Weekend Wrap-Up, Still Trying to Get Bullish

by Phil - March 14th, 2010 5:20 am

I’m having writer’s block this weekend. 

Usually when I can’t think of what to write it helps me to go over our portfolios so I started this morning reviewing the Buy List but I didn’t get far because it was silly.  Of 43 plays on the buy list, 39 are doing well - too well in fact to the point where it’s hard for me, in good conscience, not to say let’s kill the whole thing and get back to cash as we’re up about 20% in 2 months and that’s just ridiculous - most people would call that a good year and go on vacation. 

The Buy List was 100% bullish and we did catch a good bottom on our early February entries.  I was gung ho bullish then because I felt comfortable that the 10,000 line on the Dow would prevail and that we were good for a run back to the top (10,700), following, more or less, the pattern we had in 2004 (see original post for charts).  Well that’s pretty much what’s happened since then but that’s not making me happy because I see no reason we won’t complete that pattern and begin falling off a cliff shortly.

As you all know, I’m not a big fan of TA, or patterns for that matter but the reason I started looking for patterns was to try to get a handle on how long  market could really keep going up before falling victim to exhaustion.  To me it seemed we weren’t at that point on Feb 6th but now that we’ve put in that big push back up - if we can’t punch up to new highs on all our indexes then I do think it’s time for the markets to take a break.

Clearly I’ve been too bearish for the past couple of weeks and we are now 224 points over 10,400 on the Dow which is where I turned bearish as the January data made me lose faith in our ability to get back to 10,700.  I should have stuck to the TA because we’re a lot closer to 10,700 than we are to 10,400.  With the Russell and Nasdaq exploding to their own new highs.  You can see though, from the above chart, why I do want to wait to see the NYSE, Dow and S&P confirm this move up - it’s not far now!

We’re finally getting the hang of the Wonderland Market though it’s actually quite simple…

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The Implications of Velocity

by ilene - March 13th, 2010 3:09 pm

The Implications of Velocity

Courtesy of John Mauldin at Thoughts from the Frontline 

The Velocity of Money 
Our Little Island World 
GDP = (P) x (T) 
P=MV 
A Slowdown in Velocity 
Dallas and Thoughts on the Economy

This week we do some review on a very important topic, the velocity of money. If we don’t understand the basics, it is hard to make sense of the hash that our world economy is in, much less understand where we are headed.

But before we jump into that, I want to let my Conversations subscribers know that we have posted a recent conversation with two hedge-fund managers, Kyle Bass of Hayman Advisors [and his staff] here in Dallas and Hugh Hendry of the Eclectica Fund in London. Our discussions centered on what we all think has the potential to be the next Greece, but on a far more serious level. It was a fascinating time.

Then next Wednesday we will post a Conversation I had with George Friedman of Stratfor fame, and then the following Wednesday a Conversation that I just completed with Dr. Ken Rogoff and Dr. Carmen Reinhart, the authors of This Time Is Different.

For new readers, Conversations with John Mauldin is my one subscription service. While this letter will always be free, we have created a way for you to "listen in" on my conversations with some of my friends, many of whom you will recognize and some whom you will want to know after you hear our conversations. Basically, I will call one or two friends each month and, just as we do at dinner or at meetings, we will talk about the issues of the day, with back and forth, give and take, and friendly debate. I think you will find it very enlightening and thought-provoking and a real contribution to your education as an investor.

And as you can see, I can get some rather interesting people to come to the table. Current subscribers can renew for a deeply discounted $129, and we will extend that price to new subscribers as well. To learn more, go to http://www.johnmauldin.com/newsletters2.html. Click on the Subscribe button, and join me and my friends for some very interesting Conversations.

The Velocity of Money

The Federal Reserve and central banks in general are running a grand experiment on the economic body, without the benefit of anesthesia. They are testing the theories of Irving Fisher (representing the classical economists), John Keynes (the Keynesian school) Ludwig von Mises…

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Options Player Reveals Long-Term Bullish Sentiment on AIG

by Andrew Wilkinson - March 12th, 2010 4:19 pm

Today’s tickers: AIG, MU, F, POT, CLF, PAYX, ERIC, SVU, LFC & CA

AIG - American International Group, Inc. – The insurer’s shares experienced a fantastic 56.7% run up from its low point in the current month of $24.54 on March 3, 2010, up to yesterday’s intraday high of $38.45. During the current session, AIG surrendered a small portion of its recent share price gains, slipping slightly lower by 1.40% to stand at $34.62 in afternoon trading. Extreme-bullish positioning in long-dated options caught our attention today as one investor established a call spread in the January 2011 contract. The optimistic trader purchased 5,500 calls at the January 2011 $50 strike for a premium of $3.65 apiece, and sold the same number of calls at the higher January 2011 $75 strike for $1.30 each. The net cost of the transaction, and maximum loss potential faced by the investor, amounts to $2.35 per contract. American International Group’s shares must surge 51.2% from the current price of $34.62 in order for the trader to break even on the spread at $52.35 per share. Perhaps the individual responsible for the trade expects AIG’s shares to rebound up to the current 52-week high on the stock of $55.90 (attained back on August 28, 2009), or above within the next ten months to expiration. Maximum available profits of $22.65 per contract – total gains of $12.4575 million – accumulate for the bullish player if AIG’s shares jump 116.6% from today’s price to $75.00 by January expiration day. Shares last traded above $75.00 back in October of 2008.

