Phil's Stock World, Stock Options Trading & Information

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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

Phil: I am always able to figure out your trades, including the rational when put in the right context of previous comments, etc. Keep doing what you're doing. It is much appreciated, and invaluable. Your hit rate of successful trades has been very high in my 1.5 months as a member, but even more importantly is your teaching of how to repair and DD positions that haven't gone your way yet. As with most members, we all have our ‘pet' trading interests, and learning how to think about trading is much more important than a specific trade, which could see the conditions behind it change an hour later. This is the classic case, of ‘Teach us to Fish', rather than just giving us a fish once in a while. Thank you!

- Neverworkagain

New member/1st time posting: Thanks Phil and Pharm for the rec on TOS. I've emailed Scott to get myself setup so I hope to hear back soon. As a newbie on PSW for a month now, I've been readin' and readin' and readin'. Gonna start paper-trading for a while. See how I do before putting a single dime into it. New at options but seems like this is the best training and educational platform out there. I'm a long-time mortgage broker who got too involved with real estate investing. LOVED your article, Phil, on mortgage interest scams. Right on!! Let me know if and how I can contribute back to the community here. Cheers! - Mark

- Mark

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

I've recently done exactly what Phil described. I upgraded my ability to trade the IRA acct. by transferring acct. from TDA to TOS. TDA would not allow spreads; TOS does. Neither will allow naked options. With spreads I am able to buy calls or puts several months out then sell front month calls or puts over and over. This allows me to collect premium, which is, of course, the goal. This wasn't an original idea. Phil put me onto it. Since the transfer I've substantially increased my performance in the IRA!

- Iflantheman

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

Sold the BG puts I got yesterday at $1.30 for $2 just now. Might be a little early, but I'm happy with that gain. Thanks Phil.

- Smasher

Simply the best blogger with the greatest group of members a person could surround himself with on trading day. I've been trading for quite some time now and the insights & suggestions offered by Phil and the members keep me on a continuous learning cycle.

- DDay

BTW Phil, I wanted to relate a conversation I had with my business partner yesterday. I told him that I have been much more relaxed about my investments ever since I joined your site. It's funny how a 15-20% cushion does to your nerves. My returns have increased dramatically and my risk diminished. Many thanks for the guidance and patience. Good thing I am doing better financially as you might have increased my life expectancy as well!

- StJeanluc

Phil I have been applying your arsenal (matresses, Edz plays, Ugl verticals etc.) to my gold holdings . So a big thank you for "teaching me how to fish" rather than just giving me the fish...

- Magret

Newer member here, but just wanted to say thank you too. I've learned so much and I hope you'll be around for a long time helping us learn along the way.

- Where

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

Being a bear is easy (and I am not convinced we are doing all that well on the whole as an economy), but one cannot fight the trend (didn't Phil say that a while ago)? Just cover, make 5-10-15-20% and move on. It really does add up by chipping away. All I can say is I am back to 2007 levels in my account b'f the crash with this run up and some very nice help on this board….so kudos to us (and me!!)…

- Pharmboy

Thanks for your thoughts against buying BP ahead of earnings (yesterdays' member comments). It announced a loss of $3.3b and is down 3% in pre-market but still just above the bottom of the chaneel of $40-$50.

- mSquare

Opt, I think the hardest thing is being disciplined enough to trade with you. Atleast now when I see something go in the red I know how much I'm going to loose and that I will profit somewhere else and have enough money left at the end of the day to trade again. Thanks for all your hard work! My stress levels are down 75% and I have even made a small profit in the short time I've been here

- Mopar

Hi Phil, Thanks for the free disaster hedge ideas. I implemented variations of two of them on SDS bull call spreads and EEM bear put spreads (haven't done the TZA yet) and they really hedged my short term longs nicely today. Makes it seem a lot less like gambling. You are the man (of the people)!

- Howard Roake

Phil/BCS - Didn't realise they traded here. Should've known really. Thanks for the tip. managed to pick some up just before the close at a 15% discount to the UK closing price.

- DB

Phil - I just referred 10 people. Last week was a 50% gainer for me. There are companies that want to sell mentoring service for thousands of dollars. This is far better of a deal with very good advice.

