links for 2011-09-04

The Great Bank Robbery – Nassim Nicholas Taleb and Mark Spitznagel – Project Syndicate …banks take risks, get paid for the upside, and then transfer the downside to shareholders, taxpayers, and even retirees. In order to rescue the banking system, the Federal Reserve, for example, put interest rates at artificially low levels; as was disclosed … Read more

The (Limited?) Opportunity for Regulatory Renewal

The never-ending debate about government regulations has recently inherited an intriguing level of urgency with the economy stalled and both major political parties targeting regulations as potential impediments to growth. The Obama administration announced plans to remove regulations that it estimated would save businesses $5 billion over five years. In an all too predictable partisan … Read more

Genesee and Wyoming Further Diversifies By Hauling Copper

(Hat tip to a friend of mine who passed along this news to me and highlighted its significance). On Thursday, Sept 1, Genesee and Wyoming Inc (GWR), finalized its acquisition of Arizona Eastern Railway (AZER) from Iowa Pacific Holdings, LLC of Chicago, IL. GWR paid $90.1M in cash. GWR is a diversified railroad company operating … Read more

links for 2011-09-03

Short Selling Against S&P 500 Highest Since Nov. – Bloomberg The proportion of S&P 500 shares outstanding sold short on Aug. 29 rose to 3.03 percent, the most since the end of November and up from 2.37 percent at the beginning of August, according to New York-based Data Explorers, which provides research on short sales … Read more

T2108 Update – September 1, 2011 (Return of the franc)

(T2108 measures the percentage of stocks trading above their respective 40-day moving averages [DMAs]. To learn more about it, see my T2108 Resource Page. You can follow real-time T2108 commentary on twitter using the #T2108 hashtag.) T2108 Status: 31% VIX Status: 32 General (Short-term) Trading Call: Hold (see below for more details). Commentary The weight … Read more

Despite Bullish Outlook from Joy Global, the “Commodity Crash” Playbook Stays Active

(This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha. Click here to read the entire piece.) While the stock market was oversold, I focused on accumulating beaten-down, commodity-related stocks as part of my “commodities crash” playbook as explained in “Profiting from Physical Assets in a Resource-Constrained World – Rules and Picks.” … Read more

T2108 Update – August 31, 2011 (Stochastics Stretched Even Further)

(T2108 measures the percentage of stocks trading above their respective 40-day moving averages [DMAs]. To learn more about it, see my T2108 Resource Page. You can follow real-time T2108 commentary on twitter using the #T2108 hashtag.) T2108 Status: 33% VIX Status: 32 General (Short-term) Trading Call: Hold (see below for more details). Commentary T2108 had … Read more

T2108 Update – August 30, 2011 (Overbought Stochastics)

(T2108 measures the percentage of stocks trading above their respective 40-day moving averages [DMAs]. To learn more about it, see my T2108 Resource Page. You can follow real-time T2108 commentary on twitter using the #T2108 hashtag.) T2108 Status: 30% VIX Status: 33 General (Short-term) Trading Call: Hold Commentary The S&P 500 ended the day flat … Read more

Chart Review: RIMM Follows Through

The trading playbook for Research In Motion’s share buyback is finally unfolding. Last week, Research In Motion (RIMM) broke out, nudging itself over the rapidly declining 50-day moving average (DMA). Today, RIMM finally closed above $30 and punched into June’s post-earnings gap down. *Chart created using TeleChart The September 30/35 call spread I recommended last … Read more

T2108 Update – August 29, 2011 (Finally Oversold No More)

(T2108 measures the percentage of stocks trading above their respective 40-day moving averages [DMAs]. To learn more about it, see my T2108 Resource Page. You can follow real-time T2108 commentary on twitter using the #T2108 hashtag.) T2108 Status: 27% (The FIRST day out of an historic oversold period that lasted 17 days – 3rd longest … Read more