Herbalife: Anatomy of A Short Squeeze

In “A Trading Plan For Herbalife: A Pullback Likely Before A New Trading Range“, I used options trading and presumed resistance at the 50-day moving average (DMA) to estimate that this week would finally mark a pullback in Herbalife (HLF) shares. Instead, HLF punched right through 50DMA resistance on Monday (Jan 14) and in just … Read more

Another Downgrade for Skullcandy and Another Oversized Response

(This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha on January 3, 2013. Click here to read the entire piece.) A little over a week ago, I wrote optimistically that Skullcandy (SKUL) could make 2013 a comeback year. Those hopes were dashed right at the gate of the new year as … Read more

Reasons to Bet On A 2013 Recovery for Skullcandy

(This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha on December 24, 2012. Click here to read the entire piece.) In early October, I ended the trade in Skullcandy (SKULL) playing a bounceback from Morgan Stanley’s devastating downgrade, but noted I would remain a buyer on dips (see “Skullcandy Recovers Losses … Read more

A Trading Plan For Herbalife: A Pullback Likely Before A New Trading Range

“This is the hedge-fund equivalent of Stalingrad. Someone is going to lose big. And the victor will be so bloodied that the word victory will sound hollow… For a short-seller who is as risk-averse as me watching this is pure hedge-fund porn.” From “Bill Ackman enters the city of Stalingrad,” John Hempton of Bronte Capital, … Read more

The Australian Dollar Breaks Out As It Regains Correlation With The S&P 500

(This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha on January 11, 2013. Click here to read the entire piece.) On Thursday, January 10th, China reported export growth much larger than forecasters expected. {snip} This surge helped push the Australian dollar (FXA) far enough to finally break a long-standing downtrend against … Read more