Nutanix: A Stock and Company Ready for a Takeover

The weekly chart for Nutanix (NTNX) shows an on-going downtrend since the June, 2018 all-time high.

Nutanix (NTNX) is an IT infrastructure company that helps its customers “modernize their datacenters and run applications at any scale, on-prem and in the cloud.” The stock peaked in June, 2018 after a 13-month, 310% run-up from an all-time low. The March, 2020 stock market crash briefly took NTNX to a new all-time low. Even … Read more

Resilient Stock Market Blows Past the Whisper of A Bearish Divergence – Above the 40 (January 10, 2020)

AT40 = 58.7% of stocks are trading above their respective 40-day moving averages (DMAs)AT200 = 59.0% of stocks are trading above their respective 200DMAsVIX = 12.6Short-term Trading Call: neutral Stock Market Commentary The bearish signals are growing, but they are still not impeding this resilient stock market. The ever so shallow selling acts like a … Read more

Taylor Morrison Makes A Poorly Timed Acquisition of William Lyon

The Timing and the Stock Charts During the analyst conference call explaining the deal to buy William Lyon Homes (WLH), CEO Sheryl Palmer revealed that Taylor Morrison Home Company (TMHC) began buy-out talks several months ago. That was a time of rising optimism for home builders. The announcement of the deal came shortly after investors … Read more

QSR Picks Popeyes And Leaves El Pollo Loco As the Last Chicken Standing

So it was true after all. Restaurant Brands (QSR) was indeed drooling over the secret recipes of Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen (PLKI). Today, PLKI soared 19.1% to $78.73/share and a $1.6B market cap, just short of the $79 ($1.8B market cap) that QSR promised to pay for acquiring PLKI. When I discussed the merits of a … Read more

A Chicken-Fueled Pairs Trade: Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen Versus Restaurant Brands

Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen, Inc. (PLKI) is one expensive stock, especially for a (fried chicken) restaurant: trailing P/E of 36.2, forward P/E of 28.9, price/sales of 5.5, and price/book of 187.4. PLKI most recently reported 4.7% year-over-year revenue growth and -1.9% earnings growth. (Data from Yahoo Finance). According to briefing.com, year-over-year revenue growth has stagnated in … Read more

Shopping for Lessons With Zulily

I thought I was done blogging about Zulily (ZU). The acquisition of ZU by Liberty Interactive (QVCA) on August 17, 2015 brought back the pain that was ZU right back into full view for me. My mistake with ZU started a little over a year ago as a play on a relatively consistent stock market … Read more

T2108 Update (November 13, 2014) – A Coiled Spring Or A Bearish Divergence

(T2108 measures the percentage of stocks trading above their respective 40-day moving averages [DMAs]. It helps to identify extremes in market sentiment that are likely to reverse. 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 … Read more

Lender Processing Services Completes Its Rise From Foreclosuregate

(This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha on May 23, 2013. Click here to read the entire piece.) I have followed Lender Processing Services (LPS) for what seems like a very long time, a near lone voice on Seeking Alpha banging the table for LPS as a recovery play … Read more

Some Trading Implications From SEC’s Charges of Insider Trading in H.J. Heinz

(This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha on February 18, 2013. Click here to read the entire piece.) Traders sometimes copy the trading in options showing unusual trading activity under the assumption that someone (or some people) have privileged insight into an imminent big event or the short-term price … Read more