he Bureau of Economic Analysis said the
downward revision for Q2 "primarily reflected a downward revision to
private inventory investment, an upward revision to imports of services and a
downward revision to residential fixed investment that were partly offset by an
upward revision to PCE for services.
*****
Tony Dwyer at FTN Midwest
Securities opined that the S&P 500 making a new yearly high in September has
occurred 19 times in the last 50 years and 8 times in the last 24 years. That
type of action when a new calendar year high has been made in September has on
average been followed buy a 3% correction in October followed by a rally into
year end.
*****
We had forgotten but Ford paid a
$10 billion cash dividend in 2000. Ford could surely use the money now. Nice
forward planning. By the by, Bill Ford was Chairman of the company then as he
is now. Plan.
*****
We began establishing our year
end positions yesterday. We will add to those stocks in a correction and also
will be looking for blue chips and other non worrisome stocks that have
significant price drops as third quarter earnings are announced. That is our
game plan. The election in November may add a note of interest to the fall and
to the markets. The markets are priced for the Republicans maintaining control
of Congress.
*****
Europe
closed mixed small either way.
*****
Oil ended at $62.76 in NYC. Gold
was $610. Treasuries gave ground
with the two-year at 4.67% and the ten-year at 4.63%.
The DJIA closed up 25 points at 11715. The S&P 500 gained 3 points to 1339 and the NAZZ was up 7 points to 2270.
Breadth was 5/4 positive and volume
was active.
New highs contracted to 275 and new lows were 90.
And the casino is open for one
more day this week for hedge fund games.
*****
27 September 2006 Daily Comment
Thoughts
Asia which
had traded fractionally low the last two days caught up with the U.S.
rally overnight with Japan
up 2% and Hong Kong up over 1%. Europe
is trading fractionally higher. Oil opened higher in NYC and is at $61.62 in
the early going and Gold is peeking above $600. Treasuries are firmer.
John Succo at www.minyanville.com had this to say in a
morning post:
Either the inverted yield curve
(the six month - ten year spread is now at an inversion of 41 basis points, a
recent high) and either bonds are right about deflation (recession) or stocks
are right about inflation (growth). Both can't be.
*****
Durable Goods Orders fell 0.5% in August when a gain was expected.
Ex Transports Orders fell 0.3%. Treasuries are stronger on the news.
*****
General Motors, Renault and Nissan today said that a meeting was
held between Carlos Ghosn, President and Chief Executive Officer of Renault,
SAS and Nissan Motor Co., Ltd., and Rick Wagoner, Chairman and Chief Executive
Officer of General Motors Corp., regarding ongoing discussions concerning the
possibility of creating an industrial alliance among these three companies.
Through the work of the three study teams, the companies continue to explore
the potential opportunities of an industrial alliance. The teams are conducting
a thorough and objective analysis of potential synergies between all three
companies with a focus on how an alliance could generate significant
shareholder value for each company. Following today's meeting, it has been
confirmed that the teams will continue the studies through to the planned
mid-October completion date.
*****
We are going to re-purchase the Intel at $20.50 that we
sold at the beginning of the month. We are paying $1 higher for the stock.
Yesterday INTC announced that they will begin selling their new 4 processor
chip and also that a judge had thrown out a large portion of AMD’s lawsuit.
That caused the stock price to run up. Intel broke up through the $20 resistance
level this morning. We were a little too
cute with this stock but our ownership traces to $17.75 in July and we
basically have given up the $1 between $19.50 and $20.50.
*****
We are repurchasing Sprint at $17. We want a position in this
stock and we weren’t comfortable not owning the shares. We are buying Sprint within
75 pennies of its low for the year.
*****
We are also taking a position in Boston Scientific at $14.90. We have been
watching the stock since the mid $20s. BSX bought Guidant last year and it has
been all downhill since then for the share price. The company is priced at 3
times sales. It has a good chunk of debt and is currently being sued for $5
billion in damages by Johnson and Johnson over the Guidant merger. There is a lot
of bad news priced into the stock and for these reasons the shares are on a
multi-year low
Boston Scientific Corporation
engages in the development, manufacture, and marketing of medical devices that
are used in interventional medical specialties in Europe,
Japan, and
Inter-Continental. The company's products are offered by three groups:
Cardiovascular, Endosurgery, and Neuromodulation. The Cardiovascular
organization provides products and technologies for use in coronary stents,
drug-eluting stents, bare-metal stents, coronary revascularization,
intraluminal ultrasound imaging, embolic protection, interventional cardiology,
peripheral interventions, vascular surgery, electrophysiology, and
neurovascular procedures. The Endosurgery organization provides products and
technologies for use in oncology, colorectal intervention, pancreatico-biliary
intervention, pulmonary intervention, urinary tract intervention and bladder
disease, prostate intervention, endoscopy, urology, gynecology, and esophageal,
gastric, and duodenal intervention procedures. The Neuromodulation organization
provides products for the treatment of auditory disorders and chronic pain. The
company’s less-invasive medical products are used for enlarging narrowed blood
vessels to prevent heart attack and stroke; clearing passages blocked by plaque
to restore blood flow; opening obstructions and bringing relief to patients
suffering from various forms of cancer; performing biopsies and intravascular
ultrasounds; mapping electrical problems in the heart; placing filters to
prevent blood clots from reaching the lungs, heart, or brain; treating
urological, gynecological, renal, pulmonary, neurovascular, and
gastrointestinal diseases; and modulating nerve activity to treat deafness and
chronic pain. The company markets its products through direct sales force, and
a network of distributors and dealers.
