Energy Portfolios, 4 Years, 6 Months: Sustainable Energy Up 146.9%, Fossil Fuel DOWN 29.8%

On Dec. 21, 2012, I began an experiment in “Sustainable Capitalism” or “Sustainable Finance.” I put $16 Million imaginary dollars in equal imaginary investments in 16 energy companies, $8.0 Million in $1.0 Million investments in eight “Sustainable” energy companies, the other $8.0 Million in $1.0 Million chunks in fossil fuel companies. 

As of the close of trading 54 months later,

  • The Market Capitalization of the sustainable energy companies is up 140.6%, from $39.58 Billion to $95.1 Billion. (See Table 6, below).
  • The Market Capitalization of the Fossil Fuel portfolio is DOWN 10.38%, from $1.09 Trillion to $976.13 Billion. (See Tables 7 & 8, below). 

This excludes the value of dividends and transaction costs, but including the bankruptcy or crash of three companies in the sustainable energy space …

As of the close of trading on June 21, 2017:

  •  The Fossil Fuel portfolio went from $8.0 Million to $5.617 Million, down 29.8% overall, down 6.62% on an annualized basis.
  • The Sustainable Energy portfolio went from $8 Million to $19.75 Million, up 146.8%, overall and 32.6% on an annualized basis.
  • The Dow Jones Industrial Average is up 63.55% overall and 14.12% on an annualized basis; from 13,091 on 12/21/12 to 21,410 on 6/21/17.
  • The S&P 500 is up 70.35% overall and 15.6% on an annualized basis, from 1,430 on 12/21/12 to close at 2,436 on 6/21/17.

The Sustainable Energy portfolio includes First Solar (FSLR) and Sunpower Corp. (SPWR) in the solar space, Vestas (VWSYF), a wind company, Next Era Energy (NEE), a utility, Solazyme (SZYM) a biofuel company, Cree (CREE) and Lighting Sciences (LSCG) in the LED space and GT Advanced Tech (GTAT), which in Dec. 2012 made solar ovens for cooking PV wafers.

The fossil fuel companies are the oil companies British Petroleum (BP), Chevron Texaco (CVX), Conoco Phillips (COP), Exxon Mobil (XOM) and RD Shell (RDS.A), the coal company Peabody Coal (BTU), and Haliburton (HAL) and Transocean (RIG), companies in the offshore oil and oil and gas drilling service industries.

* Peabody’s reorganization is complete, however, I expect stockholder law suits.

The data are summarized beginning in Table 1, below.

Summary Data
Portfolio 12/21/12 06/21/17 Delta Delta % Annualized
Sustainable Energy 8,000,000 19,748,518 11,748,518 146.86% 32.63%
Fossil Fuel 8,000,000 5,616,882 -2,383,118 -29.79% -6.62%
DJI 13,091 21,410 8,319 63.55% 14.12%
S&P 500 1,430 2,436 1,006 70.35% 15.63%
NASDAQ 3,012 5,251 2,239 74.34% 16.52%
Table 1

The stock price data for the Sustainable Energy portfolio are in Table 2, below.

Sustainable Energy Portfolio – Stock Prices
Item Company Symbol 12/21/12 06/21/17 Delta Delta %
1 Cree CREE 34.0 24.4 -9.56 -28.12%
2 First Solar FSLR 31.0 37.2 6.23 20.10%
3 GT Adv. Tech. GTAT 3.0 0.0 -2.98 -99.33%
4 Lighting Science LSCG 0.8 0.0 -0.73 -96.67%
5 Next Era Energy NEE 70.0 141.1 71.06 101.51%
6 Sun Power SPWR 5.4 7.7 2.25 41.44%
7 Solazyme SZYM 8.3 2.2 -6.19 -74.22%
8 Vestas VWS 6.3 89.0 82.67 1310.14%
  Note that GTAT is currently in bankruptcy protection.
Table 2

The stock price data for the Fossil Fuel Portfolio are in Table 3, below.

Fossil Fuel Portfolio – Stock Prices
Item Company Symbol 12/21/12 06/21/17 Delta Delta %
1 BP BP 42.1 34.7 -7.47 -17.74%
2 Chevron Texaco CVX 109.7 104.5 -5.22 -4.76%
3 Conoco Philips COP 58.6 45.0 -13.65 -23.29%
4 Exxon Mobil XOM 87.2 81.4 -5.79 -6.64%
5 Royal Dutch Shell RDS.A 69.3 52.2 -17.06 -24.62%
6 Haliburton HAL 34.7 42.2 7.52 21.67%
7 Transocean RIG 45.6 7.8 -37.85 -82.93%
8 Peabody Coal BTU 395.3 0.0 -395.25 -100.00%
Table 3

The valuation data for the Sustainable Energy Portfolio are in Table 4, below.

