ONE-TWENTY TWO: Trading Financial Markets
Exploring the poetry in financial markets for students of money and economy since the year 2000.
Australia to Impose 40% Tax on Profits of Resource Companies – Bloomberg.com Australia will impose a 40 percent tax on the profits of resource companies like BHP Billiton Ltd. and Rio Tinto Group to pay for infrastructure, retirement and company levy reforms as part of the nation’s broadest overhaul of its tax system since the … Read more
MEMC Electronic Materials (WFR) manufactures silicon wafer solutions for the semiconductor and solar industries. WFR fell 19% on Friday in response to earnings despite the company’s reassurances that it is on track to meet full-year guidance targets (click here for the transcript from Seeking Alpha): “In the first quarter, revenue was ahead of our internal … Read more
Papandreou Says Greek ‘Survival’ at Stake in Talks (Update1) – Bloomberg.com Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou said the country’s survival was at stake in talks to win a potential $159 billion European Union-led bailout in exchange for budget cuts denounced by unions as “savage. (tags: Greece debt default)
Earlier this week, I suggested setting up a pairs trade between Goldman Sachs (GS) and Deutsche Bank Ag (DB) to take advantage of an apparent growing divergence in performance between the two financial giants. My main recommendation rested on a put spread for GS and a call spread for DB. After thinking about the structure … Read more
Spanish Unemployment Rate Tops 20%, Undermining Deficit Fight – Bloomberg.com Spain’s unemployment rate rose above 20 percent for the first time in more than a decade, undermining Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero’s fight to cut the euro region’s third-largest budget deficit. (tags: Spain unemployment debt) Federal Prosecutors Open Inquiry into Goldman Trading – CNBC … Read more
My earnings play on First Solar (FSLR) unfolded much better than expected today. The post-earnings pop took FSLR directly to my standing $149/150 price target that represents a fill of the earnings gap from October. See chart below: *Chart created using TeleChart: I believe the biggest catalyst for today’s 18% move was FSLR’s tremendous boost … Read more
Commentary: Europe's Debt Crisis Is About to End – CNBC With the likes Nouriel Roubini, Jim Rogers and George Soros predicting a disastrous default by Greece and others in the euro zone, the contrarian in me has to ask if they could be very wrong. (tags: Greece default debt)
Best in Class: Everybody Loves Trina Solar; Should You? | TheStreet.com There's just no contest right now in terms of the bull herd mentality from the Street for solar stocks: all are charging after shares of Trina Solar…for Street analysts and investors who like the thesis that the truly vertically integrated, low cost Chinese solar … Read more
First Solar (FSLR) has made a good recovery from the selling following February’s earnings report. Two weeks ago, FSLR closed as high as 9% above its price before its previous earnings and completed a 40% run-up from February’s bottom. The recent highs also marked the post-earnings highs from October’s poorly received earnings report. The stock … Read more
China’s Shanghai Composite Index plunged during most of 2008, bottoming at the end of October after a 68% loss. You could be excused for being unaware of the slow-moving crash at the time given all the hype about the summer Olympics in Beijing and the building excitement about investing in China as an “escape” from … Read more