

Top Up And Coming Companies To Watch In Right Now: Peabody Energy Corporation(BTU)

Peabody Energy Corporation engages in the mining of coal. It mines, prepares, and sells thermal coal to electric utilities and metallurgical coal to industrial customers. The company owns interests in 30 coal mining operations located in the United States and Australia, as well as owns joint venture interest in a Venezuela mine. It is also involved in marketing, brokering, and trading coal. In addition, the company develops a mine-mouth coal-fueled generating plant; and Btu Conversion projects that are designed to convert coal to natural gas or transportation fuels; and clean coal technologies. As of December 31, 2011, it had 9 billion tons of proven and probable coal reserves. The company was founded in 1883 and is headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Reuben Brewer]

  China uses and produces a huge amount of coal. With the increasing concern over human safety and the environmental impact of coal mining, the government is set to close 2,000 mines by the end of 2015. That will benefit coal miners like Peabody Energy (NYSE: BTU  ) , BHP Billiton (NYSE: BHP  ) , and Rio Tinto (NYSE: RIO  ) .

• [By Laura Brodbeck]

  Next week investors will be waiting for several key earnings reports including�General Electric Company (NYSE: GE), Intuitive Surgical, Inc. (NASDAQ: ISRG), Peabody Energy Corporation (NYSE: BTU), Nokia Corporation (NYSE: NOK), PrivateBancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ: PVTB),Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ: YHOO), Bank of America Corp (NYSE: BAC) and Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ).

Best Solar Stocks To Buy For 2014: Renesola Ltd.(SOL)

ReneSola Ltd, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the manufacture and sale of solar wafers and solar power products. It offers virgin polysilicons, monocrystalline and multicrystalline solar wafers, and photovoltaic cells and modules. The company also provides cell and module processing services. Its products are used in a range of residential, commercial, industrial, and other solar power generation systems. The company sells its solar wafers primarily to solar cell and module manufacturers. It principally operates in Mainland China, Singapore, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Korea, India, Australia, Germany, Italy, Spain, Belgium, France, the Czech Republic, and the United States. The company was founded in 2003 and is based in Jiashan, the People?s Republic of China.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Gary Bourgeault]

  Other companies of note that will be hurt will be LDK Solar (LDK), Suntech Power (STP), JA Solar Holdings Co., Ltd. (JASO) and Renesola (SOL) among others. Some these are already hanging on by a thread because of taking on too much debt and defaulting on bonds.

• [By James Brumley]

  Which solar power stocks are the proverbial picks of the litter, though? Here are the first five a newcomer might want to consider.

  ReneSola Ltd. (SOL)

  While most solar stocks have done incredibly well so far in 2014, ReneSola (SOL) wasn’t one of them. In fact, SOL stock is a bit unusual in that it’s trading well under its October high of $6 per share. That’s not a bad thing, though. In fact, it may work to your advantage because it gives new buyers a chance to scoop up ReneSola shares at a bargain price before their next big run-up.

• [By Aaron Levitt]

  After years of cheap natural gas eating photovoltaic�� lunch, solar stocks are back with a vengeance. Already, we��e seen better earnings from a host of hot solar stocks like First Solar (FSLR) and Canadian Solar (CSIQ). And now, its smaller solar stock ReneSola�� turn (SOL) … and SOL stock may just surprise investors.

Best Solar Stocks To Buy For 2014: JA Solar Holdings Co. Ltd.(JASO)

JA Solar Holdings Co., Ltd., through its subsidiaries, engages in the design, development, manufacture, and sale of photovoltaic solar cells and solar products, which convert sunlight into electricity in the People's Republic of China. The company?s principal products include monocrystalline and multicrystalline solar cells, as well as various solar modules. It also provides silicon wafer and solar cell processing services. The company sells its products primarily under the JA Solar brand name, as well as produces equipment for original equipment manufacturing customers under their brand names. It sells its solar cell and module products primarily to module manufacturers, system integrators, project developers, and distributors in the Germany, Italy, the United States, Hong Kong, Spain, India, the Czech Republic, France, and South Korea. The company has strategic partnerships with various solar power companies, such as BP Solar, Solar-Fabrik, and MEMC/SunEdison. JA Solar Holdings Co., Ltd. was founded in 2005 and is based in Shanghai, the People?s Republic of China.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Paul Ausick]

