|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
 |
Wednesday, March 30th, 2011
1:25pm (EST)
We are seeing some good price action today.
The bulls had a strong open and have steadily moved the market higher as we head into the afternoon session. Economic news has come in a little softer-than-expected, led by the ADP Employment Change report for March.
There was a slight disappointment when it was announced that 201,000 private payrolls were added during the month as Wall Street was focused on a number north of 210,000. The report’s February figure was revised downward to 208,000 from 217,000, though, which was all the bulls needed to hear.
The Dow is at session highs and is up 91 points to 12,370. We mentioned the resistance at 12,350 but the path is getting cleared for a trip to 12,500-12,600.
The S&P 500 has cleared 1,325 and is higher by 11 points, to 1,330. Next stop is 1,350 if the bulls can keep the momentum going.
The Nasdaq is showing a 20 point pop and is at 2,777. We are looking for a near-term run to 2,850.
For those of you who subscribe to our Weekly Wrap, we are looking at another stock to add to the portfolio. We will probably release the trade on Thursday or Friday but we wanted to give everyone a quick update on Dendreon (DNDN, $36.22, up $0.34). Shares have hit a high of $37 today and we said they would be active this week.
We have profiled this stock for a number of years and first brought you the Dendreon story when shares were under $5. We have recommended numerous call options on the stock over the years and it was the first stock recommendation we decided to add to our Weekly Wrap portfolio to write covered calls on.
We have profiled 6 more trades since.
If you are new to options but like the exposure, covered call writing is a simple way of adding more income to your portfolio while you hold a stock. In other words, the money you make by selling these options can be considered a monthly dividend. Add it up for over a year and you will be amazed at the gains you can make.
We also have a NEW TRADE we are releasing for our Daily publication with today’s update. Although we still have to be careful because Friday’s jobs report could be a market mover, we like the options. The jobs report numbers will have to be decent so that it doesn’t derail the current momentum but we are going with May options to give the trade more time to play out..
This is the major headline risk we are seeing that could stop the bulls from their blow-off the roof type rally we have been calling for but the odds are favoring new highs. Subscribers, check for the updates.
Tags: call options, Dendreon, dndn, Option Trades
Posted in Hot Stocks, Market Commentary | Comments Off
Wednesday, September 8th, 2010
1:10pm (EST)
The bulls are back in familiar territory as the market awaits President Obama’s speech on a $250 billion jobs recovery plan. The Beige Book is also due out in about an hour while Consumer Credit will come out a little after that.
The President will be talking about a $50 billion infrastructure investment to rebuild and repair the nation’s roads, railways and runways. He will also ask for a permanent extension of research and development tax credits for businesses that will include the ability to write off 100% of their spending on new plants and equipment through 2011.
These events should be move the market and right now the bulls are pushing resistance once again. Volume is light which leads us to believe the market could go either way. If the bulls are going to break through heavy resistance they are going to need more fire power. Plus, the President hasn’t been too confident in his body language lately and any nervousness on his part, the bears will catch.
As far as specific stocks, Netflix (NFLX, $147.74, up $5.95) is at all-time highs and continues to expand its business in so many ways. We loved this stock back in November 2009 when shares were under $60 and although we don’t trade stocks, it has easily been a safety net for anyone who bought some and put it away.
We are hopeful the company will do a 3-for-2 or 2-for-1 stock split so we can start playing options on it again but there might be an opportunity for us to do a straddle or strangle option trade with the October options although the premiums are going to be pretty high.
As we head to press, the Dow is up 77 points to 10,417 while the S&P 500 is higher by 10 points to 1,101. The Nasdaq is showing a 26 point pop and is at 2,234.
We have a lot to cover in our Members Area and we will probably profile a Netflix trade on our Watch List as early as tomorrow. We will do a little more research and give you an update in the morning. Another old friend of ours, Dendreon (DNDN, $42.43, up $2.20) is up over 5% today on no specific news.
Tags: Dendreon, dndn, Netflix, NFLX, option picks, stock options trading
Posted in Company Commentary, Market Analysis, Market Commentary | Comments Off
Wednesday, August 4th, 2010
1:05pm (EST)
The bulls are trying to hold on to today’s slight gains but are having trouble once again at resistance levels as we head into the second half of trading.
Futures were pointing towards a lower open for much of the morning but turned around an hour before the bell after learning private sector payrolls increased by 42,000 in July. It wasn’t much to write home about but the news was a relief for the Nervous Nellie’s who had been sweating a negative number.
In other economic news, the ISM non-manufacturing index printed 54.3 for July, versus estimates of 53.0.
As a result, the Dow is up 34 points to 10,670 while the S&P 500 is up 4 points to 1,124. The Nasdaq is up 14 points to 2,297. As you can see, the S&P 1,125 and Nasdaq 2,300 levels are a brick wall for the bulls.
