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Makings Of An Options Trading System Part 2

Investment Education Staff — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 10:20:01 +0000

A covered call strategy within a cycle will require people to sell options against the stock. If the stock is above the strike price, the stock will be "called" away. The seller receives the premium, but the owner of the call receives the shares at the strike price. There are various strategies involving this covered call strategy.

Huron Consulting (NASDAQ:HURN): Colour on news

Notable Calls — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 11:12:00 +0000

div style="text-align: justify;"span style="font-weight: bold;"Huron Consulting (NASDAQ:HURN)/span is getting lots of commentary following news out late Friday as the co disclosed need to restate financials for 2006-2008 and 1Q09 due to accounting errors, withdrew 2009 EPS guidance and lowered revs guidance by 12%, deals with an SEC investigation and announced the departure of CEO/CFO:br /br /span style="font-weight: bold;"- Baird is downgrading HURN to Underperform with a $15 tgt (prev. $50) /spanon lack of confidence in their estimates as their previous concerns about retention of MDs has increased significantly given the restatement of earnings, potential reputational damage, the SEC inquiry, senior management turnover, disappointing 2Q09 results and lower 2009 top-line guidance indicative of no bonuses being paid in 2009.br /br /Firm's $15 price target represents 5.0x FTM estimated EV/EBITDA including stock comp expense or half the average of the previous six quarters given the significantly negative implications of Friday's announcement. While they believe there is significant franchise value that should be applied to HURN's current personnel, they have no confidence on the level of people that will be retained. Until the firm can gain confidence that attrition will be better than feared and that the reputational damage will be minimal, they can only recommend that investors avoid the stock.br /br /span style="font-weight: bold;"- William Blair downgrades HURN to Market Perform /spannoting Management’s lack of communication with the Street surrounding this news makes it impossible for use to fully understand what has happened with the accounting or with recent business trends. In addition, these announcements and the stock price decline introduce a number of issues that they do not expect to get answers about for a while. Specifically, the news about a significant restatement and SEC investigation could damage the company’s brand (especially given the accounting background of its consultants), could lead to increased consultant turnover (especially given the large amount of stock used as compensation for Huron's consultants), and will result in a number of shareholder lawsuits. As a professional services company with a relatively high amount of debt, it is not implausible to argue that this event causes the company to languish for an extended period of time or eventually unravel. Given that the risks and uncertainty are very high right now and the firm does not expect to get a lot of clarity regarding the company’s risks for a while, they cannot recommend purchase even at the company's reduced price in the after-market and their rating is now Market Perform.br /br /span style="font-weight: bold;"The range of potential explanations ranges everywhere from a.) outright fraud to b.) the former shareholders of these business shared/redistributed some of the proceeds from the earnouts with their colleagues as a reward for helping them achieve the earnout and did not realize this constituted compensation. The departure of the company's CEO, CFO, and CAO could argue that there is some element of the first explanation going on here. However, the fact that the former CEO of Wellspring David Shade is remaining as Huron's chief operating officer, comments in the press release that the redistribution of these payments were based in part on continued employment with Huron and/or personal performance, and the comments in the press release that the company may have to sustain higher cash compensation going forward could argue for the less sinister (although still concerning) explanation./span Without further explanation from management is it impossible to know what happened at the company though.br /br /span style="font-weight: bold;"- Oppenheimer is reducing their rating to Underperform /spanand is reducing their 2009 revenue (before reimbursables)/EPS estimates to $650M/$2.00, respectively. Firm's 2010 revenue (before reimbursables)/EPS estimates update to $680M/$2.70, respectively. They anticipate 2009 EPS to be adversely impacted by restatements and a reputational headwind. Firm estimates a moderate recovery in 2010 on gradual macro improvement coupled with aggressive cost reductions.br /br /span style="font-weight: bold;"- Deutsche Bank is downgrading the stock to Hold with a $20 target /spannoting the key concern they have now is consultant and client retention. For the consultants, Huron becomes the key place to recruit from, which will likely create the need for significant retention bonuses even if Huron’s performance is weak for the next couple years. For consultants who joined recently from Stockamp (a $219m acquisition in July 2008), their ties to Huron are even less secure. Retaining high-performing consultants is never easy, for Huron is will be very difficult. The best result for Huron maybe to sell off the various divisions to competitors, but the key question is why anyone would pay for these operating units when you can just recruit the key individualsbr /br /span style="font-weight: bold;"- UBS notes/span the restatement moves $57mm of earnouts to compensation cutting EPS by $2.98 since 06 ($0.19 in Q109, $1.60 in 08, $0.97 in 07, and $0.22 in 06). They expect Huron to release a Qamp;A on their website this morning.br /br /Firm is assuming the restatement was the result of careless accounting interpretation over 3 years, rather than something sinister, and the parties to blame have left. Most revenue is generated by about 200 MDs who appear blameless, so they think clients may be forgiving. Firm is cutting their 2010 revenue estimate to their prior 09E level and EPS estimates to $1.64 for 09, $2.16 for 10, and $2.63 for 2011.br /br /span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);"Notablecalls:/span What a mess! But is it really fraud? I think not. Given the fact HURN is staffed with accounting specialists, the accounting mishap does look like an unlikely explanation but as the old adage goes - the shoemaker's kids go barefoot.br /br /If this is the case then we may have an eventual bounce candidate on our hands. Yet, there are problems to overcome in the n-t:br /br /- Competitors will be on the attack looking to lure top rainmakers away from HURN. With no bonuses in 2009, some of these people are bound to jump ship. This would translate into lower revenue in the coming periods.br /br /- The management will have to tackle a) the SEC b) angry shareholders and bloodthirsty class-action lawyers. With most of the top dogs gone how will the new people handle situation? They have to spend their time working legal, PR amp; operational stuff. That's a handful!br /br /- HURN is going to be a tainted stock for quite a while. Big game hunters are likely to steer away from the situation for now.br /br /- HURN has basically no assets apart from the people that work there. Plus, the company had approximately $312 million of net debt at the end of the first quarter. If it falls apart, it really falls apart.br /br /span style="font-weight: bold;"So what to do with the stock?/spanbr /br /I suggest most of you stay away from the situation. For those willing to take super-sized risk...$14-$16 is the range you should be looking at for a possible bounce. But don't overstay your welcome. This one could just as easily be a $12 stock.br //divdiv class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/29297569-3193925102423032191?l=notablecalls.blogspot.com'//div

