Brace for More Surprises: Groupon Restates Earnings, Reveals Weakness in Financial Controls

(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

Betting On Best Buy’s Post-Earnings Potential

(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

Removing Skull Candy from Buy List of Insider Stock Purchases

(This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha on March 6, 2012. Click here to read the entire piece.) In late September, selling in the stock market was intensifying, and I wrote a piece summarizing a list of stocks where insiders were buying their own stock. The performance since then … Read more

Whirlpool Still Has Upside But Better Bought On A Dip

(This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha on February 13, 2012. Click here to read the entire piece.) Whirlpool (WHR) has gained 29% since reporting fourth quarter and full-year earnings on the morning of February 1. At the time, WHR represented an explosive combination of a business turning around … Read more

T2108 Update – February 7, 2012 (Picking up dollars in front of a steamroller)

(T2108 measures the percentage of stocks trading above their respective 40-day moving averages [DMAs]. To learn more about it, see my T2108 Resource Page. You can follow real-time T2108 commentary on twitter using the #T2108 hashtag. T2108-related trades and other trades are posted on twitter using the #120trade hashtag) T2108 Status: 88% (overbought day #25) … Read more

Quantifying Why Amazon.com Was A Buy At the Open After Reporting Earnings

(This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha on February 6, 2012. Click here to read the entire piece.) Soon after Amazon.com (AMZN) reported earnings last Tuesday, I wrote a post concluding that AMZN stock was worth a buy as soon as the stock opened for trading on Wednesday. This … Read more

Robert Reich Over-Reaches By Blaming Investing and Shopping for Income Inequality

Soon after I finally posted my review and critique of Robert Reich’s book on income inequality titled “Aftershock: The Next Economy and America’s Future,” Reich published commentary which extended his analysis of income inequality to blame investors and shoppers for the problem. The concise argument appeared in an editorial in the Financial Times called “We … Read more

Buy Amazon.com Post-Earnings and Right After Regular Trading Opens

(This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha on February 1, 2012. Click here to read the entire piece.) Trading through the earnings of a highly volatile stock often feels like flipping a coin. A trader must try to predict the earnings results AND the market’s reaction to those results. … Read more

T2108 Update – January 31, 2012 (Reaching a potential tipping point)

(T2108 measures the percentage of stocks trading above their respective 40-day moving averages [DMAs]. To learn more about it, see my T2108 Resource Page. You can follow real-time T2108 commentary on twitter using the #T2108 hashtag. T2108-related trades and other trades are posted on twitter using the #120trade hashtag) T2108 Status: 83% (overbought day #20) … Read more