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2/10/2008 8:04 PM
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Swings by Industry and Options by Day
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By Steve Patterson on
5/23/2009 2:09 PM
Dow Jones Industrial Finally Signals a Hold The Dow Jones Industrial Average finally signaled a hold at the end of this week with all four major indexes now in limbo waiting for a move higher or lower. The charts look like tops with the Dow and the S&P 500 index already completing their top formations. The Nasdaq needs to fall below $1664 while the Russell 2000 can form a top formation with a break below $471.82.
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By Steve Patterson on
5/20/2009 10:11 AM
Goldman Sachs Group (GS) - Increased Profit Estimates
Goldman Sachs is one of the few companies with increased profit estimates in the marketplace today. Over the past 90 days their current quarter profit estimates have increased from $1.92 a share to $2.44 a share, a 27% increase. Likewise the next quarter estimates and the year profit estimates have also moved higher with the analysts that cover the stock.
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By Steve Patterson on
5/17/2009 3:28 PM
Short the Market, A little Ahead of the Move
With the markets topping out this week and breaking through resistance on two separate days during the past five trading days, I moved from a cash position to a 50% short position. This could possibly be a little ahead of the move downward as most indicators are still neutral to positive. The vehicle that I am using for the short position is the Proshares Ultrashort S&P 500 (SDS). This is the opposite ETF of the one I held a position in during the recent market rally, the Proshares Ultra S&P 500 (SSO).
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By Steve Patterson on
5/12/2009 1:40 PM
Markets Pause After Recent Run
Taking a look at the S&P 500 chart today showed a 5 day top formation which was enough for me to close out my Ultra S&P 500 Proshares (SSO) positions that I had. Two positions were quite profitable near 20% and 15% with the third recently purchased position losing about 2.5%. When the S&P 500 broke below the recent low of 902, I felt it was time to sell. In addition, the NASDAQ has not performed well the last couple of days and the Bank Stress Test completion didn't provide a catalyst beyond Friday like I had hoped.
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By Steve Patterson on
5/9/2009 5:08 PM
United States Oil (USO) Rally Along with the markets the United States Oil (USO) ETF has turned positive and rallied from a price of $27.22 a share on April 20th to close at $32.49 a share on Friday. This is a sign that the economy is recovering and should help the oil service companies profit in the current quarter. This rally is not the best overall event for consumers as the price of oil and gas moving higher affects their individual budgets at the pump and in their heating bills.
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By Steve Patterson on
5/5/2009 3:20 PM
SSO June Calls Reentry I sold my Ultra S&P 500 Proshares (SSO) 24 Calls yesterday figuring I had made a decent 29% return over a two week period and I would get a good reentry point when the market corrected slightly. But with the SSO down 2% at it's lowest point today the Calls where still at the level I sold them yesterday. I think the market is not expecting much of a pull back at this time.
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By Steve Patterson on
4/29/2009 3:25 PM
Chinese Internet Companies
Climbing
A number of Chinese Internet companies are outpacing the rest of the market
higher with Netease (NTES) reaching a new 52 week high at the highest point
today. Other companies to watch include Shanda (SNDA), Baidu (BIDU) and Sina
(SINA).
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By Steve Patterson on
4/23/2009 7:39 PM
Amazon (AMZN) and Microsoft (MSFT) Both Rally Afterhours
In a very mixed session today with the direction of the markets not clear until the final 1/2 hour, shares of Microsoft rallied late to lift the indexes and then gave only a decent report afterhours. Amazon reported afterhours with better numbers which initially caused a slight dip but then the stock moved higher. Microsoft finished the afterhours session up 3% from where it closed the regular session while Amazon improved 2.7% from 4 pm to 8 pm EST.
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By Steve Patterson on
4/18/2009 1:51 PM
Volatility Index Continues to Fall In another sign that the markets could extend the current rally into something longer term, the CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) has fallen to a new three month low to $33.94. Sometimes called the fear index, the VIX shows the amount of hedging in the markets to ward against a downturn and rises when the markets begin to turn south. The drop the VIX over the past two weeks resembles the fall in the S&P 500 that we saw just before the current rally began. There was a break of resistance at $40 on the 3rd on April and the index has continued to fall fairly steep since.
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By Steve Patterson on
4/17/2009 4:30 PM
Research In Motion Has Growth In this market it is hard to find companies with growth in both revenue and earnings but Research in Motion (RIMM) is one of the larger organizations with good growth that has broken out of a negative trading pattern and begun to climb. You may have missed some of the move as it has risen from around $35 a share to a recent $68.35 a share over the course of the last month and a half. But if the markets continue to perform and the economy improves along with the markets, there is more upside with RIMM.
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