This morning, Deutsche Bank cut ratings on several solar stocks, including First Solar (FSLR: sentiment, chart, options) , to "hold" from "buy." The reasons are familiar to those that follow solar firms - the rising cost of capital, reduced access to capital, declining fossil fuel costs, a worsening macro environment in 2009, the recent strength of the dollar versus the euro, and significant module-price declines in 2009, amongst others. The brokerage stated, "While there were arguably better spots to step out of solar PV company stocks earlier in the fall, several factors ... have helped spur appreciation in some names off of recent lows."

At last check, FSLR was nearly 8.5% lower thanks to the downgrade. With the stock trading in the upper end of the 136 region, we could see its 20-day moving average put in a position to provide resistance. This trendline held as rather staunch resistance from August 29 through October 29. The stock then broke through this resistance and pushed higher, leading to a 4-week rally of 27%. That said, FSLR faces significant overhead resistance from its 10-week and 10-month moving averages. Of course, there is some room for the shares to push higher before hitting this resistance. For more information on Canadian Solar (CSIQ: sentiment, chart, options) , which was also downgraded, check out Jocelynn Drake's coverage here.