SunPower Shares Jumped: 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 solar player SunPower (NAS: SPWRA) jumped as much as 10% overnight on fairly mild trading volume.

So what: This morning, President Barack Obama stepped up to the pulpit to defend and reiterate his commitment to the government's clean energy development efforts. Though early beneficiary Solyndra flamed out spectacularly, the president knew that there would be "some risks" involved, and he intends to loan more money to solar projects.

Now what: SunPower and First Solar (NAS: FSLR) are true-blue American solar specialists, and it makes sense that both jumped more than 10% on the presidential news. In particular, SunPower has more debt than cash already and could stand to shore up its balance sheet to some degree. The company also just released a sustainability report that showed "greenhouse gas emissions per megawatt of solar capacity produced" dropped 45% over the past four years, reinforcing its technology's worth as an earth-friendly power alternative. Solar stocks are tantalizingly cheap, and the technology is clearly here to stay -- feel free to salivate uncontrollably.

Interested in more information about SunPower? Add it toMy Watchlist.

At the time thisarticle was published Fool contributorAnders Bylundholds no position in any of the companies discussed here. The Motley Fool owns shares of First Solar.Motley Fool newsletter serviceshave recommended buying shares of First Solar. Try any of our Foolish newsletter servicesfree for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe thatconsidering a diverse range of insightsmakes us better investors. You can check outAnders' holdings and a concise bio, follow him onTwitterorGoogle+, or peruseour Foolish disclosure policy.

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