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Zecco was almost too good to be true, but I've never encountered any problems with them, outside of their ever-decreasing generosity.
It's been a couple of years since I've looked for brokers, and there seem to be a lot more choices available than there were then.
Here's one that offers a flat $4.95 commission, and appears to be penny stock friendly.
http://www.lowtrades.com/html/penny_stocks.html
Penny stock friendly brokers.
I have no complaints with my current brokers, but I find it odd that some insist on charging fees that make it cost prohibitive to trade in penny stocks.
Zecco has been good to me; fast executions, low trading costs. Of course, their price has gone up. I can't complain about Tradeking for stocks over $1.00. (That's the one that I generally park longer term holds with).
I am seriously considering trading full time for my living, as too many opportunities have slipped through my fingers.
What's your favorite penny stock friendly broker - and why?
I'm playing it (GSPI) as a short term flip.
I am still trying to perfectly balance long-term, intermediate-term, and short-term plays. To the extent that there is a "secret" to doing that, I think it's in defining just that before you take the plunge. That is to say the time-frame of the trade.
If it starts moving in the right direction, I'll probably hold this one from 3 to 5 days. We'll see what happens on Monday.
GSPI setting up nicely.
Inverted MACD holding the price down, and as tight an NR7 bar as you've ever seen has formed on the chart as a result!
Company does something or other involving lubricants.
http://stockcharts.com/h-sc/ui?s=GSPI&p=D&b=5&g=0&id=p24644573596
Anyone tried Realfasttrader?
I hadn't heard of them before, but they appear to be penny stock friendly (which many brokers aren't) and offer some features that my other online brokers don't.
http://www.realfasttrader.com/pennystockbroker.htm
MSEH - Volume up.
Buying prevails. Keep on the watch list.
http://stockcharts.com/freecharts/gallery.html?mseh
GAPTQ is looking rather frisky today.
No pump and dump here, folks. The Company operates 336 stores in seven states and the District of Columbia under the following names: A&P, Waldbaum's, Pathmark, Best Cellars, The Food Emporium, Super Foodmart, Superfresh and Food Basics. It is, in effect, a supermarket ETF that's betting against Wal-Mart being able to take over the world.
http://stockcharts.com/freecharts/gallery.html?gaptq
Do I need a disclaimer? I'm holding as a longer term investment in anticipation of a rebound. No warranty express or implied.
Lee Enterprises (LEE) as possible long term play.
Because this is a longer term play, I have conducted some due diligence. Insiders have been buying since the beginning of the year. The company has refinanced an upcoming debt, and as such has promised shareholders that their shares won't be wiped out.
"Lee Enterprises, Incorporated provides local news, information, and advertising services primarily in midsize markets in the United States. It publishes 49 daily newspapers, and 300 weekly newspapers and specialty publications in 23 states; and provides retail, classified, digital, and national advertising, as well as niche publications. The company also provides digital infrastructure and digital publishing services for approximately 1,500 daily and weekly newspapers and shoppers. Lee Enterprises, Incorporated was founded in 1890 and is based in Davenport, Iowa."
To make your life easier, here are some links of interest:
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/it?s=LEE+Insider+Transactions
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/pr?s=LEE
http://www.lee.net/
One commentators' opinion:
http://seekingalpha.com/article/293357-lee-enterprises-buying-opportunity-of-a-lifetime?
Standard Gallery view:
http://stockcharts.com/freecharts/gallery.html?lee
Lee Renkosized, saying "keep any eye on me."
http://stockcharts.com/h-sc/ui?s=LEE&p=D&yr=0&mn=6&dy=0&id=p22059273790
"No warranty express or implied. Your mileage may vary. I have received no remuneration of any variety, and this is not a stock promotion."
LFBG on alert this week.
Incredible volume behind this one. 101,512,800 shares traded yesterday. It appears to have formed a double bottom best seen on the weekly.