- Steve

I would like to thank Phil and PSW crew for the insight and assistance (even the liberals). In December I initiated long stock positions buying stock, writing calls and puts in AAPL, WFR and CHK (scaling in and out). Over the last week I have been trimming back my positions selling stock and taking out my callers and putters. I am now back to my initial 25% position that I started with in December. However this time, my cost basis on shares AAPL, WFR, and CHK is $0! With money to spare from those positions.

- Texasmotion

Phil… My portfolio, in the past few months, has acheived a high degree of stabilization. I've noticed that on up days, down days, even days, it doesn't matter, my portfolio rarely varies more than 2%. And over the long haul it just slowly increases in value. I attribute this not to investment choices, but to style. Thanks to you and others on this site I'm paying close attention to position size, delta neutrality, downside protection, and concentrating on selling premium rather than buying it. I've developed increasing patience, not having to trade daily, or even weekly. I'm concentrating on the finer points of trading, letting the profits come to me, rather than the other way around. I appreciate the help everyone here has given in getting me focused on this principle. I'm pumped!…in a calm sort of way.

- Iflantheman

Phil/Everyone here/Thank you - What everyone here with their insightful comments (including yourself) has helped me with is that I'm greatly increasing my ability to trade more psychologically neutral, although I've got a ways to go. Two years ago I'd wake up early and my heart would race if futures weren't pointing exactly how I wanted… I've noticed an exponential leap in my discipline skills especially over this past two weeks. The old me would have ran with that trade for profits without even asking. Now I know that there are ALWAYS more trades and that I have PLENTY of options to turn a bad trade even. Also, it's more logical and less emotionally draining which lets me focus my faculties on my wife, college, my job, and studying for the ol' Series 7. Would it be safe to say that one of the most important skills to develop is the ability to adjust? I'd love to get to the point where I can look at a bracket and know, for example, what I need to sell for cover in what month in order to get my desired results. Both COF and my past DMM venture have been excellent learning experiences. Thanks, everyone. I look forward to further lessons.

- Skasiah

Phil - I caught the interview…. terrific!. Your host recommended that the viewers should " go to your site, as you will be entertained ". That is for sure if you consider entertainment is laughing while you read, learn and make unbelievable leveraged profits that you never thought were possible. That is my kind of entertainment !

- Gel1

TBT - Many thanks, Phil. I join you in your opinion favoring the Jan expirations. That's a great play. I can never thank you enough for what I have gained educationally as well as monitarily. Here it is late Sunday evening and I am able to get world class advice, just by asking for it. I feel like I am staying in a 5 star hotel, and room service is just a telephone call away!

- Gel1

Phil - I am 3 month follower and shout a big thanks for all the good advice and training. I read all the materials and posts as suggested. I am retired CFO and took over my investments 2 years ago from broker after frustration with returns. I followed some conservative advice for retirees and have 60% bonds currently in a 5m portfolio. I had been doing covered calls on my stocks to boost returns and slowly am getting more aggressive after following your site and my son who has been with you for 6 months. I allocated 1.5m to stocks and am scaling up from 30%. I did some of the trades suggested in early June using Aug & Oct buy/writes on CSCO, WMT, MON, WFR, DO in addition to calls on XOM, CVX, PEP, PG, WM, T that I owned. Most are doing very well (4-24%) in 60 days. My good problem is that instead of getting longer, I will be making 6% quickly (50% plus annualized) and getting called away on many positions. What would you advise for getting long again. Thanks again for such a great job advising all of us!

- TXChili

I picked up one of your recommended Gold plays, the July ABX 30s and sold the Feb 35s, which are now mostly intrinsic value. Is it time to roll these to the March 37.50s, or should I wait this spike out?

- Bill Hoffman

WOW!!!!!!!!!!!! How will I ever do anything else in my life that will compare to the wild ride you get trading an ultra etf in the most volatile sector in the stock market the day before option expiration?

