Posts Tagged
‘IOC’
by ilene - June 25th, 2010 10:52 am
News about the SEC subpoenaing Sam Antar for 37,000 documents in their investigation of a California-based research firm called the Fraud Discovery Institute, a company belonging to Barry Minkow, another criminal turned whistleblower, continues to spread. Here’s Henry Blodget’s take on the question of who and what the SEC should be subpoenaing. – Ilene
Courtesy of Henry Blodget at Clusterstock
We’ve written extensively about controversial oil-and-gas exploration company InterOil (IOC).
Some people think the company has discovered highly valuable oil and gas reserves in the jungles of Papua New Guinea and that the stock will continue to be a home run. Others think the company is basically a gigantic fraud.
Among those in the latter camp is reformed fraudster Barry Minkow, whose company Fraud Detection Institute sells research to big investors and is now engaged in trying to blow the lid off what he sees as an InterOil (IOC) fraud.
Barry Minkow (in earlier days)
As the SEC’s earlier investigations of shortsellers David Einhorn and Bill Ackman has demonstrated, when a company’s stock is performing well, as InterOil’s is, the SEC tends to go after the company’s critics and shortsellers rather than the company itself--a habit that is bewildering and infuriating to those who respect the fundamental work shortsellers do. And that seems to be what the SEC is doing in this case.
At Portfolio.com, Gary Weiss reports that the SEC has subpoenaed Minkow and Sam Antar [SEC Crazy Talk, below], another former convicted felon turned whistleblower, to find out what they have been saying about InterOil and other companies in their communications to shortsellers. In a twist that will frighten advocates of free speech and journalist shield laws, the SEC is also subpoenaing communications Minkow and Antar had with journalists.
The target of the investigation is a California-based research firm called the Fraud Discovery Institute. [Sam] Antar happens to be friends with FDI’s owner Barry Minkow. And, like Minkow, Antar is a noted whistleblower on white-collar crime and securities fraud. He’s a former fraudster who masterminded the Crazy Eddie stock fraud in the 1980s. Minkow served time in prison for the ZZZZ Best stock swindle, but now is an ordained minister and preaches…
Tags: Barry Minkow, emails to media, Fraud, Fraud Detection Institute, InterOil, IOC, SEC
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by Option Review - December 9th, 2009 4:06 pm
Today’s tickers: LULU, XLE, OIH, JPM, IOC, CYB, AMSC, MW, SVU & JTX
LULU – Lululemon Athletica, Inc. – Investors are hoarding put options on athletic apparel maker, Lululemon Athletica, ahead of the firm’s third-quarter earnings report scheduled for release after market close. LULU’s shares rallied as much as 3.8% to an intraday high of $27.84. The stock is currently up 2.75% to $27.56 with 45 minutes remaining in the trading session. Some analysts expect the Canada-based company will record earnings of 19 cents per share on revenue of $111 million. Option traders hedged against an earnings disappointment by purchasing puts. Approximately 6,800 put options were coveted by investors at the January 25 strike for an average premium of 1.23 apiece. Put-buyers are positioned to profit if shares fall through the breakeven price of $23.77 by January’s expiration day. Mounting investor anticipation for third-quarter earnings and the increase in demand for option contracts on the stock boosted option implied volatility throughout the session. Volatility rose 10.85% from an opening reading of 59.93% to an intraday high of 67.52%.
XLE – Energy Select Sector SPDR ETF – Shares of the exchange-traded fund comprised of companies in the oil, gas, and energy equipment industries, fell 1% during the trading day to $54.30. A massive put spread by one investor indicates shares of the XLE may decline further by the time the quarterly December contract options expire on December 31st, 2009. It appears the bearish trader purchased 74,800 puts at the December 53 strike for 95 cents apiece, spread against the sale of 74,800 puts at the lower December 48 strike for 13 pennies each. The net cost of the pessimistic play amounts to 82 cents per contract. The investor likely holds a long position in the underlying stock. The puts serve to protect the value of the stock position in case shares continue to decline. Downside protection kicks in if shares of the XLE decline beneath the breakeven point at $52.18 by expiration on the final day of 2009.