Sustainable Energy Portfolio – Valuation
      Value Delta
Item Company Symbol 12/21/12 06/21/17 Delta Delta %
1 Cree CREE 1,000 719 -281 -28.12%
2 First Solar FSLR 1,000 1,201 201 20.10%
3 GT Adv. Tech. GTAT 1,000 7 -993 -99.33%
4 Lighting Science LSCG 1,000 33 -967 -96.67%
5 Next Era Energy NEE 1,000 2,015 1,015 101.51%
6 Sun Power SPWR 1,000 1,414 414 41.44%
7 Solazyme SZYM 1,000 258 -742 -74.22%
8 Vestas VWS 1,000 14,101 13,101 1310.14%
  total   8,000 19,749 11,749 146.86%
Values in thousands.
Table 4

The valuation data for the Fossil Fuel Portfolio are in Table 5, below.

Fossil Fuel Portfolio – Valuations
      Value Delta
Item Company Symbol 12/21/12 06/21/17 Amount Per Cent
1 BP BP 1,000 823 -177 -17.74%
2 Chevron Texaco CVX 1,000 952 -48 -4.76%
3 Conoco Philips COP 1,000 767 -233 -23.29%
4 Exxon Mobil XOM 1,000 934 -66 -6.64%
5 Royal Dutch Shell RDS.A 1,000 754 -246 -24.62%
6 Haliburton HAL 1,000 1,217 217 21.67%
7 Transocean RIG 1,000 171 -829 -82.93%
8 Peabody Coal BTU 1,000 0 -1000 -100.00%
  total   8,000 5,617 -2383 -29.79%
Values in thousands.
Table 5

The market capitalization data for the Sustainable Energy Portfolio are in Table 6.

Sustainable Energy Portfolio
Market Capitalization (Billions)
Item Company 12/21/12 06/23/17 Delta Delta %
1 Cree 3.90 2.52 -1.38 -35.38%
2 First Solar 2.69 4.29 1.6 59.48%
3 GT Adv. Tech. 0.36 0.00 -0.353 -98.88%
4 Lighting Science 0.15 0.00 -0.153 -100.00%
5 Next Era Energy 29.60 67.75 38.15 128.89%
6 Sun Power 0.88 1.35 0.4721 53.78%
7 Solazyme 0.52 0.18 -0.3387 -65.30%
8 Vestas 1.48 19.11 17.63 1191.22%
  total 39.58 95.204 55.6274 140.56%
Table 6

The market capitalization data for the Fossil Fuel Portfolio are in Table 7.

Fossil Fuel Portfolio – Market Capitalization
Market Capitalization (Billions)
Item Company 12/21/12 06/23/17 Delta Delta %
1 BP 133.8 115.09 -18.71 -13.98%
2 Chevron Texaco 214.7 199.98 -14.72 -6.86%
3 Conoco Philips 71.2 55.48 -15.72 -22.08%
4 Exxon Mobil 397.7 348.06 -49.64 -12.48%
5 Royal Dutch Shell 216.8 218.60 1.80 0.83%
6 Haliburton 32.2 35.67 3.47 10.78%
7 Transocean 16.4 3.25 -13.15 -80.18%
8 Peabody Coal 6.37 0.00 -6.37 -100.00%
  total 1089.2 976.13 -113.04 -10.38%
Table 7

The market capitalization data for the Big Oil portion of the Fossil Fuel Portfolio are in Table 8.

Big Oil Portfolio – Market Capitalization
Market Capitalization (Billions)
Item Company 12/21/12 06/23/17 Delta Delta %
1 BP 133.8 115.1 -18.71 -13.98%
2 Chevron Texaco 214.7 200.0 -14.72 -6.86%
3 Conoco Philips 71.2 55.5 -15.72 -22.08%
4 Exxon Mobil 397.7 348.1 -49.64 -12.48%
5 Royal Dutch Shell 216.8 218.6 1.80 0.83%
  total 1034.2 937.2 -96.99 -9.38%
Table 8

Posts in this series:

