Against all prognostics (bears) Phil pointed in the morning the correct direction, and in middle of day he pointed the possible move to 2.5% Incredible… I'm starting to serious believe on the program trading and the human nature behind the programing those "trade-bots".
Spider
In options trading, one must remain flexible with the ability to adjust to take advantage of the unexpected moves in the market. It is like chess - spend most of your time strategizing the next move. A good understanding of options is necessary to change direction and make adjustments as the market moves against you. I have a friend that honed his option skills while a member of Phil's elite membership over a period of two years. With the education acquired, he made over $2 Mil in that period, trading options and following the plays put on by Phil. If making money is your goal, then he is the go-to guy, as he knows option strategies better than anyone, and market timing is also a skill he has mastered.
1234gel
I did the same thing via your logic (sold puts that is). I glanced one time and they were already up 15% which is considered a good return for an overnight hold in most circles. This is PSW though and to us it's just another day…
Kwan
Being on this board is better than successfully completing the Times crossword. Phil's panoply of comments manage to excite, illuminate, frustrate, exasperate, confuse, enlighten, outrage, invigorate and stupefy (and that's par for the morning session only!). But goddammit, it's addictive, informative and when it all goes right extremely profitable.
Winston
Phil I must say that it was really nice to have a portfolio that was looking very stable in the face of a rough day for the markets. I ended the day up 0.3% which includes another successful day of futures trading. So with a portfolio of mostly cash, a few of our faves like Apple and LL, JO, TOL, DIS, etc., along with a couple of hedges that paid off nicely today, and my futures trades, I never had to break a sweat during that madhouse today. Yes, by George (or Phil), I may be learning this system!
Craig
There are a lot of us that have been here a long time and we all learn something everyday. Just keep asking questions, there are a lot of smart people here and they are willing to help and then of course, you have Phil.
Jr Mints
USO, QQQ- Phil, thanks for these plays. Out of USO for about 65% gain today and just keeping 1/4 QQQ.
Ksone88
I cannot believe the success I have had in the last 6 months because of what I have learned here! It has been truly life changing. It's like the old adage about teaching someone how to fish instead of just giving them a fish. Thank you Phil, I am forever grateful and hope I have helped someone else along the way.
Craigsa620
Phil – BTW, the new STP/LTP coupled with the income portfolio is Perfect! I do not trade all of them, very few actually since I work during market hours. However, following the trades real-time is very educational. I did enter the ABX call if you recall, I rolled to July on that nonsense news that sent it tumbling. Out today for 110% gain (2.00 stop) not counting covering the loss from the earlier roll. Nonetheless, a good trade. Keep it up…. Thanks
JFawcett
Phil – just wanted to say a sincere thank you for teaching me how to offset, hedge, roll, and not panic. My account is up 10% in the last two weeks, and far from panic, this is becoming great fun. Thanks again,
Deano
Thank you so much for the good daily news in review Phil. I love your commentary! It is such a breath of fresh air in the smog cluttered news networks.
RJRoberts
Phil - Your logic not only makes sense, but it made a lot of premium profit for me over the past 12 months. I have recovered much of the massive equity losses of last year. My Monday play is the sale of long term puts on FXI. Love the premium!
Gel1
I thank you for the years of being my teacher, always took the time to answer my questions. You are the BEST !
QCMike
I must give kudos to Phil for changing my way of thinking. I'm a gambler by nature and used to just play the indexes with 3x etf's… well I still do, but the options give far better returns than I ever dreamed of. With these wild swings I've been catching 50-100% winners in days.
Mkucstars1
Phil/USO Adjustment~~ Thanks for showing us the make it even (maybe even profitable) tricks for 'fixing' a losing position. I would have never known the trick if you didn't explain it. The option adjustment techniques are very helpful. Trading stocks would probably never offer that kind of flexibilities! Thanks!
Investwizard
I have been with this site since the beginning and i have learned more the past 3 years than the previous 10. Information and great commentary are abound. The traders on the site are second to none and my portfolio has benefited greatly.
Kustomz
Hello Phil, Thanks for the heads up on the comming sell off on friday, and the bs job yesterday. your our guiding light!