Is Trend Following The Right Strategy for You?

Investment Education Staff — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 09:13:58 +0000

One investment strategy for making money on the stock market is trend following. In this system you wait for a trend to build itself and then following it, timing both your entrance and exit scrupulously. It's a technique that works in upswings or downturns in the market. Rather than making an attempt to foretell the trends, trend followers go with trends that are established. The amount to be invested is decided by the size of the trading account and how stable the issue appears to be.

Wells Fargo Expands Securities – Analyst Blog

Zacks Market Commentaries — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 17:01:20 +0000

On July 6, 2009, Wells Fargo & Company's (WFC) announced its plans to expand its securities business. The company intends to put in incremental investment in the securities business that it primarily inherited when it acquired Wachovia at the end of 2008 for $12.5 billion.

The business, to be named Wells Fargo Securities, will offer a wide range of services like merger advice, stock and bond underwriting, loan syndications and fixed-income trading. With the expansion, the company will bring competition to its rivals such as JPMorgan Chase (JPM) and Citigroup (C).

We believe that the expansion will positively impact the profitability of the company and is well-timed, especially when we see some signs of rebound in the U.S. markets. This also comes as a bold move on the part of WFC when the financial services industry is not in the pink of health and a major competitor, Citigroup, is struggling.

Wells Fargo & Company is the fourth largest (in terms of assets) financial services company in the U.S., with $1.3 trillion in assets and nearly $800 million in deposits, providing retail and wholesale banking, mortgage banking, consumer finance, equipment leasing, insurance brokerage, agricultural finance, securities brokerage, trust, investment banking and other financial services.

WFC is scheduled to release its 2Q09 financial results before market open on July 22, 2009 followed by a conference call. Ahead of its 2Q09 financial results, we are maintaining our Hold recommendation on the shares.
Read the full analyst report on "WFC"
Read the full analyst report on "JPM"
Read the full analyst report on "C"
Zacks Investment Research

Real Estate Investment (Dis)Trusts

Contrarian Profits — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 15:18:02 +0000

p class="MsoNormal"I’m confident that the trend for REITs will be down through the end of 2009. That’s why I suggest buying the UltaShort Real Estate ProShares ETF strong(NYSE: /strongstronga href="http://www.google.com/finance?q=NYSE:SRS"SRS/a/strongstrong. Current price $18.52)/strong as a way to profit from weakness in the REIT sector. But fasten your seatbelt! SRS will be volatile!/p p class="MsoNormal"REITs may appear cheap, but they are very dangerous to hold right now. A basic tenet of corporate finance is that a company or a sector is only creating value for shareholders if its return on invested capital (ROIC) exceeds its weighted average cost of capital (WACC). If its WACC exceeds its ROIC, it is destroying value. This describes the situation facing the REIT sector for the next few years./p p class="MsoNormal"Most REITs cannot float#8230;/p

Real Estate Investment (Dis)Trusts

Contrarian Profits — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 15:18:02 +0000

Planning For Retirement with an IRA or 401K

Investment Education Staff — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 09:20:21 +0000

The earlier you can start saving for retirement in a 401K the better. Those that begin a 401K in there twenties do quite well by the time they retire or can access their 401K. A 401K is retirement account. It basically works in the following way. When you are working for a company you can dictate how much of your salary to put into a 401K each month. This contribution to the 401K is not taxed, so you get more money, and many times the company will match what you put into the 401K.