While I haven't back-tested it to get exact numbers, even a cursory visual examination reveals that huge gains could have been scored by nothing more than a rising Sto, and the CCI rising above 0. Sto crossovers at peaks would also have provided robust exit signals.
These signals enable the trader to kick his feet up, and trade at a relaxed pace.
Remember that double bottoms are technically confirmed when price rises above their peak. Here is the setup as it looks on this morning's weekly chart:
http://stockcharts.com/h-sc/ui?s=LFBG&p=W&b=5&g=0&id=p19477365561
I'll say this much for PDOS. It's always nice to find a stock that gives such crisp and clear buy and sell signals.
The question are: using which charting method, and on which time frame? You'd be amazed at how (in some cases) simply changing the charting method can make a pattern that you may have otherwise overlooked pop into crystal clarity.
http://stockcharts.com/h-sc/ui?s=PDOS&p=D&yr=0&mn=6&dy=0&id=p22231307908
Look at CLKZ dropping!
Whenever you score ridiculously huge gains in one day, close out your position just before the market closes.
I nailed that one spot on – something that I wish I could do every day!
http://stockcharts.com/h-sc/ui?s=CLKZ&p=D&b=5&g=0&id=p32786835294
CLKZ volume
Not sure where the two volume spikes came from. There may have been a promotion that I'm unaware of.
Some of it may be attributable to program trading. Even private investors are doing more of that, these days. Beyond that, I really don't know what caused those waves.
I'm just a surfer trying to get better at riding those waves when they do roll in to shore.
Momo or Promo?
Not sure what you mean by that. Strictly a quick chart play on my part that I posted in real time.
I don't do the newsletter thing, if that's what you mean by promo.
I have honestly come to believe that the less I know about a company, and the more I rely on the chart, the better I will do. That is for short term trades.
For longer term plays, maybe a little research is worth considering. :)
CLKZ - nice, indeed!
Up 76 percent by the end of the day and it's gone! Just watch that big red bar appear tomorrow when it gives up all of today's gains. That was one hell of a day trade!
Intermediate term, keep an eye on this one because the target is resistance at MA 200. May well make for a good longer term play, as well.
I used stockcharts.com:
http://stockcharts.com/freecharts/gallery.html?clkz
and Bigcharts to nail it:
http://bigcharts.marketwatch.com/advchart/frames/frames.asp?show=&insttype=&symb=clkz&x=0&y=0&time=3&startdate=1%2F4%2F1999&enddate=9%2F2%2F2011&freq=8&compidx=aaaaa%3A0&comptemptext=&comp=none&ma=4&maval=9&uf=0&lf=1&lf2=4&lf3=8&type=4&style=340&size=3&timeFrameToggle=false&compareToToggle=false&indicatorsToggle=false&chartStyleToggle=false&state=11
CLKZ up 60 percent today.
Man, I nailed that call dead on. Out at 3:50 or so is the plan. It can be done.
http://stockcharts.com/h-sc/ui?s=CLKZ&p=D&b=5&g=0&id=p58021261222
CLKZ looking interesting. Popped up over MA 50 on volume of 12.2 million shares. Too early to call a turnaround, but put it on the watch list.
http://stockcharts.com/freecharts/gallery.html?clkz
The week begins with the Dow locked in a consolidation, with all related indexes displaying remarkably similar patterns.
There are two ways of interpreting these events. Bulls may look for a breakout of the consolidation, looking for new highs, while bears may well see the consolidations as bear flags prognosticating great declines in the market to follow. Personally, I think some growing optimism may push the Dow over the shorter term to test of resistance at about 11815, where the upper end of the current channel and MA 50 converge on the daily chart. That will be a battle worth watching closely.
Some individual stocks.
BRGO – Sure does look like a verified breakout out of a double boom on the weekly chart. Assuming current uptrend continues, recent pullback may provide a buying opportunity. Now over 200 MA on the daily, and has an overbought RSI.