Microflux
Phil, thanks for the webinar and options subject…I wasn't shown as attending but I was there for most of it. Your memory amazes me, your speed on the computer amazes me, your math skills blow me away. coke
Coke
Phil - FAS - I dont know whether to be happier I averaged down and sold calls or that I got myself out of FAZ the other day…thanks for that help
BCFla
Thanks, Phil!!! I just crushed today with it with silver (SLV) calls today, thanks to your persistent reminders of how ridiculously cheap it has become, and watching my TSLA this week $240 puts dissolve into chump change added an extra note of amusement.
Zeroxzero
Hey Phil, Your HOV suggestion about 3 months ago basically paid for my Philstockworld subscription for years to come. My average cost is about $1.
Ether
I have been around for many years now, was a modest inexperienced investor when I started, and I can honestly say I would not be at the point in my portfolio I am today without the guidance of Phil and JeanLuc and Yodi and all the others I've had the pleased of learning from and, on a few occasions meeting, over the years. Truly been a great experience.
RPeri
Peter D, Just a note of thanks. Eight weeks ago, I entered my first RUT strangles, when the RUT was at 625. Tomorrow, I will let them expire, with the RUT at 625 (give or take). I didn't care when the RUT went to 650, nor when it dropped to 590. Easiest, no touch money I've made in a long time.
Judahbenhur
I think that Phil is super, I am up 39.3% YTD. Thank you for your kindness and the opportunity to observe Phil from February.
KMisko
Man, what a week: Bought C at 1.40, sold half at 1.59 (relatively big position), another quarter at 3.04 just now. Ran SKF down from 270 with one April put, still holding some 115's expiring in a couple days. I'm going to gamble this position like a champion Friday. Bought FAS at all sorts of levels and started cashing out. Long HOV, stock and some nickel calls for fun - Mocha up your buy-out from 5 to 8 and that's 10,900% return for the May-2.50's . Ha!
Biodieselchris
Phil – I wanted to tell you how much of a privilege it is to learn from your every day. You are a shining beacon in the life of so many investors. You have assembled probably the best group of people in the history of financial blogging and you, yourself have done more to help investors in the last 6 months than all previous financial advisors combined.
StJeanLuc
Phil is a fundamentalist to his fingertips. His ability to value a stock goes well beyond p/e, as he understands the essence of many businesses, what gives them value and how they make their money. As such, his recommendations are invaluable to a investor who takes a value-oriented approach.
Zeroxzero
I have been a member off and on for years. Using these techniques I do consistently beat the S&P 500. Phil's Stock World has been the most important site in my financial life. It's impact on me over the past years has been huge. As have my tax bills!
Knightpilot
Phil - I know I am small change compared to most others members, but I just wanted to let you know that during the last two weeks with the shorts you and others suggested I have 6 winners and 5 losers. My losers were small because I tried to follow your guidelines as best I could. On the other hand my winners on average were around 50%. Consequently, I am up $2000 in 14 days. Thank you for your patience and help. I think I am making progress getting rid of some of my poor trading habits of the past!
DCalrk41
Wow, Phil, we pretty much made your levels. Your levels: Dow 7,404, S&P 775, Nas 1,466, NYSE 4,839 and RUT 402 My sceen is showing: Dow 7,404, S&P 777, Nas 1,462, NYSE 4,868 and RUT 404
Jordan
by ilene - July 5th, 2010 9:16 pm
Courtesy of The Economic Collapse Blog
The Standard & Poor’s 500 50-day moving average stands poised to cross beneath the 200-day moving average. To those in the financial industry, this is known as a "death cross", and it is a very powerful indicator that we could be entering a bearish period. So is this yet another sign that we are on the verge of a recession? Well, anyone who has spent much time trying to interpret financial charts will tell you how inexact that science can be. Financial markets can be wildly unpredictable, and there is always a tremendous amount of manipulation going on behind the scenes. However, when you add this impending death cross with all of the other signs that we could be entering a recession, there certainly seems to be reason for alarm. The truth is that financial markets across the globe are full of fear and panic right now. In fact, as noted in another article, the dominant force in world financial markets in 2010 is fear. When fear rules, markets become very volatile and they can fall very quickly. Anyone who has spent much time trying to squeeze profits out of world financial markets knows that they tend to fall much faster than they ever rise. So are we now approaching one of those times of panic when financial markets across the world fall at breathtaking speed?