Decision Bar Trader: Is It The Best Stock Market Trading System?

Investment Education Staff — Mon, 04 May 2009 11:29:01 +0000

After trying many different stock market trading systems I fell in love with the Decision Bar Trader developed by Les Schwartz. Many stock market pros turn to Les when they have a question.

Star Stock of This Week – Waste Services Inc. (WSII)

QualityStocks — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 12:26:47 +0000

No one can escape the lure of turning waste into wealth. Here is a stock investment opportunity from the Waste Management Services Industry. The company is only marginally profitable at this juncture, but there are clear indications of better times ahead. Consider the macro scenario first. Growing environmental consciousness translates into better future potentials for all [...]

Starbucks is Too Expensive

Steve Patterson — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 19:23:00 +0000

Starbucks (SBUX) is too expensive and not just the coffee but the stock itself. The stock reached a new 52 week low today as the market sold off during the morning and has rebounded some. But the price to earnings of the stock is still too expensive for the limited revenue growth and the declining earnings the company is now experiencing.

CNBC Bonus Bucks Trivia: CNBC Stock Blog: What factor(s) did HSBCâ€™s Jim Steel recently cite as making precious metals â€œsafe investmentsâ€?

William Trent — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 15:45:14 +0000

CNBC Stock Blog: What factor(s) did HSBC’s Jim Steel recently cite as making precious metals “safe investments”? “The persistently high price of oil, the weaker dollar and the resurfacing credit crisis are driving up the price of precious metals, making them safe investments,” said Jim Steel, chief commodities analyst for HSBC. Looks like an “all [...]

LSTR: Updating Landstar vs. CH Robinson

William Trent — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 18:43:26 +0000

On December 4 2007 I wrote a piece called Roll with Landstar, Short CHRW, saying: “Based solely on sales or operating margins, Landstar (LSTR - Annual Report) is about 35% the size of CH Robinson (CHRW - Annual Report). If it had the same relative valuation, it would trade at $52 per share. CH Robinson’s forward price-to-earnings [...]

CNBC Bonus Bucks Weekly Quiz: In shorting, the difference between where you sell a stock and where you buy it back is called _____.

William Trent — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 12:34:15 +0000

In shorting, the difference between where you sell a stock and where you buy it back is called _____. Profit

Hess Corporation (HES)

Steve Patterson — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 15:00:00 +0000

Not quite at a 52 week high, Hess Corporation is a New York based explorer, purchaser, and developer of oil and natural gas. The company’s stock is a decent buy from the normal gauges that I study. The industry is a little weak with refining margins remaining tight. But the company could break out of a chart pattern at $130 and rally on its very bullish earnings expectations.

Help me MSFT and GE, you’re my only hope

Frank Lara — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 17:20:49 +0000

Bear Market, the Dow is down 20% YTD, Recession, Stagflation, $4 Gas...Help me Obi-Won Kenobi you're my only hope. Is there any hope left on Wall Street? As Obi-Won would say, I have a bad feeling about this, but there is hope.

Jedi Mastery, Stock Mastery, you can only turn to the largest and most successful of corporate giants:

Home Depot (HD) Insiders buying back in Spades

Frank Lara — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 18:03:18 +0000

Its no secret The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) and Lowe's (NYSE:LOW) stock has taken a huge hit in recent months. But HD officers are laying their money on the line, buying up shares with the utmost confidence in their company. Since May Insider buying of HD shares totals $107.4 million. So should you be buying with them?

Barron’s talks up Onyx Pharmaceuticals (ONXX)

Stockmasters Staff — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 04:25:31 +0000

The Masters haven't mentioned Onyx Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:ONXX) in a long time, since our 100%+ gain with our Master Picks Newsletter. Barron's is jumping on the bandwagon now that shares are down to $33. Can Nexavar, Onyx's cancer drug take the company and stock back into the spotlight?

Autodesk, Inc. (ADSK) shares could keep moving

Ted Gottsegen — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 01:45:50 +0000

Autodesk, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADSK) is the company behind AutoCAD and will report Q2 2009 earnings in August. The stock has recovered from its low last month and now is up 15% in the past 3 months. So does Autodesk have what it takes to keep moving to benefit shareholders?

