The Low Risk Pairs Trade on the S&P 500 Passes Its First Test

(This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha on January 16, 2014. Click here to read the entire piece.) On December 1, 2013, I wrote a piece called “A Potentially Low Risk Pairs Trade Opportunity Using The S&P 500” where I used PowerShares S&P 500 Low Volatility (SPLV) and PowerShares … Read more

Elliott Management Packages Common Critiques of Juniper Networks Into One Urgent Proposal

(This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha on January 14, 2014. Click here to read the entire piece.) Right on the heels of proposing to acquire Riverbed Technologies (RVBD) for $19/share, Elliott Management made fresh waves with a plan to restructure Juniper Networks (JNPR). Elliott calculates that its proposal … Read more

T2108 Update (February 14, 2014) – No Love for the Bears Even As Overbought Conditions Loom

(T2108 measures the percentage of stocks trading above their respective 40-day moving averages [DMAs]. It helps to identify extremes in market sentiment that are likely to reverse. To learn more about it, see my T2108 Resource Page. You can follow real-time T2108 commentary on twitter using the #T2108 hashtag. T2108-related trades and other trades are … Read more

Valuation Update On Internet Stocks: Twitter Holds On To #1

This is just a very quick update on the price/sales ratios of various internet-related stocks. Twitter (TWTR) hangs on to number one despite getting shellacked in its first earnings report as a public company (for my post-earnings trading analysis see “The Twitter Post-Earnings Trade Pivots On Increasingly Negative Sentiment“). The usual suspects round out the … Read more

The Problem With the January Barometer

(This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha on February 1, 2014. Click here to read the entire piece.) CNBC’s “By the Numbers” recently reviewed the predictive power of the January Barometer with the following observations: “The January barometer has been right in 62 of the last 85 years, or … Read more

January Jobs Report Positives: Residential Construction Momentum and the Participation Rate

(This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha on Feb 10, 2014. Click here to read the entire piece.) The U.S. non-farm labor report for January, 2014 seemed to get universal disapproval. Yet, the stock market soared in response anyway. The bearish tidings that began last week week have almost … Read more

T2108 Update (February 11, 2014) – Bears In Retreat

(T2108 measures the percentage of stocks trading above their respective 40-day moving averages [DMAs]. It helps to identify extremes in market sentiment that are likely to reverse. To learn more about it, see my T2108 Resource Page. You can follow real-time T2108 commentary on twitter using the #T2108 hashtag. T2108-related trades and other trades are … Read more

The Housing Recovery Will Proceed Even With the Changing Preferences for Living At Home

(This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha on Aug 17, 2013. Click here to read the entire piece.) The headlines seem pretty ominous: a record number of young adults aged 18-31 are living at home with their parents. The percentage of young adults under such living arrangements has shot … Read more

Prudential Real Estate Outlook Survey Reveals Optimism Amongst Young People

(This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha on Aug 17, 2013. Click here to read the entire piece.) In the past few weeks, we have read articles and studies describing the delayed household formation of younger Americans. I covered them in “The Housing Recovery Will Proceed Even With The … Read more