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Morning! Markets and commodities are soaring today :)
It looks like the financials are doing well. Analysts are expecting them to tread higher in the second half of the year.
The Worst Day for the Market is...
Published: Sunday, 19 Aug 2012
NEW YORK - It's not just in your head. Mondays really are the worst.
Monday is the only day the stock market is more likely to fall than to rise. The Dow Jones industrial average has been down 10 of the past 11 Mondays. And the two worst days in market history are both known as Black Monday.
There's no single reason why Mondays are so blue. Then again, there's no single reason the market rises or falls on any given day, driven as it is by the whims of traders placing millions of individual buy and sell orders.
Some anecdotal evidence comes to mind: Companies are prone to release bad news on Friday nights, when fewer people are paying attention. Monday is the first day investors can react.
And when companies collapse, they often do it late Sunday or early Monday, after spending a last weekend trying to stay afloat. See Wachovia, Bear Stearns and, most famously, Lehman Brothers investment bank, on Sept. 15, 2008.
Maybe people are just grumpier. They are at least more anxious: The so-called Vix, a gauge of investor fear, tends to go up on Mondays, notes Ryan Detrick, senior technical strategist for Schaeffer's Investment Research in Cincinnati.
The Vix has risen on two-thirds of this year's Mondays. On Tuesdays, the second-most-anxious day, the Vix was up just 58 percent of the time.
Or maybe it's a fluke — another pattern people latch on to, to make the market seem more understandable, same as the stories that hemlines go up in bull markets, or that stocks rise if a team from the NFC wins the Super Bowl.
Burton Malkiel wrote about those last two theories in his finance classic, "A Random Walk Down Wall Street." He stuck them in a section called "A Gaggle of Other Technical Theories to Help You Lose Money."
He found the "blue Monday" phenomenon equally underwhelming. "Far from dependable," he says, and "most likely due to chance..."
Best Buy Taps New CEO as Takeover Battle Heats Up
Published: Monday, 20 Aug 2012
By: Reuters
Best Buy [BBY down -7%] named Carlson executive Hubert Joly as chief executive on Monday, hoping to tap his expertise in restructuring companies to turn around the world's largest consumer electronics chain.
The struggling retailer also said its founder Richard Schulze has turned down an offer from the board to conduct due diligence in connection with his proposal to take the company private at a valuation of more than $8 billion.
Best Buy, engaged in a takeover battle with founder Richard Schulze, has posted same-store sales declines in seven of the last eight quarters. It is expected to report results for the latest quarter on Tuesday.
Joly, former CEO of privately held hospitality and travel company Carlson, replaces interim CEO Mike Mikan. Joly is expected to step into his role as president and CEO in early September when his visa is secured, Best Buy said.
Joly led the restructuring and growth of Vivendi’s video game business — now part of Activision Blizzard [ATVI 11.81 -0.29 (-2.4%) ] — from 1999 to 2001.
He also drove the turnaround of EDS — now part of Hewlett Packard [HPQ 19.73 0.21 (+1.08%) ] — in France from 1996 to 1999, Best Buy said.
Mikan was named interim CEO following the abrupt departure of CEO Brian Dunn in April during a personal conduct probe that eventually found he had engaged in an improper relationship with a female employee.
Schulze, the 71-year-old former chairman of Best Buy, informed the board earlier this month he was interested in teaming up with private equity partners to buy the company for $24 to $26 per share, or more than $8 billion.
Schulze Declined Due Diligence Deal
The struggling retailer also said Schulze has turned down an offer from the board to conduct due diligence in connection with his proposal to take the company private.
The consumer electronics chain said its board had authorized its advisors to start talks with Schulze, and had shown "great flexibility" on structuring an agreement that would not limit his ability to make a definitive proposal.
Schulze has noted., however, that obstacles to making an official bid include a provision of Minnesota law that would prevent him from bringing in private-equity firms and his inability to access the company's financial data.
Best Buy said on Sunday it had offered Schulze a proposal that would have given him 60 days to put together a deal for the company, and would have also have given him the opportunity to take a buyout offer directly to shareholders from January.
"Mr. Schulze did not accept the company proposal," it said in a statement.
A source familiar with Schulze said the executive and his team were "shocked" by the Best Buy statement because they thought they were still in talks with the company over an agreement on due diligence.
A spokesman for Schulze could not be immediately reached.
Best Buy said the board's proposal would have given Schulze a waiver of Minnesota law so that he could develop a definitive proposal.