- Matt1966

WOW, look at DRYS go. Nice call on the entry the other week Phil. I got 200 at $6.66 and sold a 7.5 call for $.50, then on the tear today sold another 7.5 call for $1. This should puts me in at an average of $5.91 and called away at $7.5 for a profit of $300+ after commisions. Once again another Phil trade pays for this months membership.

- Craigzooka

I am an investor, not a trader. The information at Phil's World is top-notch and always relevant. It is great to see your website thriving.

- Prof

Phil: I loaded up big time yesterday on your suggestion of the AMZN September 75 naked puts. They are up 43%!

- Gel1

Phil - I celebrate today, having reached my goal for the year, trading in sync with your education and guidance, of 1 million in profit. I learned a lot, achieved much, and am profoundly grateful. To be honest, when I set the goal I thought it was daunting, as I have for many years been an investor in equities but did very little with options. Learning and doing has for me been a blast! I reached my goal by following Phil's strategies - lots of Buy/Writes, covered calls on equities , naked put entries for income production. I did it with 2.5 mil and kept 600,000 in cash in case I got in trouble. I concentrated on stocks (many of my own choosing) that had decent dividends and wrote front month calls against (OTM) which has worked well in this market run. 25% of my gain is in dividends and premium selling, with the balance in appreciation.

- Gel1

Archive for the ‘Phil’s Favorites’ Category

Jobless Claims Improve, Leading Indicators Decline: Economic Report Card

by ilene - September 22nd, 2011 5:36 pm

Courtesy of John Nyaradi.

Jobless claims improve while leading indicators decline in today’s economic report card

by Wall Street Sector Selector Staff

Weekly jobless claims declined to 424,000 from last week’s 432, 000 but stubbornly stayed above the all important 400,000 level for another week.

August Leading Indicators came in at +0.3% compared to 0.5% for July, as the economy continues registering weakness.

Good news came from July Home Prices which rose to +0.8% from the previously reported +0.7%.

But the biggest economic news of the week came yesterday when the Federal Reserve said it saw “significant downside risks to the economic outlook, including strains in global financial markets.”

Global stock markets responded negatively yesterday and today and Wall Street Sector Selector remains in the defensive mode, expecting lower prices ahead.

Click here to learn more about John’s book and for a free membership to Wall Street Sector Selector

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How Long Might It Take To Get Rich from Gold Stocks?

by ilene - September 22nd, 2011 5:03 pm

Courtesy of John Nyaradi.

Courtesy of Jeff Clark, Casey Research

Let’s just admit it: we’re invested in gold stocks not just to make money, but for the chance to change our lifestyles. And with their lackadaisical year-to-date performance, one may begin to wonder if they’re still going to bring the magic.

While the answer will depend as much on the individual investor as it does the market, let’s look at some historical patterns to get a hint as to how similar or different our situation is to past bull markets, as well as what realistic expectations we can hold about the future.

The first thing I wanted to know is if there is historical precedence for gold stocks to underperform gold during a bull market. If so, then maybe what we’re experiencing isn’t out of the ordinary, and more importantly, wouldn’t necessarily mean they are destined to continue lagging. And that brings us to our first historical observation…

Gold stocks underperformed gold for two years prior to the 1979-‘80 mania. What many frustrated investors don’t realize is that leading up to the blow-off top in gold in 1980, gold producers lagged the metal for two full years. From January 1977 through the end of 1978, gold rose 58.4%. But gold stocks, as measured by Barron’s Gold Mining Index, were up only 11.7%. The metal outperformed the producers by a margin of four to one, despite it being the middle of a bull market.

Today, gold is up 26.5% year-to-date (through September 19), while gold stocks (GDX) have risen only 3.2%. This is a similar pattern to the pre-mania behavior of the last bull market; it tells us that the current relationship between gold and the equities is not abnormal.

Let’s look at the mania itself and see what else we can learn. Here’s a chart of gold and gold stocks in 1979 and 1980:

Once the mania began, gold producers returned roughly four times the money. From January 1, 1979 through their peak in October, 1980, gold stocks rose $293.6%. The metal gained 274.8% during its part of the mania, hitting its pinnacle of $850 on January 21, 1980.

