First Solar Approaches Upper Price Target As Bulls and Bears Battle

On Monday, Goldman Sachs added First Solar (FSLR) to its conviction buy list with a $165 price target. The market’s response was swift with FSLR ending the day up 6% and a closing price of $156.40. I wish I had received the memo because I sold off the last of my FSLR positions on Friday. … Read more

Silver and Gold Continue to Cool Off

The “cooling off” of silver and gold has unfolded very slowly over several months. On Thursday, this process entered yet another phase. This time, silver made a clean and strong break below its 50-day moving average (DMA). Silver even made its first lower low since the latest rally began in late summer. Gold has spent … Read more

Steel Stalls

The massive and historic floods in Australia have driven coal prices up. This is particularly important for steel since Australia exports 2/3 of the world’s coal used for making steel (coking coal). Steelmakers have already been struggling with increasing input costs, so the Australian floods are sure to pinch profits further. At the close of … Read more

U.S. Markets Keep Grinding Higher As Europe Snaps Back

A month ago, I laid out the case for the S&P 500 sustaining its upward momentum. I pointed to 1300-1310 as the next point of strong resistance. As the S&P 500 nears that point (half of a percent away now), I marvel at how quickly this test has come. T2108, the percentage of stocks trading … Read more

Microsoft and Intel Continue to Diverge

I was clearly far too early in restarting a pairs trade short Microsoft (MSFT) and long Intel (INTC). Over the past two months, the performance of MSFT has steadily improved, while Intel’s performance has steadily worsened. The MSFT/INTC ratio is now at 10 month highs. Source: stockcharts.com Typically, I would look at this divergence and … Read more