ONE-TWENTY TWO: Trading Financial Markets
Exploring the poetry in financial markets for students of money and economy since the year 2000.
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
(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
(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
“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
(This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha on January 4, 2013. Click here to read the entire piece.) {snip} This reversal was punctuated by Chapman Capital’s Robert Chapman revelations on January 3rd that he bought HLF on the cheap to trade directly against Ackman. Source: FreeStockCharts.com Herb Greenberg of … Read more
(This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha on December 24, 2012. Click here to read the entire piece.) So it turns out that Bill Ackman, with his hedge fund Pershing Square Capital Management, is the “big whale” behind the massive short position built against Herbalife (HLF). Ackman indicated that … Read more
Nike (NKE) Just 6 months ago, Nike (NKE) posted earnings that disappointed investors to the tune of a 9.4% one-day drop. That drop was unusually large for NKE, but it printed the stock’s low for 2012. The stock steadily ground its way higher and filled its gap down within a month. NKE next stalled at … Read more
(This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha on December 6, 2012. Click here to read the entire piece.) The Amazon.com post-earnings trade ended down for this final quarter of the year. It was a rare miss that included some important moves in the stock. The chart below shows the … Read more
(This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha on December 3, 2012. Click here to read the entire piece.) I was absolutely fascinated by a recent Seeking Alpha piece titled “The Surprising Truth Behind Herbalife Put Volume.” It is a revealing treatise and a cautionary reminder of why traders must … Read more
(This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha on November 28, 2012. Click here to read the entire piece.) On October 25th, I noted how intrepid traders had loaded up on November $45 puts ahead of news that Monster Beverage Corporation (MNST) was implicated in a lawsuit over the death … Read more