...Aaaand, Breathe.

Today, one day after investor sentiment began to gather negative momentum and your faithful blog author, without making any direct predictions, evaluated and affirmed our conviction in Plug Power's durability, relative to its competitors at the very least, the company has made precisely the positive news I predicted and prices have recovered substantially.

That is to say, we are not back where we hope to be, nor even where we think we belong at minimum, but the sign we needed to maintain our confidence that we will get there has materialized, and readily, which is not merely therapeutic, it is downright encouraging.

Furthermore, we continue to buck the Dow. As of this post, only 9:30 am in California (but still), most of the market is down but both our fund and my overall portfolio are green, and by multiple factors. I'm going to try to maintain a curtain of privacy on those positions, though the reader may well imagine that some stocks I discuss as either too low-risk/return for the strategy we are employing or not a buying moment for our money may end up in that private portfolio, as I have mentioned that Voltswagen did.

Have you heard this silly bit of news? The American VW subsidiary is changing its name from Volkswagen to Voltswagen. No, I'm not...serious, per se, but it is true, as far as I can tell. I'm not going to award a clickthrough for a bit of news as idiotic as all that, but the reasoning is reasonably straightforward, Volkswagen is German and means nothing to Americans except maybe 'that Nazi company,' whereas Voltswagen suggests that they are better positioned in the EV market than they are, as yet. And its a subsidiary. It doesn't actually matter what the name is, so long as the paperwork is in order and the ownership is clear.

Anyways, just those two bits of interest and the novelty news to share. A reminder to trust your instincts, not the most recent blog article you read. Yes, I did invest in Plug after reading a blog recommendation, and yes I did buy more after reading another. But I was looking for buy opportunities and I agreed that Plug looked better than the others available, I made that final evaluation. Here, we are ambivalent, and we can allow the momentum of our own doubts and insecurities to collect and eventually to pool with those clouds darkening overhead, or we can stop, take a clear look at the landscape, and decide if the reality of upcoming events is likely to support those doubts.

We decided that the company was one positive headline away from a rally and sure enough, they produced a headline (perhaps they rushed the deal to completion, but even if they'd manufactured it entirely, it makes no difference so long as it works) and the price has rallied. Now, we get to see how solid the support for that price is. If it goes back to sliding, then we have reason to get nervous. Because I do not wish to simply manifest this result by putting this negative thought, fully stated, online, I'll list best and expected cases as well.

Best case, the price skyrockets back past its January 12-month target. That being unrealistic, the best (realistic) case is that it drifts upward, surging occasionally on continuing good headlines. More probable is that it will ratchet up with the good press, but generally stay flat in the interims.

Ok, then. Reports, analysis, response and expectations. If other segments emerge we'll add them to the list, but for now, this is looking like the recipe for our finance posts. We'll see you again when there's something to report.