Archive for October, 2009
Creating a Trading System: Steps to Success
How can I be a successful options trader?
Earnings Beats Fail To Spark A Rally. Investors Will Continue To Take Profits This Week!
Great earnings and lower interest rates failed to produce a rally. The market is digesting news and it looks a bit tired. Apple, Texas Instruments and Caterpillar handily beat expectations. Apple is up $10 and the news was fantastic. Even “whisper numbers” were smashed and revenues were strong across all product lines. Texas Instruments raised its sales and earnings forecast. Caterpillar raised its full-year forecast citing signs of a global economic rebound. With all of the good news, you would think that a major rally would be underway today. Unfortunately, much of the good news has already been priced into stocks. …
The Next Leg Of This Rally Will Be hard Fought. I Expect To See Profit Taking This Week!
Last week, the market was able to stage a nice little break out to new highs. That happened ahead of major earnings from the largest banks and mega-cap tech stocks. Goldman Sachs blew estimates away, but the stock did not surge higher. J.P. Morgan Chase, Bank of America and Citigroup also beat estimates and the stocks declined after the news. Consumer lending was a major issue for the nation’s largest banks and those concerns will be elevated this week as regional banks post results. Zions Bancorp releases after the bell today. Intel, IBM and Altera are all trading lower after posting …
Great Earnings Might Not Be Good Enough - The Headwinds Are Blowing!
It’s all about earnings, and more importantly the market’s reaction to those releases. After seeing a muted response to Goldman’s blockbuster number, I suspected that all of the good news might be built into financial stocks. J.P. Morgan Chase also smashed estimates, but the stock did not rally. That had me cautious heading into earnings from Google, IBM, Bank of America and GE. Google increased sales by almost 20% and profits by 9%. They gave great guidance and the stock traded higher after the news. IBM posted higher-than-expected profit and it raised full-year estimates up to $9.85 per share from $9.70 …
Take Profits On Longs Today - Aggressive Accounts Can Buy A Few Puts!
Yesterday, the market jumped to a new high for 2009. Great earnings from Intel and J.P. Morgan Chase fueled the rally. As I mentioned, option expiration buy programs would kick in and we would close near the high of the day. This morning, Goldman Sachs blew the doors off of estimates. They had positive comments and they saw growth across many sectors. They have traditionally beat expectations and a big number was already priced in. After the news, the stock dropped five dollars. Citigroup also released earnings. It beat estimates as well and the stock is trading lower. Consumer loan losses …