It said it asked Schulze to agree to "certain protections for Best Buy and its shareholders, with the goal of limiting outside distractions", in exchange for opening its books. It did not detail the conditions.
The retailer has previously called Schulze's proposal "highly conditional" and asked him to name his still undisclosed private-equity partners.
Schulze, who owns about a fifth of Best Buy's shares, has said he plans to fund a deal through a combination of investments from private equity firms, reinvestment of about $1 billion of his own equity, and debt financing.
Last week, Schulze sent the company's board a second letter saying he would be persistent in stalking Best Buy.
"I still hope to work with the board on a mutually beneficial transaction — but you should know that I am not going away," Schulze wrote.
Schulze resigned from the company's board in June and said he was exploring options for his ownership stake. He lost the chairmanship after a probe by a board committee found he had failed to tell the board about allegations of personal misconduct by Dunn.
Best Buy has been closing stores, cutting jobs, and trying out a new store format to improve business. It has faced criticism for being too slow to react to a changing retail world, where many use Best Buy as a "showroom" to try out gadgets and then buy them online or elsewhere for less.
Best Buy shares [BBY 18.90 -1.37 (-6.76%) ] closed on Friday at $20.27.
Yes Yes, I know...why did I sell APPL (have a sell target at $640) when I know if it hits that this early, it will go higher since there's still plenty of time for a run up until iPhone 5...simple! Majority of my funds was in AAPL and I needed to put that into another company that yields better gains.
My opinion, if you don't have anything else better to buy, hold APPL for $700+.
Stocks Open Lower After Six Weeks of Gains
Published: Monday, 20 Aug 2012
By: JeeYeon Park
Stocks opened slightly lower Monday as investors appeared to take a breather following the recent stealth rally that propelled the Dow and S&P 500 near four-year highs.
Still, hopes of further bond buying by the ECB helped limit losses...
It looks like I won't be getting a pullback anymore lol...
It looks like it really wants to break that $8 resistance, nice upside potential here.
A buyback would shoot the PPS higher. I've always played SIRI frequently in the past (long position but haven't played it in months)...hopefully I'll get a nice entry when/if it starts to pullback a bit.
Now that's one stock I would have liked to own :)
MGM and AAPL update: New highs!
MGM: hit $10.60
AAPL: hit a new high of $648.19
Time to short if it breaks $19? I need to find those pre IPO prices on the secondary market for potential supports.
lol I didn't buy any, so I'm not worried :)
Yea, I'm thinking of pulling the trigger on shorting it, but something is holding me back lol.
I'm looking into YELP right now, but haven't decided if I want to jump in just yet...One of the board members/investors of YELP also took part in LNKD and said that "those two seemed to have gotten it right." Time is running out and I need to make a decision fast lol.
Damn, sucks...just play LNKD and forget the rest lol. They aren't worth your time :)
Groupon (GRPN) will soon work with Facebook (FB) and offer Facebook shares on their site lol.
You bought in today around high $8's? What's your sell target?
Did you see the bounce on FNMA today? Crazy stuff!
I missed it unfortunately...
lol There goes that $20 support analysts were hoping it would hold...now where's the bottom for a "fair valuation" on the stock?
Morning :)
AAPL Update: $640 target reached!
Music to my ears lol. I'm in MGM since low $9's and thinking of selling at $11...don't really feel like holding out for $14-$15 to be honest. I think there's much better plays out there that will yield quicker and better gains in the same amount of time.
No problem, anytime :)
Upcoming Events That Will Move The Markets
Published: Thursday, 16 Aug 2012
By: Bob Pisani
Aug. 20. 3.1 billion euros of Greek bonds due. Most seem to feel that the Greeks have the money to pay this.
Aug. 24. Spanish Cabinet meeting. Will they formally request aid from the EU? Spain will soon be receiving money for the bank bailout. There is already talk there that they will try convince EU authorities to use some of the 100 billion euros to buy Spanish sovereign bonds.
Aug. 31. Mr. Bernanke speaks at Jackson Hole...
Will there be a new program to buy Agency or mortgage-backed securities? Many think that the somewhat better economic news makes this less likely. As for the rest of the data, like jobs, well — stagnation is not a decline. Housing is getting better. And no one has yet articulated how the Fed as a group feels about acting so close to the election.
