Morgan Stanley Helps Shorts Crowded in Skullcandy, Creates Buying Opportunity

(This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha on September 14, 2012. Click here to read the entire piece.) Skullcandy (SKUL), a developer and distributor of audio accessories, is back in focus. Morgan Stanley (MS) slammed the company with a downgrade from overweight to equal weight and a cut in … Read more

Buy the Dips As The Post-Earnings Trade in Amazon.com Continues To Deliver

(This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha on July 30, 2012. Click here to read the entire piece.) For the second earnings cycle in a row, I failed to execute the post-earnings trading strategy for Amazon.com (AMZN) to buy the open (see “After Amazon.com Earnings, Buy The Stock At … Read more

Even After More Insider Buying, Molycorp Struggles To Generate Upward Momentum

(This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha on July 9, 2012. Click here to read the entire piece.) Almost a month ago, John C. Ashburn, Executive Vice President & General Counsel of Molycorp (MCP) purchased $101,300 worth of MCP stock. This purchased converted him from an insider seller during … Read more

KB Home Going “On Offense” As Its Housing Markets And Pricing Power Strengthen

(This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha on July 7, 2012. Click here to read the entire piece.) Kb Home (KBH) has finally recovered most of its losses following its March 23rd earnings report. On that day, the market took KBH down 8.5% in response to those earnings, but … Read more

Shorts Back Off Lender Processing Services As Overall Prospects Continue To Improve

(This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha on May 31, 2012. Click here to read the entire piece.) {snip} Since a spate of heavy call buying in February, short interest has taken a fresh plunge. It has now returned to levels last seen right before foreclosuregate exploded. Source: NASDAQ.com … Read more

Chart Review: Chesapeake Energy’s “Abandoned Baby” As Shorts Descend Upon the Stock

Chesapeake Energy (CHK) has been in the news a lot partially thanks to the leveraged stock trading of its wheeling and dealing CEO. The stock has steadily dropped for over a year from a post-recession high of $36. When the company reported earnings two weeks ago, the stock responded with a strong gap up and … Read more

As Earnings Near, J.C. Penney Put/Call Ratio Plummets And Shorts Increase

I last wrote about J.C. Penney (JCP) in March right after an ominous breakdown below its 50-day moving average (DMA) (see “Put Buyers Rush Into J.C. Penney As The Stock Breaks Down“). I soon joined the surge of put volume that occurred around that time, and the trade ended well. JCP eventually erased all its … Read more

Post-Acquisition Enthusiasm Fades for Molycorp As Short Interest Continues to Climb

(This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha on April 30, 2012. Click here to read the entire piece.) On March 8th, 2012, Molycorp (MCP) announced a critically important acquisition of Rare Earth Processor Neo Material Technologies. The next day, the market responded by sending MCP shares up 19%. Almost … Read more