The big action was with the juniors and explorers; the average return of 15 companies we sampled was 2,313% during this 22-month period. What’s ahead could be truly spectacular.

Gold stocks peaked nine…

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22 Reasons Why The S&P 500 Is Headed Below 1050 (SPY, TLT, UUP, SH, GDX)

by ilene - September 22nd, 2011 2:32 pm

Courtesy of John Nyaradi.

Courtesy of Chris Ciovacco, Ciovacco Capital

There are numerous fundamental and technical reasons supporting a move below 1,050 on the S&P 500:

The market is fixated on the approval of the next bailout for Greece. There is little evidence supporting an “all clear” signal in the markets if the next pile of money is delivered to Greece. As signaled by the bond market, Greece is most likely headed for default.
It may only be a matter of time before the bond market turns its full attention toward Italy. The expression, “Italy is too big to fail, but too big to bail”, says it all.
Politicians in the United States are more interested in getting re-elected and catering to their core base than solving problems, which is an ongoing and sad commentary on the lack of leadership in this country.
Before the dot-com bust, investors thought stocks were invincible, which was somewhat rational since the S&P 500 went on a credit-fueled bull run from 1982 to 2000. The NASDAQ, a recent market “leader”, remains 50% below the March 2000 peak of 5,048. Needless to say, as we enter the third bear market in the last eleven years, investors no longer think “stocks always go up”. Consequently, they will be much less willing to listen to the self-serving Wall Street creed of “you have to think long-term”. A mass exodus from stocks could make 2008 look like a correction.
Before the mother of all credit bubbles burst in 2008, investors believed “housing prices can never go down.” After watching their home equity evaporate before their eyes, homeowners around the globe fully understand that asset prices, all asset prices, fall after a credit bubble bursts.
Until very recently, investors thought the Fed was omnipotent. Yesterday’s reaction to ‘Operation Twist’ clearly demonstrates the investing public understands fiddling with the money supply and shifting a bond portfolio on the deck of the economic Titanic has significant limitations and unintended consequences. On September 9, we noted the market’s collective yawn to the Wall Street Journal headline, “Fed Prepares to Act.” This was a clear signal the markets were not excited about ‘Operation Twist’.
Government bailouts and large-scale stimulus spending are a thing of the past. The Fed and deficit spending prevented the last bear market

…

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Economic Report Card: September 21, 2011

by ilene - September 21st, 2011 9:10 pm

Courtesy of John Nyaradi.

Economic news from the housing industry and the Federal Reserve statement dominated economic news today.

by Wall Street Sector Selector Staff

Positive economic news came from the housing sector today as August Existing Home Sales rose to 5.03 million, up from 4.67 million in July and hitting a new high not seen seen last April.

The FOMC statement regarding “Operation Twist” dominated the news and painted a relatively glum picture of U.S. unemployment and economic growth. See Fed Statement

Tomorrow’s economic news brings weekly jobless claims and August Leading Indicators

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Disclaimer: Wall Street Sector Selector actively trades a wide range of exchange traded funds and positions can change at any time.

Click here to learn more about John’s book and for a free membership to Wall Street Sector Selector

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Fed Day: Federal Reserve Statement (IEF)

by ilene - September 21st, 2011 8:55 pm

Courtesy of John Nyaradi.

Dr. Bernanke and his colleagues at the Federal Reserve spoke today, iniatiating “Operation Twist,” and they were rewarded with a convincing sell off on Wall Street.

by Wall Street Sector Selector Staff

The full FOMC statement follows:

“Information received since the Federal Open Market Committee met in August indicates that economic growth remains slow. Recent indicators point to continuing weakness in overall labor market conditions, and the unemployment rate remains elevated. Household spending has been increasing at only a modest pace in recent months despite some recovery in sales of motor vehicles as supply-chain disruptions eased.

Investment in nonresidential structures is still weak, and the housing sector remains depressed. However, business investment in equipment and software continues to expand. Inflation appears to have moderated since earlier in the year as prices of energy and some commodities have declined from their peaks. Longer-term inflation expectations have remained stable.

