I don't know much about solar...

Kelly Evans's afternoon commentary & top market stories

VIEW IN BROWSER | SUBSCRIBE FRI, FEB 21, 2020 YOUR AFTERNOON NEWS UPDATE AND MARKET ACTION FROM CNBC AS OF FRI, FEB 21, 2020 • 11:41 ET DJIA 29025.80 -0.66% -194.18 S&P 500 3345.83 -0.81% -27.40 NASDAQ 9632.51 -1.21% -118.45 EDITOR'S NOTE ...but I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night.    I made that joke at the tail end of Rapid Fire yesterday (Jon Fortt: "I'm not a lawyer, but..." Me: "But you did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night!"). And afterwards, Robert Frank and Kate Rogers said to me: what was with the hotel reference? They had never heard that line from the famous Holiday Inn commercials. I am still dumbfounded by this and need you all to tell me whether I ought to be or not.    Anyhow, there was a fascinating story on my local NBC news* this morning. I can't find a link online yet, so hopefully I can convey the gist of it: Con Ed, the local utility, is showing off a $20,000 geothermal system (after rebates) that both heats and cools your house. No furnace, no A/C system, and you won't even need a humidifier, apparently, which is hugely appealing to me right now.    Here's my point: could this be a real rival to solar power in the future? That cost is already attractive given that the solar systems we looked at cost at least that much, and you couldn't even store the energy to use in case of an outage without buying at least two Tesla Powerwalls that could run $20,000 themselves and make me worry about the massive energy being stored in our house that could, I don't know, explode?    Geothermal energy means sticking pipes about 500 feet down into the earth instead. Like I said, I'm no expert in this stuff, but a lot of you are, and I'd love to hear your thoughts on the pros and cons of geothermal versus solar. If it's true that there's a better, simpler way to heat and cool your home in an energy-efficient way, that's a huge problem for solar, I would think. Those stocks have jumped sharply to start the year; the solar ETF, TAN (ha ha), has spiked to $41 lately after lingering in the low $20s since roughly 2016.    Now, solar gets "affordable" through complex financing schemes that make them pretty affordable on a monthly basis. The utility companies would need to offer something similar for geothermal systems to be similarly within reach for most people. But it's better than being put out of business, right?    Final note: we started looking into solar systems after a power outage and a headache-inducing experiment with a portable generator that needed a lot of maintenance. Solar just didn't make enough sense for us, so we went with the "whole-house" generator from Generac instead, which is pretty costly. Generac has been a stalwart stock performer and has more than doubled in just the past year. But if I were the company or its investors, I'd better be thinking about how to stay competitive with these alternative home energy systems going forward.    Have a great weekend, but first, see you at 1 p.m!   Kelly   *Among other incredible stories today such as the "coronavirus-themed party" at an upstate college, a 13-year-old seriously hurt by an innocent-sounding TikTok challenge, and the death of researcher Larry Tesler who pioneered the use of cut/copy/paste without which I couldn't create this newsletter.    Kelly Evans Twitter: @KellyCNBC Instagram: @realkellyevans KEY STORIES  Stocks making the biggest moves in the premarket: Deere, Coca-Cola, Chewy, First Solar & more The stocks making the biggest moves in premarket trading include Deere, Coca-Cola, Chewy, First Solar, and more. Buffett watchers await word on whether the 'Oracle of Omaha' is close to finding his 'elephant' Of great interest in Warren Buffett's annual letter will be whether he's found the "elephant-sized" acquisition he wished for 12 months ago. Coronavirus live updates: WHO officials say Iran outbreak 'worrisome,' Lebanon confirms first case As of Friday, more than 76,700 cases of coronavirus have been reported, resulting in at least 2,249 deaths. Stock market live updates: Dow down 190, JPMorgan sees 'sell signals,' hedge funds buy tech A discussion of what's moving the market on Friday, including the coronavirus. Trump angry after House briefed on 2020 Russia election meddling on his behalf The briefing cost the acting director of national intelligence, Joseph Maguire, his job, a former intelligence official said. Buses carrying coronavirus evacuees attacked by protesters in Ukraine A combination of online misinformation and intensifying fears about the coronavirus has triggered violent demonstrations in Ukraine. Tax refunds are going to be delayed for filers claiming these tax credits Even if you were an early filer, you could still find yourself waiting until March to get your tax refund. That's because the IRS holds payments for people who claim the earned income or additional child tax credit. Expectations for a rate cut will fade as coronavirus fear eases, Fed's James Bullard says Central bank officials have indicated that they are content to keep policy on hold as they watch economic developments play out. Larry Kudlow says falling bond yields don't reflect the US economy's fundamentals Kudlow said a new, all-time low on the 30-year Treasury bond yield doesn't reflect reality: "This a fundamentally very sound economy." Chernobyl next? Social media reacts to reports of 1MDB fugitive Jho Low hiding in Wuhan Malaysian police revealed this week that Jho Low, the fugitive businessman at the center of the 1MDB scandal, could be hiding in Wuhan, the epicenter of the coronavirous outbreak in China.     IN CASE YOU MISSED IT Victoria's Secret goes private, Domino's delivers an earnings beat, Oracle employees plan a walk-out and more Skewed incentives lead to more jobs than places to live, says NYT reporter Lack of transparency in political ads on streaming services, like Hulu, ROKU, says Washington Post reporter   Unsubscribe Manage Newsletters Terms of Service Join the CNBC Panel Digital Products Feedback Privacy Policy   © 2020 CNBC LLC. All rights reserved. A property of NBCUniversal. 900 Sylvan Avenue, Englewood Cliffs, NJ 07632 Data is a real-time snapshot *Data is delayed at least 15 minutes. Global Business and Financial News, Stock Quotes and Market Data and Analysis. Data also provided by THOMSON REUTERS