  In the Chinese solar sector we tracked the following short interest changes: JA Solar Holdings Co. Ltd. (NASDAQ: JASO), LDK Solar Co. Inc. (NYSE: LDK), Suntech Power Holdings Co. Ltd. (NYSE: STP), Trina Solar Ltd. (NYSE: TSL) and Yingli Green Energy Holding Co. Ltd. (NYSE: YGE).�For China-based firms, the percentage of shares short is not available because the companies are also listed on other exchanges.

• [By Paul Ausick]

  Big earnings movers: Campbell Soup Co. (NYSE: CPB) is down 3.2% at $43.30. Corinthian Colleges Inc. (NASDAQ: COCO) is down 10.3% at $2.34. JA Solar Holdings Co. Ltd. (NASDAQ: JASO) is down 6.9% at $7.40.

• [By Dan Caplinger]

  Finally, beyond the Dow, Chinese solar stock JA Solar (NASDAQ: JASO  ) has dropped 9.1% following an analyst downgrade. Despite soaring sales during the past quarter, with particularly strong growth in the Japanese market, JA Solar still isn't close to making money and has to rely on the potential for module prices to rise once some of its Chinese competitors drop out of the picture. Funding sources continue to provide financing to many struggling Chinese solar companies, and this forestalling of the day of reckoning is bad for companies like JA Solar that would benefit the most from a shakeout.

Best Solar Stocks To Buy For 2014: Canadian Solar Inc.(CSIQ)

Canadian Solar Inc. engages in the design, development, manufacture, and sale of solar power products in Canada and internationally. The company offers solar cell and solar module products that convert sunlight into electricity for various uses. Its products include a range of standard solar modules for use in a range of residential, commercial, and industrial solar power generation systems. The company also designs and produces specialty solar modules and products consisting of customized modules that its customers incorporate into their products, such as solar-powered bus stop lighting; and specialty products, such as portable solar home systems and solar-powered car battery chargers. In addition, it sells solar system kits, a package consisting of solar modules produced by it and third party supplied components, such as inverters, racking system, and other accessories, as well as implements solar power development projects. The company sells its products under the Canad ian Solar brand name. Canadian Solar Inc. offers its standard solar modules through a direct sales force and sales agents primarily to distributors, system integrators, and original equipment manufacturer customers, as well as to solar projects; and specialty solar modules and products to the automotive, telecommunications, and light-emitting diode lighting sectors. The company was founded in 2001 and is based in Kitchener, Canada.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By John Kell and Lauren Pollock var popups = dojo.query(".socialByline .popC"); ]

  Canadian Solar Inc.(CSIQ) swung to a profit in the fourth quarter, but warned of weather-related impacts on its top line in the current period. Shares of the company fell 8.4% to $40 in recent premarket trading.

• [By Paul Ausick]

  Chinese solar companies are a different story. Many manufacture their own silicon wafers and sell silicon to other makers. Trina Solar Ltd. (NYSE: TSL), LDK Solar Co. Ltd. (NYSE: LDK), JA Solar Holdings Co. Ltd. (NASDAQ: JASO) and Canadian Solar Inc. (NASDAQ: CSIQ) all manufacture and sell solar ingots, wafers or cells.

• [By Travis Hoium]

  What's more important for the industry is that capacity expansion in China has stopped and it appears behavior is changing. It's no longer just about adding capacity; we've now changed focus to balance sheets and systems. For an example of how important projects have become we can look at Canadian Solar's (NASDAQ: CSIQ  ) earnings announcement just yesterday that touted 400 MW of projects in Canada. Even Chinese companies are beginning to see the value in building and selling energy over just selling modules. �