Top Clean Energy Companies To Watch In Right Now

Droughts made headlines throughout 2012�due to their harmful affects on our nation's food supply, but privation wasn't the only drag on our fresh water sources. A recent study shows that oil and natural gas fracking has placed great stress on available fresh water�in areas around the country by taking up measurable amounts of the resource. In some instances in Texas, fracking staked its claim to 20% of total water usage in the regions surrounding production areas.�

Reading that astonishing fact clears up any doubt as to why Texas now mandates the recycling of water used in the fracking process. If we plan on becoming more energy independent through increased production of domestic oil and natural gas, then something will most likely be done at the federal level as well. Which companies stand to benefit? Check out Motley Fool analyst Taylor Muckerman's video below.

Despite this, natural gas still has a great chance at revolutionizing the clean energy movement. This trend toward alternative energy is gaining momentum. One potential opportunity in this field is Clean Energy Fuels, which focuses its natural gas efforts primarily on trucking and fleets. It's poised to make a big impact on an essential industry. Learn everything you need to know about Clean Energy Fuels in The Motley Fool's premium research report on the company. Just click here now to claim your copy today.

Hot Income Companies To Watch For 2015: Microsemi Corporation(MSCC)

Microsemi Corporation engages in the design, manufacture, and marketing of analog and mixed-signal integrated circuits (IC) and semiconductors primarily in the United States, Europe, and Asia. Its products include individual components and IC solutions that offer light, sound, and power management for desktop and mobile computing platforms, LCD TVs, and other power control applications. These products are used in notebook computers, data storage, wireless local area network, LCD backlighting, LCD TVs, LCD monitors, automobiles, telecommunications, test instruments, defense and aerospace equipment, sound reproduction, and data transfer equipment. The company?s semiconductor products include silicon rectifiers, zener diodes, low leakage and high voltage diodes, temperature compensated zener diodes, transistors, subminiature high power transient suppressor diodes, and pin diodes used in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) machines. It also manufactures semiconductors for commer cial applications, such as automatic surge protectors, transient suppressor diodes used for telephone applications, and switching diodes used in computer systems. In addition, the company provides electronic components and systems for the defense and aerospace markets; multi-band radio frequency integrated circuit solutions; and anti-tamper solutions to defense clients in securing systems against tampering, piracy, and reverse engineering. It markets its products directly, as well as through electronic component distributors and independent sales representatives to the defense and security, aerospace, enterprise and communication, and industrial and alternative energy markets. The company was formerly known as Microsemiconductor Corporation and changed its name to Microsemi Corporation in February 1983. Microsemi Corporation was founded in 1960 and is headquartered in Aliso Viejo, California.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Lauren Pollock]

  Microsemi Corp.(MSCC) agreed to pay almost $298 million to acquire Symmetricom Inc.(SYMM), a deal that will expand the power-management supplier’s exposure into the aerospace and defense industries while also immediately adding to earnings. Shares in Symmetricom soared.

• [By Alex Planes]

  What: Shares of Microsemi (NASDAQ: MSCC  ) are holding onto a 7% gain as of this writing, after opening up by over 14% following a solid earnings report that some Wall Street analysts have taken as a sign that a bottom has been reached.

• [By Jake L'Ecuyer]

  Equities Trading DOWN
  Shares of Microsemi (NASDAQ: MSCC) were down 4.18 percent to $23.16 after the company issued a downbeat Q1 outlook.

Top Clean Energy Companies To Watch In Right Now: Sinovac Biotech Ltd.(SVA)

Sinovac Biotech Ltd., a biopharmaceutical company, engages in the research, development, manufacture, and commercialization of vaccines against the hepatitis A, hepatitis B, and influenza viruses in the People's Republic of China. It offers Healive, an inactivated hepatitis A vaccine; Bilive, a combination of hepatitis A and B vaccine; Anflu, a split virus influenza vaccine; and Panflu, a vaccine against the influenza A H1N1 virus. The company's pipeline vaccine candidates include a split viron vaccine, which completed Phase II clinical trials for the H5N1 influenza virus; and a SARS vaccine, which completed Phase I clinical trials for the SARS virus. In addition, its pipeline vaccine candidates that completed the pre-clinical trials comprise human vaccines for EV71, pneumococcal conjugate, haemophilus influenzae type b, meningitis, Japanese encephalitis, chickenpox, mumps, and rubella diseases, as well as rabies vaccine for humans and animals. The company markets and sell s its vaccine products directly to the provincial and municipal disease control and prevention centers. It has a patent license agreement with the National Institutes of Health; distribution agreements with LG Life Sciences, Ltd. and Glovax C.V.; and a pandemic influenza vaccine co-development agreement with the China Center for Disease Control and Prevention. Sinovac Biotech Ltd. was founded in 1999 and is headquartered in Beijing, the People's Republic of China.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Rich Duprey]

  Troubling is that it's a new presence in humans, and while that makes its spread among the populace difficult, scientists fear that it's gaining momentum. Sinovac Biotech (NASDAQ: SVA  ) , which was approved to produce vaccines several years ago, jumped almost 7% yesterday as it gears up to mass produce a vaccine to combat the new threat.