Standard Stockcharts daily:
http://stockcharts.com/h-sc/ui?s=BRGO&p=D&b=5&g=0&id=p99974533306
DKAM – making a second thrust toward MA 200 after an overbought correction. Continues to look like a real trend reversal.
http://stockcharts.com/freecharts/gallery.html?DKAM
TDCP – Price above MA 50 for seven days on the daily, and the weekly chart holds an intirguing setup.
http://stockcharts.com/freecharts/gallery.html?TDCP
LFBG – Possibly now finishing off a double bottom on the weekly. Taking a wait and see approach.
http://stockcharts.com/freecharts/gallery.html?LFBG
MVIS – Possible long-term bottom in the making. Company has some interesting products under development.
http://stockcharts.com/h-sc/ui?s=MVIS&p=W&b=5&g=0&id=p43777232559
http://www.boston.com/business/technology/innoeco/2011/08/from_the_mit_media_lab_luminar.html
MTIZ – Recently popped of a Flotsam and Jetsam base on high volume. Now in a major pullback. Company does healthcare diagnostics, etc.
http://stockcharts.com/freecharts/gallery.html?MTIZ
SMKY – Might be a good week to buy into an existing uptred. Not much scary about the chart.
http://stockcharts.com/h-sc/ui?s=SMKY&p=D&b=5&g=0&id=p77340737544
SLPH – Still worth watching for a possible breakout our of a tight flag formation.
http://stockcharts.com/freecharts/gallery.html?SLPH .
PDOS – Seems particularly amenable to Renko analysis.
http://stockcharts.com/h-sc/ui?s=PDOS&p=D&yr=0&mn=6&dy=0&id=p88060096440
GARB – Same. Still waiting to see if this setup is going to move.
http://stockcharts.com/h-sc/ui?s=GARB&p=D&yr=0&mn=6&dy=0&id=p44122599660
VLCO – Same. Valcom does television programming, and apparently there is currently a dispute concerning who runs the company.
http://stockcharts.com/h-sc/ui?s=VLCO&p=D&yr=0&mn=6&dy=0&id=p27186497570
Wishing everyone a safe and productive trading week – one that is free of unwanted deliveries.
Eventually, it has to break out one way or another. A volume spike will be the confirmation. Certainly worth watching. This is one sweet setup.
SLPH still looking good.
No fancy markups required here. Popped up above MA 50, and stayed there forming a tight and well-formed little flag. Now at .03, with major resistance at MA 200 nearly three times the money away.
I forgot what the company does since I originally posted this setup, but as I recall it does . . . something. Maybe energy?
http://stockcharts.com/h-sc/ui?s=SLPH&p=D&b=5&g=0&id=p24010022627
What - you don't like pork belly?
I'm a vegetarian myself, but I'll help you out of your bind.
http://www.foodielifestyle.com/2009/09/07/jamie-olivers-pork-belly-recipe/
http://www.porkbellyrecipes.com/
http://www.dailyunadventuresincooking.com/recipe/roasted-pork-belly-recipe/
All kinds of great recipes to be found here, including Spaghetti Carbonara with Pork Belly and Fresh Peas, and Agave-Glazed Pork Belly with Grilled Pineapple:
http://www.epicurious.com/tools/searchresults?search=pork+belly
Now, if that was eggplant instead of pork belly, I'd be more inclined to help. :)
Seriously, though.
The books all gloss over this "avoiding delivery" aspect of trading commodities.
Some trader - somewhere, sometime - had to have bid on and won 500,000 tons of soybeans or coffee and actually had them delivered to his door.
Happy backwardation to you . . .
And, let's make the catch-phrase of the month "avoiding delivery."
Wishing you a safe and happy holiday season free of unwanted deliveries. :)
Commentary. (It must be nearing the weekend).
ETF Deathwatch: Count Increases to 155 - and maybe even more.
This article dates back to June, but it is still rather interesting, and the death toll may be even higher today.
There seems to be no shortage of clever – even sometimes outright intriguing – ETFs rolling out, these days. SHIP was needed, I'll grant that, though I would like to have seen some broader diversity among its' holdings.
