DARK HORSE HEDGE – Any way the wind blows, doesn’t really matter
by ilene - September 1st, 2010 2:23 pm
Housing-keeping note: Thanks to WordPress’s destruction of Phil’s Favorites site (and replacement with an invite to sign up for its service!), I’ve been relocating my blog to TypePad. Benefits: it looks better, is very user friendly and offers an easy way to search archives for any topic. One unique feature is that while exploring the internet, I can simply click on a button to post an excerpt of an interesting article with a link to the full article. That ability allows me to post links to articles that are worth reading when I do not have reprinting permission, such as articles from major news sources.
The new Favorites site is here. I’ve also created a website for Dark Horse Hedge, here. - Ilene
DARK HORSE HEDGE – Any Way the Wind Blows, Doesn’t Really Matter
By Scott Brown at Sabrient & Ilene at Phil’s Stock World
Is this the real life?
Is this just fantasy?
Caught in a landslide
No escape from reality
Open your eyes
Look up to the skies and see
I’m just a poor boy (Poor boy)
I need no sympathy
Because I’m easy come, easy go
Little high, little low
Any way the wind blows
Doesn’t really matter to me, to me
*****
Ilene and I started the Dark Horse Hedge on July 1, 2010 with the goal of helping self-directed investors weather any storm, no matter which way the wind was blowing. Today completes the second month of publishing the Dark Horse Hedge and we thought it would be a good time to review.
The…
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by ilene - August 2nd, 2010 2:48 am
DARK HORSE HEDGE Weekend Catch-Up
By Scott at Sabrient and Ilene at Phil’s Stock World
Hedging into the week of August 2nd, the Dark Horse Hedge (DHH) is in a BALANCED tilt (long to short ratio) with 8 LONG and 8 SHORT positions. We used Phil’s BUY/WRITE strategy to enter two of our LONG positions (IM and GCI) at a 10-20% discount to the market. As you can see from the chart, the SPX wandered between the 50 and 200 day moving averages (MAs) all week before whimpering towards the bottom of the channel Thursday and Friday. The 12-26-9 MACD which is the faster of the 2 technical direction signals we follow has flat-lined at just above +6 and the slower RSI 14-day still remains just below 50.
Without some impressive economic reports coming this week or much better than expected earnings reports, we believe the market will drift down towards and test the 50 day MA. If a bullish tone sets back in, it is doubtful that it could easily push through the 200 day MA. Resistance points as well as the 50 and 200 day MAs all which fit into a fairly narrow trading channel.
[chart from FreeStockCharts.com]
We are happy with the positions we put on in DHH’s first 30 days of existence and we look forward to capturing more profit as the companies report earnings this week. We will continue to take profits "after the news" and rotate into newer, fresher positions while keeping an eye on the overall market to adjust our tilt for maximum Alpha*, which is why we all write and read DHH.
Summary of DHH positions in the virtual portfolio
LONG: XRTX, WDC, GCI, IM, DLX, GME, FRZ, and TEO
…
DARK HORSE HEDGE UPDATE
by Sabrient - July 23rd, 2010 4:08 am
DARK HORSE HEDGE UPDATE
By Scott at Sabrient and Ilene of PSW
You can run, you can run, tell my friend-boy, Willie Brown.
You can run, tell my friend-boy, Willie Brown.
Lord, that I’m standin’ at the crossroad, babe, I believe I’m sinking down.Crossroads, Robert Johnson
Heading into Friday July 23, 2010 the market is again at a technical crossroad with the SPX closing Thursday at 1093.7, above the 50-day Moving Average of 1085.5. The MACD 12-26-9 remains close but still under the (zero) signal line at -1.13, with the RSI 14-day at 45.26. There is lateral resistance at the 1096 level from the close last Thursday showing how the market has traveled a long way the past week to get nowhere.
Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN) fell short of analysts’ forecasts after Thursday’s close and was down 14% in after-hours trading, suggesting that the market may follow the pattern it has been in most of the summer.
Up 200, down 200, up 200, down 200 - wash out your savings, rinse and repeat! What a total sham of a market we have these days with machines running us up and down on virtually no news at all. Yesterday they would have you believe that Ben Bernanke caused a sell-off. How ridiculous is that? He didn’t say one thing that he didn’t already say in the Fed Minutes that were released on the 14th, which were the notes from the meeting of June 23rd so for analysts to get on TV and say “the markets were concerned by the Chairman’s comments” is beyond stupid – it’s criminal negligence. Phil’s Thrill-Ride Thursday.