*****
We are re-purchasing Palm at $14.30.
We are buying in accounts where we sold it earlier in the month. The earnings
news has hopefully been discounted by the price movement lower and we think there
may be some quarter end selling in the shares.
And we bought Williams Sonoma in many accounts and Urban Outfitters in our
larger/aggressive accounts.
We have wanted to own these
stocks. As we said above we were probably too cute in trying to trade them for
a pull back but maybe now that we have purchased them we will get the pullback
and be able to build larger positions.
*****
Altria (Phillip Morris) is the best performing stock in the DJIA
this year. This year 5 million Americans will suffer tobacco related deaths. It
is predicted that in this century tobacco will kill 1 billion people worldwide.
*****
Oil closed at $62.96 in NYC and Gold also was higher at $606. Treasuries
were a bit flat with the two-year at 4.68% and the ten-year at 4.60%.
Europe
closed fractionally higher on most bourses.
The DJIA gained 20 points to finish at 11690. The S&P 500 rose 1 point to 1336 and the NAZZ gained 2 points to 2263.
Breadth was positive and volume was active.
New highs were 330 and new lows were 85.
And there are two more days till
quarter end.
*****
26 September 2006 Daily Comment
Thoughts
To be exact for our granddaughter
Abigail: The date, near September 22nd in the northern hemisphere, when night and day are nearly the same
length and the sun crosses the celestial equator moving southward, marks the
Autumnal Equinox, or the beginning of autumn. This year the Autumnal
Equinox was at 12:03 a.m. EDT on September 23rd.
*****
Yesterday was the type of day we
wish were long stocks and on margin. It was a win for the bulls with the only
fly being not so hot new highs versus new lows.
Today we’ll see whether the
quarter end positioning continues. Overseas Asia was
mostly lower with Hong Kong down over 1% while Europe
is big fractions higher on most bourses.
Gold is off a tad at $594 and Oil
in also a bit lower at $61.13 as the trading day begins. Treasuries are backing
off which is not untoward after the big run they have had over the last week.
*****
The Consumer Confidence Index was 104 in August versus 100 and Consumer
Confidence in the present situation was 127 versus 124. Consumer Confidence
Expectations were 89 in August versus 84 in July. On that news stocks are
rallying.
*****
The Office of
the Comptroller of the Currency for the U.S.A. in their Quarterly Derivative
Fact Sheet claims that J.P. Morgan Chase’s derivatives book grew from $48.26
trillion notional at 4Q '05 to $53.76
trillion at 1Q '06.
*****
From www.miynaville.com we offer some market
history.
“The legendary trader W.D. Gann reportedly claimed
that capital and commodity markets tend to top on or around September 22nd more
often than any other day of the year. There is no apparently economic logic
behind this reported observation... but... in as much as September 22nd happens
to be the usual date of the Autumnal Equinox ... Initially, we never took such
notions seriously... however... we have experienced first hand the October
Massacre of 1978; the October Massacre of 1987; the October ‘Crashette’ of 1989; the 1997 Asian collapse; the 1998 Long
Term Capital sell-off, etc. And remember the Great Gold Boom of the 1970s.
While bullion peaked on January 21, 1980, the gold and silver stocks made their all time
bull market highs on September 22, 1980. This day also saw the major peak in many oil
stocks, which were enjoying a parallel bull market at the time. Also prior to
the Great Crash of 1929, the last stock market index to make its then all time
peak, the Dow Jones Utility Index, did so on September 21, 1929. Even as far back as 1873, such absolute panic
struck, that the NYSE voted, on September 21st to temporarily close its doors.
On rare occasions, markets bottom
on the Autumnal Equinox. Soybeans made a major bottom on September
21st, 1984; and more
recently, the market low after the infamous terrorists’ attack on our country
occurred on September 22, 2001...”
*****
The markets can’t have it both
ways. Eventually Treasuries or stocks have to crack and go their separate ways.
Today Treasuries are giving back a little bit of their strong gains.
*****
Oil closed at $61.05 in NYC and Gold finished at $597. Treasuries
were weaker with the two-year at 4.70% and the ten-year at 4.59%,
European bourses were mostly 1% or better at their respective
closes.
The DJIA gained 92 points to 11668. The S&P 500 rose 10 points to 1336 and the NAZZ gained 12 points to 2260.
Breadth was 2/1 positive on the NYSE and 5/4 positive on the NAZZ
at the close and volume was active.
New highs expanded to 310 and new
lows were 95.
And there are three more days till
the end of the quarter.
*****
25 September 2006 Daily Comment
Thoughts
Oil is trading below $60 for the first time in a while and gasoline
prices have plummeted. Could there be an election on the horizon?
Gold is lower at $593 as the day
begins and stock futures are indicating a higher opening. This week marks the
end of the third quarter and so there should be a bullish bias to the week as folks
who have to report on a quarterly basis will want to see stable to higher
prices.