Sept. 1. ECB chief Mario Draghi at Jackson Hole. Seems like much of what he will say will depend on what, if anything, happens at the Spanish Cabinet meeting of the week before. Mr. Draghi made the procedure clear: a country must ask for aid. Then the EFSF/ESM can be activated, but only with "conditionality."
September 6: ECB meeting. We will hear of any further rate cuts, but more importantly under what conditions the ECB might revive its own bond buying program, the Securities Markets Program (SMP).
Sept. 12: German Constitutional Court rules on legality of ESM. Most feel this will pass muster, but there is some risk. If it is overturned or delayed, the burden of any request for aid from Italy or Spain would fall squarely on the shoulders of the ECB.
Upcoming Events That Will Move The Markets
Published: Thursday, 16 Aug 2012
By: Bob Pisani
Aug. 20. 3.1 billion euros of Greek bonds due. Most seem to feel that the Greeks have the money to pay this.
Aug. 24. Spanish Cabinet meeting. Will they formally request aid from the EU? Spain will soon be receiving money for the bank bailout. There is already talk there that they will try convince EU authorities to use some of the 100 billion euros to buy Spanish sovereign bonds.
Aug. 31. Mr. Bernanke speaks at Jackson Hole...
Will there be a new program to buy Agency or mortgage-backed securities? Many think that the somewhat better economic news makes this less likely. As for the rest of the data, like jobs, well — stagnation is not a decline. Housing is getting better. And no one has yet articulated how the Fed as a group feels about acting so close to the election.
Sept. 1. ECB chief Mario Draghi at Jackson Hole. Seems like much of what he will say will depend on what, if anything, happens at the Spanish Cabinet meeting of the week before. Mr. Draghi made the procedure clear: a country must ask for aid. Then the EFSF/ESM can be activated, but only with "conditionality."
September 6: ECB meeting. We will hear of any further rate cuts, but more importantly under what conditions the ECB might revive its own bond buying program, the Securities Markets Program (SMP).
Sept. 12: German Constitutional Court rules on legality of ESM. Most feel this will pass muster, but there is some risk. If it is overturned or delayed, the burden of any request for aid from Italy or Spain would fall squarely on the shoulders of the ECB.
I've used both but prefer without pre/post-market info since Pre-market/After-hours tends to be extremely volatile. By that the price per share can easily fluctuate from let's say $19 to $26 without any action in between. That can severly affect a chart's setup.
But then again, it all depends on how you tailered your chart's setup. If you tweaked the setup to accomdate those extreme fluctuations on the price action, then you should be fine.
Upcoming Events
Published: Thursday, 16 Aug 2012
By: Bob Pisani
Aug. 20. 3.1 billion euros of Greek bonds due. Most seem to feel that the Greeks have the money to pay this.
Aug. 24. Spanish Cabinet meeting. Will they formally request aid from the EU? Spain will soon be receiving money for the bank bailout. There is already talk there that they will try convince EU authorities to use some of the 100 billion euros to buy Spanish sovereign bonds.
Aug. 31. Mr. Bernanke speaks at Jackson Hole...
Will there be a new program to buy Agency or mortgage-backed securities? Many think that the somewhat better economic news makes this less likely. As for the rest of the data, like jobs, well — stagnation is not a decline. Housing is getting better. And no one has yet articulated how the Fed as a group feels about acting so close to the election.
Sept. 1. ECB chief Mario Draghi at Jackson Hole. Seems like much of what he will say will depend on what, if anything, happens at the Spanish Cabinet meeting of the week before. Mr. Draghi made the procedure clear: a country must ask for aid. Then the EFSF/ESM can be activated, but only with "conditionality."
September 6: ECB meeting. We will hear of any further rate cuts, but more importantly under what conditions the ECB might revive its own bond buying program, the Securities Markets Program (SMP).
Sept. 12: German Constitutional Court rules on legality of ESM. Most feel this will pass muster, but there is some risk. If it is overturned or delayed, the burden of any request for aid from Italy or Spain would fall squarely on the shoulders of the ECB.
MGM Update: Hit $10.43 now! On track to 16/18 successful trades.
http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=78377313&txt2find=mgm
*Refer to the Intro/iBox for more information
I'll be back in an hour or two, need to take a quick nap lol.
And down it goes :)
Morning Dan :)
Cisco Beats on Earnings, Raises Quarterly Dividend to 14 Cents a Share From 8 Cents.