[chart from freestockchart.com]
Thursday’s economic releases were less than encouraging with a jump in the number of people seeking unemployment benefits. Sales of previously owned homes fell, but the market shrugged it off as seasonal and rallied on the earnings of Caterpillar Inc., UPS Inc., and others that beat estimates. However, the…
DARK HORSE HEDGE UPDATE
by ilene - July 23rd, 2010 3:38 am
DARK HORSE HEDGE UPDATE
By Scott at Sabrient and Ilene of PSW
You can run, you can run, tell my friend-boy, Willie Brown.
You can run, tell my friend-boy, Willie Brown.
Lord, that I’m standin’ at the crossroad, babe,
I believe I’m sinking down.- Crossroads, Robert Johnson
Heading into Friday July 23, 2010 the market is again at a technical crossroad with the SPX closing Thursday at 1093.7, above the 50-day Moving Average of 1085.5. The MACD 12-26-9 remains close but still under the (zero) signal line at -1.13, with the RSI 14-day at 45.26. There is lateral resistance at the 1096 level from the close last Thursday showing how the market has traveled a long way the past week to get nowhere.
Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN) fell short of analysts’ forecasts after Thursday’s close and was down 14% in after-hours trading, suggesting that the market may follow the pattern it has been in most of the summer.
Up 200, down 200, up 200, down 200 - wash out your savings, rinse and repeat! What a total sham of a market we have these days with machines running us up and down on virtually no news at all. Yesterday they would have you believe that Ben Bernanke caused a sell-off. How ridiculous is that? He didn’t say one thing that he didn’t already say in the Fed Minutes that were released on the 14th, which were the notes from the meeting of June 23rd so for analysts to get on TV and say “the markets were concerned by the Chairman’s comments” is beyond stupid – it’s criminal negligence. Phil’s Thrill-Ride Thursday.
[chart from freestockchart.com]
Thursday’s economic releases were less than encouraging with a jump in the number of people seeking unemployment benefits. Sales of previously owned homes fell, but the market shrugged it off as seasonal and rallied on the earnings of Caterpillar Inc., UPS Inc., and others that beat estimates. However, the SPX hasn’t been able to break through resistance at 1096 and essentially has gone nowhere since last Thursday.…
DARK HORSE HEDGE
by ilene - July 18th, 2010 10:57 pm
DARK HORSE HEDGE 7-18-10
By Scott at Sabrient and Ilene of PSW
Friday gave us a real-time example of why we use Hysteresis* and confirmations from our technical signals, MACD 12-26-9 and RSI 14-day, to select and monitor the tilt (long-short ratio) of the Dark Horse Hedge’s portfolio.
The SHORT tilt Friday allowed us to make +1.37% from our 6 SHORT, 3 LONG positions while the S&P 500 gave back -2.88%. The economic data out Friday of course played a large roll in the failure of our indicators to turn from short to BALANCED. A sharp decline in the University of Michigan Consumer Index to 65 in July compared poorly with a June figure of 76 and Briefing.com’s estimate of 74.5. Google’s earnings miss didn’t help either as the S&P 500 fell through its short-term support area to close at 1064.88. The MACD reading is currently at -3.56 and RSI 14-day at 42.85 (bullish signal is above 50). The preponderance of evidence heading into the July 19 week is that the market needs to find support in the 1040 range.
Despite the poor economic data that pushed the market lower on Friday, 19 of 23 S&P 500 companies reporting thus far reported better than projected EPS, and 15 of them beat revenues as well.
Earnings reports will continue to flow in this week. In our portfolio Western Digital Corp (WDC, long position) reports profits on Tuesday while USG Corp (USG, short position) and Sun Trust Banks Inc (STI, short position) report their losses on July 22. We will continue to monitor the market action and look for guidance on entering new positions. Key support areas appear to be 1040, 1022 and then 995.
Dark Horse Hedge maintains 10% cash for swing trade opportunities and we are highlighting one for entry on Monday at the Open.
SHORT Terex Corp. (TEX) at the Open Monday.
TEX will report its latest loss figures on Tuesday, July 21. Twenty analysts project losses ranging from -$.15 to -$.44 with an average of -$.30. Looking back over the last four quarterly announcements, we see analysts often underestimate Terex’s losses. For example, in March 2010, analysts estimated -$.52 while the actual loss was $.64. In December 2009, analysts targeted -$.49 and TEX delivered -$.89. In September 2009, the loss was projected to be $.34 and the company came in at -$.77. In June 2009, investors were…
Sabrient Select Opportunity Virtual Portfolio
by Sabrient - July 15th, 2010 12:24 pm
TEX is a regular on the Dark Horse Hedge list of short candidates too…
Sabrient Select Opportunity Virtual Portfolio
July 15, 2010 - Sell Short TEX
The market is starting to feel very toppy and tentative. The Philly Fed disappointed this morning, and the market reacted poorly right away. With the risk more pronounced to the downside, and the market fighting resistance levels, I’m going to add another short position.