CNBC Bonus Bucks Trivia: In “Utility Stocks Hotter with Deregulation,” which stock was Dan Eggers’ “top idea right now”?

William Trent — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 19:02:31 +0000

In “Utility Stocks Hotter with Deregulation,” which stock was Dan Eggers’ “top idea right now”? “Our top idea right now is Public Service Enterprise Group (PEG) cnbc_quoteComponent_init_getData("PEG","WSODQ_COMPONENT_PEG_ID0ERC15839609","WSODQ","true","ID0ERC15839609","off","false"); ,” he said. “New Jersey started deregulation in 2002, so you’ve had a number of years to phase in power prices going to what you’d call ‘market [...]

CNBC Bonus Bucks Trivia: On June 5, Cramer sang the praises of Yum! Brands. How high did he say the stock would go?

William Trent — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 18:45:45 +0000

On June 5, Cramer sang the praises of Yum! Brands. How high did he say the stock would go? While other restaurant stocks are foundering thanks to soaring oil prices and raw costs, YUM (YUM) cnbc_quoteComponent_init_getData("YUM","WSODQ_COMPONENT_YUM_ID0E2F15839609","WSODQ","true","ID0E2F15839609","off","false"); is capitalizing on new business in overseas. Cramer said the stock “blows through” $45.

Running In Place, Stocks Fail to Gain Any Ground

Market Speculator — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 10:45:47 +0000

Monday the NASDAQ undercut its most recent rally attempt’s lows reseting our confirmation rally. Tuesday’s action failed to re-ignite a new rally attempt. Volume was on the light side as NASDAQ volume fell roughly 2% while on the NYSE we saw higher volume. This market continues its “no man’s land” path. Overall, this market does [...]

The Pep Boys 5 Minutes of Fame

Steve Reeves — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 16:39:19 +0000

The Pep Boys - Manny, Moe & JackÂ (Public, NYSE:PBY) stock is up 6% today due to its Q1 profit jumping 47%.Â But how they got that number wasn't from same-stores salesÂ numbers or even rising revenue.Â So why is the stock on fire and will the fire die before the market closes?

CNBC Bonus Bucks Trivia: On Friday, Cramer warned that “safety stocks aren’t safe” now. But he did say one stock was “about to rip.” Which?

William Trent — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 16:05:25 +0000

On Friday, Cramer warned that “safety stocks aren’t safe” now. But he did say one stock was “about to rip.” Which? Recently IPO’d Intrepid Potash (IPI) hit a 52-week high today, and “I want to buy it still,” Cramer said. “I think IPI’s about to rip.” IPI doesn’t make the cut for the models I use, so [...]

CNBC Bonus Bucks Trivia: CNBC Stock Blog: Bernie McGinn says forget subprime — buy bank stocks. Which one did he call a “tremendous franchise”?

William Trent — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 16:03:09 +0000

CNBC Stock Blog: Bernie McGinn says forget subprime — buy bank stocks. Which one did he call a “tremendous franchise”? He also likes Bank of America (BAC). “Bank of America represents a pretty good buy right here,” he said. “It’s a tremendous franchise; it’s the number one in deposits, it’s number one in credit-card balances, it will [...]

The SP 600 Leads The Way As It Appears The Market Has Staged Another Follow-Through Day

Joshua Hayes — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 22:42:25 +0000

This market looks a lot better and even though I only had one stock in my major holdings KILL IT today, I am setup for some huge potential gains, as long as this market holds up. It is looking a LOT better out there. If you are a bear, I would consider changing your robes [...]

Under Armour (UA) held back by the Shorts

Frank Lara — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 15:16:30 +0000

Under Armour, Inc. (NYSE:UA) is taking a chance on it's new cross-training shoes the Prototype. Next year, Under Armour plans to attack the much larger (11 times bigger) running-shoe market. So with its stock down almost 50% since last October, what can they lose?

A Very Wild Intraday Session Ends With Me Very Disappointed; Another New Long Another Monster Stock!!

Joshua Hayes — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 00:50:44 +0000

I am not going to do any commentary tonight as I need to take a break from the market chit-chat for a night. I am pretty disappointed by my portfolio today and am very surprised I have so many “hot” charts doing so poorly. On top of that every beautiful chart that sets up in [...]

Honda (HMC) just makes sense

Ted Gottsegen — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 16:07:10 +0000

After writing Honda (HMC) is our only hope America just two weeks ago I knew investing in HONDA MOTOR CO (NYSE:HMC) would pay off. The stock is up 10% since then and with $4+ gas, HMC is one of the few companies to benefit from high gasoline/oil prices.