MU - Micron Technology, Inc. – A large-volume long-term bullish transaction on the manufacturer of semiconductor devices indicates one big options player anticipates continued upward movement in the price of Micron’s shares by expiration in January 2011. Shares rallied 2.55% to $10.05 this afternoon, but earlier increased more than 4% to reach an intraday high of $10.25. The optimistic investor purchased a debit call spread in by picking up 20,000 in-the-money call options at the January 2011 $10 strike for a premium of $2.07 apiece, marked against the sale of 20,000 calls at the higher January 2011 $15 strike for $0.58 each. The net cost of the spread amounts to $1.49 per contract, positioning the investor to amass profits if Micron’s shares exceed the breakeven price of $11.49 by expiration next year. Maximum potential profits of $3.51 per contract – total gains of…

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The Oxen Report: Can We Go Any Higher?

by David Ristau - March 12th, 2010 9:16 am

Yesterday, we played an Overnight Trade of the Day with GMX Resources. We got involved at 10.25, and we will exit at the start of today for a gain of about 2%. It was an okay gain for the Overnight Play. The company reported a beat on estimates with 0.20 vs. the expected 0.09, but there was a lot of restatement of further losses and one-time charges that are going to weigh on it. You want to get out ASAP because I don’t think this will stay up for long. 

The market today is really confusing me. I spent the longest…

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Friday Chart Toppers - Breaking Up Is Hard To Do!

by Phil - March 12th, 2010 8:01 am

They say that breaking up is hard to do.

Well, not for this market it seems as we make new highs on ever decreasing volumes.  While I have been very skeptical of this rally, at some point you have to give in and go with the flow.  As I said at the end of yesterday’s post, "We still have a bearish short-term stance but we will continue to watch our technicals and play the hand that’s dealt" and that’s what we did as our 9:42 Alert to members contained 2 bullish was to cover our short plays with the TNA Apr $52/53 bull call spread at .45, which finished the day at .60 (up 33%) and the DIA Apr $106 calls at $1.08, which finished the day at $1.40 (up 29%) so not bad for scrambling for covers!

That’s how we can hold our bearish positions as the tide moves against us.  As our final upside resistance levels begin to break, it may be time to break up, and not just cover, our short positions.  BUT, not until next week, when we’ll know, we’ll know that it’s true and not just some pumped up reaction to this week’s $150Bn Jobs Bill, which is really a $150Bn debt bill with 1/2 the money going to benefits extensions and $25Bn just to offset rising Medicaid costs that our states can no longer afford.  That leaves $50Bn for actual jobs or enough to put 1M people back to work at $50,000 for one year if it is used with 100% efficiency.  

We have 25M unemployed, discouraged and underemployed workers and that’s a lot bigger of a hole than a $150Bn band-aid is likely to fill.  Still, we missed the last 250 points of the run-up and we’re committed to miss 50 more (10,700) but, come next week we’ll have to follow Mr. Cramer’s advice, as he said yesterday: "Don’t be so skeptical that you write off very big, very real trends,” Cramer said, “that I still think, even from these levels, could make you a lot of money."  Let’s take a look at "these" levels then:

We’re still following the uptrending channel I drew on Tuesday’s S&P chart with the MACD line up 50% in 3 days of trading - a difficult trick to keep up.  Aside from the Jobs Bill, we’re getting a nice boost this morning from a "leak" that the supremely doveish Janet Yellen will be Obama’s pick for Vice Chairman of the Fed so yay for the markets but boy are we loving…

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Anadys Pharm-Bull Eyes Upside, Buys Call Spread

by Andrew Wilkinson - March 11th, 2010 4:57 pm

Today’s tickers: ANDS, FXI, GME, BIIB, TRA, WYN & AES

ANDS - Anadys Pharmaceuticals, Inc. – Biotechnology firm, Anadys Pharmaceuticals, enticed a long-term bullish investor to shell out option premium in order to establish a debit call spread in the September contract. ANDS-shares are trading 0.45% higher on the day to $2.19 as of 2:25 pm (ET). The optimistic options player purchased 3,000 calls at the September $2.5 strike for a premium of $0.55 apiece, marked against the sale of 3,000 calls at the higher September $5.0 strike for $0.15 each. The net cost of the call spread amounts to $0.30 per contract. The transaction positions the trader to accrue maximum potential profits of $2.20 per contract should shares of the underlying stock surge 128.3% over the current price to $5.00 by expiration day in September. Shares must rally at least 27.85% in order for the investor to break even on the trade at a share price of $2.80 each.

FXI - iShares FTSE/Xinhua China 25 Index Fund – The China exchange-traded fund, which corresponds to the price and yield performance of an underlying index invested in 25 of the largest and most liquid Chinese companies, realized a 0.95% decline in the price of its underlying shares to $41.13 this afternoon. Investors touting long-term pessimistic outlooks on the fund purchased put options in the January 2011 contract. It appears some 25,500 put options were picked up at the January 2011 $35 strike for an average premium of $2.50 apiece. Put-purchasers could be seeking downside protection on long underlying share positions. On the other hand, the contracts may have been purchased outright by extremely bearish individuals anticipating a 21% decline in shares of the FXI to $32.50 ahead of expiration. Investors in this case reel in profits should the price of the underlying fund trade below $32.50 in the next nine months to expiration day in January.

GME - GameStop Corp. – Shares of the largest retailer of video games jumped more than 5.10% during the trading session to $19.22 due to speculation the firm may be acquired. Despite the current rally in GameStop’s shares to $19.22 today, the stock still stands 41.45% below its 52-week high of $32.82 attained back on April 13, 2009. Investors taken-in by the takeover rumors purchased approximately 10,300 calls at the March $20 strike for an average premium of $0.47 per contract. The call options ready these traders to enjoy profits…

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