HOW TO PLAY IT

You want to be a do-gooder and get rich too? If you must buy alternative-energy stocks, own them through an exchange-traded fund that will earn short-sale securities lending revenue you can’t get. Guggenheim Solar (TAN), for example, pulled in $6.6 million of lending revenue in its last fiscal year, or 2.7% of average assets. A still better plan is not to let social causes cloud your investment decisions. Don’t buy solar or electric-car stocks. Instead, buy Schwab U.S. Broad Market (SCHB) and donate half your dividend to wildlife preservation.

William Baldwin is Forbes’ Investment Strategies columnist