The Netflix Story Is Done
May 31, 2009
Today I covered my short position in Netflix [NFLX: 69.60, -0.38 (-0.54%)] at $39.90 per share. The total amount shorted was for a 1/2 position out of a full position, accounting for about 15% of my portfolio. Those that follow me on Twitter received this update today as I made the transaction. By the time some of you read this post, I will have already exited the position because my stop limit order was triggered, so I advise you to subscribe to my Twitter feed that can be sent to your phone via text message or email for any actionable alerts that I will first post there before writing about in these pages. Read more
Stocks For An Economic Recovery – Information Technology
May 31, 2009
Automatic Data Processing, Inc. [ADP: 44.24, +0.43 (+0.98%)] is the premier HR business process outsourcing (BPO) agent responsible for thousands of payroll transactions world wide. ADP is also active in providing financial information systems to car, motorcycle, marine, and recreational vehicle dealers located across all major continents. The company offers great solutions for businesses that are seeking to realize efficiencies by cutting costs of non-revenue generating units. Heavily tied to the employment rate, ADP obviously makes more fees as it disburses more payroll checks and sells more of its information systems as durable good orders pick up. Read more
Key Telecom Trends: Part 1
May 30, 2009
The world is seeing a move to on-demand information and mobile computing, evident by the explosion of smartphones in recent years. Furthermore, bandwidth demand has increased drastically as more people are emailing, texting, downloading applications and watching YouTube on their cell phones, thus requiring networks to be upgraded accordingly. Mobile networks have been upgraded both domestically and internationally to 3G and will eventually be revamped up to 4G. In the home, cable networks have been upgraded from coaxial cables to fiber optics by companies like AT&T [T: 25.78, +0.16 (+0.62%)] and Verizon [VZ: 29.86, +0.13 (+0.44%)] to gain access to more HD channels and faster, more reliable internet connections. Read more
Friday’s Market Recap (05/29/09)
May 29, 2009
The markets enjoyed a late rally to send the three major indexes up for the day, as the Dow Jones closed up 1.15%. The NASDAQ and the S&P 500 were both up closing at 1774.33 and 919.14 respectively. Prices on the 10 year treasury once again rose over a dollar as the yield declined to 3.465%. Oil and gold were both up today, with August gold settled at $980.30 and crude settled at $66.31. Read more
Industrial Names That Haven’t Gotten Ahead of Themselves
May 29, 2009
Today’s markets maintain a level of anxiety that another leg-down is coming, namely the notion that we may revisit our former lows of March. As the more bullish investors continue to invest in financial and IT names, it would seem that the vast majority of market movers are taking profits off of the table in the industrial sector of the economy. But while the money seems to be rotating out of the early-cycle names that seem to have gotten ahead of themselves, many of which are up considerably from the bottom, I reiterate that there remains significant opportunity in cyclical-aerospace. Read more
Are There Opportunities In Today’s Markets?
May 29, 2009
Are there opportunities in today’s markets? I believe there are if you know where to look. A distinguishing aspect of American culture is how we react to adversity. Many people see the turmoil in the markets as a sign of gloom and disaster. Certainly, people have seen their 401K’s shrink in value and retirement dreams dashed. Others, however, see opportunities in this chaos. Read more
Stocks For An Economic Recovery – Energy
May 29, 2009
Whenever someone mentions the idea of an economic recovery, I immediately start thinking about what would happen if natural gas rose back towards late 2007 and early 2008 levels. This won’t happen in the near term as it is anticipated that we will be in a weak hurricane season and there are still a few more shoes to drop in the economy. However, long term energy demand predictions and the loose fiscal and monetary policy of the United States have paved the way for another energy bull-run. Natural gas is currently trading around $3.70. With the forward curve looking at price closer to $5.70 by the end of this year, there is no better time to get in than now if you have faith in the commodity over the long term. Read more
Thursday’s Market Recap (05/28/09)
May 28, 2009
The markets had a good day, with the NASDAQ up 1.20%. The S&P was up 1.54% closing at 906.83, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 1.25% finishing at 8403.80. The 10-year saw prices rise over a dollar, as the yield fell to 3.620% on successful 6-month T-bill announcements and closings of attractive bid to cover ratios from the previous week. Crude oil and August gold were both up, settling at $65.08 and $963.20 respectively. Crude oil advanced on an inventory drawdown that was almost five times what was expected by analysts. Read more
It’s Time To Sell GeoEye
May 28, 2009
Today I sold my full position in GeoEye, Inc. [GEOY: 28.92, -0.16 (-0.55%)], a provider of space-based and aerial imagery and geospatial information, at $20.75 per share. The total amount in my portfolio was for a 3/4 position out of a full position, accounting for about 25% of my portfolio. Those that follow me on Twitter received this update today as I made the transaction. Read more
Investing in Cloud Computing
May 28, 2009
Cloud computing has been the buzz word the last couple years in IT, making many believe it is a fad. The vast majority of the investing population does not understand what cloud computing is, what it can do, and how it is changing the current framework of computing and the large corporate data centers that have become the nerve center of business. I want to shed some light on this computing model and offer some ideas for those looking to invest into this IT hotspot. Read more