Consistent with its statutory mandate, the Committee seeks to foster maximum employment and price stability. The Committee continues to expect some pickup in the pace of recovery over coming quarters but anticipates that the unemployment rate will decline only gradually toward levels that the Committee judges to be consistent with its dual mandate. Moreover, there are significant downside risks to the economic outlook, including strains in global financial markets.

The Committee also anticipates that inflation will settle, over coming quarters, at levels at or below those consistent with the Committee’s dual mandate as the effects of past energy and other commodity price increases dissipate further. However, the Committee will continue to pay close attention to the evolution of inflation and inflation expectations.

To support a stronger economic recovery and to help ensure that inflation, over time, is at levels consistent with the dual mandate, the Committee decided today to extend the average maturity of its holdings of securities. The Committee intends to purchase, by the end of June 2012, $400 billion of Treasury securities with remaining maturities of 6 years to 30 years and to sell an equal amount of Treasury securities with remaining maturities of 3 years or less. This program should put downward pressure on longer-term interest rates and help make broader financial conditions more accommodative. The Committee will regularly review the size and composition of its securities holdings and is prepared to
adjust those holdings as appropriate.

To help support conditions…

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Can You Do The Twist? (DIA, SPY, IWM, QQQ, GLD)

by ilene - September 21st, 2011 8:04 pm

Courtesy of John Nyaradi.

Markets were pummeled today despite news of the Fed’s proposed $400 billion “Operation Twist” and improved existing home sales.

It seems that the markets do not want to or do not know how to twist to the new news of the Fed intervention. Operation “Twist” entails a $400 billion bond swap by buying long term securities and selling an equal amount of short term securities in an effort to stimulate the economy. The move would also buy more mortgage backed securities.

Either way, markets did not twist in cooperation.

The Republican party does not want to twist either, especially since the Fed’s move comes after top Republican leaders sent Dr. Bernanke a letter on Monday, instructing him to stop easing the economy in order to restore business and consumer confidence in the economy.

The Fed’s news also comes after President Obama and his new friend, Warren Buffet, called for tax hikes on the wealthy and passage of the President’s new Jobs plan earlier this week, both of which will have a hard time twisting their way through Congress.

In any case, the Fed’s decisions further illustrate that the Fed, President Barack Obama, and Congress are out of time, money, and dance moves, as nobody can seem to twist us out of this mess of a political and economic gridlock.

In other news, 22 more banks have officially left the TARP program, and Bank of America, Well’s Fargo, and Citibank took a downgrade by Moody’s. In better (hopeful) news, August existing home sales grew 7.7%, a new 5 month high.

I like to twist, but this is getting way out of hand.

Global Stock Market Summary:

Dow Jones Industrials: (DIA) -2.93, -2.57%

S&P 500: (SPY) -3.54, -2.95%

Russell 2000: (IWM) -2.56, -3.7%

Nasdaq 100: (QQQ) -.98, -1.74

Gold (GLD): $1783.00 -1.3%

Tomorrow is another important day with more jobless claims.

Enjoy your evening, wherever you may be!

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Disclaimer: Wall Street Sector Selector trades a wide variety of Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) and positions can change at anytime.

Click here to learn more about John’s book and for a free membership to Wall Street Sector Selector

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Market Forecasting Fed Dissapointment (SPY, TLT, UUP, GDX, SH)

by ilene - September 21st, 2011 2:28 pm

Courtesy of John Nyaradi.

Courtesy of Chris Ciovacco, Ciovacco Capital

As shown in the chart below, the Dow was having a rough day on August 9 as it waited for the Fed’s statement to be released. After digesting the pledge to keep interest rates low “at least through mid-2013”, stocks spent the rest of the day rallying.

A Big Fed Disappointment? - Ciovacco Capital - Short Takes

Since top performing ETFs that experience gains on above average volume can turn out to be attractive investments during the subsequent rally, we screened ETFs after the close on August 9 looking for:

The day’s top performers in terms of percentage gain.
ETFs that trade at least 500,000 shares per day.
ETFs that had daily volume on August 9 above their 3-month average volume (conviction).