Mid Morning

Roger Nusbaum — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 15:24:00 +0000

My recent post about Plum Creek Timber, client holding, was re-run on Seeking Alpha and a reader left the name of a stock I had never heard of before; Timberwest Forest (TWF-UN.TO in Canada and TWTUF on the pink sheets).

Timberwest is one of these Canada listed products that ties in with some sort of resource and pays an enormous dividend, the hydro funds fall into this category.

The chart goes back a year and compares Timberwest with Plum Creek Timber and Macquarie Infrastructure (MIC), which is also a client holding. Timberwest and Plum Creek are obviously both timber companies and Timberwest and MIC are both not so simply constructed businesses with high dividend payouts.

An investor who bought MIC or Timberwest at the wrong time may not have necessarily known that this sort of stock would have gone down in this manner perhaps in conjunction with the financial sector so just owning one of these in moderation is not a big deal. If one of these are down chances are something else is up.

I do think an investor could realize what MIC and Timberwest have in common and realize that they might go down together even if they did not know when they would go down or understand what would take them down.

CNBC Bonus Bucks Trivia: CNBC Stock Blog: Thomas Winmill likes miner Freeport McMoRan for a “special reason.” What special reason?

William Trent — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 13:05:04 +0000

CNBC Stock Blog: Thomas Winmill likes miner Freeport McMoRan for a “special reason.” What special reason? One special reason Winmill likes Freeport McMoRan is its involvement in the production of molybdenum. “It doesn’t trade in the futures market,” he pointed out. “Molybdenum is used primarily for pipe, for drilling pipe for oil exploration, any kind of pipeline…it’s [...]

Finding the Best Chinese Real Estate Stock

Tony Sagami — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 07:30:00 +0000

I'm in China right now. Every time I return, I am amazed at how drastically the skyline has changed. The pace of construction here is dazzling. In fact, I've seen estimates that as many as 75% of ...

CNBC Bonus Bucks Trivia: CNBC Stock Blog: For 2008, Manny Weintraub scoffs at the “Sell in May, Stay Away” adage. Why?

William Trent — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 19:02:59 +0000

CNBC Stock Blog: For 2008, Manny Weintraub scoffs at the “Sell in May, Stay Away” adage. Why? He says there are many more bargains to be snapped up this year than there were a year ago. So far in June, though, the trade appears to be working…

CNBC Bonus Bucks Trivia: Fast Money’s Karen Finerman loves “bargain real estate.” But what conclusion did she reach on Maguire Properties?

William Trent — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 18:06:18 +0000

Fast Money’s Karen Finerman loves “bargain real estate.” But what conclusion did she reach on Maguire Properties (MPG)? She likes “the dynamic of absolute forced selling.” While I appreciate the contrarian perspective on a stock with a broken deal and discontinued dividend, I have to say it doesn’t look too good on the models I follow. Here’s [...]

Barron’s says GE could be a buy

Stockmasters Staff — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 04:25:46 +0000

Say no more, General Electric's (NYSE:GE) beat up shares finally caught the attention of Barron's. GE is of course the second largest U.S. company and Barron's sees limited downside as investors can now make a better case for buying the stock. You have to pay Barron's to read the article but thanks to Reuters for informing the masses.

Google set to grow.

Vlada Kynsky — Fri, 30 May 2008 19:12:00 +0000

Technical picture shows Google (GOOG) shares returned back above 200 days moving average. This confirms growing trend giving nice signal to long term investors. Open long position with stop loss on level of 200 MA.

Main fuel for Google share were Yahoo (YHOO) - Microsoft (MSFT) - Google (GOOG) deal news together with latest ComScore (SCOR) statistics. Numbers indicate 20% growth in paid clicks. Total clicks growth is 28%. Better than expected data includes only US clicks.
It's still in our mind last ComScore report before Google's Q1. Nevertheless ComScore released slower growth for US clicks, Google posted very good Q1 results which lifted stock. Mainly due to growth outside of US.
Coming back, good US paid clicks rate altogether with possible outstanding global growth. It could be good time to think about Google.

Ultralife Batteries, Inc. (ULBI) Increases Second Quarter 2008 Outlook to $75 Million

QualityStocks — Fri, 30 May 2008 02:10:02 +0000

Ultralife Batteries Inc. (ULBI), a battery company that also offers products and services ranging from portable and standby power solutions to communications and electronics systems, recently increased the company’s second quarter 2008 revenue outlook from $65 million to $70 million to more than $75 million as product demand continues to increase and customers require expedited [...]

