Solar Sector On Fire as Traders Getting More Optimistic

The Guggenheim Solar ETF TAN is up more than 6.5 percent Thursday afternoon. Elsewhere in the sector:

• First Solar FSLR - up 5 percent
• Canadian Solar CSIQ - up 13 percent
• SolarCity SCTY - up 6 percent
• SunPower SPWR - up 6.6 percent
• JinkoSolar JKS - up 7.4 percent
• Trina Solar TSL - up 9 percent
• Yingli YGE - up 22 percent
• ReneSola SOL - up 11 percent
• Hanwha HSOL - up 16 percent
• China Sunergy CSUN - up 12 percent

Investors are responding to a number of factors Thursday morning following the New Years holiday break:

• news Solar World Industries America has applied to US Commerce Department, ITC for anti-dumping, anti-subsidy probes into solar-battery products imported from China, Taiwan;
• a deal between Canadian Solar and TransCanada which will create TransCanada's fourth solar facility;
• the first auction of solar sites in Brazil, totaling around $250 million; and
• a report suggesting polysilicon spot prices are now at a 15-month high.