Pacific Ethanol, for some the 2005/06 poster child of the ethanol boom, complete with a few famous investors like Bill Gates, has turned in much better than expected Q1 results and the market likes it. PE today rose by 10% and a staggering 60% yesterday.

According to Forbes, for the first quarter of 2008, PE lost $35.2 million, or 90 cents per share, compared earnings of $3 million, or 5 cents per share, a year ago. However, excluding a one-time impairment charge of 96 cents, the company posted an adjusted first-quarter profit of 6 cents per share.

What's interesting is how Verasun and Xethanol have done well too. Xethanol can point to some recently improving results and Verasun seems to have been dragged off the bottom by the groundswell of Pacific Ethanol sentiment.

The thing is though, it's hard to see this powerful US mini-rally of ethanol stocks sustaining. Nothing that much has really changed vis a vis the uncompetitiveness of corn-based ethanol to other alternatives. A very useful  and succinct post here on Motley Fool by Toby Shute - Pacific Ethanol: Not Dead Yet - is well worth a read.

The odds are that this might be more of a bounce than a comeback.