What's Up, Doc?

I'll tell you what's up this morning in the wake of Democratic celebration and a down S&P 500 Index: some of those favorite names in alternative energy.

Ballard Power Systems (BLDP) is up over 4% as I write. Plug Power (PLUG) is up over 3%.

The alternative energy sector has long been a darling of speculators, but nothing was going to happen in a sustained way while an administration dominated by oil executives and supported by Congress was dictating policy.

With this election, that scenario is changing.

Energy independence will be the mantra of the next party in power. It will frame a response to terrorism, human rights, and the Middle East--and it will capture patriotic appeal. It will address growing concerns with global warming and the environment and will promise economic security. It will bring us closer to our allies abroad and ease some of the tensions with countries that compete with us for oil.

A few traders in that alternative energy space seem to have figured that out.