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It's trying to break the $1.70 mark.
That's now a resistance point from earlier in the week.
If it can get thru there, $2 should be the next stop.
The market seems pleased that the GDP wasn't as bad as some expected.
I'm looking to pick some up on the morning dip to hold for a few days. Tight stop, though.
Best of luck all!
WOW Arnie!
Not sure what to say about that.
Best of luck!
Hi Arnie!
Yes, it bounced pretty good.
The problem is that after big up days in the market, you normally get a down day. Doesn't mean it will happen, but it's likely. And ETrade hasn't been doing so well with the down days this week.
I have no idea what tomorrow will bring.
I'm steering clear for a while until this all blows over.
Best of luck!
You buying more pamo?
It's a bad week for sure.
Two shots of bad news back to back.
You guys will be fine. It'll just take some time.
Take care.
UPDATE 1-RESEARCH ALERT-Citigroup cuts target on E*Trade
(Recasts, adds details, share movement) Oct 28 (Reuters) - Citigroup lowered its price target on E*Trade Financial Corp (ETFC.O: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), saying it sees remaining home equity portfolio losses for the U.S. discount brokerage in excess of its existing reserve and a higher probability of a dilutive capital raise.
The brokerage, which cut its price target to $1.70 from $2.25 on the stock, said it sees an embedded remaining loss within E*Trade's home equity portfolio of between $2 billion and $2.5 billion, or $1.5 billion in excess of its existing reserve.
The brokerage said it evaluated losses related to E*Trade's home equity portfolio after its peer National City Corp (NCC.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) disclosed a significantly higher loss estimate on the portfolio.
Even after exhausting its current reserve, E*Trade would need to raise close to $1.5 billion, the brokerage said, adding that it estimates every $100 million of equity capital raised by the company to dilute share count by 12 percent to 15 percent.
E*Trade's management expects home equity portfolio losses to be in the $1.2 billion range until 2010, the brokerage noted.
Citigroup reiterated its "sell" rating on E*Trade stock, which fell 4 percent to $1.65 in afternoon trade on Nasdaq. (Reporting by Amiteshwar Singh in Bangalore; Editing by Deepak Kannan)
Yes. CITI downgraded ETrade
New price target $1.70
Sorry guys.
Best of luck!
The market can't go down forever.
At some point, "they" will take it up on one of those counter trend rallies. But you have to use that opportunity to exit your longs because the major trend for the next 6 months or so is still down.
If we get a good 2-5 day rally, I hope to make some money and then scurry back to cash before it all falls apart again.
I cannot even remember the last time we had two days in a row where the markets were green!
Morning Arnie,
I have always heard it was 3 days for margin calls but found this on Ameritrade which says either immediate or 5 days:
"When is my margin call due?
Regulation T calls must be met within five (5) business days, without exception. Margin Maintenance calls, and equity calls are due immediately, and liquidation could occur at any time, due to market conditions, even without prior notice.
IMPORTANT REMINDER: MARKET CONDITIONS COULD DICTATE A FORCIBLE SELLOUT IN YOUR ACCOUNT WITH OR WITHOUT NOTIFICATION, REGARDLESS OF YOUR INTENT TO COVER THE AMOUNT DUE. FORCIBLE LIQUIDATIONS MAY RESULT IN A SELLOUT FEE IN ADDITION TO THE APPLICABLE COMMISSION CHARGES."
Found it roman!
From Ameritrade:
For a long stock position valued at $4.01 per share or more, the margin requirement is 30%. However, some stocks have special maintenance requirements, which means a different value will be used instead of 30%. View a list of stocks with special maintenance requirements.
For a long stock position valued between $2.00 and $4.00, the margin requirement is $2.00 per share. However, some stocks have special maintenance requirements, which means a different value will be used instead of $2.00. View a list of stocks with special maintenance requirements.
For a long stock position valued at less than $1.99 or less per share, the margin requirement is 100% of the current market value of the stock.
Well dangit roman!
I went back to the yahoo board to find the link that was there this morning in someones post and it's lost in the noise.
It was a link to policies at ETrade with the $2 margin limit. I assume other brokers do something very similar.
Sorry.
I need a shower after 5 minutes on the yahoo board. LOL!