Terex Corp is an equipment manufacturer serving the construction, infrastructure, transportation, power and energy industries. It carries a STRONG SELL rating in the Sabrient Ratings Algorithm, and dismal Company Outlook Score of 2 and Value score of 24.
I am adding it as a Short position to the Select Opportunity Virtual Portfolio at a price of $18.58.
I’ll keep a tight mental stop of a closing price above Tuesday’s closing high around $19.10. This play should not move against us at all, so if it does, we’ll exit quickly.
Best Regards,
Emerging Markets ETF Optimist Buys Ratio Call Spread
by Phil - June 1st, 2010 4:19 pm
Today’s tickers: EEM, PFE, XLF, DELL, NWL, QCOR, SHOO, EWZ, SLB, DOW & TEX
EEM – iShares MSCI Emerging Markets Index ETF – Contrarian options activity on the EEM, an exchange-traded fund designed to produce investment results that correspond to the price and yield performance of the MSCI Emerging Markets Index, points to optimism the fund’s shares may rebound sharply by July expiration. Shares of the emerging markets ETF are down 1.10% to stand at $37.68 just before 3:30 pm (ET). One bullish strategist positioning for a rally in the next couple of months purchased a ratio call spread on the fund. The investor picked up 3,000 calls at the July $38 strike for an average premium of $2.05 each, and sold 6,000 calls at the higher July $41 strike for a premium of $0.73 apiece. The net cost of the transaction amounts to $0.59 per contract. The trader responsible for the ratio spread makes money as long as shares of the EEM rally 2.41% to surpass the effective breakeven price of $38.59. Maximum available profits of $2.41 per contract pad the investor’s wallet if, by expiration, shares of the emerging markets fund rally 8.80% to $41.00. Shares of the EEM last traded at $41.00 back on May 4, 2010.
PFE – Pfizer, Inc. – Shares of the research-based global pharmaceutical company earlier rallied slightly to an intraday high of $15.42, but slipped lower in afternoon trading to stand 0.40% lower on the day at $15.17 as of 2:45 pm (ET). Bullish options activity took place on the stock despite the slight share price erosion suggesting one investor expects Pfizer’s shares to rebound sharply by September expiration. The optimistic individual purchased a debit call spread, picking up roughly 4,000 calls at the September $17 strike for an average premium of $0.30 each, and selling about the same number of calls at the higher September $19 strike for an average premium of $0.06 apiece. The investor paid a net $0.24 per contract to establish the spread. Pfizer’s shares must rally 13.65% over the current price of $15.17 in order for the investor to break even on the transaction at $17.24. Shares must surge 25.25% to exceed $19.00 before the trader accrues maximum available profits of $1.76 per contract.
XLF – Financial Select Sector SPDR – A put spread on the XLF, an exchange-traded fund designed to yield investment results that correspond…
Goldman Sachs Bull Initiates Big Put Credit Spread
by Option Review - May 3rd, 2010 5:19 pm
Today’s tickers: GS, NLC, TEX & MMR
GS – Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. – A large-volume credit put spread enacted on Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. in the first half of the trading session indicates one big options player expects the investment banking firm’s shares to rebound sharply ahead of May expiration. Goldman’s shares are up 3.25% to $149.92 as of 12:35 pm (ET). The investor responsible for the credit spread sold 18,250 deeply in-the-money puts at the May $170 strike for a premium of $21.95 apiece, and purchased the same number of puts at the May $120 strike for $0.63 each. The bullish options player keeps the hefty net credit of $21.32 per contract if shares of the underlying stock surge 13.33% from the current price to exceed $170.00 by expiration day. The short stance taken in May $170 strike put options implies the investor is willing to bear the risk that GS shares settle below $170.00 at expiration, and is therefore prepared to have shares of the underlying stock put to him at an effective price of $148.68 each in the event the put contracts land in-the-money at expiration. The overall reading of options implied volatility on the stock is down 13% to 44.45% as of 12:45 pm (ET).