Ipath rolled out a bunch of new ETFs in June, such as FOIL, SGAR, and LEDD - (Did you guess it right? Aluminum, sugar and lead). And, they are weird: “Most commodity indexes 'roll' exposure at a pre-determined time, selling contracts approaching expiration and buying longer-dated futures in order to avoid taking physical delivery. The Pure Beta indexes have the ability to roll into futures contracts with different expiration dates, using a rules-based methodology to select the securities that mitigate the effect of contango and backwardation and the effects of futures contract price distortions in the commodity markets.”
If someone figures that one out, please explain it to me. (To be sure, I have more than a vague notion that it is the process of bidding up futures and “avoiding delivery” that has much to do with current gas prices).
The problem with these clever gadgets is not so much that they are so insanely clever as to defy the common trader's understanding, so much as it is that they are so clever as to defy any human understanding whatsoever. There were some days in which trading was so thin in these issues that they barely traded at all. There were some other days that they just plain didn't trade.
Barclay's isn't the only institution that is too clever for its' own good. Consider the Elements Global Warming ETF (GWO), which trades about 2,000 shares a day, on a good day. The point I'm personally unclear about is whether I'm betting for or against global warming? I'd rather be betting against it.
Let's face it, global warming is not a good thing. Neither is avoiding delivery of thousands of gallons of gasoline, or bushels of corn, soybeans, or sugar. Has any trader ever actually wound up with 5,000 bushels of soy or coffee at his door?
Personally, I'd like to see someone come out with an ETF that tracks the entirety of the Pink Sheets on an equally weighted basis. Any takers on that idea?
http://seekingalpha.com/article/278823-etf-deathwatch-count-increases-to-155?source=marketwatch
CRMB - Let it drop, first.
Agree with out host. Don't try to catch that falling knife. Eventually it will settle down and build a bottom, unless the company itself is in real trouble.
That is one very interesting pattern at the top of that chart - one that I'll keep in mind.
http://stockcharts.com/h-sc/ui?s=CRMB&p=D&b=5&g=0&id=p34206856414
SEA offers a good mix as an ETF.
But, I wish it was a little more “complete” than it is. Its' performance leaves something to be desired, but can't we say that about the general market? A broadening wedge suggests a possible upshot to about $18.00. If that fails, anything is possible.
That said, shipping is overdue for a rebound.
The holdings:
http://www.guggenheimfunds.com/etf/fund/sea/holdings
The pattern:
http://thepatternsite.com/broadb.html
The chart:
The shipping sector is bottoming out.
No, it is isn't necessarily the most prescient call that you'll receive this year. (Just what would a “buy this today - triple your money tomorrow” analyst actually be worth? And, why would he be doing subscription newsletters if he was actually that good? If I were actually that good, I'd be too busy trading to write a newsletter!) Shankapotamus' 70 subscribers and my four followers get my opinions for free. No newsletter to promote here!
The shipping industry is bottoming out. Others on the web called the shot way too early. I'm forecasting about December for the actual bottom to hit. Freeseas Inc. (FREE) $1.14; Paragon Shipping (PRGN) $1.31; Star Bulk Carriers (SBLK), $1.38; Tops Ships (TOPS), $1.71. Absolutely ridiculous. Looking for a safer ride? Try SEA, the Guggenheim shipping ETF. Barchart.com rates it as a strong sell. I do, too - for now. It's down to $17.02, as of yesterday.
Kinda looks like a triple bottom forming to me.
http://stockcharts.com/freecharts/gallery.html?sea
Baltic Dry Index is up, up and away!
I've heard time and again that picking bottoms is a fool's game. But it was one that I became determined at winning.
The key is waiting for confirmation, rather than buying in at .0001 only to have your company delisted from trading on the Pick Sheets. God, what an embarrassment that must be! (Anyone interested in buying my shares of MVBY?)