• [By Brian Pacampara]

  Based on the aggregated intelligence of 180,000-plus investors participating in Motley Fool CAPS, the Fool's free investing community, biopharmaceutical company Sinovac Biotech (NASDAQ: SVA  ) has received the dreaded one-star ranking.

• [By Louis Navellier]

  LGND is a strong buy at today�� price.

  Biotech Stocks to Buy: Sinovac Biotech (SVA)

  Sinovac Biotech LTD (SVA) is a Chinese biotech company that makes drugs to treat conditions such as hepatitis A, hepatitis B, and influenza viruses. The just announced that the phase three trials of a new drug to fight a virus called EV-71 that causes neurological conditions such hand foot and mouth disease showed great promise. Phase III trial results� EV71 vaccine show that the drug had a 94.8% efficacy rate against EV71-related hand, foot, and mouth disease, and a 100% efficacy rate against EV71-associated hospitalization and against HFMD with neurologic complications.

Top Clean Energy Companies To Watch In Right Now: Village Super Market Inc.(VLGEA)

Village Super Market, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, operates a chain of supermarkets in the United States. The company?s superstores feature specialty departments, such as home meal replacement, on-site bakery, and expanded delicatessen that includes prepared food, natural and organic food, ethnic and international food, seafood sections, as well as pharmacies and salad bars. Its superstores also offer non-food items, including cut flowers, health and beauty aids, greeting cards, and small appliances. As of December 16, 2011, the company operated a chain of 28 supermarkets under the ShopRite name in New Jersey, Maryland, and eastern Pennsylvania. Village Super Market, Inc. was founded in 1933 and is based in Springfield, New Jersey.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Geoff Gannon] the last 10 years ��population growth, inflation, and real output per person growth has been so low it�� hard to tell the difference between companies growing at the rate of inflation, along with the population, or along with the economy.

  You have to squint really hard to see any difference in the revenue growth records of DNB, Chuck E. Cheese, and Village.

  This will not be true in all countries and at all times.

  A literally no growth company like Earthlink is actually shrinking. It just happens to look like it�� staying perfectly flat because inflation is hiding the company�� real decay rate. In real terms, the company has been shrinking by about 3% a year for the last 10 years. So, Earthlink is not a no growth company. It�� shrinking.

  That�� a bad sign. And, frankly, I don�� know how to value Earthlink. You would need to evaluate it as a turnaround or something ��not as a business that�� simplly stuck in place. I don�� know how to do that.

  So, Earhtlink goes into the ��oo hard��pile.

  Dun & Bradstreet and CEC Entertainment are actual no growth businesses. This is hidden by their constant share buy backs. So, if you look at their earnings per share growth they look kind of like Peter Lynch�� idea of a ��low growth��company or even a ��talwart�� They aren��. They��e no growth businesses.

  The same is pretty much true with Village Supermarket. Although this is complicated. The nature of their business ��high volume, low cost groceries ��means they can appear to be a no growth business when they are actually just keeping prices down and increasing volume. You would need to check their sales numbers more carefully. Grocery stores often discuss inflation in their annual reports. Village Supermarket always does this.

  (The annual report is Exhibit 13 of the 10-K at EDGAR).

  So, in reality, Village Supermarket may be a slow grower, while CEC Entertainment and Dun & Bradstreet

• [By Geoff Gannon]

  Okay. So my point is just that a business is a business ��it�� not an industry. Just because a company is categorized in an industry doesn�� mean it works like the other companies in the industry. For example, Amazon (AMZN) and Best Buy (BBY) and Walgreens (WAG) and Village Supermarket (VLGEA) are all retailers. But they are all really, really different retailers. Technology changes have vastly different influences on them. They have completely different business models. They are actually trying to do totally different things. And you would analyze them ��especially starting with customer habits ��totally differently.

Top Clean Energy Companies To Watch In Right Now: Home BancShares Inc.(HOMB)

Home BancShares, Inc. operates as a holding company for the Centennial Bank that provides various commercial and retail banking, and related financial products and services to businesses, real estate developers, investors, individuals, and municipalities. It offers various deposit products, including checking, savings, and money market accounts, as well as certificates of deposit. The company also offers commercial real estate, construction and land development, commercial and industrial, residential real estate, agricultural, and consumer loans. In addition, it provides Internet banking and voice response information, cash management, overdraft protection, direct deposit, safe deposit boxes, the United States savings bonds, and automatic account transfers services. Further, the company provides trust services focusing on personal trusts, corporate trusts, and employee benefit trusts, as well as writes insurance policies for commercial and personal lines of businesses. As of December 31, 2010, it operated 49 branches in Arkansas, 9 branches in the Florida Keys, 6 branches in central Florida, 3 branches in southwest Florida, and 29 branches in the Florida Panhandle. Home BancShares, Inc. is headquartered in Conway, Arkansas.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Sean Williams]

  What: Shares of Home BancShares (NASDAQ: HOMB  ) , the holding company of Centennial Bank, jumped as much as 13% after receiving an analyst upgrade.