Turning to earnings, Priceline.com (PCLN, $282.89, up $52.22) is up 23% after crushing Wall Street’s estimates and is at a new all-time high. The company announced earnings of $158 million, or $3.09 per share, versus $67 million, or $1.38 a share, in the year ago period.
These numbers easily blew away analysts expectations of $136 million, or $2.65 a share. Priceline said sales surged nearly 30% to $767 million while the suit-and-ties had expected $733 million.
The company also raised guidance for the current quarter and now expects to earn $4.78-$4.98 a share on revenue of $1 billion. Analysts were expecting $4.18 a share on $863 million.
Priceline has a history of spanking expectations and last night’s news was no exception. The incredible performance comes just months after the company warned that an erupting Icelandic volcano and the declining euro could hurt profits. At the time, Priceline was just being cautious and if their results were impacted it sure didn’t show.
The travel industry has been steady, to say the least, despite signs of a slowing economic recovery. People are using Priceline for the incredible deals that can be found and are taking “shorter trips” if they have too.
Look, we all need a vacation, and Priceline seems to be gaining more of a wider audience and market share as people find out about the types of deals you can get. It’s been a favorite earnings play of ours in the past but we were a deer in headlights on this one.
Electric Arts (ERTS, $17.33, up $1.15) is also trading higher after reporting a profit after the closing bell yesterday. The video game maker said it earned $96 million, or $0.29 a share, versus a loss of $234 million, or $0.29 a share, a year earlier. Revenue was up to $815 million from $644 million.
The video gaming industry has been struggling with sales but EA has done well by making a big push into digital as it expands sales of downloadable and mobile content.
The company’s digital business rose over 50% in the quarter thanks in part to social networks like Facebook and others. The company said it has over 50 million monthly active users playing social games.
EA is also the top dog on Apple’s (AAPL, $262.50, up $0.57) iPhone and iPad and will only get stronger as more people sign up for smartphones.
And finally, how could we not mention Dendreon’s (DNDN, $39.09, up $6.06) big day? The company gave Wall Street an update on earnings, but more importantly, an update on sales of its prostate cancer drug, Provenge.
We knew Dendreon would report a loss as they ramped up production, sales and manufacturing costs but the good news is that Provenge sales are going to be there and the healthcare providers appear they are going to pick up some of the $90,000 price tag for treatment. Bingo!
July sales were $5 million and the waiting list is growing as Dendreon rolls out its plans for expansion. Shares kissed $40 which is current resistance but could run to $42-$44 if we get a close above this level.
It’s been a busy day and we will be back in the morning with another full update at 9am. We have updated our trades in the Members Area and we are close to recommending a new one or two of them either this week or early next.
Tags: call options, Dendreon, dndn, DNDN earnings, how to trade options, momentum options trading, Momentum stocks, option picks, option stock picks, options alerts, options newsletter, options track record, Provenge sales, put options, stock options trading, volatile options
Posted in Earnings, Market Analysis, Market Commentary | Comments Off
Friday, July 9th, 2010
1:00pm (EST)
The market has traded in a tight range although the bulls are still the fat kid on the see-saw. The major indexes are showing slight gains as traders seem tentative to build positions ahead of 2Q earnings.
The Dow is up 5 points to 10,144 while the S&P 500 is higher by 2 points and is at 1,071. The Nasdaq is showing a 5 point pop and is at 2,180.
The talking heads like to say Alcoa (AA, $10.80, up $0.08) kicks-off earnings season and on Monday they will, but, we are here to say Intel (INTC, $20.03, down $0.07) will officially handle those duties on Tuesday.
Shares of Intel are down 18% from its 52-week high of $24.37 and the low is $15.86 so shares are pretty much in the middle. Intel has a nice history of beating earnings, but a few analysts have been downgrading the stock ahead of earnings. The options market is pricing a 5% move in the stock when the company announces so we can expect a slight move up or down. However, if Intel happens to miss earnings then it could get nasty for shareholders.
This week was light on news and the rally has come on light volume. That worries us. It’s okay to say maybe we didn’t call an “exact” bottom, but we did call for the pullback that started in May.
Just like any battle, we like to wait for our next move which is why we are letting our current trades play out. We have been building a nice Watch List, and we will be back in action next week with some high reward/ medium risk trades. We are going to cover quite a few trades that have homerun potential including another look at two Biotech companies, Dendreon (DNDN, $31.86, up $1.56) and Vivus (VVUS, $11.90, up $0.21) which we are close to adding.
We have followed these stocks and alerted our subscribers when shares were under $5 for both of these companies. In fact, there is a major news announcement coming for Vivus, and Dendreon is making the rounds as a takeover candidate again. We are looking for huge price swings in both of these companies, but we want to do some more research over the weekend before pulling the trigger on a trade.