Well, the truth is that nobody knows. Anyone who says that they can predict these things with 100 percent certainty is either a liar or they are unbelievably rich.
But certainly the mood in the financial markets is grim. If a death cross does happen on the S&P it is going to make things even more tense.
For those not familiar with investing terminology, Investopedia defines a "death cross" this way….
A crossover resulting from a security’s long-term moving average breaking above its short-term moving average or support level.
In this case, the death cross would be happening on the S&P 500, which is a weighted index of the prices of 500 large-cap common stocks actively traded in the United States. The S&P 500 is one of the most commonly used benchmarks for the overall U.S. stock market.
So how soon could we see a death cross on the S&P 500?
Well, some analysts believe that it could happen almost…
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by Chart School - April 22nd, 2010 9:15 pm
Courtesy of The Pragmatic Capitalist
A few weeks ago we joked that the SEC had banned all downticks. That might not sound so funny now as there have been almost zero downticks over the last two months. Stocks have rallied on 75% of all days and ever 0.5% dip has been aggressively bought into. This market is an unstoppable bear killing machine. Equities have reversed their full 1.5% losses from this morning as the “buy the dip” trade continues to dominate every minute of every day. The truly amazing rally just doesn’t quit:
******
As an aside, you might ask, who ISN’T buying?
Corporate insiders, that’s who. Look at these charts from Insider Cow:
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by Chart School - March 23rd, 2010 2:45 pm
Courtesy of The Pragmatic Capitalist
Lord help you if you’ve been short for the last 4 weeks. Over this time period, stocks have risen on 85% of the days and the market has felt entirely invincible. Small dips are quickly gobbled up by aggressive buyers. I would argue that this has been the most impressive portion of the entire 70% move from the lows in March 2009. Stocks have surged 8% (that’s a 96% annualized rate for those keeping track) in less than 4 weeks as the market has risen in 22 of the last 26 sessions. Impressive might just be an understatement.
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by Chart School - October 28th, 2009 4:24 pm
Mish thinks the top is either in or should be, if fundamentals matter anymore. He’s made a lot of good calls in the past. – Ilene
Courtesy of Mish
Professor David Waggoner posted the following chart yesterday on Minyanville that I think is worth noting.
click on chart for sharper image
Professor Waggoner commented "The next intermediate level pivot down is around 882. It is a 50% retrace of the entire move up from the low and is a possible pivot for an extension of the entire A-B-C pattern off the low. It is also a natural support level as shown on the chart.
These intermediate level targets are based on the interpretation that the move up from the March low is a corrective retrace of a 5 wave set down from October 2007.
I concur with Professor Waggoner’s analysis.
The important point in above chart is that the move up from the March low is likely a correction, not the start of a new bull market. That information alone is worth far more than any details as to how the market may decline from here. Many patterns are still in play.
Depending on the index, you can count these moves off the bottom as a simple A-B-C correction as shown, or as an A-B-C-D-E wedge. We’ll know which one was correct in hindsight, but both suggest stocks will eventually make new lows – either sooner (in 2010) or later. A multi-year top could be in. Fundamentally, it should be in.
In the short-term, if we have in fact seen the end of the rally, the SPX will likely decline to the 200 day moving average, currently at 916. By the time we get there, it could be in the neighborhood of the 38% retrace line near 933. If things go quickly, it could be down there by the end of the year.
This is not a recommendation to short; this is a notice that risk is tremendously high and a top could be (and in my opinion should be) in. The market may have other ideas.
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by ilene - October 1st, 2009 2:58 pm
Courtesy of The Pragmatic Capitalist
Some good thoughts here from David Rosenberg on the current state of the market:
It is really amazing to sift through the fund flow data because it is so apparent that it is the “pros” that are chasing this market higher. The private client is fully aware that two bubbles burst seven years apart as Wall Street product-pushers came up with back-to-back new paradigms — the first being the tech mania followed by a new era of housing and credit finance…
It is not lost on the individual investor that equities have generated no net return over the last 11 years and that we are very clearly in the middle of a classic secular bear market. What is amazing, and indeed, encouraging, is that the long-term resolve of the investor is not being overwhelmed by greed as Wall Street strategists push the theory of pricing the market on “mid-cycle” earnings and economists push the theory that data that come in “less negative” is actually bullish.