Morgan Stanley upped Time Warner to overweight saying it was
30% undervalued I relation to its peer group. Sanford Bernstein also upped TWX.
Overseas markets are mixed with Asia
closing fractionally lower on most measures and European bourses fractionally
higher at mid-day.
Treasuries remain firm on the back
of their huge rally last week as traders smell a rate cut by January. The
stocks markets are in a quandary since a rate cut would suggest that the
economy is weakening. But the Goldilocks scenario of the Fed getting it just
right pervades the trading floors and so bond and stock bulls are eating their
cake while hoping for more.
*****
Despite the
breakout in bond yields last week to new swing highs as seen by the inverse
breakout in price on the chart below of the 10-year Treasury note, stocks
refused to follow.
Since July, stocks have moved up following yields
lower -- until last week. That's a notable divergence.
*****
When Long Term Capital Management crashed and burned in 1998 the turmoil
set off a mini-panic in the stock markets. In that brouhaha, there was half the money
involved as there was when Amaranth
Hedge Fund announced that they had lost $6 billion in the last three weeks.
The difference is that LTC was
leveraged 100 to 1 and Amaranth was leveraged 5/1. And with LTC a lot of other
folks on Wall Street were following LTC’s trading strategy and so found themselves in the same predicament. And the major Wall Street
firms had over- extended credit to LTC which wasn’t the case with Amaranth. In
fact a couple of the biggies are bidding to take Amaranths positions.
So the street does learn. It is not
the last idea that brings the markets down it is the next new idea.
*****
The National Association of
Realtors reported that housing inventories in August rose 1.5% to a 7.5 months
supply.
*****
At noon
thirty oil is higher, stocks are higher, Treasuries are higher in price and
gold is higher. All is right with the markets as they move higher in synch.
*****
The following is from James DePorre, a trader who writes as Rev. Shark on www.realmoney.com .
There are few things that bother me more
than market participants who proclaim that making money in the market is
"easy." Invariably, these folks are confusing some good luck in the
short term with overall skill. The market is never easy. Sometimes when the gods are smiling upon you the
profits will simply fall into place and it will feel easy, but experienced traders understand that what the
market gods give you one day, they can easily take away the next. They don't
start thinking they are trading geniuses who are going to mint money.
Even the
best traders in the world are going to get burned at times, and they not only
know it but respect it. They don't get overly confident when their timing is
good and they catch some good gains. And they don't get overly worried when
every trade they put on seems to go against them. They take it in stride and
just keep on keeping on.
Among many
experienced traders, it is simply regarded as "bad karma" to even
think that the market is easy. It is almost as if you are asking the market
beast to teach you a lesson in humility and modesty. Hence I have two important trading rules for which I know no
exceptions. 1. The market is never easy and 2. There are no good stocks.
*****
Europe
closed mixed on the day.
Oil ended at $61.45 in NYC and Gold
closed at $595. Treasuries were better with the two-year at 4.65% and the
ten-year at 4.55%.
The DJIA gained 68 points to 1175. The S&P 500 ended up 12 points at 1327 and the NAZZ jumped 30 points to 2250.
Breadth was 2/1 positive on the NYSE and 3/2 to the good on the
NAZZ. Volume was active.
New highs were 235 and new
lows were 175.
And there are four more days till
the end of the quarter. The bulls were in control today until the last one half hour of trading.
*****
22 September 2006 Daily Comment
Thoughts
We wish a healthy
and happy New Year to those observing Rosh Hashanah.
Asia was
lower overnight with Japan
down over 1% and Europe is trading large fractions lower
on most of its bourses. Gold is up to $596 and Oil is lower at $61.90.
Treasuries are firm and stock
futures are showing lower.
New York Times and Boston Scientific both warned and are indicated lower.
The bonds rallied big time
yesterday and yet stocks didn’t. That is the first time in a long time that
that diversion occurred. It is a sensible diversion since the bonds were
rallying on a slowing economy, as in lower earnings. And this morning on CNBC a
perpetually bullish stock futures trader was less than in his interview. He opined
that now may be the time to lock in some profits. That is of course if one has
profits.
*****
Bloomberg is reporting that the GM / Nissan talks are going nowhere and
so Nissan is preparing to begin talks with Ford.
*****
We reduced our Hershey position in most accounts by
one half and added shares to a few accounts. We want to have room to add at
lower prices. We also reduced our J Crew
trading position for the same reason.
*****
Palm’s earnings disappointed and the shares dropped in after hours
trading. We are going to watch the stock for now.
*****
There are no bids under many
stocks and it is difficult to sell any size in many. This is not a usual
occurrence when a bull market is roaring.
*****
Europe closed
over 1% lower on most exchanges.
*****
Oil closed down at $60.27 in NYC and Gold closed up at $595. Treasuries
remained on fire with the two-year at 4.67% and the ten-year at 4.60%.
The DJIA lost 30 points to end at 11505. The S&P 500 dropped 4 points to 1314 and the NAZZ lost 20 points to 2218.
Breadth was over 2/1 negative and volume was active.
New highs contracted to 165 and new lows expanded to 145.
And the casino is closed for the
week-end.
*****
21 September 2006 Daily Comment
Thoughts
It is not the first day of autumn.
Saturday the 23rd is the first day.