This may mean leaving some money on the table, and playing the “80 percent in the middle of the move.” This may mean waiting for the breakout and the pullback, as well as waiting for a clear uptrend to develop.
This may well mean developing something known as discipline. I know – we all want to score big winners so that we can get away from that nasty concept, but there's just no getting around it. Time is money, and money is time, our desire to buy 1,000,000 shares of a particular stock and watch it rise to $1.00 a share overnight notwithstanding.
This is not to say that the market doesn't offer genuine opportunities. Libbey glassware (LBY) knocked down to $0.47, now trading at over $11.00; Tennecco Automotive (TEN) down to $0.67, now trading at $28.50; and you won't hear me complaining about having bought Sirius XM after the merger at $0.31, either. People really are stupid enough to pay for cable TV, and they really are stupid enough to subscribe to pay-as-you-go radio to listen to Howard Stern. (Maybe I should be praising this development as indicative of how much the American people value the First Amendment? Hmmm. No.)
Let's be candid about this: We need big boats to ship stuff to Wal-Mart, and other discount retailers. We like those huge flat-panel LCD monitors priced at $129.95. We like the eggplant imported from Argentina at prices that wouldn't inspire an illegal-immigrant worker to so much as wake up to go to work in California. We'll gleefully wait in the rain for a diesel-powered bus to take us a $7.50 cab ride away for $1.00, because those cab drivers are making too much money. (Presumably this is so because they are trying to pay off mortgages that they aren't even sure are theirs to pay off, anymore).
But – yeah – shipping is up as a sector. Get your piece of the pie while you can, because the stock market truly is the capitalists' lifeline to the masses. You probably won't make billions of dollars in one day, as Warren Buffet recently did on his play of Bank of America, but you'll do O.K. And, O.K. is better than a lot of us are doing. I'm doing O.K., myself.
Here is the Baltic Dry Index:
http://stockcharts.com/h-sc/ui?s=$BDI&p=D&b=5&g=0&id=p46779271984
Here are some charts. Sure do look like trend reversals to me:
BPAX- I could get clever and toss a rectangle or a wedge around it, but everyone should be able to see it bouncing around between two moving averages. Until it actually breaks out, I'm watching it closely.
http://stockcharts.com/freecharts/gallery.html?bpax
I agree that banks aren't something to go long over - just yet. Still think that KRE should do well, but it's too early to bite on that one.
And you certainly have the liquidity to cash out quickly!
I'm beginning to wonder if these are all I should be trading.
http://bigcharts.marketwatch.com/advchart/frames/frames.asp?show=&insttype=&symb=fas&x=0&y=0&time=3&startdate=1%2F4%2F1999&enddate=9%2F2%2F2011&freq=8&compidx=aaaaa%3A0&comptemptext=&comp=none&ma=4&maval=9&uf=0&lf=1&lf2=4&lf3=8&type=4&style=340&size=3&timeFrameToggle=false&compareToToggle=false&indicatorsToggle=false&chartStyleToggle=false&state=11
http://bigcharts.marketwatch.com/advchart/frames/frames.asp?show=&insttype=&symb=faz&x=0&y=0&time=3&startdate=1%2F4%2F1999&enddate=9%2F2%2F2011&freq=8&compidx=aaaaa%3A0&comptemptext=&comp=none&ma=4&maval=9&uf=0&lf=1&lf2=4&lf3=8&type=4&style=340&size=3&timeFrameToggle=false&compareToToggle=false&indicatorsToggle=false&chartStyleToggle=false&state=11
I have a friend who swears by FAS & FAZ.
He buys one, then sells the other. Usually holds for about a week, or so. He just eyeballs the charts and flips them like burgers on a grill.
FAS v FAZ
The banking sector is certainly one that is easy to love to hate. (I think that makes sense.) Just go ahead and rubber-stamp my home loan and cast it off as a tradeable derivative on the market, and cry like a baby when that goes sour! Lucky me - my family paid cash for the home that we are in. And, presumably our title insurance is worth the paper that it's written on. We presume that it's worth something!