To be chasing the market after a 60% rally that is now priced for a V-shaped recovery is clearly not the strategy being deployed by the private investor, at the margin. So, what we see as evidence is the record $42.91 billion that flowed into U.S. bond funds in August, on top of the $34.7 billion intake in July. Year-to-date, bond funds have taken in a net $180 billion, about double the $92 billion during the comparable period in 2008.
It’s not as if people are selling equities — they are just watering down their already-high exposure in the stock market. Equity-based funds attracted $3.86 billion of new inflow in August, bringing the cumulative tally to $15 billion. So, it is very interesting to see where the “mountain of money”, “cash on the sidelines” and “dry powder” is going. Into fixed-income. For every dollar flowing into equity funds, twelve is flowing into bond funds.
To be sure, some will point to this as some sort of a bullish contrary data-point. Then again, maybe there is a secular demographic development that needs to be understood — a survey recently conducted by AARP (American Association of Retired Professionals) found that 49% of those between 45 and 64 years old are not confident that they have saved sufficiently for retirement. Fully 12% of this
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by Chart School - September 17th, 2009 7:41 pm
Click here for a FREE, 90-day trial subscription to our PSW Report!
Rob Hanna follows up on his previous article, "Never Have So Many Stocks Been So Stretched Above …," showing that the number of stocks trading at prices two standard deviations above their 200ma was at an all time high. – Ilene
Courtesy of Rob Hanna at Quantifiable Edges
With Wednesday’s big rally, we are now seeing even more extraordinary numbers. Not only is T2111 up to 58.51%, but T2112, which measures the % of stocks trade at least 2 standard deviation above their 40-DAY moving average, is also in record territory. It is showing that a remarkable 57.19% of stocks are now stretched far above their 40-ma’s.
The action in T2112 truly exemplifies the uniqueness of the rally since March. Below is a long-term look at the indicator. Note that from 1986 through 2008 the highest reading this indicator ever registered was 37.22% in November of 2004. That record has been blown away repeatedly over the last 6 months.
There simply is no comparison over the last 23 years to what we are seeing in this recent rally. There have now 5 distinct periods in the last 6 months where T2112 has rallied through the old high. And now we’re seeing the most extreme breadth numbers of all.
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by ilene - September 11th, 2009 11:52 am
Have you wondered, is it true, is the rally really due to tons of money lying around with nowhere else to go?
Courtesy of The Pragmatic Capitalist
Is the real economy rebounding or is this just a liquidity/stimulus driven rebound? David Rosenberg has an opinion:
IT’S ALL ABOUT LIQUIDITY, ROSENBERG!
This is what we are hearing. The fundamentals take a back seat because there is so much liquidity to be put to work, and it all must go into equities. This reminds us of all the liquidity talk during the bubble peak of late 2007. The reality is that the mountain of money is no higher or lower than it was when the market was plumbing the depths through 2008 — money market mutual funds back then were $3.5 trillion and guess what? Today they are $3.5 trillion. Go figure.
So you see, liquidity is a catch-all term when nobody can really explain why the market is going up. This rally is based on a lot of hope that we are going to see a V-shaped economic recovery in the U.S. The S&P 500 is priced for 4% real GDP growth. We don’t see it. Try 2%, which is what the investment-grade corporate bond market is priced for. If we get 4% GDP growth then the equity market is fully priced, but that sort of economic expansion would take Baa spreads of U.S. Treasuries down another 100bps to 200bps, if historical relationships were to hold. But if we see 2%, then at least you will clip your coupon in the fixed-income market. The S&P 500, which at one point would have licked its chops over such a possible outcome (back when it was priced for -2.5% growth last March), would now see 2% growth as a disappointment and would correct down towards 850, again, based on our models.
I would argue that it’s all about psychology really. As the global economy began to fall off a cliff last summer and fall investors began to worry. When we saw some of our most prominent financial institutions vulnerable investors panicked and sold everything. Now, we’re seeing the return of rational thinking and cooler heads. The government has certainly helped to steady the markets, but what has really returned to the market is some semblance of confidence. What the government needs to start worrying…
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by ilene - September 1st, 2009 10:17 pm
Courtesy of Jesse’s Café Américain
The observations herein regarding the nature of this stock market rally are quite in parallel with our own.