NLC – Nalco Holding Co. – Shares of the global provider of integrated water treatment and process improvement services, chemicals and equipment programs jumped 18.27% earlier in the trading day to a new 52-week – and intraday – high of $29.25 on news the firm is ramping up production of a chemical to manage the spreading oil slick in the Gulf of Mexico. Bullish options investors rejoiced in Nalco’s share price rally by purchasing call options on the stock. Near-term optimists picked up 1,300 calls at the May $30 strike for an average premium of $1.00 apiece. Bullish sentiment spread to the June $30 strike where 1,400 call options were purchased for an average premium of $1.29 each. June contract call-buyers stand prepared to amass profits should shares of the underlying stock rally 14.75% over the current price ($27.27 as of 12:55 pm (ET)) to surpass the average breakeven point at $31.29 by June expiration day. The surge in investor demand for options on the stock combined with the massive rally in the price of the underlying shares lifted Nalco’s overall reading of options implied volatility 116.1% to 61.73% just…
VIX-Investor Enacts Ratio Call Spread on Fear-Gauge
by Option Review - March 3rd, 2010 4:13 pm
Today’s tickers: VIX, JPM, PEP, MDVN, TEX, EWZ, COST, RSH, AMAG & TIVO
VIX – CBOE Volatility index – The fear-gauge spent the better portion of the session in the red, but edged higher in late-afternoon trading to stand up 1.20% to 19.29. Options players busily populated the VIX with a number of interesting trades during the session. One transaction in particular, however, focused our attention on activity in the May contract. A hefty ratio call spread involving a total of 30,000 call options at deeply out-of-the-money strike prices was established on the VIX today. The investor purchased 10,000 calls at the May 27.5 strike for a premium of $1.50 apiece, and sold 20,000 calls at the higher May 35 strike for $0.70 each. The net cost of the transaction is reduced to just $0.10 per contract. It is possible the investor was motivated to put on the spread because of the low cost of the trade and because of the allure of potential profits going forward. The trader appears to believe the VIX will likely breach the breakeven point on the spread at 27.60 in the next three months to expiration, but doubts the fear-gauge will explode up to the mid-30’s. Evidence to support such a scenario is abundant. First, the investor can almost taste victory because the VIX traded as high as 29.22 on February 5, 2010, which is well above the point at which he garners profits. Second, losses above and beyond the premium paid to initiate the trade seem unlikely because the Index failed to rise above 30 since early November of last year. The resistance of the volatility index at the 30-level persisted despite the drop in global markets after China waved the fear-flag by announcing plans to rein in its country’s economic growth at the end of January. Additionally, angst regarding Europe’s debt crisis and threats to the strength of the Euro were also unable to boost the VIX up above 30. The ratio call spread described above looks to be a relatively cheap way to profit from another bout of market turmoil or jump in investor uncertainty ahead of May expiration. We note that the index must rally at least 43% from its current level before the investor breaks even on the transaction at 27.60.
JPM – JPMorgan Chase & Co. – The banking institution’s shares surrendered intraday gains of about 1% over…
PSW Rewind of 2009 – The First Quarter
by Phil - January 1st, 2010 2:42 pm
Thursday’s close was very exciting, wasn’t it?
Well it sure was for us as my 10:01 Alert to Members was a play on the DIA Jan $103 puts at .56. Thanks to the late afternoon dip, they finished the day at .90 (up 60%) after peaking out at .95, a very nice win to close off the year. That was the only Alert trade all week as this market has been too tough to call and we don’t make trades just for the hell of it. I had been sniping at DIA puts all week expecting a pay-off but Thursday it finally came together.
Of course, I also strongly advocated hedging on Thursday morning and listed 4 trade ideas in the morning post to hedge ourselves against the possibility of just such a drop so don’t say you haven’t been warned. Whether there will be follow-through on Monday or a full reversal remains to be seen and, even if I knew, I wouldn’t tell you here because this is a review – predictions are another article entirely.
We treaded very cautiously into last year because our PSW Holiday Retail Survey was not looking very pretty so it was no surprise to us, on Dec 26th, when we got some horrific retail reports. These are, of course, the same reports that we "beat" this year – but not by much. Dec 29th was Monday and Israeli jets attacked Hamas targets in the Gaza sending oil flying up to $48 a barrel. That gave us a nice commodity rally into the close of the year but January 2nd was a Friday and we decided (fortunately) to take the money and run on our long plays, holding open our main cover of SKF Jan $120s at $4.35, which hit $80 later in the month (up 1,732%) and USO Feb $32 puts at $3.40, which hit $10.50 in the Feb dip (up 208%) so, on the whole, not too differently positioned than we are now, coming into the new year. Visually 2009 looked a little like this:
January – Waiting for Obama, or Something, to Change
We began January much the same way we ended December with my Wed Jan 7th comment being: "We call it "Testy Tuesday" for a reason and our 5% rule was tested twice during the day but the market failed to…
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Philip R. Davis is a founder Phil's Stock World, a stock and options trading site that teaches the art of options trading to newcomers and devises advanced strategies for expert traders...
Ilene is editor and affiliate program
coordinator for PSW. She manages the Favorites backup site
(