But, I do digress. Our gracious host is swinging FAS & FAZ (this is another presumption on my part – I know a trader who swings between the two them with great success.) If someone put a gun to my head and told me to trade these things, I'd treat them as locked in a consolidation, and play them for frequent 10 - 20% gains.
From a purely technical standpoint, FAS is locked in a rectangle looking for a breakout to one side or the other. I'd bet on $16.00. FAZ, on the other hand, I would short to $50.00, before going long on a bet toward $65.00.
Best long-term bank play? I'd say KRE – the regional banking ETF. Why? Because the truly shitty banks will fail by the time that it takes off.
FAS (the bull):
FAZ (the bear):
KRE (the regional banking ETF – which I'd be long to $22.00 and short to about $19.50, short term, but holding at $19.50 in anticipation of a longer term rebound):
Yahoo! as takeover candidate.
Yeah - I'd hate to see it happen, too. Another paradigm shift.
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Yahoo-fires-Bartz-as-CEO-apf-1272918573.html?x=0&sec=topStories&pos=main&asset=&ccode=
Charts aren't looking pretty, though.
http://stockcharts.com/freecharts/gallery.html?yhoo
UTRM - Just getting started.
I don't think you missed the party. This one looks like it's just getting started.
> Do you have a blog?
Not anymore. Your board is the only place that I post. Thanks for the invitation. I was starting to feel a little bit lonely. :)
UTRM. Not quite ripe for picking, methinks, but put it on the watch list.
http://stockcharts.com/freecharts/gallery.html?utrm
DKAM - BRGO & other things
It's been raining here for days - must be that li'l hurricane parked off the eastern seaboard.
DKAM is overbought on the RSI, and is pulling back in case anyone's interested. No need to mark this up - everyone knows what an overbought RSI is.
http://stockcharts.com/h-sc/ui?s=DKAM&p=D&b=5&g=0&id=p83672541246
BRGO - Man, this one's still lookin' good, too. Also overbought, and possibly going to offer a pullback to those late to the party.
http://stockcharts.com/freecharts/gallery.html?brgo
EXTO - Sure do wish I'd have hopped on board this train when it started rolling!
Have you ever done that? Just sat there without pulling the pin while a stock just went up, and up, and . . .
http://stockcharts.com/freecharts/gallery.html?exto
OPMG - Post away.
Feel free to post my charts to the OPMG board. They are at:
http://stocks.liftingtheveil.org/charts/opmg.png
http://stocks.liftingtheveil.org/charts/opmg2.png
OPMG - Justin Bieber & Jethro Tull
I honestly had no idea who Bieber was, and I had no idea that Lady Gaga was that popular! I can't hum a tune by either one of them. Maybe I really am out of touch with the mainstream?
I got to looking, and I see that Tull is touring again. This time out they're doing the entire "Thick as a Brick" album.
"The record became a number one Billboard album and enjoyed huge commercial success in most countries of the world. The album featured only one song, lasting nearly 45 minutes. To accommodate the album on LP vinyl and cassette, the seamless track was split on both sides of the record. It reached number one on the US Billboard Pop Albums chart."
http://jethrotull.com/news/taabtour2012.html
Yeah--it's off topic, but inasmuch as I post so many nice setups, I'm allowing myself that privilege. :)
OPMG - Justin Bieber
I had to Google Justin Bieber to find out who he was. I gather he's a rather popular artist.
Mind you, I'm not that out of touch. I took my daughter to see Jethro Tull at the age of 9 (she's 16 now) and she has since seen Blackmore's Night (featuring Ritchie Blackmore from Deep Purple) and Kelly Clarkson in concert. Man, I could buy about one share of IBM stock for what that Kelly Clarkson concert cost me!
In any case, I thought I'd mark up the OPMG chart again, this time with more of that fancy geometry. This setup is about as good as it gets.
Great stuff: