lamdar

Stock Market Analysis – 03-06-2010

lamdar — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 01:57:26 +0000

The bulls made a strong run with the jobs data better than expected, but still failed to muster much volume. With the “too much snow to work” excuse already lined up, the results were quite unsurprising. I’m still pretty torn over how to play this market in my long term portfolio. With the bullishness over the past week, a bunch of long positions have triggered, only to have me chicken out and take 3-5% gains right away, leaving quite a bit more on the table. The correct action would be to either cancel my orders or let my positions run once they’re established. Clearing $1140 and setting a new 52 week high would be an unmistakable signal, so we’ll see how this week goes.

Devry (DV) – 03-04-2010

lamdar — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 11:07:00 +0000

A long time ago, when I was an intern, they started building a Devry next to my company. “Who actually goes to Devry?” I snickered. “I went to Devry,” said a sheepish senior coworker. I learned to watch what I say that day, but I also learned that Devry is a decent option as what I consider a white collar vocational school, if that makes sense.

When unemployment is over 10%, you have a lot of people trying to figure out how to make themselves stand out to employers. You also have people forced into contemplating career changes. Sounds good for schools that are fast and cheap, right?

DV had a breakout earlier in the year, and is just starting to run again. It’s not really at a buy point right now, but this is one of those group watches. APEI, CPLA, STRA, etc. are all stocks with nice earnings in a similar vein. I’m just partial to DV since I have some history with it.

Stock Market Analysis – 03-04-2010

lamdar — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 07:32:02 +0000

I never would have guessed that the market would battle with this much strength. The volume is still weak, but the amount of support is still surprising. Will the market break down below $1115 or up above $1125? It’s a narrow range, so we shouldn’t be waiting long. Of course I’ve been waiting for that strong signal since $1100, so maybe it won’t be that quick.

Stock Market Analysis – 03-02-2010

lamdar — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 05:59:24 +0000

Stock market goes up. Clippers beat Utah. Stock market continues strong the next morning. Coincidence? We’ll see. With the Clippers playing the Suns tomorrow, another lockstep day would be convincing enough for some technical traders. Forget the fact that the market ended up in a gravestone doji and that the Clippers are 3.5 point underdogs, making both more than likely to lose tomorrow. If the Redskins can predict the presidential election, the Clippers can predict the stock market.

P.S. Keep an eye on $1080, which would signal the end of the month long bullish run.

Stock Market Analysis – 02-26-2010

lamdar — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 03:43:09 +0000

Normally I have a pretty quick opinion when I look through the data and post to this blog. For some reason, I keep going back and forth right now though. The economic numbers keep disappointing, but the fact that the chart has some bullish signs confuses me. It looks like it’s setting up with some distribution in the middle of a leg up, but everything says we should be breaking below $1050. Hopefully we’ll get some stronger signals this week.

Baidu (BIDU) – 02-22-2010

lamdar — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 07:48:57 +0000

Baidu doesn’t need much company info since everyone that follows internet stuff already knows them well. BIDU has too crazy of a chart to try to mark up. The interesting thing is that the stock has exploded since the crash when it was at $100, but the P/E has been keeping pace. #1 on the IBD list now, it will probably become even more volatile in the near future. Good for swing trading or as a long term play at the right entry.

Stock Market Analysis – 02-22-2010

lamdar — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 07:41:11 +0000

The market had some interesting price action today, but the volume was especially weak. Even though the price trend is up, it still feels like an indecisive period to me. I said $1100 was a good price to watch on a strong breakout, but this weak stumble upwards doesn’t feel right, so I’ll keep waiting for short entries until the market proves otherwise.

Stock Market Analysis – 02-18-2010

lamdar — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 07:40:58 +0000

The price is saying yes, but the volume is saying no. Sliding volume is typically screaming correction. In this case, that would mean an upward correction in the midst of a downward movement. I’m fully expecting to hit resistance soon, but will keep a close eye on bullish options should the opportunity arise.

Stock Market Analysis – 02-16-2010

lamdar — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 06:50:29 +0000

The little pop in the return from the holidays was nice, but the weak volume says to be wary. We’re close to the last high, so keep that in mind as a pivot. A strong opening over $1100 could be a good short term bullish trading signal right now, as long as it’s strong, but not overextended.

Stock Market Analysis – 02-11-2010

lamdar — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 06:34:02 +0000

The week’s not quite over yet, but the pause has been a good break. So far most of the downward action of the year has come on 3 big down days. Until I get some confidence that a fourth and fifth aren’t just over the horizon, I’ll still play it fairly conservatively. It’s always tough watching things on your radar, like HEAT, go up 30% in 5 days, but hopefully you have a lot of other options for when the market agrees it’s time to buy stuff.

Having plenty of opportunities is important in times like this so that you don’t make poor choices due to being desperate. Think about your buddy who married the butt ugly girl behind the front desk at his work because she was the only person that talked to him. You don’t want to end up in the same boat with your stock picks now, do you?