Solar Stocks Reflect Volatility of EU Dispute

Chinese solar stocks continued their impressive rally after The New York Times reported that the U.S. and Europe agreed to negotiate a deal with China rather than hitting its solar-panel makers with punitive tariffs. However, a recent report from Reuters claims that Europe and the United States both said on Tuesday they were not holding coordinated talks to negotiate an end to a trade dispute with China over the dumping of solar panels onto their respective markets.

The latest good news was from Yingli Green Energy (YGE) as said yesterday it expects first-quarter shipments to fall 6% to 7% from fourth quarter of 2012, beating its original forecast for a fall of more than 10%. On Monday, the boost in solar stocks was attributed to better-than-expected results from JA Solar Holdings Co., Ltd. (ADR) (NASDAQ:JASO).

The noteworthy thing in the industry was that other than Chinese solar firms came under pressure on Tuesday amid a report from Lux Research predicted China will beat Germany to become the biggest solar power market by 2018 with the U.S. jumping to No. 2 as the industry’s supply glut evaporates.

The solar industry extended gains seen last week when it had a bunch of good news as SunPower issued 2013 guidance above estimates, SolarCity signed a big financing deal, and LDK Solar finally announced 2012 earnings.