Asian markets were fractionally
higher overnight with no fall out from the Thailand
coup and European bourses are higher at mid-day as the U.
S. markets get ready to begin trading. Treasuries
are flat and Gold is down a bit at $583 with Oil higher at $51.18.
The $61 level is the level for
oil to bounce from if that is going to occur. Since oil has been lower for all
of a week now, analysts and investors are deciding who is to benefit and are
moving swiftly to sell their oil stocks and buy the retailers and techs and
others. The need to outperform continues overcoming any fear. We thought the
big boys and girls were buying techs because their share prices were oil price
resistant so we don’t know why the rush to tech as oil drops. The markets are
the markets and a market verity is sometimes but a moment long.
*****
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. said
Thursday that it will sell nearly 300 generic drugs at $4 a prescription
beginning in Florida
this week and spreading to as many states "as possible" next year.
The program will be available to
insured and uninsured consumers, a move that also will help stem criticism of
Wal-Mart's employee health-care policies.
The program, announced in Florida,
will begin at 65 Wal-Mart, Sam's Club and Neighborhood Market stores in Tampa
Bay. All other stores in Florida
will be offering the program in January, the company said. Wal-Mart said the
program also will fill the gap of coverage senior citizens now have with the
Medicare Part D prescription drug plans that leaves them paying for 100 percent
of many prescriptions. In Florida,
for example, Wal-Mart said the program will help nearly 2.7 million uninsured
Floridians -- many of them retirees -- who may avoid filling prescriptions. The
company estimates the program will save that state hundreds of thousands of
dollars annually in Medicaid costs.
At this time, the $4
prescriptions are only available online for in-person pickup in the Tampa Bay,
Fla. Not all generics in each therapeutic category are included. It's unclear
how Wal-Mart is getting the drugs and if it's in a partnership with specific
drug makers.
*****
The Wal-Mart news is pressuring CVS
down $3, Walgreen down $3 and Rite Aid down 50 pennies.
*****
The Philadelphia Fed survey of
business activity in the Philadelphia
area was negative in the latest reading and Treasuries are rallying on the news
and are back to their Friday before Labor Day lows on yield.
*****
We sold J Crew in the Model Portfolio and reduced positions in some of our
larger accounts. We decided the trading position was too aggressive for the
Model and too large for the other accounts with the major stock measures at an
inflection point.
*****
The CNBC talking heads are wowing
about the Philly Fed number and the drop in interest rates. Mortgage rates are
going lower and so visions of a new round of consumer refinancing and retail
shopping is being mentioned in reverent tones by these folks. But unless the
home market picks up and prices rise
refinancing isn’t going to do much. The ability to sell houses may be helped
but our guess is that the perfect landing scenario is overdone.
*****
Treasuries staged a strong rally on the weak economic data and the two-year
closed at 4.71% with the ten-year at 4.65%.
Gold finished at $588 in NYC and Oil was $61.85.
The DJIA lost 80 points to 11540. The S&P 500 dropped 7 points to 1318 and the NAZZ surrendered 15
points to 2238.
Breadth was 2/1 negative at the close and volume was active.
New highs were 395 and new
lows were 115.
And there is one more day left at
the casino before the gaming ends for the week.
*****
20 September 2006 Daily Comment
Thoughts
Oracle reported earnings up 29% last night and the share price jumped
13% in after hours trading and has given a positive tone to this mornings
pre-opening trading. Our take is that Oracle made a number of software
acquisitions in the last two years and that the earnings improvement is directly
related to the firing of folks who worked for the acquired companies. That is the old Computer Associates model
for satisfying Wall Street on the backs of the people and their families who
made the acquired companies worth acquiring.
Overseas markets were mixed
overnight in Asia and European markets are mixed at
Mid-day in Europe.
Oil is at $60.89 and Gold is $580.
Investors Intelligence reports Bulls 47, bears 33 versus last weeks
Bulls 45, Bears 35.
*****
We are selling the
balance of our Ford position in accounts. This was not our brightest trade and
we our swallowing our pride and taking the loss. With tax selling season
arriving for mutual funds (October 31) and individuals (December 31) Ford is
going to be a prime candidate for sale. The risk in selling it now is that Toyota (or some other foreign auto company) and Ford decides on a merger. We
don’t think that is going to occur. We would rather get out of the stock and
look at it again later in the fall when we think it will be lower,
substantially so on a percentage basis. The
street didn’t like the corrective actions taken so far and we don’t think
that opinion will change for the next few months. In our trading in Ford this
year we are slightly negative in larger accounts to flat to positive in smaller
accounts.
*****
Stocks are up across the board
and we are going for a bike ride so that we can get back in time for the
release of the Fed Speak at 1:15pm.
This is the first sunny day since Saturday.
*****
This is the FED release:
The Federal Open Market Committee decided today
to keep its target for the federal funds rate at 5-1/4 percent.
The moderation in economic growth appears to be
continuing, partly reflecting a cooling of the housing market.
Readings
on core inflation have been elevated, and the high levels of resource
utilization and of the prices of energy and other commodities have the
potential to sustain inflation pressures. However, inflation pressures seem
likely to moderate over time, reflecting reduced impetus from energy prices,
contained inflation expectations, and the cumulative effects of monetary policy
actions and other factors restraining aggregate demand.
