ONE-TWENTY TWO: Trading Financial Markets
Exploring the poetry in financial markets for students of money and economy since the year 2000.
(This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha on May 17, 2012. Click here to read the entire piece.) The past three earnings cycles have delivered some tremendous post-earnings successes in stocks like Amazon.com (AMZN), priceline.com (PCLN), Best Buy (BBY), and Apple (AAPL). J.C. Penney (JCP) broke my streak in … Read more
A little over a week ago, I pointed out that shorts are increasing along with a drop in the put/call ratio on J.C. Penney Company (JCP). At the time, I said that I was done buying puts on JCP. Since then, I decided to buy calls. The stock is now bouncing off 200DMA support. It … Read more
I last wrote about J.C. Penney (JCP) in March right after an ominous breakdown below its 50-day moving average (DMA) (see “Put Buyers Rush Into J.C. Penney As The Stock Breaks Down“). I soon joined the surge of put volume that occurred around that time, and the trade ended well. JCP eventually erased all its … Read more
(This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha on March 26, 2012. Click here to read the entire piece.) According to ETF Channel, Best Buy (BBY) is the second largest holding of the SPDR S&P Retail ETF (XRT). Yet, BBY is greatly underperforming this retail ETF. While XRT is at … Read more
(This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha on March 7, 2012. Click here to read the entire piece.) When Energy Conversion Devices (ENERQ.PK) filed for bankruptcy in mid-February, I wrote “The Solar Fun Is Done For Now.” I should have also said that the “horror show has just begun” … Read more
(This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha on March 6, 2012. Click here to read the entire piece.) Google (GOOG) has proven itself allergic to sub-$600 prices. On Tuesday, GOOG dropped as low as $594. But for the third time in three weeks, GOOG managed to close above $600 … 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
(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
February 15 was a day noted around the world: Apple (AAPL) made a major bearish reversal that even non-technicians could appreciate for its fury. Here is the chart I produced on that fateful day: The tremendous surge in trading volume was a 13-month high and followed the S&P 500 down for the day – adding … Read more
A funny thing happened after I declared the “fun is done” in solar stocks: Suntech Power Holdings (STP) pre-announced higher than expected revenues and financial results for its fourth quarter, and SunPower Corporation (SPWR) reported earnings that gave solar traders and investors fresh hope. At one point, SPWR broke out from a nice consolidation above … Read more