Trina Solar Shares Plunged: What You Need to Know

Although we don't believe in timing the market or panicking over market movements, we do like to keep an eye on big changes -- just in case they're material to our investing thesis.

What: Shares of Chinese solar manufacturer Trina Solar (NYS: TSL) fell 10% today as fears of an industry slowdown hit solar stocks.

So what: Today is really a combination of things that are affecting solar stocks and Trina Solar negatively. Competitor Solyndra filed for bankruptcy earlier this week, starting a slide that continued today after poor employment numbers sent stocks lower. Since solar stocks are generally high beta (meaning they typically move more than the market), it's no surprise to see solar stocks lower today.

Now what: Today's move isn't a huge surprise if you saw earnings for the solar industry in the second quarter or are concerned that bankruptcies would spread. But conditions are actually getting better for solar manufacturers, and I think that stocks are overreacting. Fewer competitors is good for leaders such as Trina Solar, First Solar (NAS: FSLR) , SunPower (NAS: SPWRA) , and Yingli Green Energy (NYS: YGE) , and market demand is picking up. Question marks about Germany and Italy in the second quarter have been resolved, China and Japan have announced feed-in tariffs, and the U.S. market is growing into a power very quickly. Today may not be a bottom, but I am starting to accumulate shares in solar leaders that will benefit from this growing market.

Interested in more info on Trina Solar? Add it to your watchlist.

At the time thisarticle was published Fool contributor Travis Hoium owns shares of First Solar, SunPower, and has sold puts in SunPower. You can follow Travis on Twitter at @FlushDrawFool, check out his personal stock holdings or follow his CAPS picks at TMFFlushDraw.Motley Fool newsletter services have recommended buying shares of First Solar. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

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