Nonetheless, the Committee judges that some
inflation risks remain. The extent and timing of any additional firming that
may be needed to address these risks will depend on the evolution of the
outlook for both inflation and economic growth, as implied by incoming
information.
*****
J Crew
sold off late in the day and with all the other retailers higher we decided to
buy shares in our larger accounts including the Model Portfolio.
Oil continued its downward spiral
and closed in NYC at $60.46 with Gold finishing at $586. Treasuries were firm with
the tow-year at 4.82% and the ten-year at 4.73%.
The DJIA closed at 11613 up 73
points. The S&P 500 rose 7
points to 1325 and the NAZZ rose 30
points to 2252.
Breadth was 2/1 positive for the day and volume was active.
New highs expanded to 390 and new
lows were 115.
And there are two more fund games
days left at the casino for the week.
*****
19 September 2006 Daily Comment
Thoughts
The overseas markets were mixed
to lower overnight in Asia and at midday in Europe. Gold is down at
$589 and Oil is higher at $64.09 as the trading day begins.
The Producer Price Index was only up 0.1% and the core rate was
actually down 0.4%. Year over year the PPI was up 3.7% and the core year over
year rate was up 0.9%. Coupled with a 6% drop in housing starts in August and a
revised down 3.3% on housing starts in July, Treasuries have rallied from their
sell off of yesterday with the two-year at 4.82% and the ten-year at 4.75%.
*****
Motorola is going to buy Symbol Technologies for $3.5 billion.
*****
We sold a chunk of the Ford at $7.85 that we bought last
Friday at $8.08 in our larger accounts to reduce the position and enable us to
buy more shares lower. In retrospect last Friday we were acting like masters of the universe on Friday when
we stepped in to buy shares on the sell-off. With a stock acting like Ford was it
is better to let the shares find their level and then add. We didn’t add any
Ford in most accounts on Friday and so we are holding pat with our position in
those accounts.
*****
The word is that Amaranth Multi-Strategy
Hedge Fund lost $5 billion last week on their gone bad natural gas bet. Ant that is what is was- a bet and not a
hedge as in hedge fund. The funds size was $9 billion so that is a significant
loss.
But it the general marketplace it can’t happen to me continues to fuel the
appetite for risk and trump the fear of loss.
*****
10:30am
and there is a state of emergency in Bangkok, Thailand.
Ten tanks are on their way to central Bangkok.
Treasuries are rallying further on the news.
*****
Yahoo announced this morning that earnings are going to come in
near the low end of its previous guidance and the shares are off 12% and other
net stocks are getting hit also.
*****
At noon
Oil is now trading at $62.60 and oil stocks are lower in sympathy. We haven’t
read that this drop in the price of oil is a wave from the Amaranth Hedge Fund troubles
but the ripple effect from unwinding billions of dollars in trades has to
spread to and affect counterparties of the Amaranth trades.
*****
European markets closed lower and
Brazil was off
2%.
Oil closed at $61.66 in NYC and Gold also dropped to $580. Treasuries
staged a rally with the two-year ending at 4.80% and the ten-year at 4.73% with
the weak PPI and housing data coupled with the Thai coup providing impetus for
the buying.
Retailers are moving higher on
lower oil prices. The momentum folks seem to be moving from oil to retail. There
are times it is good just to watch.
The markets rallied in the last
hour but the DJIA closed down 12 points
at 11543. The S&P 500 lost 3 points
to 1317 and the NAZZ dropped 14 points
to 2222.
Breadth was a bit less than 2/1 negative and volume was active.
New highs contracted to 235 and new lows were 135.
The Fed shows its hand to the big
casino at 1:15pm tomorrow.
*****
18 September 2006 Daily Comment
Thoughts
The overseas markets are
fractionally higher as the new trading week begins. The Fed meeting with their
policy statement on Wednesday at 1:15pm
is the immediate focus. (We incorrectly stated last Friday that the policy
statement would be Tuesday.) Tomorrow Tuesday the Producer Price Index (PPI)
for August is announced.
Gold is up a bit at $588 as is
Oil at $63.75, Treasuries are flat.
As the markets move to new highs Prudential has upped stock
allocations to 90% from 80% with the rest in cash. We think CNBC reported that Mother
Merrill is taking a more cautious approach and sees a correction. If so, we are
listening to Mother. If Mother didn’t say that we are listening to our own
inner voice.
Blackstone Group is buying Freescale Semiconductor for $17 billion. In a few years after they have taken
some big dividends and management fees they will be happy to resell it to the
public for $35 billion. This buyout is a situation where the buyout firms have raised
the money and now have to spend it or return it. And this type of investing is
the future for the big money boys and girls. They create your own performance
numbers (on which their fees are based) by finding independent folks (to whom the buyout firm pays a substantial fee
every year) to value the privately held investment. No mess with the daily
pricing that the public markets do.
*****
Amaranth Hedge Fund was supposedly up 22% for the year on September
1. It is or was an $8 billion fund. Unfortunately they bet incorrectly on natural
gas and a few other commodities and the fund is now down 35% year to date. The huge
losses this fund has suffered may explain the final push lower of oil last week
as the fund liquidated positions.