We are excited as we look forward to the next few weeks and months, and we think there will be a ton of great opportunities to go both long and short this market. It will just take more homework with the volatility being taken up a notch.
We will be back on Sunday night with the Weekly Wrap, but subscribers can check the Members Area for one last update before we go.
See you Sunday night, and have a great weekend everyone!
Tags: call options, Dendreon, dndn, how to trade options, momentum options trading, Momentum stocks, option picks, option stock picks, options alerts, options newsletter, options track record, put options, Qnexa drug, stock options trading, Vivus, volatile options, VVUS
Posted in BioTech, Company Commentary, Earnings | Comments Off
Thursday, July 8th, 2010
1:35pm (EST)
The bulls used a lot of energy yesterday but have still managed to push the market higher after a couple of decent economic reports. The gains have been limited to the upside, and as we go to press, the bulls seem to be getting tired.
Earlier this morning, the government reported initial jobless claims fell to 454,000 last week to their lowest levels since early May. It was better than the 465,000 forecast by Wall Street and comes after a string of disappointing jobs reports.
Retail stocks are mixed after reporting decent June sales numbers. The International Council of Shopping Centers’ index of June retail sales rose 3%, but was at the low end of forecasts that ranged from 3%-4%. Many of the retailers discounting heavily in order to bring customers in and luxury items aren’t moving. Not a good sign.
As a result, the Dow is up 51 points to 10,069 while the S&P 500 is up 3 points to 1,063. The Nasdaq is struggling to stay in the green but is up by a point to 2,160.
In breaking news…The Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) won a huge high-stakes legal battle to maintain its exclusive rights to trade index-based options contracts. CBOE Holdings (CBOE, $29.34, up $0.11), a recent IPO, touched a new low of $28.45 before rebounding on the good news.
Dendreon (DNDN, $29.98, up $0.89) continues to work its way higher after touching a low of $25.78 yesterday. We mentioned shares were coming under pressure and that a dip to $25 was in the cards. Little did we know it would bounce hard off these levels which represented strong support. Shares will likely stay volatile and we have the stock on our Watch List.
We will be back in the morning with another update. Subscribers, check for the updates in the Members Area.
Tags: call options, CBOE, CBOE Holdings, Dendreon, dndn, how to trade options, momentum options trading, Momentum stocks, option picks, option stock picks, options alerts, options newsletter, options track record, put options, stock options trading, volatile options
Posted in BioTech, IPOs, Market Analysis | Comments Off
|
|
|  | | | |
Get RSS Feed
Market Pushing February Highs
Wednesday, March 30th, 2011
1:25pm (EST)
We are seeing some good price action today.
The bulls had a strong open and have steadily moved the market higher as we head into the afternoon session. Economic news has come in a little softer-than-expected, led by the ADP Employment Change report for March.
There was a slight disappointment when it was announced that 201,000 private payrolls were added during the month as Wall Street was focused on a number north of 210,000. The report’s February figure was revised downward to 208,000 from 217,000, though, which was all the bulls needed to hear.
The Dow is at session highs and is up 91 points to 12,370. We mentioned the resistance at 12,350 but the path is getting cleared for a trip to 12,500-12,600.
The S&P 500 has cleared 1,325 and is higher by 11 points, to 1,330. Next stop is 1,350 if the bulls can keep the momentum going.
The Nasdaq is showing a 20 point pop and is at 2,777. We are looking for a near-term run to 2,850.
For those of you who subscribe to our Weekly Wrap, we are looking at another stock to add to the portfolio. We will probably release the trade on Thursday or Friday but we wanted to give everyone a quick update on Dendreon (DNDN, $36.22, up $0.34). Shares have hit a high of $37 today and we said they would be active this week.
We have profiled this stock for a number of years and first brought you the Dendreon story when shares were under $5. We have recommended numerous call options on the stock over the years and it was the first stock recommendation we decided to add to our Weekly Wrap portfolio to write covered calls on.
We have profiled 6 more trades since.
If you are new to options but like the exposure, covered call writing is a simple way of adding more income to your portfolio while you hold a stock. In other words, the money you make by selling these options can be considered a monthly dividend. Add it up for over a year and you will be amazed at the gains you can make.
We also have a NEW TRADE we are releasing for our Daily publication with today’s update. Although we still have to be careful because Friday’s jobs report could be a market mover, we like the options. The jobs report numbers will have to be decent so that it doesn’t derail the current momentum but we are going with May options to give the trade more time to play out..
This is the major headline risk we are seeing that could stop the bulls from their blow-off the roof type rally we have been calling for but the odds are favoring new highs. Subscribers, check for the updates.
Tags: call options, Dendreon, dndn, Option Trades
Posted in Hot Stocks, Market Commentary | Comments Off