S&P UPGRADE & Raises Target to $2.50
SNPMarketScopeResearchNotes2008-10-27 14:49:42.000ETFCE TRADE FINANCIALR PandyaS&P RAISES RECOMMENDATION ON SHARES OF E TRADE FINANCIAL TO HOLD FROM SELLAfter further review of Q3 results, we upgrade our opinion on ETFC shares. While considerable balance sheet uncertainty remains with regards to ETFC's loan portfolio, we believe the company has an adequate capital cushion to withstand additional provisions. Further, ETFC's retail segment remains strong, in our opinion, with a stable customer base and increasing net new customer asset flows.
Accordingly, we increase our book-value multiple, to 0.5X from 0.4X, and raise our 12-month target price to $2.50 from $2
Now THAT was one ugly close!
WOW...
Yes, it's very ironic!
The speculation on Yahoo is that "they" will keep it under $2 till Wednesday to extract as much retail flesh as possible.
If that is what happens, there will probably be a couple days where "they" take it way up to unload those shares.
"They" sure do seem to always make alot more money than I do.
LOL!
Hi Arnie,
I think margin calls can go on for 3 days, but I'm not certain about this case.
And I found out why!
Stocks that close under $2 cannot be used for margin. We closed under $2 on Friday. This selling is margin call related.
DUH!
I can't believe I forgot about that stupid rule.
Hi rambob!
There's no wishing to it. I stopped out while I was at the mall.
The past 2 days ETrade has been extremely weak compared to AMTD and SCHW.
I guess now we wait and see what happens this afternoon.
Have a great day!
I took a chunk at $1.94
My stop is at $1.90.
I'll be back around lunch time.
Good luck guys!
I hope so.
There seems to be some positive stuff this week for traders to pins some hopes on.
But if it opens down, stays down, and then sells off, I'll take my medicine and wait for a better entry.
It helps that Art Cashin was touting today as the lunar bottom, like in that article I posted on Friday. Alot of people follow Art.
I think we'll see the mid-day bounce and then everyone will watch the close.
We'll see.
I'll be buying the dip today.
I think we'll have some positive action after the initial selloff.
The Fed is Tuesday & Wednesday. The initial buying of corporate paper starts today. The TARP should be rolling out with its first action.
It should provide an opportunity for the markets to try and stabilize a bit if the hedge funds can stop with the end of day selling.
I guess we'll see.
Just for fun!
http://blogs.wsj.com/marketbeat/2008/10/24/written-in-the-stars/
Written in the Stars
Posted by MarketBeat Staff
Rob Curran reports:
Among the responses traders have mustered to the “when-will-this-ever-end?” 2008 stock-market crash: astrology. Stock charts have unequivocally failed, so traders are turning to star charts.
“I got this from the most bearish man in Western civilization,” reads an e-mail forwarded from a trader at a mid-sized Wall Street firm. “It’s legit. Panic lows have historically occurred on day 27/28 of the 7th lunar cycle, which are this Sunday and Monday. The panics of 1857/1907/1929/1987/1997 all marked their lows on these days in October!”
Fibonacci retracements may work during steady markets, but horoscopes are probably as good a charting tool as any this time around.
Right now, the DJIA is off 24% for October. If the Dow finished with that loss, it would be a bigger drop than October, 1987 and October, 1929, the two most infamous crashes in history.
Hi arnie,
Got your message but I cannot do PMs.
You'd probably sleep better if you had unloaded those into the bounce this morning, but now it is what it is.
Like pamo says, if you have a little longer timeframe, you'll be fine.
This too shall pass.
We'll probably see a ugly close today.
The fear that was generated from the limit down futures headlines this morning will generate more redemptions. Redemptions and margin calls cause the 3PM selloffs. The 3PM selloffs give the news people something else to talk about which causes more fear which results in more redemptions.
These waves seem to be coming in 3 day cycles so maybe down till Tuesday or so?
I read last night that the DOW has only closed green four times this month. WOW!
If Argentina defaults over the weekend that will be a big down day for Monday.
When in doubt, aire on the side of caution.
Everyone have a fantastic weekend!
Oh.
I'm already in and out for a dime.
I'm most likely done for the day.
What a wild ride!
There ya go Arnie!
MSFT warned, the global markets blew up, and we're limit down on the futures. All of the US indexes will open at fresh new lows this morning. I hope you still have that cash!
I plan to play the bounce today. Probably from 10-12AM. With a tight stop. I just want a little bonus before the weekend. I am not taking anything home over the weekend.
Best of luck! Trade safe!
Hi Arnie,
The Qs are 1 dime off their 52 week low. If MSFT warns and/or misses tonight after the close the market is going to head for fresh new lows.
If the market holds right here and heads up that's a double bottom you can buy and make money on IMO.