We mention this not to gloat since
as traders for the last 20 years we have suffered losses also although none
approaching this magnitude. Our accounts did drop 30% in the Crash of 1987 but
they had been up 37% so while painful the drop was not disaster. And ever since
then we have usually maintained a large cash/short term bond position except at
times when the markets were on their lows or in the October to December tax loss selling season.. Since
the DJIA and S&P 500 are approaching six year highs we are more inclined
toward cash than stocks.
Finally this event while
considered isolated does demonstrate the many
hedge funds do not really hedge.
*****
We are selling Sprint at $17.26 for a scratch loss of 15
pennies. The shares have traded to this level three times in the last month
before tailing off to the low $16s. We see a sell off coming and we are trying
to reduce positions. Since S traded under $16 in the last drop we selling to
reenter lower. Our hope is that we aren’t being too cute with the trade. Time
will tell.
*****
Treasuries are higher in yield
lower in price on news that foreign capital inflows into the U.S.
in July were $32 billion when $90 billion was expected. The thinking is that
maybe foreign central banks are going to reduce their buying of Treasuries with
their dollar reserves.
The two-year is back to a 4.89%
yield as talk of rate cuts anytime soon disappears.
*****
We read the following passage
which is taken from some words Warren Buffet wrote in the 1980s and it reminded
us of our partner and dear friend Don Yarling who, after he had read this
commentary, always referred to Mr. Market when we were bemoaning or celebrating
a particularly terrible or astute trading move that we had suffered or accomplished.
Mr. Market. As recounted by Warren Buffett:
“A remarkably accommodating fellow named Mr.
Market . . . is your partner in a private business. Without fail, Mr. Market
appears daily and names a price at which he will either buy your interest or
sell you his.
Even though the business that the two of you own
may have economic characteristics that are stable, Mr. Market's quotations will
be anything but. For, sad to say, the poor fellow has incurable emotional
problems. At times he feels euphoric and can see only the favorable factors
affecting the business. When in that mood, he names a very high buy-sell price
because he fears that you will snap up his interest and rob him of imminent
gains. At other times he is depressed and can see nothing but trouble ahead for
both the business and the world. On these occasions he will name a very low
price, since he is terrified that you will unload your interest on him.
Mr. Market has another endearing characteristic:
He doesn't mind being ignored. If his quotation is uninteresting to you today,
he will be back with a new one tomorrow. Transactions are strictly at your
option. Under these conditions, the more manic-depressive his behavior, the
better for you.
But, like Cinderella at the ball, you must heed
one warning or everything will turn into pumpkins and mice: Mr. Market is there
to serve you, not to guide you. It is his pocketbook, not his wisdom, which you
will find useful. If he shows up some day in a particularly foolish mood, you
are free to either ignore him or to take advantage of him, but it will be
disastrous if you fall under his influence. Indeed, if you aren't certain that
you understand and can value your business far better than Mr. Market; you
don't belong in the game. As they say in poker, ‘If you've been in the game 30
minutes and you don't know who the patsy is, you're the patsy.’”
*****
In our effort to continue raising
cash we are going to let our MSFT go
for a $1 plus per share profit.
*****
We think there is going to be
some type of military confrontation with Iran in the next month such as a blockade
with accompanying verbiage and while we don’t think it will lead to war we do
think it will cause the market to least pause.
*****
The week after September Witching
the S&P 500 has been down 15 of the last 18 years.
*****
We are going to sell the rest of our tech positions. We stayed too
long at the party and gave up some of the gain but spilled milk is just that. Palm earnings come on September 21 and
with the queasiness of the markets and the thinness of the stock we would
rather be out than in. We are taking a scratch loss on it and Alcatel and 50 pennies per share loss
on Intel. We thought Intel would
break through the $20 level last week into expiration and since it didn’t we
think it goes back to under $18 in any correction. Finally we are eliminating EMC for a scratch profit in most
accounts except our larger ones where it is a loss.
The discipline is to realize some
losses when taking profits because the markets look dicey.
*****
After those sales we hold Ford and Time Warner and Hershey.
*****
Oil closed up at $63.80 in NYC and gold was also higher at $592. Treasuries
gave ground with the two-year at 4.88% and the ten-year at 4.81%.
The DJIA closed down 6 points at 11555. The S&P 500 gained 1 points to 1321 and
the NAZZ lost 1 point to 2234.
Breadth was 5/4 negative and volume
was brisk.
New highs expanded to 473 in early morning trade before stocks
pulled back and new lows were 143.
And there are four more days at
the casino this week.
*****
15 September 2006 Daily Comment
Thoughts
We learned yesterday that autumn
doesn’t begin until September 23 this year. Maybe the fall in the stock markets
will be later this year also.
Overnight Asia
was fractionally mixed and Europe is the same at midday. Gold is down a bit at $583 and Oil is a
bit above $63. Treasuries are firm on the release of CPI data.
That data said that Core CPI rose
0.2% in August the same as headline CPI. Year over year the core CPI was up
2.8%.
The Empire Manufacturing Index ticked higher to 13.1 for 11.8 suggesting
a pick up in manufacturing activity in the New York
area.
*****
Ford is the news this morning announcing their restructuring and
the shares are down 10%. Mother Merrill went from neutral to sell on the
shares. We wonder why they didn’t suggest selling at $20 or $30 or $40.
