ONE-TWENTY TWO: Trading Financial Markets
Exploring the poetry in financial markets for students of money and economy since the year 2000.
When Shutterfly (SFLY) reported earnings on April 30th, the company provided guidance for a larger Q2 loss than analyst expectations. Despite this disappointment, the stock opened the next day with an amazing 9% gain. Unfortunately, trading has been all downhill from there. SFLY closed the day losing all its gains, and it was even trading … Read more
After reporting earnings on the evening of April 24, Baidu (BIDU) dropped 10% or so in after-hours trading. By the time time trading opened the next day that loss was cut to just 4.5%. At the highs of that day, BIDU actually managed to recover all its post-earnings losses. I typically characterize such a recovery … Read more
Two weeks ago, Yelp.com (YELP) confirmed its blow-off top with a break of critical support (see “Chart Review: Yelp.com Confirms Blow-Off Top With A Break Of Support“). That support immediately turned into resistance. After dropping close to post-IPO lows, YELP bounced, only to stop cold at resistance. After reporting earnings, YELP dropped 12% directly from … Read more
(This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha on April 27, 2012. Click here to read the entire piece.) After Amazon.com’s (AMZN) last earnings at the end of January, I recommended buying the stock (or call options) right at the open based on historical trading patterns (see “Why Amazon.com Was … Read more
The recent batch of internet IPOs are collectively running into hard times these days despite the imminent introduction of Facebook (FB) to the public markets. On April 9, I noted a likely blow-off top in Yelp.com (YELP). Friday’s break of critical support all but confirms the top. I have updated the chart with the new … Read more
(This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha on March 30, 2012. Click here to read the entire piece.) After traders packed up for the weekend, Groupon (GRPN) issued two warnings during the evening of March 30th. First, Groupon discovered it under-estimated its refund rate for the previous quarter. As … Read more
In mid-February, I posted Groupon (GRPN) as a bearish post-earnings play (see “Groupon Loses Gains From Facebook IPO Hype And Put Options Soar“). At the time, I claimed that the stock would linger around its $20 IPO price for a while after the immediate post-earnings selling. Sure enough, GRPN hung around $20 for another two … Read more
On a big down day in the general stock market, Zynga (ZNGA) managed to gain a fraction of a percent today. The stock punctured support from the current uptrend line but quickly bounced back. Although the stock now needs to clear fresh all-time highs to invalidate the bearish “abandoned baby top” I pointed out yesterday, … Read more
Zynga (ZNGA) has established itself as a resilient IPO so far. After an IPO on December 16, 2011 at $10/share, an open at $11, and a high of $11.50, ZNGA quickly sold off as low as $7.97 on January 9, 2012. From there, the stock rallied in almost a straight line, receiving a turbo boost … Read more
(This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha on February 21, 2012. Click here to read the entire piece.) Congratulations to everyone who took on the post-earnings trade on Amazon.com (AMZN). Hopefully, you have locked in your profits by now given the 2-week timeframe for the trade. It is now … Read more