Archive for the ‘Stocks’ Category

Steel Sector On My Short List: DJUSST, ATI, CLF, VALE, X, ZUES

Posted 22 May 2012 — by Jeff Pierce
Category ATI, Investing, Market News, Sectors, Steel, Stocks, Technical Analysis, Trading, VALE, X, ZEUS

By Jeff Pierce

stocks - steel - market  The Steel sector has been particularly weak during this latest selloff on the markets. Having went into the low 20′s on the daily RSI this sector has proven to me that it’s extremely weak and is a short candidate on a decent bounce. I’m watching this to bounce back to 55-60 level and below are the stocks I’m watching that have been mirroring the index over the last 6 months. I got them from Marketwatch’s sector locator.

I’ve highlighted a channel that may be a top for this chart but I doubt it’ll even get that high. Read More

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Hedging a ‘Face-Ripping’ Gas Stocks Rally

By Michael Tarsala 

stocks - natural gas - sectorA potential “face-ripper”: That’s the kind of rally technical analyst JC Parets thinks we could see for natural gas at some point, possibly benefiting stocks in that sector.

It’s true, gas is historically cheap relative to oil. And gas prices are on the upswing relative to crude in recent weeks. Read More

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Ampio Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:AMPE): Positioned For A Rebound

Posted 21 May 2012 — by VFC's Stock House
Category AMPE, Biotechnology and Drugs, Healthcare, Investing, Major Drugs, Market News, PFE, Sectors, Stocks, Trading

By VFC’s Stock House

Ampio Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:AMPE)After a five percent drop on Friday, shares of Ampio Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMPE) started to rebound along with the broad markets on Monday, posting a three percent increase on the day. Ampio’s drop over the past couple of months could be attributed to the dramatic increase in the number of shares short on a month-over-month basis, but as the market settles and Ampio continues to release encouraging pipeline results, then a quick rebound could take full effect.

Last year shares ran to nearly ten dollars as the potential of Ampio’s “re-purposed” pipeline became attracted the attention to the investing community. The spark of new interest was so quick, however, that it also attracted the attention of the shorts, however, which led to a decline in price to the current trading levels. Read More

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Stock Watch: Volume Flows Into Premier Alliance Group (OTC:PIMO) Trading, Price Spike Follows

Posted 21 May 2012 — by VFC's Stock House
Category EIX, Electric Utilities, Energy, Investing, Market News, PIMO, Stocks, Trading, Utilities

By VFC’s Stock House
Premier Alliance Group, Inc. (OTC:PIMO)
Premier Alliance Group, Inc. (OTC:PIMO) pushed the dollar mark late last year after a flurry of encouraging company events and news announcements circulated the wires, and another round of interest may be forming again after a Monday press release announced that the Orange County, California municipality had requested the services of Premier to assist in implementing Southern California Edison’s (SCE) (Edison International, NYSE:EIX) Automated Demand Response program (Auto-DR).

Premier – and its GreenHouse division – have become recognized experts in regards to the program’s implementation and the company has already successfully assisted other municipalities in Southern California putting Auto-DR into effect.

Volume flowed into PIMO trading just after mid day on Monday to the tune of more than triple the daily norm, which led to a quick price spike. Shares reached as high as seventy two cents during the run, a 44% price increase over the open. Read More

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Don’t Pick a Money Manager at a High, Drop at a Low

Posted 21 May 2012 — by Covestor
Category Investing, Market News, Stocks, Trading

By Michael Tarsala

investing - market - The Intelligent Investor - Benjamin GrahamIt’s true, stocks were down every day last week. And with volatility still not very high in the big picture, there is no sense yet of a capitulation that would set up the next big rally.

Some investors may be wondering if they should sell at this point, noting a long list of potential shocks that may be yet to come.

That might be the worst thing you could do.

Read this for background. The one mistake the average investor continues to make is dumping stocks after a selloff, then jumping back in after a rally. They buy high, sell low. And it’s hurting their performance.

I tend to think that many make a very similar mistake with money managers. They’ll dump a manager who is not keeping up with the market, and be attracted to the model that is rocketing past the S&P 500′s returns in one given year. Read More

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I’ll Have Another Covered Call

Posted 21 May 2012 — by Christopher Ebert
Category Investing, Market News, Options, Stocks, Technical Analysis, Trading

By Christopher Ebert

stock options - marketGiven the importance of emotions in trading, it may come as surprise that widespread measurement of these seemingly intangible aspects of the stock market is a relatively new phenomenon. Fear indices such as the VIX, VXD and VXN, while commonplace today, were almost unheard of 20 years ago.