In the restructuring Ford
eliminated its dividend which means that a goodly number of institutional
holders will have to sell because of requirements that they only hold stocks
that pay dividends.
The dividend cut makes sense as
does offering buyouts that require the workers to give up their medical
retirement benefits. That means more folks for Medicare.
*****
GE is selling a division for $3.2 billion. They must need some one
time earnings so that they can make their quarterly numbers.
*****
There are rumors that Schering Plough is going to make a bid
for Bristol Myers. That makes some sense because Fred Hassan who runs SGP is
well respected. In fact we presume BMY will try and hire Hassan away from SGP
and that would not be good for SGP. SGP is at a level where it has failed twice
before over the last three years and with stocks making new highs (and we think
in a topping process) we are going to sell the SGP.
We are also taking our profit in National City Bank.
*****
We are buying more
Ford in many accounts on the sell off today. CNBC is saying that
traders don’t think the cuts were harsh enough. We think because today is
expiration day, that the dividend has been cut forcing selling and the piling
on of short sellers that the stock is under extreme pressure. But folks have
had five months to do their selling and as the shares trade under $8 we are
reaching the level of committed buyer land. The position is not untoward and
Ford is doing what it hired the cost cutter from Boeing to do.
*****
Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas
City President Thomas Hoenig said on Friday news consumer prices were calming
was welcome and that slower growth will help moderate inflation going forward.
Traders have taken his remarks to mean that there is no rate cut coming soon. Treasuries are higher in yield by a tick
or two on the comments.
The Fed meets next Wednesday September
20 and issues its policy statement at 1:15pm
that day.
*****
Pope Benedict’s quoting of an
obscure text on Islam in a speech in Germany
could be the start of new round of violent demonstrations in the Muslim world.
That would have negative implications for stocks.
The pope
quoted from a book recounting a conversation between 14th-century Byzantine
Christian Emperor Manuel Paleologos II and a Persian scholar on the truths of
Christianity and Islam.
"The emperor comes to speak about the issue of
jihad, holy war," Benedict said. "He said, I quote, 'Show me just
what Muhammad brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil
and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he
preached.'"
Oops!
*****
In NYC trading Oil closed at $63.33 and Gold finished at $584. Treasuries were weaker into the close
with the two-year at 4.87% and the ten-year at 4.80%.
The DJIA closed up 33 points at 11560. The S&P 500 gained 4 points to 1320 and the NAZZ rose 7 points to 2235.
Breadth was positive and volume
was active.
New highs were 375 and new
lows were 145.
And the casino is closed for the
week-end but worry not since the big boys and girls can head to Atlantic
City and Las Vegas
to continue their fund games.
*****
14 September 2006 Daily Comment
Thoughts
Asia was
mixed overnight as Japan
recovered the 1% it lost yesterday. European bourses are fractionally higher
and Treasuries are firm with gold up to $600 and oil up at $64.40.
Retail sales were up 0.2% and ex autos up 0.2% which was more than
expected. Import prices for August were up 0.8% which was stronger than
expected and Jobless claims dropped to 308,000 in the test week.
Tomorrow we get CPI for August.
*****
We are presenting below today’s post
from one of the technicians we follow. We know that none of our readers are technicians
but we though you would appreciate the verbiage.
I recently wrote that the Thursday of the
week prior to options expiration is often a misdirection day. In other words, the
market closes in the extreme opposite direction on that Thursday from where the
options-expiration arbs intend to drive it.
Last
Thursday was the low close on the S&P 500 of a multiday pullback.
The index closed at 1294, just below its 20-day moving average, followed by an
inside day last Friday. Subsequently, the S&P left a Lizard Buy Signal on
Monday this week.
As
explained in my books, Hit and Run
Trading, a Lizard Buy Signal occurs when a stock or an index makes a
10-day low but tails back up to close near the open and high of the session --
hence the "lizard" pattern.
In
addition, Monday left an outside day up, indicating a rally phase. That
expectation certainly has played out. Moreover, when 1305 S&P, the
breakdown point from the September high, was recaptured it suggested yet higher
prices to come.
A look at
the Square of Nine Calculator shows that the date of Sept. 13 is a harmonic to or squares
out with the price of 1318 -- they are in opposition to each other.
The S&P
has now rallied up 90 degrees or days off the June 13/14 low. Unless the market
is going to blow out from here to 1340/1350, it is quite conceivable that a
test of the May high is complete. Remember that the May high was a four-year
high and that the four-year cycle is due to trough sometime this fall.
Strategy:
I would not short strength into expiration and I would not scale up shorts
here, unless the S&P leaves a key reversal day, trades back through the
high, or trades back below 1305.
However,
should the S&P trade back below the Sept. 5 high of 1314.65 and stick below
it, it would be an early warning signal that something may be wrong, as that
would carve out a "Soup" sell signal.
*****
A Nokia supplier Elcoteq issued a warning for its next quarter about noon today European time and that has caused a
sell off in Nokia suppliers and also Nokia itself which is down 3%. According
to one analyst we follow Nokia has been shifting contracts away from Elcoteq
and that may be one reason for the shortfall and not Nokia related but he is
cautious non the less because he doesn’t really know.