The screen above helps us keep track of where institutions, pension funds, hedge funds, etc. are seeing potential for gains. You would think that if the market was anticipating a similar bullish reaction to this Wednesday’s Fed announcement, the top ETFs from August 9 would have (a) made money on Tuesday (9/20), and (b) seen a lot of buying interest as measured by trading volume. There were fifty-three ETFs that met the criteria above after the close on August 9. On Tuesday of this week, only 25% of the fifty-three ETFs made money, posting an average gain of 0.49%. The lack of interest in Fed-friendly assets was highlighted by the 75% of the fifty-three ETFs that lost ground on Tuesday, posting an average loss of 0.79% (see table below).

A Big Fed Disappointment? - Ciovacco Capital - Short Takes

Using the figures above, a back of the envelope “Fed Risk-Reward Announcement Forecast” yields a weak ratio of 0.20. A ratio of 1.00 would “forecast” 50-50 odds of a favorable reaction to the Fed. Tuesday’s ETF activity leans toward a disappointing reaction to Wednesday’s Fed announcement. Obviously, the most important thing to watch is price and volume action (conviction of buyers) from 2:15 to 4:00 p.m. on Wednesday. However, given the Fed has telegraphed its menu of possible policy options, the market does not seem to be anticipating a strong rally to follow the Fed announcement; if it did, it stands to reason the buying interest in Fed-friendly ETFs would have been more convincing on Tuesday.

Is the market anticipating a somewhat surprising announcement of QE3? Based on the performance of QE2-winning…

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Another way to buy gold

by ilene - September 20th, 2011 7:28 pm

Courtesy of John Nyaradi.

John Nyaradi’s ETF Edge on MarketWatch.com

Commentary: Gold miner funds could offer strong opportunities

By John Nyaradi

Exchange-traded funds tracking the price of physical gold have been in the spotlight for months as the price of the yellow metal has trended into record territory. Lagging and less noticed, however, are funds tracking gold miners stocks that now could offer a profitable way to participate in gold’s rally.

Click Here To Continue Reading

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Is the US Monetary System on the Verge of Collapse?

by ilene - September 20th, 2011 7:06 pm

Courtesy of John Nyaradi.

Courtesy of David Galland, Casey Research

Tune into CNBC or click onto any of the dozens of mainstream financial news sites, and you’ll find an endless array of opinions on the latest wiggle in equity, bond and commodities markets. As often as not, you’ll find those opinions nestled side by side with authoritative analysis on the outlook for the economy, complete with the author’s carefully studied judgment on the best way forward.

Lost in all the noise, however, is any recognition that the US monetary system – and by extension, that of much of the developed world – may very well be on the verge of collapse. Falling back on metaphor, while the world’s many financial experts and economists sit around arguing about the direction of the ship of state, most are missing the point that the ship has already hit an iceberg and is taking on water fast.

Yet if you were to raise your hand to ask 99% of the financial intelligentsia whether we might be on the verge of a failure of the dollar-based world monetary system, the response would be thinly veiled derision. Because, as we all know, such a thing is unimaginable!

Think again.

Monetary Madness

Honestly describing the current monetary system of the United States in just a few words, you could do far worse than stating that it is “money from nothing, cash ex nihilo.”

That’s because for the last 40 years – since Nixon canceled the dollar’s gold convertibility in 1971 – the global monetary system has been based on nothing more tangible than politicians’ promises not to print too much.

Unconstrained, the politicians used the gift of being able to create money out of nothing to launch a parade of politically popular programs, each employing fresh brigades of bureaucrats, with no regard to affordability.

Such programs invariably surged during political campaigns and on downward slopes in the business cycle when politicians hearing the cries of the constituency to “do something” tossed any concern about balancing budgets out the window of expediency. After all, the power to print up the funds for debt service whenever needed makes moot any concern over deficit spending.

Former VP Cheney, who fashions himself a fiscal conservative, let the mask drop when, in 2002, he stated that “Reagan proved deficits don’t matter.”

Those words…

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Stock Market Sinks: (DIA, SPY, IWM, GLD, QQQ)

by ilene - September 20th, 2011 6:13 pm

Courtesy of John Nyaradi.