If the market breaks down from here, there's no telling where the next short term bottom could be.
I'm not saying you shouldn't buy here.
What I'm saying is that I am waiting to see how MSFT does. I'd rather pay higher prices in a rebounding market than buy now and have everything in the toilet the next day.
By the way, as I was typing this the QQQQ set a new 52 week low.
Hi arnie!
MSFT reports tonight so be careful. They could move the market big one way or the other.
I'm back out as of this morning and am looking for another entry.
It's really hard for me with this market all over the place.
Play safe!
$2.70
It's down big today. I didn't see any news but breaking into the $2's isn't good.
Good for you rambob!
I pick up some right before the close at $2.17 hoping for a pop in the morning.
Don't Mess With the E*Trade Baby
http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2008/10/22/dont-mess-with-the-etrade-baby.aspx
Watching E*Trade (Nasdaq: ETFC) these days is a lot like watching the E*Trade baby from the popular ads learn to take its first steps: It's going to be a little wobbly at first, but it'll eventually get where it wants to go.
Last night's third-quarter report was a mixed bag. The company posted a loss of $0.60 a share from continuing operations. It is a wider deficit than the $0.28 a share that the market was expecting, but what else is new? E*Trade has missed Wall Street's profit targets in each of the past six quarters now.
The report gets better after that, though it all depends on where you look.
Some investors may flock to the healthy uptick in trading activity. Daily average revenue trades rose by 7% sequentially to 184,000. It's nice, but it's not the number that I'm looking at in gauging the company's success. Volatility has a way of bringing out the riverboat gambler in all of us, so activity of lack thereof is no big deal.
Worrywart investors will gravitate to the problematic spike in loan loss provisions. $518 million is a chunky number, and it proves that E*Trade hasn't exorcised all of the demons from last year's financial debacle. However, the company continues to reduce its exposure to home loans and undrawn equity lines, even as it sells non-core assets. In other words, E*Trade is working on that problem. It scored some asset sale gains during the period, but also took a hit in unloading its preferred shares of Fannie Mae (NYSE: FNM) and Freddie Mac (NYSE: FRE).
So where do I go to take E*Trade's pulse? At this point in the company's turnaround process, I like to see which way the customers are going. E*Trade is looking good on that front, closing out the period with 41,000 more accounts than when it started, and net new customer assets of $800 million.
E*Trade now has 4.4 million retail accounts. That's refreshing when you consider the daunting challenges the company was facing around this time last year, as dumping assets at fire sale prices could have questioned its ability to retain its users. Rival discount brokers like TD*AMERITRADE (Nasdaq: AMTD) and Charles Schwab (Nasdaq: SCHW) never subjected themselves to that heightened exposure to mainstream banking.
So E*Trade is a survivor. Now that the FDIC has boosted its asset protection, most of its clients can rest easy. The bump to $250,000 in account protection finds just $1.4 billion in unprotected liquidity relative to the $4.3 billion at risk three months ago.
Naturally E*Trade still has its challenges, chief among them being a return to profitability to restore shareholder confidence. It won't be easy, but you've seen wobbly babies before. You can't learn how to walk, much less run, unless you fall down a few times.
I checked so I'll share.
The 52 week low on the QQQQ [NAZ 100] is $29.25. We're at $30.26
The 52 week low on ETFC is $1.84. We're at $2.18
So the market is very close to testing the lows for the year.
Double bottom?
Hi Arnie!
"Why didn't I load up instead of a tiny bit."
Every single time you say that the stock tanks.
The next time I sell I'm going to ask you to say that so I can load back up - LOL!
Way to go Arnie!
You're becoming quite the POWER TRADER!
The day's not over yet!
Up 6% now.
AMTD down 4%, SCHW down 7%, ETFC up 3%
Looks like the street is looking past the bad news on the mortgage stuff and focusing on the good news on the brokerage side.
I'm with you rambob!
I'll be a buyer under $2 now. A little less risk there.
I dumped my last bit afterhours so I'm back flush with cash waiting.
It could be that the new trading range is now $2->$2.50.
Trade safe. The earnings monster is on the loose!
It's back trading near the closing price.
I'll go out on a limb and say it apparently doesn't matter.
I can't believe you guys were worried - LOL!!!!
Looks like they took the (60) number?
Sorry guys.
Maybe they will straighten things out on the CC.
The bid and ask are zero, it's halted.
Where are you looking?
nasdaq says the halt comes off at 4:35.
http://www.nasdaqtrader.com/Trader.aspx?id=Tradehalts