March 2012

  • Young Traders: This Is How You Handle a Loss Like Groupon

    Browsing the Groupon stream this morning, I came across @RaginCajun’s essential post entitled Bad Beat in which he lays out his thinking and action around his $GRPN position in after hours on Friday on the news. He writes, I blew out my shares after-hours at $17, taking a dollar hit on my shares. Normally,…

  • Doug Kass and the Housing Recovery

    Doug Kass has been following the housing market for longer than most of you reading this have been alive. His first job on the street was at Kidder Peabody as a housing analyst where he penned research with quill on parchment by candle light. 🙂 Housing is a long cycle industry so the years…

  • Trading Biotechnology News Is Gambling Even If You Are Married to a World Renowned Pediatric Pulmonologist

    I am watching the action in $VVUS this afternoon and it is staggering. I first took note of it around 2:40PM when it became a Trending Ticker on StockTwits and just as the stock began ripping higher. Here’s the intraday chart for your perusal: It reminded me of a run in I had with…

  • Sublime Noise and the Goldman Op Ed

    …noise is what makes our observations imperfect. – Fischer Black News Flash: Bankers are pigs. That’s a riot. Here’s another one…. birds fly… Yesterday’s NYT piece by Greg Smith drilling $GS is sublime noise. It is sublime because it has the perfect combination of elements to catch the attention of the media and public…

  • Amid the Angst, Great American Brands Flourish

    We are all just looking for the next big thing to worry about. We’ve finally had our Greek credit event (love that euphemism “event”). It was ridiculously well telegraphed and now, collectively, we will get hung up on the next shoe to drop. Will it be the price of gas? Iran? Spain? Portugal? Inflation? Deflation?…

  • General Mills: People Will Always Eat Cheerios

    My 5 year old loves the charts and can recognize trends.  The beauties are not hard to spot. He is a permabull too which I am thankful for and seems about right for his age. He’s most interested in the things he gets like Disney, Cocoa and Orange Juice Futures and International Speedway Corporation.…

  • Jeremy Lin and the Noise Trader Arbitrage

    Traders trade against the expectations of others and, especially over shorter periods of time, future value matters less than what others are willing to bid. I found this Michael Jordan 1984-85 Star rookie card listed on eBay for 2,299.99$. It is not mint but in great condition (Grade8). I am sure a version in…

  • Setting Portfolio Stops for Shorter Term Traders

    People use StockTwits in different ways. People share trades, setups and charts, crowdsource breaking news in real time and post valuable news and commentary links. Some also share process and experiences while trading and investing. I love this one because the process tweets serve as a log for the trader posting them and for…