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New short name

Markets are in rally mode, up 1%, making them about even on the year, which is what they were last week and twelve months ago too. We’ll see more pitches come our way and the only way to continue our vast ourpeformance is to be very different in our

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Today’s Links: Obama drops Biden, BNY panics, and thoughts on gold

Here’s what I was reading and thinking about when I was working late into the night: 2012 – Things that will happen – I’ve read and re-read Bruce Krasting’s latest piece here, a fascinating look at the year ahead with lots of suprise predictions. My favorites include: “-Obama

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Trade Like Dan Marino

“But the kick was never needed. The fake spike proved Marino was most lethal as soon as the defense dropped its guard” — NFL Films Drew Brees set the NFL record for single season passing yardage last night which now stands at 5087 yards. It was rather thrilling and you couldn’

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Merry Christmas and Happy Fiscal New Year!

The markets are closed on Monday so unless there’s some emergency, there likely won’t be any posts from me until Tuesday.  In my experience, the markets tend to have a pretty strong upward bias as volumes and attendance and care is low from the pros, few of whom

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Three stocks, two longs and a short idea in a pear tree

I’m dreaming of a white Christmas. Just like the ones I used to know. There’s over a foot of snow on the ground outside on Silver Fox Ranch here in Ruidoso, NM, and it’s still softly coming down. Makes trading stocks seem a little insignificant, except for

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Selling the last of the Akamai calls

It’s Christmas week, heading into a three-day Christmas weekend (no markets Monday) and we’ve got a bit of a rally on our hands today. FIO’s continuing its wildly volatile ways, now up nearly 20% from its recent lows which brings it back to where it was

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Buying some puts in this name

Last week, I detailed the Apollo analysis for you guys. Today, I’ve been putting in some bids on some May 2012 puts with strike prices in the mid $40s right now.  I think APOL’s near-term earnings report, which will come in early January, is unlikely to spur

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Near-term markets outlook and locking in profits on one trade

Howdy folks. It’s another range-bound into year-end day at the markets and that’s okay with us. As I’d hinted yesterday though, I do think we’re likely to finally see these markets break their trading range in coming weeks.  There will be year-end window-

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Updated and detailed analysis on LPS

Last week I told you about my newest short, Apollo Group, Inc. APOL +3.08% . New ideas are great but that doesn’t mean we take our eye off our slightly more vintage ones. With that in mind there are pretty significant developments at Lender Processing Services, Inc. LPS +0.

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Latest positions

Big spike up in the markets this morning, led by tech. We are indeed ending up in that rangebound market into year end that I’d been expecting. The VIX has continued to plummet and we’re down to just a handful of trading days left in the year. Wouldn’

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Today’s Links: Great TA, Apple TV, and Ford vs Carter debate

Here’s what I was reading and thinking about this morning.  If you are a advocate for technical analysis in your trading, I highly suggest you start reading the first three guys I link to there. They are some of the best stock technical analysts on the planet.  Let’s

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Morning updates: Snowstorms, short stories and Xmas rock

It’s Monday and I can see the storm blowing over the mountains and enveloping the land around me. I meant the snowstorm here in Ruidoso — not making too much of an allegory there. Too much of one anyway. I’m doing a big update on LPS so stay tuned