Deutchse Bank Analyst Recommends Cleveland Cliffs (CLF)

CEO Blogger — Thu, 29 May 2008 21:27:42 +0000

Deutsche Bank Securities analyst Jorge Beristain wrote that 2008 guidance “remains on track” and upbeat. Beristain maintained his Buy rating on Cleveland-Cliffs and raised his target price to $115. Track Beristain and other Deutche Bank analyst picks at: http://www.trackthepros.com/categories.php?category_id=420 The stock has almost tripled in the past 12 months on the demand for steel and its rising price. [...]

Reeves back on top thanks to April and May selections

Stockmasters Staff — Thu, 29 May 2008 15:10:20 +0000

Steve Reeves' return on his portfolio is at a positive 8.73% as of May 29th, 2008.Â Reeves is our OTC specialist and never pulls the trigger on a stock that costs more than $5.Â Review his portfolio of stocks and decide for yourself if you'd like to become a subscriber.

Pacific Ethanol can’t catch a break

Stockmasters Staff — Wed, 28 May 2008 16:50:13 +0000

Pacific Ethanol Inc. (NASDAQ:PEIX) made a huge comeback last Monday leaping from $3.20 to $5.65, just one week later is back down to $3.79 a share. Hard to believe this stock was $44.50 in 2006 and this week's fall is due to the dillution of PEIX shares by adding millions more to be shorted on the open market. Kudos Management.

ResMed (RMD) “Trading Transparency”

Bob Freedland — Wed, 28 May 2008 16:28:30 +0000

Hello Friends! Thanks so much for stopping by and visiting my blog, Stock Picks Bob’s Advice! As always, please remember that I am an amateur investor, so please remember to consult with your professional investment advisers prior to making any investment decisions based on information on this website. A few moments ago I [...]

Time to gamble on JetBlue (JBLU)

Eric Cheshier — Wed, 28 May 2008 15:34:59 +0000

JetBlue Airways Corporation (NASDAQ:JBLU) hit an all-time low today and is trading just above $4 a share. The stock is falling because they have delayed orders for 21 planes to save money. Good for them, finally an act of goodness for shareholders. Let's get into why throwing the dice on JBLU may be worth it.

Finance Yahoo again faster than Finance Google.

Vlada Kynsky — Wed, 28 May 2008 14:31:00 +0000

I've already 2 times compared 2 major finance portals. Finance Yahoo vs Finance Google. You can see here differences between stock screeners provided by Yahoo and Google. And also my latest analysis for functionality of both portals.

Recently Yahoo released free realtime quotes which have moved portal even more ahead. It is shown on summary page for each ticker. ECN realtime data are provided by BATS Trading.

How ETFs Work?

Michael Michaud — Wed, 28 May 2008 12:35:02 +0000

ETFs are securities certificates that state legal right of ownership over part of a basket of individual stock certificates. Several different kinds of financial firms are needed for ETFs to come into being, trade at prices that closely match their underlying assets, and unwind when investors no longer want them. Laying [...]

Is $130 oil a bubble?

Eric Cheshier — Tue, 27 May 2008 18:09:19 +0000

It's a case of the Tuesdays today Stock Masters. Passing on this great article from cnn money on $130 oil. After reading this I'm thinking maybe it's time to check out the UltraShort Oil & Gas ProShares (Public, AMEX:DUG)?

China Precision Steel, Inc. (CPSL)

Steve Patterson — Mon, 26 May 2008 19:34:55 +0000

If you’re dying to be long and are looking for a speculative play for your portfolio, China Precision Steel had a great day of trading on Friday and the options action was also encouraging. The stock moved 12% higher on triple the volume as the company’s financials where released on EDGAR. June Call options in at [...]

Zoltek is Alternative Energy Wind Power Investing

Stockmasters Staff — Fri, 23 May 2008 16:32:46 +0000

Companies, Inc. (NASDAQ:ZOLT) is a gem in the Wind alternative energy industry. But it's high 26% short interest and investigation by SEC for accounting errors has dropped this stock 35% since it's high last August. So if Wind is another answer to fossil fuels and high oil prices, should you be thinking about ZOLT?

AFSI 4-12-07 to 7-9-07

Joshua Hayes — Thu, 22 May 2008 19:13:52 +0000

AFSI was by far my largest long position in 2007 as this chart was about as near-perfect as they can get for an IPO. It was a very easy decision to load up on this one (It only got to 15% of the portfolio due to the low VIX and low volume in the overall [...]

Chad Brand – United Healthcare on Sale

Ted Gottsegen — Wed, 21 May 2008 04:50:14 +0000

WallStNewsletters.com Full Monte contributor Chad Brand, aka. the Peridot Capitalist wrote last week about a company the Masters have been keeping a watch on, UnitedHealth Group Inc. (NYSE:UNH). Besides Warren Buffett buying more shares the stock has rallied 7% in the past three days and it is still less than $3 from its 52-week low.

