Archive for April, 2008

Make No Mistake…

Wednesday, April 30th, 2008

The US Economy still sucks out there.  The Fed Statement provides a hint of bullishness within the economy, but there is no bullishness.  Job Growth is no where in sight, Wage increases are barely present, housing inventories are still too high and the cost of every day items are TOO HIGH.

Until things begin to shift, the markets will continue to suck.

Call me a biased market bear, but that is reality the way I see it.  Things are not good, and the Fed can no longer do anything, so now the system must heal ITSELF.

(This is my take away from the Fed statement.)

MA trade

Tuesday, April 29th, 2008

Congrats to MA, solid numbers yet again. That is the 3rd time the stock reacted positively after earnings (in a row).  The one thing I noticed after the postive announcements, after the pop, is that MA goes through a period of consolidation.

ma

The stock should see this consolidation again.  The stock usually trades with a PEG of around 1.59-1.66. Going forward, this should not change.  Using a price of 277, and a 8.20 est. 2008 earnings, with a 5yr growth of 20% (what analysts usually asign it), MA’s PEG is 1.68.

NOTE: I know MA is growing faster than 20% analysts consensus, and will continue to beat estimates, as their management knows how to handle the street very nicely. If more realistic estimates were involved with MA, its PEG would be around 1.2-1.3. But this does not mean it should move to a PEG of 1.68 with the more realistic estimates.

I am using the MA 260 June Puts.

COF short

Monday, April 28th, 2008

COF looks to be approaching a potential short. It is getting overbought hitting the top line resistance of its current trading range.

cof

When/if COF approaches 56-57 I will take on the 60 COF June Put options.

Market Dynamics

Monday, April 28th, 2008

The dynamic of the market is shifting. We are and will continue to witness it. The dollar will strengthen, as the Fed eases on their easing. BUT, the Consumer Freeze will still occur. The dollar strength should facilitate the strength of the market, while the Consumer Freeze will pressure the market downward. The Consumer Freeze will be worked out with the easing inflationary prices from the dollar move.

This is just an opinion as to what I think I am seeing, but if it is right, a good buy/hold here (until the new dynamic shifts) may be UUP.

Current Market Psychology

Sunday, April 27th, 2008

In a word… bullish. (It kinda pains me to say that because I did take on a protective short position via Sept Puts.) So because of my biasness, I have been combing the charts to seek any form of negativity, but I have to call it the way I see it.

sp500

The long-term negative trend line was broken, suggesting more potential upside. Along with the recent break, the Ocillators suggest a trend upward, at least to the next level of resistance (around 1410).

To support the bullishness there are multiple indicators…

1. The FXE looks to have broken down its intermediate trend (the long-term trend is intact):

fxe

2. The VIX is negative. Even though it appears to be sitting on support, the Stoch and negative DMI suggests more of a consolidation or decline to around 18:

vix

3. The XLF appears to have more upside (via the daily), along with the potential of breaking intermediate long-term resistance (via the weekly). This is important because the banking sector was a major drag on the SP500:

Daily… the SMAs were broken and the Stoch suggests a move to 28 or higher

xlf d

Weekly… the 20SMA, which basically acted as resistance as the XLF moved downward, is breaking. But there are multiple resistance points for XLF.
xlf w

Its not all clear sailing on the long side, although the favor, imo, is with the bulls. Some indicators on the potential bearish side:

1. The SH is sitting on support, but if the bullish argument wins, then it may see mid 61-62…

sh

2. The SP500 weekly chart showing the SMA resistance is at hand

sp w

All-and-all, the market seems to want to move upward to at least the 1410 level, assuming no negative catalyst is at hand. The Fed Meeting is coming up this week, and a few outcomes may take place. The past week the market rallied as the dollar rose. So if the Fed holds steady or lowers the rate by 25basis points (less than the 50 the market is anticipating) the dollar could rally, and the market continues to go up.

I am still bearish on the market, outside the current condition, because the fundamentals tell me I should be bearish. I really do expect a Consumer Freeze in the next few months. Gas is approaching $4/gallon!!! I paid $240 in gas this past month. I now view gas as a major expense, and I make a decent living with my job and ability to trade. (If someone like me is thinking about this, I can only imagine the majority of America where the cost of gas is preventing them from shopping, food etc.) Also, the jobs that are anticipated to be lost have not been calculated into the job loss numbers yet. Wall Street is anticipated to lay-off 20% of workers. LET ME REPEAT THAT, 20%!!!! That is HUGE.
So, we may rally, but until the Consumer Freeze works itself out, I do not see a sustainable rally. (I am not expecting new market lows from this, just a contained sideways market. Hence my caution everytime the market rallies.)

Congrats to my Brother and his Girl

Sunday, April 27th, 2008

He proposed today, and she said ‘yes’ :)

Congrats and good luck to the now engaged couple.

PWR breaking out

Saturday, April 26th, 2008

I started to get into PWR on Friday morning, as I noticed a potential break out. PWR started to break from its multi-month consolidation via the daily chart.

pwr d

I would have liked to have gotten PWR when it was oversold and sitting on support, but the chart looks to want to trend upward. Also, the weekly chart is also signaling a breakout via the 50SMA, which acted as support previously.

pwr

I am a huge fan and believer that the power Grid needs a lot of upgrade before Alternative Energies become part of the grid, to handle the extra power. PWR should see the early benefits from the AE boom within the US.

GS approaching resistance

Saturday, April 26th, 2008

The GS weekly chart is showing GS to be approaching the weekly SMAs. These may act as resistance around 195.

gs
There is a sense of bullishness within the IBs and banks, in general, giving support to the market’s overall bullishness.

Sorry Folks

Friday, April 25th, 2008

The lack of posts over the past few days was due to some interesting times at work. My company is going through a round of Lay-offs. For some of my friends the hammer struck today, but as of now, I appear to be safe. I have never seen the atmosphere of a company via a Lay-off, and to watch (and experience) a morale decline so much is interesting.
I truly feel for some of my friends (not just co-works), but hopefully, things ultimately work out.

Although I had little time to post, I have been trading, and generally monitoring things. I will post a few charts this weekend related to GS, PWR (I have to include this in my portfolio now) and the Current Market Psychology.

Approaching Water Crisis?

Wednesday, April 23rd, 2008

Saw this interesting video on the BBC News site regarding water level declines which unearthed a Medival City.

Video: (hope the link works)

The world is already seeing riots for food shortages in the developing world. Now imagine what we will see in the developed world when things run short. (Wars have started for FAR less important things.)

We are entering an interesting time, and I must say, I am a bit concerned.

The water crisis play is still PHO