Warren Goes Wild for Wind

Mark Hirschey

Warren Buffett just placed a $1-billion order for wind turbines to be spread across Iowa. The bet of the value-investor extraordinaire comes at a time when prices for the turbines so necessary to wind farming have dropped 26 percent since 2009. According to Bloomberg, wind power is now within 5.5 percent of the cost of producing electricity from coal. Buffett’s order for 1,050 megawatts of turbines went to Siemens AG. It ranks as the company’s and the industry’s biggest order to date. Unfortunately for the wind-generated power industry, other companies in the sector are suffering from a slump created by the introduction of fracked oil and natural gas. For investors looking outside of Siemens AG for gains, Vestas — Europe’s biggest turbine supplier — saw its market value increase by 86 percent yesterday alone. So, if you think wind-driven power is more than just hot air, Seimens or Vestas are probably your best bets.

Exclusive ETF Talk: Another Golden Opportunity

Wayne Ellis

Wayne Ellis has been involved in the financial publishing industry for more than 15 years. During that time, he has helped to edit, to market and to launch products and services for Ernst & Young, LLC, Fidelity Investments, Agora, LLC, and Eagle Financial Publications. He currently puts his broad-based experience and industry expertise to use as a contributing writer for Eagle Financial Publications. He also is a graduate of Arizona State University.