Stock Market sinks before Fed meeting

Stocks gave up a huge rally as the FOMC meeting neared its two day close tomorrow.

Lots of news today, most of it bad, that the markets managed to shake off until late in the day.

The Greek tragedy goes on and on and on.

The International Monetary Fund reduced estimated GDP growth rates around the world, including the United States’, citing a forcast growth rate fo 1.5% for 2011, downfrom approximately 2.5%. previously and the bad news/slow growth rate also streched out into 2012.

Italy’s credit rating was cut by S&P as “contagion” fears won’t let go of Europe and gold rallied back above the $1800/oz. level.

Tomorrow comes August existing home sales and the much awaited FOMC announcement.

Stock Market Round UP:

Dow Jones Industrials: (DIA) +7.7; +0.07%

S&P 500: (SPY) -0.6; -0.2%

Russell 2000: (IWM) -2.2; -1.8%

Nasdaq 100: (QQQ) -12.9; -0.6%

Gold: (GLD) $1807; +1.5%

Click here to learn more about John’s book and for a free membership to Wall Street Sector Selector

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Phil's Favorites

Jobless Claims Improve, Leading Indicators Decline: Economic Report Card

September 22nd, 2011 5:36 pm

Courtesy of John Nyaradi.

Jobless claims improve while leading indicators decline in today’s economic report card

by Wall Street Sector Selector Staff

Weekly jobless claims declined to 424,000 from last week’s 432, 000 but stubbornly stayed above the all important 400,000 level for another week.

August Leading Indicators came in at +0.3% compared to 0.5% for July, as the economy continues registering weakness.

Good news came from July Home Prices which rose to +0.8% from the previously reported +0.7%.

But the biggest economic news of the week came yesterday when the Federal Reserve said it saw “significant downside risks to the economic outlook, including strains in global financial markets.”

Global stock markets responded negatively yesterday an...

Insider Scoop

Priceline.com Trades Higher on Q1 Earnings Results (PCLN)

May 5th, 2011 5:10 pm

Courtesy of Benzinga

Shares of Priceline.com Incorporated (NASDAQ: PCLN) are trading higher in the after-hours following the release of its Q1 earnings results. Currently, shares are up 2.74%, trading at $548.60; they closed the regular session down 0.67 %, at $533.97.

The company said that its Q1 EPS came in at $2.66 on revenues of $809.3 million; this compares to the Street's estimate of $2.46 per share on revenues of $779.5 million. Revenues rose 38.6% year over year.

"In the 1st quarter, the Group benefited from strong growth in our global hotel business, particularly at Booking.com and Agoda," said Jeffery H. Boyd, Priceline President and Chief Executive Officer.

He added, "Room nights booked grew by 55.8% and our international gross bookings grew by 79% compared to prior year...

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Zero Hedge

Fukushima Explosion Update: Core Presumed Intact As Sea Water Used To Bring Temperature Down, Radiation Level At 1015 Microsieverts/Hour

March 12th, 2011 9:41 am

Courtesy of Tyler Durden

The damage control to the Fukushima explosion reported earlier is coming fast and furious. According to CNN, "the explosion at an earthquake-damaged nuclear plant was not caused by damage to the nuclear reactor but by a pumping system that failed as crews tried to bring the reactor's temperature down, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano said Saturday. The next step for workers at the Fukushima Daiichi plant will be to flood the reactor containment structure with sea water to bring the reactor's temperature down to safe levels, he said. The effort is expected to take two days." While the government is trying to play down the threat from the explosion, it has nonetheless double the evacuation zone radius from 10 to 20 kilometers: "Radiation levels have fallen since the explosion and there is no immediate danger, Edano said. But authorities were nevertheless expanding the evacuation ...

Chart School

The Mega-Bear Quartet and L-Shaped "Recoveries"

March 12th, 2011 9:35 am

Courtesy of Doug Short

Note from dshort: I retired this chart series last summer in deference to my prefered inflation-adjusted series that aligns the S&P 500 2000 high with the Nikkei peak in 1989. However, I continue to receive requests for this version, despite the "V" shape of the the recovery since the March 2009 low. This chart series overlays the current S&P 500 with the L-shaped "recoveries" after the Dow Crash of 1929, the Nikkei 225 after Japan's 1989 bubble, and the post Tech Bubble NASDAQ. Click the chart below for a larger version and use the links to see various comparisons.