OIH – Oil Service HOLDRs Trust – Shares of the OIH exchange-traded fund rallied 1.25% to $112.69 today. We observed bearish options activity on the fund despite the bullish movement in the price of the underlying. A put spread enacted in the January 2010 contract suggests some investors feel the need for downside protection through expiration next year. It looks like 1,500 puts…
Tags: AMSC, CYB, IOC, JPM, JTX, LULU, MW, OIH, SVU, XLE
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by Option Review - October 19th, 2009 5:04 pm
Today’s tickers: JOYG, PRX, POT, IOC, QLGC, CAT & IBB
JOYG – Joy Global, Inc. – The manufacturer of mining equipment used to extract coal, copper, and other minerals, realized a 6% improvement in shares today to $55.13. Large-volume options trading took place just ahead of the closing bell as one investor banked gains and extended a bullish position on the stock. It appears the trader originally purchased 15,000 calls at the January 50 strike on August 4, 2009, for a premium of between 2.00 to 2.55 per contract. Today, he seems to have sold all 15,000 calls for 8.10 apiece. Net profits received on the closing sale amount to a minimum of 5.55 each up to a maximum of 6.10 per contract. Depending on the price the investor paid to initially purchase the calls, he reeled in at least $8,325,000, and could have banked as much as $9,150,000, by selling the now deep in-the-money call options today. Perhaps hoping to accumulate additional profits by expiration in January 2010, the trader doubled up on call options by purchasing 30,000 lots at the higher January 60 strike for an average premium of 3.30 per contract. The investor may add to his profits if shares rally another 15% to surpass the breakeven point at $63.30 by expiration day.
PRX – Par Pharmaceutical Companies, Inc. – The distributor of branded and generic pharmaceuticals in the U.S. appeared on our ‘hot by options volume’ market scanner due to bearish options trading. Shares of PRX fell more than 5% to $22.51 after receiving a downgrade to ‘neutral’ from ‘buy’ at Bank of America Merrill Lynch. One pessimistic option trader initiated a credit spread on PRX using call options in the November contract. The transaction involved the sale of 2,500 calls at the November 22.5 strike for 1.47 apiece, spread against the purchase of 2,500 calls at the higher November 25 strike for 55 cents each. The investor receives a net credit of approximately 92 cents per contract. The full 92 cent credit is retained by the trader as long as the November 22.5 strike call options land out-of-the-money by expiration.
POT – Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan, Inc. – Shares of Canada-based Potash Corp. surged more than 5.5% to $102.90 today on speculation that BHP Billiton Ltd. – the world’s largest mining company – may be interested in acquiring the fertilizer producer. Option traders exchanged…
Tags: CAT, IBB, IOC, JOYG, POT, PRX, QLGC
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February 11th, 2012 6:46 pm
It's Well Past Time for Plan Z
Courtesy of The Automatic Earth
Mario Draghi captured the utter ineptitude of him and every other Eurocrat out there when he said the following at today’s press conference in response to a question about a Greek exit: “To have a Plan B means defeat already. I am confident that all the pieces of this will fall in the proper places.”
Most 5-year old children in pre-school have already been told not to believe that they can always win and that “winning isn’t everything”, but Draghi & Co. still refuse to consider the possibility of failure even as it is staring them in the face. What’s really disturbing is that the stakes here are obviously much, much higher than they are o...
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February 11th, 2012 5:35 pm
Courtesy of Doug Short.
Advisor Perspectives welcomes guest contributions. The views presented here do not necessarily represent those of Advisor Perspectives.
It's interesting to watch some of the terms bandied about in headline news. For example, the LA Times headline reads S&P says student loan debt could be next financial bubble.
Next? Could Be?
What with the word "next"? Also what's with the words "could be"? Without a doubt student loans are in a bubble and have been for many years. The source of the problem, as it always is with financial bubbles, is cheap money, loans to nearly anyone, and in the case of student loans, no way to discharge the debt, even in bankruptcy.
From the article:
"Student-loan debt has ballooned and m...
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February 11th, 2012 5:11 pm
Courtesy of ZeroHedge. View original post here.
Submitted by ilene.
Treasury Market Panic Reversal Due To Little Known Forces Called Supply and Demand Courtesy of Lee Adler of the Wall Street Examiner
The Treasury market panic saw a bit of a reversal this...
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February 11th, 2012 12:00 am
Top 5 RisersStockRatingAnalysis
ICABUYThe projected value for Empresas ICA is still rising quickly even though past earnings have already improved significantly.
XBUYThe projected value for US Steel is still rising quickly even though past earnings have already improved significantly.
FEICBUYProjected value continues to rise for FEI while long term increases in earnings growth are also becoming more widely expected.
ASBCBUYMany analysts are expecting higher than previously expected long term growth from Associated Bancorp, and its near-term earnings outlook is also improving....
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February 10th, 2012 6:20 pm
Courtesy of Benzinga.
