US Senate Passes Energy Tax Credit; Solar Stocks Jump in After-Hours Trading (FSLR, LDK, SPWR, SOLF)
Bloomberg is reporting that the U.S. Senate today passed a $17 billion energy tax credit which will affect solar and wind power companies, as well as refineries that process heavy oil. The tax break will be extended through 2016 for solar projects, by one year for wind-power production and by two years for other renewable sources like geothermal. The measure will also include breaks for coal projects that mitigate carbon emissions and for cars such as plug-in hybrids.
Investors are responding to the announcement in after-hours trading. Shares of First Solar (Nasdaq: FSLR) are now trading around $217.70 after closing today's session at $210.89. SunPower (Nasdaq: SPWR) is up nearly 5% to $91.45 and LDK Solar (NYSE: LDK) shares are currently about 3% higher at 6 PM ET. Also, after closing the day down nearly 10%, shares of Solarfun (Nasdaq: SOLF) are now trading about 5% higher to $13.38.
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