Solar Winners: SunPower, Suntech

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- This week has shown evidence of two typical themes in short-term solar trading: a schizophrenic split between negative sentiment from the mainstream press driving down solar stocks, and press releases from solar companies giving solar stocks a bump.

On Monday, a Barron's article's negative outlook on solar stocks -- a report that repeated much of what already has been reported in the much of the press for months -- seemed to exact the "mainstream press" toll on solar stocks.

On Tuesday and Wednesday, however, the solar sector also provided evidence of the stand-by stock rally theme of "any news is good news."

Take SunPower(SPWRA), for example. Late on Tuesday, SunPower announced that it would finally release its earnings, right after the market close on Thursday.

In SunPower's case, it is less about the fourth-quarter earnings and all about the accounting investigation launched last November and any larger earnings restatement. SunPower's late Tuesday announcement, of course, did not indicate the results of the accounting investigation.

Yet shares of SunPower were up close to 3% midday on Wednesday. It's a minor relief rally, though, not necessarily a sign that investors are reading the benign announcement from SunPower as a positive either.

One would hope that investors aren't thinking, "Well, they didn't drag out the results of the fourth quarter results and accounting investigation all the way to the verge of being de-listed, so that must be a positive."

"It's been four months since the accounting issues were first disclosed, and for SunPower shares it's a bit of a relief rally that the situation is finally coming to an end, but beyond that, you can't read too much into it," said Raymond James analyst Pavel Molchanov.