Answers to A Couple of Trading Questions

Brian Shannon — Tue, 20 May 2008 12:42:00 +0000

The point of showing my order book yesterday was to emphasize how my number one focus is always risk management. At the time I entered many of the stocks, I expected them to continue to trend for most of the day. Even with expectations for continued movement higher, I sold partial positions into strength early on. I tend to go in aggressively as momentum builds and then scale out into continued strength. It is never my thought that I am selling at the top, instead, I am trying to reduce risk by realizing some profits and reducing my exposure. There are many times that a stock will continue to go higher without me and I am comfortable with that because, as we saw yesterday, the market can reverse quickly and erase all profits if you do not aggressively manage open positions. Some people say "winners take care of themselves" and that is nonsense. The attitude of complacency will allow many winners turn into losers.

My biggest mistake yesterday was to purchase ESLR and YGE in the pre-market. I chased both of these stocks higher as they gapped up and I have found that most of the time I buy before the 9:30 open I do not have good results. I am usually not at my desk until 30 minutes opens on a Monday, but yesterday I sat down early and I became anxious to participate as I saw the solar stocks gapping higher.

Yesterday I was extra cautious with my long positions because the moves seemed "too easy" in too many issues. When the moves come quickly, confidence is high amongst the unprepared and reversals are often close by, "when life looks like easy street, there is danger at your door." As the saying goes, you want to be confident when others are fearful and fearful when others are confident. I do not think you want to be "fearful" ever, fear is one of the emotions which indicates you should have taken action earlier. Instead, you want to be on "high alert" for signs of weakness and yesterday it was the hard reversals in solar stocks at about 1:40 PM which showed reason for concern. When the leaders of a rally break down it breaks the confidence of buyers and other stocks follow lower.

Want to know more about position management and what to look for when it comes time to exit? I know a good book..

Brinks Co, (BCO)

Brian Shannon — Mon, 19 May 2008 11:50:00 +0000

is the stock on WALLSTRIP today.

Here's a look at the current technical condition of the stock.

WPT Enterprises, Inc (WPTE) and the UIGEA Repeal

Eric Cheshier — Mon, 19 May 2008 05:04:33 +0000

WPT Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:WPTE) has been on a steady decline since the Unlawful Internet Gambling act of 2006 (UIGEA). The stock has fallen 70% in the last year.

The Mighty KONG (KongZhong Corporation) Falls

Frank Lara — Sat, 17 May 2008 17:21:47 +0000

On Friday KongZhong Corporation (NASDAQ:KONG) shares fell 11% and finished the day $1 above their 52-week low. Now that KONG has fallen, it sits defeated at $4.59 a share after Q1 profit fell a dreadful 94%. Is there any hope for this beat up stock?

Seasick from Aventine’s stock

Ted Gottsegen — Fri, 16 May 2008 15:40:36 +0000

Aventine Renewable Energy Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:AVR) shares have been all over the map these past few months making investors quezzy . On Monday ethanol stocks were the rage, then a day later ethanol stocks were a death sentence. But yesterday AVR rallied 10%, so how to you invest in AVR?

Salary.com shares lose One-Third of their value

Frank Lara — Thu, 15 May 2008 15:28:31 +0000

Salary.com, Inc. (Public, NASDAQ:SLRY) shares hit $3.88 this morning and are recovering in the $4.24 range, a lovely 32% loss since yesterday's close. They just a reported a Q4 loss of 9 cents, which came in 1 penny lower than what the Street and we want to know if this stock is a blue light special?

Bookkeeping: Selling Some Yingli Green Energy (YGE)

Trader Mark — Wed, 14 May 2008 13:57:00 +0000

Solar has been on fire the past few days due to some positive earnings reports out of the Chinese names. With Yingli Green Energy (YGE) approaching a 20% gain in 3 days, I am going to sell off another 200 of my remaining 500 shares. Earnings are tomo...

Wal-Mart 2008 outlook cautious and down we go

Stockmasters Staff — Tue, 13 May 2008 16:24:56 +0000

Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE:WMT) the world's largest retailer said the U.S. economy is playing a critical factor in 2008 and the stock is down 2% and falling. Stocks are taking a hit today and down the ship goes.

Blockbuster’s stock valued at nearly $11?

Stockmasters Staff — Mon, 12 May 2008 16:35:03 +0000

Wow, bold move here. Tony Wible of Citi Investment Research said the potential Blockbuster Inc.'s (NYSE:BBI) acquisition of Circuit City (NYSE:CC) deal could provide BBI with increased revenue and cost savings. He estimates the transaction could lift the value of Blockbuster's stock to nearly $11, which would be a 287% gain from today's BBI price.

