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Cramer Says Solar Stocks Are Too Expensive; Time to Buy? (FSLR)

November 11, 2008 12:06 PM EST
FSLR Hot Sheet
Rating Summary:
    7 Buy, 21 Hold, 7 Sell

Rating Trend: = Flat

Today's Overall Ratings:
    Up: 14 | Down: 9 | New: 25
Just days after recommending First Solar (Nasdaq: FSLR) as his first choice if Obama won the election, Jim Cramer told a caller during yesterday's Lightning Round segment that solar stocks are "too expensive to buy especially when oil prices have fallen."

Cramer's original First Solar tout came after the close on November 3, when shares were around $162, a level the stock had not seen since early October. Just five days before, on October 28, shares of First Solar set a new 52-week low at $95.32, meaning that Cramer recommended the stock despite a nearly 70% run in just a week of trading. Gutsy? ... Maybe crazy?

The next day, however, Cramer's recommendation proved profitable as shares of First Solar surged about 9% to close around $177.50. There's a catch though; viewers who took Cramer's advice would only have made money if they would have sold the very next day. Shares of First Solar marked a near-term high that day, and have fallen more than 20% since then.

Going back a little further, Cramer told viewers who watched Stop Trading! on October 23 that "solar stocks are done". When looking at the price action of First Solar, this Cramer prediction seems to have been right for two days, but several weeks later, the stock was sitting near $180, meaning investors who watched his skit would have been hurt once again.

So whats the status of last night's "Don't Buy" call on First Solar? Its working so far: First Solar is down 10% today, most recently trading at $124.63. But let's not get ahead of ourselves. If shares of First Solar were to trade the same as after Cramer's last two comments, some investors may be using Cramer as a contrarian indicator and buying the stock today.

First Solar, Inc. designs, manufactures, and sells solar electric power modules using a proprietary thin film semiconductor technology.

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