Click for a larger image

I've ...

Sabrient

Sabrient Risers - 3/12/2011

March 12th, 2011 12:00 am

Top 5 RisersStockRatingAnalysisVLOSTRONGBUYAn increasingly positive growth rate of past earnings, along with improving expectations for long term growth, make Valero a good prospect for high returns.KROSTRONGBUYKronos Worldwide has been gaining recognition from analysts as a good canditate for achieving higher than expected earnings along with higher overall projected valuation.SFIBUYiStar is one of the top candidates projected to achieve both higher than previously projected earnings in the short run and a higher earnings growth rate in the long run.AMATSTRONGBUYApplied Materials has been...

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Option Review

Bulls Scoop Up Sprint Nextel Corp. Calls

March 10th, 2011 4:33 pm

Today’s tickers: S, FTR, JTX & SBUX

...

OpTrader

Swing trading portfolio - week of March 7th, 2011

March 6th, 2011 11:25 pm

This post is for live trades and daily comments. Please click on "comments" below to follow our live discussion. All of our current virtual 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 portfolio, by clicking on the "comments" link right below.

To learn more about the swing trading portfolio (strategy, performance, FAQ, etc.), please click here

Optrader

Swing trading portfolio

One trade portfolio

...

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Stock World Weekly

March 6th, 2011 8:22 am

Here's the newest Stock World Weekly: Illusion Based on a Fantasy

Comments welcome... share your thoughts.

Download Newsletter 3/6/11

Stock World Weekly archives here >

...

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Pharmboy

Biotech Junkies Update and Momenta Pharma Moving Forward

March 1st, 2011 9:42 am

February is now past, and the Biotech Porfolio is loaded with winners and a miss (PLX). MRK is down a bit, but I expect that trade to recover, and one could be more agressive and double down on it, or play another round at the Jan13 $30 options for roughly the same price. Below is the summary, and note the grey boxes are ones that did not fill. I am still a fan of BMRN, and like DEPO as well. Now let's look at a few others.

Table 1. PSW Biotech Plays Since January 2011

&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;nbsp;

Our newest play is Momenta Pharmaceuticals (MNTA), who is pursuing a three-part business model which includes complex generic equivalents in partnership with the Sandoz division of Novartis, proprietary compounds, and follow-on- biologics (FOB). It seems that this company is tied up in competition/litigation wit...

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Jobless claims improve while leading indicators decline in today’s economic report card

But the biggest economic news of the week came yesterday when the Federal Reserve said it saw “significant downside risks to the economic outlook, including strains in global financial markets.”

Economic news from the housing industry and the Federal Reserve statement dominated economic news today.

Dr. Bernanke and his colleagues at the Federal Reserve spoke today, iniatiating “Operation Twist,” and they were rewarded with a convincing sell off on Wall Street.

Markets were pummeled today despite news of the Fed’s proposed $400 billion “Operation Twist” and improved existing home sales.

Global Stock Market Summary:

John Nyaradi’s ETF Edge on MarketWatch.com

Monetary Madness

Stock Market sinks before Fed meeting

The Greek tragedy goes on and on and on.

The International Monetary Fund reduced estimated GDP growth rates around the world, including the United States’, citing a forcast growth rate fo 1.5% for 2011, downfrom approximately 2.5%. previously and the bad news/slow growth rate also streched out into 2012.

Italy’s credit rating was cut by S&P as “contagion” fears won’t let go of Europe and gold rallied back above the $1800/oz. level.

Tomorrow comes August existing home sales and the much awaited FOMC announcement.

Stock Market Round UP:

Dow Jones Industrials: (DIA) +7.7; +0.07%

S&P 500: (SPY) -0.6; -0.2%

Russell 2000: (IWM) -2.2; -1.8%

Nasdaq 100: (QQQ) -12.9; -0.6%

Gold: (GLD) $1807; +1.5%

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