A new type of ETF is becoming popular, offering alternatives to traditional sector funds in targeting different types of companies.

(Editor’s Note: The following is an excerpt from an article in the Exchange-Traded Funds Report in July. Subscribers to ETFR can read the complete piece here.)

Specialty-sector ETFs—also called “thematic” ETFs—have emerged as a major force in the ETF industry.

These ETFs run the gamut of investment possibilities, but have one thing in common: They look past traditional size and sector designations to carve out new investment areas, often driven by a single investment thesis.

Clean energy, infrastructure, nuclear power—by our count, there are now more than 40 of these unique ETFs on the market, with more than $10 billion in assets under management.

Investment manager Van Eck Global has been one of the most successful companies in carving out a foothold among specialty ETFs. Its Market Vectors Gold Miners ETF (NYSE Arca:

The opinions of Jeremy Grantham, veteran investor and founder of Boston-based money-management firm GMO, have been featured regularly in posts on the Investment Postcards blog. Against the background of his general disregard for  conventional wisdom, his turnaround in early March from a perma-bearish stance to a more bullish demeanour was particularly closely followed.

“… be aware that the market does not turn when it sees light at the end of the tunnel. It turns when all looks black, but just a subtle less black than the day before,” he said in March in a newsletter entitled “Reinvesting when terrified“. He also cautioned investors not to fall prey to “terminal paralysis” that often sets in after a financial crisis.

A recent interview by SmartMoney with Grantham provides insight on why he has changed his mind and his prognosis for the future. A

Open Energy Corporation (OEGY.OB), a California-based solar power development company, announced Thursday that it has completed installation of its largest solar electric project to date, totaling 17,000+ square feet of glass panels embedded with photovoltaic cells, for the California Academy of Sciences, a soon-to-open science museum in San Francisco.

The solar panel array will ring the museum’s roof, generating 213,000 kilowatt-hours of electricity, or about 10% of the Academy’s anticipated electrical needs, and will be one of the biggest photovoltaic glass canopies in the United States. The solar installation will also be a key factor in the Academy’s attempt to achieve LEED Platinum certification (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) from the U. S. Green Building Council.

Open Energy is a renewable energy company with a focus on solar energy and photovoltaics. The company emphasizes that, every day, the earth receives enough solar energy to fulfill its entire energy requirements for

The California based company Quantum Fuel Systems Worldwide, Inc. released their numbers on September 10th and showed that the Company is making strides in the business world. The revenue for the first quarter of fiscal 2009 was $3.7 million compared to $3.5 million in the first quarter of 2008, an increase of 6%.

Quantum provides products that utilize the hydrogen economy. By using the format, this allows the company to produce automotive options for a vast array of customers that stem from the everyday consumer to government organizations.

Quantum made national news in the financial sector on May 30, 2008 when the Company closed a series of transactions with its secured lender where the Company received $7.5 million in proceeds from a new loan, replaced an unexercised 5.0 million investment commitment from the lender with a new $10 Million investment commitment, and substantially amended the terms of its outstanding borrowings