Build-A-Bear Workshop heads even lower

Ted Gottsegen — Mon, 12 May 2008 16:17:07 +0000

Today Build-A-Bear Workshop, Inc (NYSE:BBW) is down 9% and shares are getting closer to a new low, hanging out around $9 a share. Bad news has driven this stock down 68% over the last year and if you're hoping to catch a rebound, better think again.

Circuit City: Goldman Sachs to assist on a deal, most likely with Blockbuster

Frank Lara — Sun, 11 May 2008 22:59:03 +0000

Circuit City Stores, Inc. (NYSE:CC) goes down for the count. On Friday they announced it would open its books to Blockbuster Inc. and Blockbuster's largest shareholder, Carl Icahn. So short term investors playing the stock, its time to bail.

Loser of the Day: BIDZ.com

Ted Gottsegen — Wed, 07 May 2008 15:52:28 +0000

How BIDZ.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:BIDZ) ever got up to $22 a share is beyond comprehension. Shares of the lame online retailer are down 11% (in the $10 range) after reporting earnings yesterday. Even if Q1 was better than expected and guidance is in line, with the popular Short position, how do you play this stock?

USEC Inc. (USU) up 13% since Monday

Frank Lara — Wed, 07 May 2008 15:19:53 +0000

The Masters talked up USEC Inc. (Public, NYSE:USU) on April 17th: Investing in Uranium with USEC Inc. (USU). The stock was ready to fall then, and it did after Q1 profit dropped. But now investors are picking up shares and realizing that USEC is worth looking into in the $5 range.

AU Optronics Corp (AUO)

Brian Shannon — Tue, 06 May 2008 15:49:00 +0000

has attracted a large and growing short position over the last six months. I'm not sure what they see, but so far they are fighting the trend. The short position has grown by over 10 million shares since the end of November and the average price during that time was 18.97. The average short since the end of November is now down by over $1.50. If I was short I would be very concerned. I didn't dig into the fundamentals, but the most recent quarter, revenues increased by 85% and earnings were 1.12/share versus an estimate of just 0.48 I own some call options and a little bit of stock, which I intend to add to.

Research In Motion (RIMM) Update

Brian Shannon — Thu, 01 May 2008 13:56:52 +0000

In yesterday’s video I mentioned that we wanted to see a pullback to prior resistance near 124 and then to buy the stock once the buyers re-established short term control of the stock. We got the pullback, but it kept pulling back, so the stock should not have been purchased. We never [...]

JOHNSON CONTROLS (JCI) IS RATED A BUY

Bob Freedland — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 17:35:16 +0000

On October 11, 2006, I posted CVS Corp (CVS) on Stock Picks Bob’s Advice when the stock was trading at $31.16/share. The following month, on November 2, 2006, CVS announced the pending acquisition of Caremark Rx Inc. in a $22.5 billion deal with the resulting company named CVS/Caremark (CVS). [...]

Conviction Position Added: SELL Bear Stearns

Agustin Gonzalez — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 00:58:25 +0000

Today I went ahead and decided to place a SELL call on Bear Stearns (ticker symbol: BSC). Bear's brand name is tremendous and, was without question, a premier franchise but they were the result of a terrible credit market. But...

News for 28 Mar 2008

Agustin Gonzalez — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 06:20:06 +0000

- Lehman traded lower yesterday by 8.9% to $38.71 on rumors that the firm is "short on cash". Keep in mind this same type of rumor and corresponding sell-off happened with Bear three weeks ago. I'm not saying the same...

Knowing the Market’s Mood is Better than Guessing What Comes Next

David Aferiat — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 20:37:00 +0000

Figuring out exactly what the market will do at the very next moment is tough to do. Understanding what mood the market is in, however, proves to be not only easier, but eventually leads to better accuracy about what comes next.The beauty of Trade-Ide...

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Brinks Co, (BCO)

WPT Enterprises, Inc (WPTE) and the UIGEA Repeal

The Mighty KONG (KongZhong Corporation) Falls

Seasick from Aventine’s stock

Salary.com shares lose One-Third of their value

Bookkeeping: Selling Some Yingli Green Energy (YGE)

Wal-Mart 2008 outlook cautious and down we go

Blockbuster’s stock valued at nearly $11?

Build-A-Bear Workshop heads even lower

Circuit City: Goldman Sachs to assist on a deal, most likely with Blockbuster

Loser of the Day: BIDZ.com

USEC Inc. (USU) up 13% since Monday

AU Optronics Corp (AUO)

Research In Motion (RIMM) Update

JOHNSON CONTROLS (JCI) IS RATED A BUY

Conviction Position Added: SELL Bear Stearns

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