The following are the M&A deals, rumors and chatter circulating on Wall Street for Friday February 10, 2012:
Actuant Acquires Jeyco Pty
The Deal:
Actuant (NYSE: ATU) announced Friday that it has acquired Jeyco Pty Ltd (“Jeyco”). Headquartered near Perth, Australia, Jeyco designs and provides specialized mooring, rigging and towing systems and services to the offshore oil & gas industry in Australia and other international markets. Additionally, its highly engineered products are used in a variety of applications for other markets including cyclone mooring and marine, defense and mining tow systems. Jeyco generates annual revenues of approximately $20 million.
Actuant shares closed at $27.33 Friday, a loss of 0.18% on average volume.
...
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February 10th, 2012 4:14 pm
Submitted by Mark Hanna
Courtesy of MarketMontage. View original post here.
A little flurry of buying in the closing 5 minutes tacked on 2 S&P points and took the major indexes off the lows. Only the Russell 2000 finished with a greater than 1% loss (1.4%) as it has been relatively weak versus the senior indexes for the past few sessions. While today was the "worst day of the year" – it was quite a low bar as the previous biggest loss on the S&P 500 was -0.57%.
The S&P 500 held well above the 10 day moving average (didn't even really touch it) and did not even attempt to fill the gap from last Friday's employment report. The teflon market rolls on for now. Specul...
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February 10th, 2012 4:11 pm
Courtesy of John Nyaradi.
Greece was “saved” for less than 24 hours but now major ETFs around the world skid into the weekend on Greek fears
After wangling for a week or more, Greek took their new deal to the European Ministers meeting, only to have it promptly rejected and so as we go into the weekend, major global markets and ETFs have again hit the skids on Greece.
After two years of wangling, the European zone is demanding yet more and deeper cuts for Greece to qualify for the next round of bailout loans that will keep the country from going bankrupt on March 20th.
Major European and United States ETF responded negatively to the new developments:
SPDR Dow Jones Industrial ETF (NYSEARCA:...
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February 10th, 2012 1:40 pm
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February 10th, 2012 1:22 pm
Today’s tickers: TRLG, KR & IGT
...
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February 6th, 2012 9:02 am
Reminder: OpTrader is available to chat with Members, comments are found below each post.
This post is for all our live virtual trade ideas and daily comments. Please click on "comments" below to follow our live discussion. All of our current trades are listed in the spreadsheet below, with entry price (1/2 in and All in), and exit prices (1/3 out, 2/3 out, and All out).
We also indicate our stop, which is most of the time the "5 day moving average". All trades, unless indicated, are front-month ATM options.
Please feel free to participate in the discussion and ask any questions you might have about this virtual portfolio, by clicking on the "comments" link right below.
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February 5th, 2012 5:19 am
NEW: Elliott and Ilene are available to chat with Members regarding topics presented in SWW, comments are found below each post.
Here's the latest Stock World Weekly, called "The Relentless Pursuit of Meaningless Metrics."
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January 30th, 2012 7:22 am
Here is a quick update of past trades and our current position.
AA Money
No trade this week as we wait for AA to settle. Phil remarked last week that AA seemed overvalued. In the meantime, it looks like we might have to roll our Feb 9 calls. Good thing we sold only 5 of them against our position.
Last week P&L - 310.00
We lost ground last week, but we still have 11 months to sell premium!
FAS Money
Very good week for FAS Money as we benefited from the large amount of premium sold the previous week. We covered most of the shorts in advance of the Fed speech, but sold another set of options on Wednesday after the speech - 2 FAS calls that expired worthless on Friday, 2 FAS put that we are still holding and 2 FAZ put that we bought back for a profit on Friday. A late stick comparable to last week's almost gave us problems at the end of the day though!
Last week P&L - $4277.00
IWM Money
A decent week in this virtual portfo...
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January 18th, 2012 1:09 am
Reminder: Pharmboy is available to chat with Members, comments are found below each post.
Finding new and exciting Biotech companies that target novel mechanisms is like trying to find a needle in a haystack. Sure there are many companies working on cutting edge science, but investing in those companies to reap the rewards of their work is a very dangerous game. More often than not, companies fail because the mechanism does not pan out, the compound(s) do not have pharmacokinetics (get into the body or last very long in the body), or an adverse event happens that knocks years off a development timeline. In addition, the stock can be manipulated by market makers so investors don't know which way is up. I approach investing in biotechs as a long term prospect. I continue to like our current portfolio of biotech companies (join in chat for many of those plays), and we continually add/subtract shares and sell/buy options on ...
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