Why First Solar's Shares Jumped

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: First Solar (NAS: FSLR) , along with a number of other solar manufacturers, jumped 12% in early trading today as the market hopped back on the solar bandwagon for the day.

So what: The news of the day is that Satcon Technology announced that bookings grew 130% from the fourth quarter of 2011 to the first quarter of 2012. Italy also announced today that it will cap increases to solar power production incentives at 500 million euros per year, but this reduction was expected by the market.

Now what: This is a bit of a dead cat bounce from the solar market's general decline for several weeks. Still, the initial word from Satcon indicates that 2012 installations may be stronger than the industry is expecting. I wouldn't buy on the jump today, and instead would wait for more solid news about installation levels and margins in the industry when earnings are released. Plus, there are better ways to play the solar market, such as with more efficient panel makers like SunPower (NAS: SPWR) or Canadian Solar (NAS: CSIQ) .

Interested in more info on First Solar? Add it to your watchlist byclicking here.

At the time thisarticle was published Fool contributor Travis Hoium owns shares of SunPower in both a personal and managed account. 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. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe thatconsidering a diverse range of insightsmakes us better investors. Try any of our Foolish newsletter servicesfree for 30 days.

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