I usually stay away from penny stocks or stocks that don’t trade on NYSE or NASDAQ. Also, I am in no way recommending or promoting Xethanol. With all the hoopla with Ethanol stock recently and President Bush promoting his alternate energy plan I think its worth looking into and finding more information on Xethanol. General Motors is also doing big time promotion of E85 cars as seen by GM E85 ads everywhere including Business Week and Forbes.

Xethanol is one of those OTC Bulletin Board stocks. On Yahoo! Finance its traded under the symbol (XTHN.ob) and unlike most of Bulletin Boards stocks, Xethanol trades well above $1 in price. Today’s closing price was in fact $6.47, down about 2%.

I have sent an email with questions to the Investor relations contact who has graciously returned my email and assured me that Christopher d’Arnaud-Taylor, CEO, would be happy to answer my questions.

With help of someone who is very knowledgable about Ethanol Stocks I was able to compile the following questions:

Financials

1. In a recent Fortune article, it was mentioned that Xethanol will achieve profitability in 2006. Can you comment on that?

2. In recent a 10K report, you stated that you had enough funds to last to March 2006. Have you been able to secure additional funds for the business?

3. Do you have any plans to list your stock on the NASDAQ or AMEX stock exchanges? If so, any timeframe that you would be willing to disclose?

4. Please comment on the agreement with the National Forest Service?

5. You have one plant that is operational right now and one that is being refurbished for future use. Is this correct? What are your future growth plans?

Business Model

1. How do you see the ethanol business model evolving in the future? Would you compare it to the model of utility company’s – local operations at a local level.

2. How do you plan to market your ethanol? Do you have agreements with any marketing firms/distributors for the ethanol that Xethanol produces? Does Xethanol have any interest in a marketing firm?

3. What changes or break through do see on the horizon?

4. Any concerns with the enzyme that breaks down the raw material? Logen has touted the new enzyme process or fermentation process?

5. Do you plan to sell any by products (CO2 to bottlers)?

6. Ethanol is business that could skyrocket over the next year? How do you balance growth and profitability?

Government Spending and Legislation

1. Do you support the Vehicle and Fuel Choices Act for American Security Act. Do you think the timeframe is realistic or not aggressive enough for all vehicles to be flexible fuel capable?

2. Do you favor legislation at the state level to enforce the sale of Flex Fuel Vehicles or Hybrids?

Do you have any specific questions you would like to add these? Leave me your comments (No registration required).

$100 million contract is no joke for a company with a market cap of under a billion dollars. Although, the company is still not profitable, its been on a great run. I need to do more research into Evergreen Solar since its near it 52-week high.

We still don’t see Solar Panels in daily use in the United States, although, they are pretty common in parts of Europe. I remember seeing Solar Panels everywhere when I visited the Greek Isles in 2001.

A little bit about Evergreen Solar (Nasdaq: ESLR):

Evergreen Solar, founded in 1994, develops, manufactures and sells solar power products, primarily solar panels, that provide reliable and environmentally clean electric power throughout the world. The three markets the Company serves are: wireless power, rural electrification and grid-connected applications. The Company expects to exploit its proprietary and patented technology to produce distinctive products, to reduce manufacturing costs through lower materials use and streamlined processes, and to manufacture internationally for global market penetration.

The solar panels produced by Evergreen Solar incorporate proprietary crystalline silicon technology known as String Ribbon wafer production, which uses approximately half the silicon and avoids the sawing of conventional approaches.

Check back for more on Solar Energy Stocks and ESLR.

In my last article, I highlighted iRobot as one of the companies I would like to look into investing long term. I also mentioned that I would not recommend and hold my judgment until after they release earnings. The earnings were released on Tuesday, 2/14/2006, and the stock got killed. On Wednesday, the stock went down about 21% and is within range of its IPO price of $24. The stock closed at $25.70 today and to be honest, there is not a lot of upside right now.

The best way to invest would be to buy a little at a time and adding to your positions over time. There is no need to buy all at once, since it could see further downside. The technology, executive team and popularity of its products such as the Roomba make me believe in this company long term. Robotics will play a big part in all our future and I would bet on iRobot to play a major role to fulfill the vision.
Read my earlier article on iRobot for more on the company.