Buying the dollar to play the debt deflation trade may also be a good one in the short run, especially if leveraged foreign punters have to quickly raise cash to cover bad bets made in the US markets.
However we would have to add that this scenario assumes no black swans with regards to the heavy overhang of US dollars being held by overseas central banks.
If we were in such a position, we would be selling the rallies, given the huge amount dollars on the books.
Bloomberg
Goldman Sachs Wrong on Economic Recovery, Macro Hedge Funds Say
By Cristina Alesci
Sept. 1 (Bloomberg) — Paul Tudor Jones, the billionaire hedge-fund manager who outperformed peers last year, is wagering that Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Morgan Stanley got it wrong in declaring the start of an economic recovery.
Jones’s Tudor Investment Corp., Clarium Capital Management LLC and Horseman Capital Management Ltd. are taking a bearish stand as U.S. stock and bond prices rise, saying that record government spending may be forestalling another slowdown and market selloff. The firms oversee a combined $15 billion in so- called macro funds, which seek to profit from economic trends by trading stocks, bonds, currencies and commodities.
“If we have a recovery at all, it isn’t sustainable,” Kevin Harrington, managing director at Clarium, said in an interview at the firm’s New York offices. “This is more likely a ski-jump recession, with short-term stimulus creating a bump that will ultimately lead to a more precipitous decline later.”
Equity and credit markets have rallied on hopes that government intervention is pulling the U.S. out of the deepest economic slump since the Great Depression. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index jumped 51 percent from its 12-year low in March through yesterday.
The economy will expand at an annualized rate of 2 percent or more in four straight quarters through June 2010, the first such streak in more than four years, according to the median estimate of at least 53 forecasters in a Bloomberg survey.
Tudor, the Greenwich, Connecticut-based firm started by Jones in the early 1980s, told clients in an Aug. 3 letter that the stock market’s climb was a…
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by Chart School - August 29th, 2009 4:45 pm
Here’s a comparison chart of this market rally with market rallies during the 1929-1932 bear market. Today’s rally is slightly longer than the longest. But is there any reason to expect greater similarity or, for that matter, that things will be different this time around? – Ilene
Courtesy of Prieur du Plessis’s Investment Postcards from Cape Town
How does the nascent stock market rally compare with the 1929-1932 bear market, which also included bank failures, bankruptcies, severe stock market declines, etc.?
For some perspective, Chart of the Day provided the graph below, illustrating the duration (calendar days) and magnitude (percentage gain) of all significant Dow rallies during the 1929-1932 bear market (solid blue dots).
As the chart shows, the duration of the current rally of the Dow Jones Industrial Index (hollow blue dot labeled “You are here”) is longer than that of any of the rallies that occurred during the 1929-1932 bear market. The bear market rally that began in November 1929 lasted 155 calendar days and occupies the second position. However, as far as magnitude is concerned, the November 1929 rally (+48%) resulted in a better performance than the 46% gain of the Dow since the low of March 9.
Source: Chart of the Day, August 28, 2009.
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by ilene - August 25th, 2009 5:53 pm
Courtesy of The Pragmatic Capitalist
* weak data = Fed ease, stocks rally
* consensus data = lower volatility, stocks rally
* strong data = economy strengthening, stocks rally
* bank loses $4bln = bad news out of the way, stocks rally
* oil spikes = great for energy companies, stocks rally
* oil drops = great for the consumer, stocks rally
* dollar plunges = great for multinationals, stocks rally
* dollar spikes = lowers inflation, stocks rally
* inflation spikes = will inflate all assets, stocks rally
* inflation drops = improves earnings quality, stocks rally
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August 17th, 2018 8:05 am
Courtesy of Chris Kimble.
CLICK ON CHART TO ENLARGE
The Russell 2000 trend remains solidly higher, as it has created a series of higher lows and higher highs inside of rising channel (1) over the past 25-years.
Small caps have been an upside leader in 2018, as they are very near all-time highs.
We applied Fibonacci extension levels to the 2007 highs and 2009 lows at each (2).
Joe Friday Just The Facts Ma’am- Small caps are attempting a dual breakout at (3).
This is a price point that small-cap bulls would LOVE to see strength and a breakout take place, as monthly momentum is lofty.
–
...
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...
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