ONE-TWENTY TWO: Trading Financial Markets
Exploring the poetry in financial markets for students of money and economy since the year 2000.
The VXX is an ETF that “offers exposure to a daily rolling long position in the first and second month VIX futures contracts and reflects the implied volatility of the S&P 500 index at various points along the volatility forward curve” (from Yahoo!Finance). This means it offers a method for placing bets on the direction … Read more
I added ReneSola (SOL) to my solar portfolio for the first time as a speculative play based on heavy call volume at the October 7.5 strike. I do not know what those call buyers expected, but certainly today’s news is typically not conducive to bullish feelings in the next month or so: an acquisition, issuance … Read more
This morning, the Bank of England released its minutes from the September meeting of the Monetary Policy Committee. From my reading, it contained no new news on the prospects for negative interest rates. The “relief” from the minutes has so far lifted the pound against the euro, the U.S. dollar, and even the yen. I … Read more
Casino stocks have soared since the July market lows. September in particular has featured some near parabolic moves as shorts get squeezed and risk-seeking behavior has accelerated. Wynn Resorts Ltd. (WYNN) has caught my attention the past two months because its large swings in stock price have made option strangles quite profitable. In a strangle, … Read more
September has been very kind to solar stocks as most have awakened from summer doldrums and slumber to rise with the rest of the soaring stock market. This new raging fire has motivated me to get more active in trading solar stocks as well, even as it has sometimes been very difficult to keep up … Read more
The Washington Post issued an alarming article today titled “Housing Agency’s Cash Reserves Will Drop Below Requirement.” In what seems like yet another case of “here we go again,” Federal Housing Authority (FHA) Commissioner David H. Stevens tells us not to worry about his agency’s dwindling reserves even as mortgage delinquencies rise. The Post explains … Read more
Last week I decided to short the pound vs the U.S. dollar despite the fact that the relief rally I expect in the dollar had not yet begun. One week later, there remains no relief in sight for the dollar, but the pound has fared even worse. I am of course grateful that I chose … Read more
I know it seems strange that on another day when it seems like stocks are destined for infinite glory that I am adding to my existing holdings in TIP, the iShares Barclays TIPS Bond Fond (TIPS = Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities). I also remain overall bearish so a steep correction in the stock market will probably … Read more
My brother and I go back and forth in our discussions about the dynamics of the housing industry. He is good on the fundamentals, and I substitute my weakness on the fundamentals with technical analysis, sentiment analysis, and the information I can glean from earnings calls. Today, he wrote out his latest case for the … Read more
Last week, I noted heavy call activity in MEMC Electronic Materials (WFR) that was notable enough to lure me into buying. Today, WFR continued its impressive recovery from an earnings warning with an 8% one-day pop giving it a 17% run since the close following warning. Briefing.com attributed today’s trading to takeover speculation. Whatever the … Read more