Solar Stocks Fried as Crude Tanks (FSLR, SOLF, SPWR, STP, more..)

As crude oil has fallen from over $117 to under $105 during the last eight trading days, alternative energy stocks have felt a great deal of downside pressure. The once-high-flying solar sector is seeing one of the sharpest slides among the alt. energy groups recently. Take a look at the Claymore/MAC Global Solar Index ETF (NYSE: TAN), cleverly tickered 'TAN' (get it?); the fund is down more than 10% today and has yet to see a positive close during this month's trading sessions.

Below is a list of some popular solar stocks and their performance recently:

Stock	Decline Today	Decline in Sept. '08	Decline from 52-Week High
First Solar (Nasdaq: FSLR)	9%	25%	34%
Evergreen Solar (Nasdaq: ESLR)	18%	34%	70%
SunPower (Nasdaq: SPWR)	11%	22%	55%
LDK Solar (NYSE: LDK)	9%	22%	49%
Canadian Solar (Nasdaq: CSIQ)	18%	33%	60%
Suntech (NYSE: STP)	9%	22%	61%
Yingli Green Energy (NYSE: YGE)	14%	30%	73%
Solarfun (Nasdaq: SOLF)	12%	26%	74%

Several of these solar names have now become technically oversold based on relative strength. This is usually the time when value investors begin buying as there are not many sellers left in the stocks, however, in this extremely bearish market, this remains to be seen.

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