I periodically list some of my favorite securities in this Market Pulse column. These securities are held in many of my client portfolios. Here’s an update:

The January 23 article, “Solar is having its day in the sun,” talked about the bullish outlook for SolarCity (SCTY) and the Guggenheim Solar Power ETF (ETF). TAN is up 11 percent since that article was published and sat at a two-year high last week.

SolarCity is the ETF’s largest holding. After last Monday’s close, SolarCity surprised the market by delaying full fourth-quarter results. They attributed the delay to “accounting related to recent acquisitions.”

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Full results will now be announced on March 3. Nevertheless, the company did report that revenue jumped 87 percent from a year ago. Good things are happening in this industry.

On February 6, our “A game changer” article featured MDU Resources, a utility that also has natural gas operations. In less than a month it’s already up over eight percent.

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Why? Here’s my take: In December there was a big round of board-member insider buying. Then, last week, many officers were given large amounts of stock at no cost. Some got as many as 30,000 shares. All but a few immediately sold 25-30 percent to pay the taxes. That is common with stock grants and also option exercises.

But that leaves a lot of stock in the hands of officers who had little or none before. The board knows what’s ahead and feels officers should be rewarded, too, not merely directors. A corporate development is in the works — maybe a spinoff or a break-up of the company. I’m awaiting the news.

I’ve written several articles on investing for dividends and have listed Pfizer (PFE) as a safe choice. PFE’s huge test (85,000) of its pneumonia vaccine for adults met its prime goal and two secondary goals. Results will be presented to a conference in a few weeks

That’s how drug companies work — you never quite know what to expect. Their breast cancer drug and this one are two major positives.

I’ll list more attractive securities along with news updates as we move forward. In the meantime, I hope you enjoy the Market Pulse articles.

David Vomund is an Incline Village-based fee-only money manager. Information is found at http://www.ETFportfolios.net or by calling 775-832-8555. Clients hold the positions mentioned in this article. Past performance does not guarantee future results. Consult your financial adviser before purchasing any security.