  1. L. Furman, 12/21/12, Popular Logistics Sustainable Energy Portfolio
  2. L. Furman, 2/8/13, Nega-Watts, Nega-Fuel-Watts, Mega-Bucks
  3. L. Furman, 2/9/13, Gold Bricks and Sink-Holes – The Risk & Reward of Fossil Fuel, Solar & Wind
  4. L. Furman, 3/2/13, Sustainable Energy Portfolio UP 16% & Fossil Fuel Portfolio Up 1.7% – Since Dec.21, 2012
  5. L. Furman, 3/23/13, Portfolio Simulation At 3 Months: Sustainable Energy: Up 22%. Fossil Fuels: 3%
  6. L. Furman, 4/26/13, Earth Day, 2013. Oil Spills, Explosions, Fracking Business As Usual & The Stock Market Response
  7. L. Furman, 5/13/13, Popular Logistics Energy Portfolios: The Trend Continues.
  8. L. Furman, 6/24/13, Popular Logistics Energy Portfolios: At 6 months
  9. L. Furman, 7/22/13, Popular Logistics Energy Portfolios: Sustainable Energy Doubles. Fossil Fuels increase 5.4%
  10. L. Furman, 8/22/13, Popular Logistics Energy Portfolios: An Exercise in Climate Capitalism
  11. L. Furman, 9/20/13, Energy Portfolios – Investing for the Future
  12. L. Furman, 10/21/13, Sustainable Investing – Green Energy, Green Economy
  13. L. Furman, 11/22/13, Energy Portfolios: Minor Corrections, Overall Results In Line With the Trend
  14. L. Furman, 12/23/13, Energy Portfolios at One Year Sustainable Energy up 140%. Fossil Fuels up 9.85%
  15. L. Furman, 12/26/13, Energy Portfolios and Reference Indices, 2013 Summary.
  16. L. Furman, 1/22/14, Energy Portfolios: 13 Months, Sustainable Energy up 167.4%, Fossil Fuels up 9.44%
  17. L. Furman, 2/24/14, Energy Portfolios: 14 Months: Sustainable Energy up 184.4%, Fossil Fuels up 8.7%
  18. L. Furman, 3/23/14, Energy Portfolios: 15 Months: Sustainable Energy up 222.6, Fossil Fuel up 7.3%
  19. L. Furman, 4/22/14, Energy Portfolios, 16 Months: Sustainable Energy up 204.25%, Fossil Fuel up 15.38%
  20. L. Furman, 5/21/14, Energy Portfolios, 17 Months: Sustainable Energy up 211.6%, Fossil Fuels up 18.5%
  21. L. Furman, 6/24/14, Energy Portfolios, 18 Months: Sustainable Energy up 257%, Fossil Fuels up 24.6%
  22. L. Furman, 6/26/14, Energy Portfolios: 18 Months, Analysis
  23. L. Furman, 7/22/14, Energy Portfolios: 19 Months: Sustainable Energy up 222%, Fossil Fuels up 25%
  24. L. Furman, 8/23/14, Energy Portfolios: 20 Months: Sustainable Energy up 229%, Fossil Fuels up 18.4%
  25. L. Furman, 8/29 /14, Energy Portfolios: 20 Months: Conclusion & Observations
  26. L. Furman, 10/1/14, The Paradigm Is Shifting; Fossil Fuels Are Becoming Fossils
  27. L. Furman, 10/7/14, Cree: Strong Financials, But … 
  28. L. Furman, 10/21/14, Energy Portfolios: 22 Months: Sustainable Energy Up But Dropping.
  29. L. Furman, 11/27/14, Energy Portfolios: 23 Months: Sustainable Energy DOUBLED, Fossil Fuel Down (slightly).
  30. L. Furman, 12/28/14, Energy Portfolios: 24 Months: Sustainable Energy Up 91%, Fossil Fuel DOWN 10%.
  31. L. Furman, 1/27/15, Energy Portfolios: 2 Years, 1 Month, Sustainable Up 85%, Fossil Fuels DOWN 15%
  32. L. Furman, 2/23/15, Energy Portfolios: 2 Years, 2 Months, Sustainable Up 109%, Fossil Fuels DOWN 12%.
  33. L. Furman, 3/21,15, Energy Portfolios, 2 Years 3 Months: Sustainable up 128%, Fossil Fuel DOWN 16%.
  34. L. Furman, 4/21/15, Energy Portfolios, 2 Years 4 Months: Sustainable up 138%, Fossil Fuel DOWN 12%.
