Every March since 2009, Wall Street revisits the anniversary of the now-seven-year-old bull market and celebrates some of the market’s biggest winners of the huge rally. But with the S&P 500 stumbling out of the starting gate so far in 2016, here’s a look at three of the worst-performing big-name stocks since March 9, 2009: First Solar (FSLR),BlackBerry (BBRY) and Transocean (RIG).
BlackBerry, Transocean, and First Solar each tell an important part of the story about what else happened in the U.S. economy since 2009…and some of it ain’t so good.
In fact, considering the 170% return of the S&P 500 in the last seven years, these stocks have been downright awful.
First Solar (FSLR)
FSLR Stock 7-year Return: -37%
Back in 2009, investors saw solar energy as one of a number of alternative energy sources that was going to assist in the long-term transition of energy away from fossil fuels. Now, seven years later, clean energy is still an idealistic goal of most health- and environmentally-conscious Americans. However, several major changes have happened that have hurt FSLR.
Back in 2009, FSLR was the dominant player in the solar space, providing the cheapest panels and the highest efficiency. However, since that time, a flood of competition producing cheaper and more efficient panels, has crashed into the solar market.
In addition, the recent slump in oil and other fossil fuel prices has relieved much of the economic pressure behind a transition to clean energy. Companies feel a lot less pressure to convert to solar when coal, oil and natural gas energy is so cheap.
As a result, FSLR’s stock is now down 37% percent over the past seven years.
BlackBerry (BBRY)
BBRY Stock 7-year Return: -79%
As recently as 2010, about 40% of all smartphone users had…
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