Today's Top Losers:
AEZS (-9.61%)
CUR (-22.73%)
FES (-19.72%)
GBG (-45.46%)
JAG (-11.5%)
NLST (-23.16%)
SPLS (-14.31%)
Today's tankers:
AEZS (-9.61%)
CUR (-22.73%)
FES (-19.72%)
GBG (-45.46%)
JAG (-11.5%)
NLST (-23.16%)
SPLS (-14.31%)
Today's tankers:
AEZS (-9.61%)
CUR (-22.73%)
FES (-19.72%)
GBG (-45.46%)
JAG (-11.5%)
NLST (-23.16%)
SPLS (-14.31%)
AAPL Update: hit $638 yesterday! $2 shy from my sell target.
AAPL rallying back up (still holding). I'm confident I'll get my $640 sell target in the near term, especially when the new iPhone arrives.
*Refer to the Intro/iBox for more information.
A "windows phone"...really? Last I check, the so called windows phone flopped big time. The iPhone is still racking up all the sales.
*I have no position in the stock.
Nokia Promises New Windows Phone Coming Soon
Published: Wednesday, 15 Aug 2012
By: Reuters
Nokia Chief Executive Stephen Elop promised to unveil a new smartphone using Microsoft's latest Windows 8 software soon, raising the prospect it will be launched in early September before rival Apple promotes its new iPhone.
Nokia [NOK 2.49 (---) ], which is fighting for survival after losing out to rivals in the lucrative smartphone business, is due to hold a trade show in Helsinki on September 5-6, just before an Apple [AAPL 631.69 (---) ] event on September 12 where the U.S. competitor could announce a redesigned iPhone.
Nokia, the world's second-largest cellphone maker, has not commented on what it will announce at the Nokia World event, but business magazines have said it will unveil the new Windows 8 [MSFT 30.13 (---) ] smartphones.
Elop, in Oslo for a meeting with Telenor [TEQ-FF 13.99 -0.063 (-0.45%)] Chief Executive Jon Fredrik Baksaas, did not deny a September launch but would only say Windows 8 smartphones would be released "relatively near term."
Nokia shares, which have been trading near all-time lows, rose sharply after Elop's comments and traded up 7.5 percent.
Elop, who was brought in from Microsoft in September 2010 to lead the company's battle against increasingly dominant Apple and Samsung [SAMC-LN --- UNCH ()], said he was sticking to his strategy of using Microsoft software despite the limited success of Windows Phones so far.
Nokia decided in early 2011 to ditch its home-grown Symbian software for a deal with Microsoft, aiming to catch up with Apple and Google [GOOG 668.66 (---) ] in smartphones.
"I don't think about rewinding the clock and thinking about competing elsewhere," he told reporters.
"In today's war ... (between) Android, Apple and Windows, we are very clear, we are fighting that with the Windows phone."
Nokia lost 1.53 billion euros in the second quarter and sold just 4 million Windows phones in the period, well short of Apple's sales of 26 million iPhones and Samsung's 50 million smartphones.
US Industrial Output Grows at Fastest Pace Since April
Published: Wednesday, 15 Aug 2012
By: Reuters
U.S. industrial output expanded last month at the fastest pace since April and manufacturing notched another solid advance, hinting at underlying resilience in an economy that has struggled to establish momentum.
Industrial production increased by 0.6 percent in July, the Federal Reserve said on Wednesday, beating a 0.5 percent gain forecast by a Reuters poll of economists and compared with a downwardly revised increase of 0.1 percent in June.
Factory production was up 0.5 percent in the month and utilities output rose a solid 1.3 percent, snapping back from a sharp 3.3 percent decline in June. Mining production rose 1.2 percent.
Capacity utilization, a measure of how fully firms are using their resources, was 79.3 percent, just beating forecasts and advancing from 78.9 percent in June.
US Industrial Output Grows at Fastest Pace Since April
Published: Wednesday, 15 Aug 2012
By: Reuters
U.S. industrial output expanded last month at the fastest pace since April and manufacturing notched another solid advance, hinting at underlying resilience in an economy that has struggled to establish momentum.
Industrial production increased by 0.6 percent in July, the Federal Reserve said on Wednesday, beating a 0.5 percent gain forecast by a Reuters poll of economists and compared with a downwardly revised increase of 0.1 percent in June.
Factory production was up 0.5 percent in the month and utilities output rose a solid 1.3 percent, snapping back from a sharp 3.3 percent decline in June. Mining production rose 1.2 percent.
Capacity utilization, a measure of how fully firms are using their resources, was 79.3 percent, just beating forecasts and advancing from 78.9 percent in June.