The VIX is a powerful technical indicator. Derived from the pure emotions of option traders, it differs from other types of  analysis, in that it represents how the market perceives the future. When the consensus of trader’s emotions is justified, individual traders can benefit from a study of the VIX. However, there are many instances in which the market either becomes complacent – resulting in the volatility index giving a false sense of security, or becomes overly fearful – yielding an unjustified sense of impending doom. Read More

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In This Uncertain Market, Portfolio Balance Is Key

Posted 21 May 2012 — by Covestor
Category BIF, Investing, Market News, MLPs, Stocks, Trading

By Dan Plettner

Boulder Growth & Income Fund, Inc. (NYSE:BIF) The broad market is facing some headwinds. Although recent Greek political developments were anticipated by many market participants and appear “priced in,” it has stimulated volatility.

In the very near term I expect that yield-focused Master Limited Partnerships (MLPs) and other income styles will outperform, although I don’t anticipate changing my allocations. Because of structural performance inefficiencies, I do not prefer ETFs or other funds for MLP exposure, but rather MLP Direct Ownership. My holding intentions within this sector tend to be extremely long term in nature.

For me, I think the important word today is “balance.” Case in point: As terrible an investment as my largest position Boulder Growth & Income Fund, Inc. (NYSE:BIF) has been, I feel broadly fortunate today.

I continue to believe that balance among styles is relevant, and balance among positions within various styles is relevant as well.

All the facts appearing relevant for a particular catalyst, security, or style may suggest a “zig”… yet a “zag” may ensue. The critical factor over time, I believe, is an investor’s ability to remain humble, balanced, and fully objective in looking at each set of market opportunities independently. Emotions, like ego, are harmful to objectivity. Read More

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NovaBay Pharmaceuticals’ (NBY) Market Cap Is Not Adequately Valuing Pipeline Potential

Posted 21 May 2012 — by VFC's Stock House
Category Biotechnology and Drugs, Healthcare, Investing, Major Drugs, Market News, NBY, PFE, Stocks, Trading

NovaBay Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NYSEAMEX:NBY)By VFC’s Stock House

Shares of NovaBay Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NYSEAMEX:NBY) were cruising along for months in a price range pretty much centered at right around the $1.30 mark until a sudden slide took shape along as the general market started to experience an overall downturn. No news hit the streets to justify the share price drop and volume, while above the norm, did not indicate a mass exodus of any sort.

Once the short term dust settled, however, NovaBay shares were quick to regain the one dollar foothold when news hit the wires last week announcing that the company had enrolled its first patient in a Phase IIb study that will evaluate the company’s lead compound, NVC-422, in the treatment of adenoviral conjunctivitis, a highly contagious form of “pink eye.”

The initiation of this trial, entitled BAYnovation, and the enrollment of the first patient should be viewed as a significant milestone for NovaBay, as there is currently no treatment for viral conjunctivitis on the market. The company is also working closely with the FDA to ensure that all guidelines and criteria are met to ensure the most efficient compilation of data in preparation for achieving the goal of commercialization as quickly as possible. Read More

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The Best Tweets On Facebook’s (NASDAQ:FB) Stock Collapse

Posted 21 May 2012 — by Covestor
Category FB, Investing, IPOs, Market News, Social Networking, Stocks, Trading

By Mick Weinstein
Facebook (NASDAQ:FB)
Absent Friday’s underwriter support, Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) is tanking today, down over 12% as I write this. The twitterverse has some great running commentary this morning… here’s some of the best I’ve seen:

Since their first trade at $42, Facebook shares have shed about $11 billion, the value of two Zyngas, or one LinkedIn.$FB

— Dennis K. Berman (@dkberman) May 21, 2012

Like $FB, $AMZN was “optimally priced” on 5/17/97 The stock broke issue, and stayed below til 7/6. No one remembers. twitter.com/bgurley/status…

— Bill Gurley (@bgurley) May 19, 2012 Read More

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Big-Name Strategists Who Zig When Others Zag

Posted 21 May 2012 — by Covestor
Category ETFs, Investing, Market News, Sectors, Technical Analysis, Trading, XLB, XLU

By Michael Tarsala

Josh Brown, The Reformed Broker, has a cool chart that lends even more support to the argument that extreme pessimism is a reason for stock market optimism:

The line in blue is the recommended stock weighting of stock strategists polled weekly by Bloomberg. As you can see, it’s at 52%, not too far above recommended weightings when the stock market started rocketing higher off the bottom in March 2009.

Strategists’ Recommended Weighting 

Strategists' Recommended Weighting Source: The Reformed Broker (via Bloomberg and Bespoke Investment Group)

Not all are so pessimistic, though. Some are zigging when others are zagging. Read More

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The Short Trade Is Getting Crowded

Posted 20 May 2012 — by Jeff Pierce
Category Copper, Investing, Market News, Sectors, Stocks, Technical Analysis, Trading

By Jeff Pierce

Jeff PierceWe are seeing some extreme readings on the put call ratio and we need some time to work off these oversold readings. Remember that the crowd is mostly wrong. Given the the Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) IPO was a flop and expectations so high we may see more follow through on the downside at the open on Monday but I suspect we’re close to some sort of bounce.

Let’s be clear. Any bounce is that we get will be an opportunity to add more shorts in my opinion. There are so many oversold sectors that if the market bounces we should see a lot of great short trades. Read More