  35. L. Furman, 5/21/15, Energy Portfolios, 2 Years 5 Months: Sustainable up 137%, Fossil Fuel DOWN 13.7%.
  36. L. Furman, 6/21/15, Energy Portfolios, 2 Years 6 Months: Sustainable up 128%, Fossil Fuel DOWN 18%.
  37. L. Furman, 7/23/15, Energy Portfolios, 2 Years 7 Months: Sustainable up 121%, Fossil Fuel DOWN 24%.
  38. L. Furman, 8/22/15, Energy Portfolios, 2 Years 8 Months: Sustainable up 102%, Fossil Fuel DOWN 34.3%.
  39. L. Furman, 8/26/15, Energy Portfolios and “The Correction“.
  40. L. Furman, 10/1/15, Energy Portfolios, 2 Years 9 Months: Sustainable up 111.3%, Fossil Fuels DOWN 33.5%.
  41. L. Furman, 10/22/15, Energy Portfolios, 2 Years 10 Months: Sustainable Energy Up 125%, Fossil Fuel DOWN 27%.
  42. L. Furman, 11/23/15, Energy Portfolios, 2 Years 11 Months: Sustainable Energy Up 129%, Fossil Fuel DOWN 29.6%.
  43. L. Furman, 12/22/15, Energy Portfolios, 3 Years: Sustainable Energy up 166.6%, Fossil Fuel DOWN 36.2%
  44. L. Furman, 1/26/16, Energy Portfolios, 3 Years, 1 Month: Sustainable Energy UP 135.6%, Fossil Fuels DOWN 42.8%.
  45. L. Furman, 2/22/16, Energy Portfolios, 3 Years, 2 Months: Sustainable Energy Up 139.5%, Fossil Fuels DOWN 40.7%.
  46. L. Furman, 3/24/16, Energy Portfolios, 3 Years, 3 Months: Sustainable Energy Up 159.7%, Fossil Fuels DOWN 33.2%.
  47. L. Furman, 4/22/16, Energy Portfolios, 3 Years, 4 Months: Sustainable Energy Up 139%, Fossil Fuels DOWN 29.3%.
  48. L. Furman, 5/22/16, Energy Portfolios, 3 Years, 5 Months, Sustainable Energy Up 122%, Fossil Fuels Down 30%.
  49. L. Furman, 8/20/16, Energy Portfolios, 3 Years, 6 Months: Sustainable Energy Up 139%, Fossil Fuels DOWN 29.3%.
  50. L. Furman, 8/20/16, Energy Portfolios, 3 Years, 7 Months: Sustainable Energy Up 125%, Fossil Fuels DOWN 26%.
  51. L. Furman, 8/22/16, Energy Portfolios, 3 Years, 8 Months: Sustainable Energy Up 138%, Fossil Fuels DOWN 27%.
  52. L. Furman, 9/26/16, Energy Portfolios, 3 Years, 9 Months: Sustainable Energy up 133.5%, Fossil Fuels Down 31%.
  53. L. Furman, 10/23/16, Energy Portfolios, 3 Years, 10 Months: Sustainable Energy up 130%, Fossil Fuels Down 26%
  54. L. Furman, 11/25/16, Energy Portfolios, 3 Years, 11 Months: Sustainable Energy up 93%, Fossil Fuels Down 20%
  55. L. Furman, 1/1/17, Energy Portfolios: 4 Years: Sustainable Energy up 130%, Fossil Fuels Down 26%
  56. L. Furman, 1/23/17, Energy Portfolios: 4 Years, 1 Month: Sustainable Energy Effectively Doubled, Fossil Fuels Down 18.3%.
  57. L. Furman, 3/5/17, Energy Portfolios: 4 Years, 2 Months: Sustainable Energy up 117.25%, Fossil Fuel Down 33.99%
  58. L. Furman, 4/23/17, Energy Portfolios: 4 Years, 3 Months: Sustainable Energy up 120.9%, Fossil Fuel Down 25.05%
  59. L. Furman, 4/23/17, Energy Portfolios, 4 Years, 4 Months: Sustainable Energy Up 126.7%, Fossil Fuel DOWN 26.9%
  60. L. Furman, 5/26/17, Energy Portfolios, 4 Years, 5 Months: Sustainable Energy Up 148.4%, Fossil Fuel DOWN 24.9%
  61. L. Furman, 6/25/17, Energy Portfolios, 4 Years, 6 Months: Sustainable Energy Up 148.4%, Fossil Fuel DOWN 24.9%

A co-founder of Popular Logistics, I hold a BS in Biology, with additional concentrations in Computer Science and Environmental Studies and an MBA in “Managing for Sustainability” from Marlboro College. Available as a speaker and consultant, I can be reached at “Popular Logistics . com” as “L Furman.”