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 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
(This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha on February 3, 2013. Click here to read the entire piece.) {snip} Another Amazon.com (AMZN) earnings call, more unimpressive guidance (this time, Q1 guidance for $15.0 to 16.6B revenue below expectations and for operating income -$285 to 65M around expectations), an immediate … Read more
This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha on February 13, 2013. Click here to read the entire piece.) On Monday evening, February 11, 2013, Bernstein downgraded Facebook (FB) from Outperform to Market Perform. {snip} Source: FreeStockCharts.com In the downgrade, Bernstein cited concerns over ad pricing, revenue growth and valuation. … Read more
This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha on January 21, 2013. Click here to read the entire piece.) The negative news cycle has begun again on Monster Beverage Corporation (MNST), and it is creating fresh trading opportunities. On January 10th, the Drug Abuse Warning Network (DAWN), “a public health … Read more
It has been a good run, but it seems that First Solar’s best gains are behind it for now. First Solar (FSLR) declined 5.9% on Tuesday, January 29 on heavy trading volume. FSLR is now trading below its 50-day moving average (DMA) for the first time since October. This breaks a primary uptrend that has … 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
(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 highly 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 … Read more
(This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha on December 12, 2012. Click here to read the entire piece.) It turns out that recent put buyers in Molycorp (MCP) may have had the right idea, but their bearish trade may have a very short shelf life. After hours on December … Read more