We purchased a small amount of
Nokia yesterday and will monitor the situation. All stocks are anchovies.
*****
Another technician we follow and
like has this to say this morning:
I've been bearish -- and wrong -- for the
past several weeks. That is because I'm a slave to my indicators, which have
continued to say that we're late in the rally. They say nothing different this
morning, except that sentiment has finally gotten bullish. The put/call ratio fell
to 75% yesterday, and we haven't seen a reading like that in a month.
*****
The Detroit News reported
that Ford may show a loss of $8 billion
this year. Now that is a lot of money. Much of the money in the loss will
probably be bookkeeping money in write downs and buyouts to departing employees
that will reduce future obligations.
Ford is going to offer buyouts to
75,000 workers.
*****
We sold Nokia at $19.40 for 35
pennies one day loss. Nokia can drop 20% on bad news and we have traded such
drops several times in the last few years. We don’t need the soap opera. We
bought it for a trade. The trade didn’t work. Goodbye for now.
*****
We are doing a bunch of selling
in our accounts. The markets are very thin and we have itchy profits and we tend to agree with the two technicians we
quoted today except for
the lizard tail buy signal. We think it is prudent to take some profits.
We sold Viacom, Talbot’s, Tiffany, Urban Outfitters, DuPont, Genetech, 3M,
and UPS in our large accounts.
We also sold TLAB and S in our large trading
accounts while holding it in our other accounts. We have been more aggressively
trading these two stocks in our large accounts than we have in the other accounts.
There are takeover rumors on TLAB which may be why it is up and we do think a
takeover is possible as we have said before. But since we have been trading
these two in the larger accounts we want to remain consistent
In most accounts we also sold Williams Sonoma, Home Depot and Chico’s.
All these sales had trading
profits in them and retail stocks have always been anchovies to us.
*****
National City
is up today on the news that it said in a filing with the SEC that it sees
third-quarter improvement in margins and hedging results in its mortgage
business.
*****
Comcast sold $1 billion in securities
due in 49 years at a 7% interest rate. The securities have a $25 par and Mother
Merrill and Citigroup are managing the deal so we presume they are selling the
securities to a lot of individual investors. 49 years is a long time. The
securities are callable in 5 years so the buyers are taking all the risk. Folks
greedy for yield are the buyers. Greed and fear, and greed wins
this one.
*****
European exchanges closed mixed
to lower.
Gold ended at $586 and oil
at $63.22 in NYC. The commodity complex is getting smashed. Treasuries also gave ground and the
two-year finished at 4.82% and the ten-year at 4.80%.
The DJIA closed down 15 points at 11530. The S&P 500 lost 2 points to 1316 and the NAZZ gained 2 points to 2228.
Breadth was negative for the day and volume was active.
New highs were 368 and new
lows were 110.
Tomorrow is the last day for the
boys and girls to play their games in the big casino. It is also Quadruple
Witching so be ready for fund games.
*****
13 September 2006 Daily Comment
Thoughts
The sun has just come out of the clouds for the first time
in five days. We had five inches of rain over the last two days and so our rain
drought is in abeyance, at least.
Asia was fractionally higher overnight
as are most European bourses at midday.
Gold is down again to $592 and Oil is pennies higher at $64.07 as the trading
day begins. Treasuries are firm.
*****
We are adding Nokia and
Intel to accounts to try and take advantage
of the rally that we think will last at least though month end which is also
quarter end. Performance anxiety is going to coax sideline money into the fray.
We are buying the Intel back at a higher price but in
smaller amounts as we did with Ford
yesterday. The Intel is a play on the
rush to tech stocks that seems to be occurring while the Ford buy was based on
the change of leadership. We are going
with the flow and we hope that flow won’t become and undertow.
*****
We added shares of Alcatel
to more accounts. From our September 7 posting
when we bought our first shares:
The merger between Alcatel and Lucent has
been approved by shareholders of both companies and we are buying Alcatel in
our large accounts. We’ve been interested since the merger was announced. The
combined company is selling at one times revenues and has a major position in
telecom equipment in Europe and the U.S.
Mother Merrill recommended the shares at these
levels last week with the comments:
Merrill advised investors to buy the stock, its favorite
in the European telecoms equipment sector. Analyst Sandeep
Malhotra resumed coverage of the stock with a buy
rating and price target of 12.20 euros -- equal to 27% upside from current
levels in Paris.
"We believe Alcatel's merger with Lucent will
create €2 of value per share for Alcatel shareholders and recommend that
investors vote for the deal on 7 September," he said.
The combined company will have a 17% share of the global
market for telecoms equipment, "will emerge as a powerhouse in wire line
including access and optics, and a leader in network convergence to
all-IP," he said. The deal with Lucent would
create value even if management were only able to achieve half of its targeted
$1.4 billion in synergies by 2009, he said.
*****
Genentech fell $4
yesterday when the FDA asked for more data on its drug Avastin for the
treatment of metastasic breast cancer. Avastin is
already approved for the treatment of colon cancer. We are buying DNA for a
trade in our very large accounts.
*****
Oil closed at
$64.07 and Gold finished at $596 in
NYC. Treasuries were better with the
two-year at 4.80% and the ten-year at 4.76%.
The DJIA closed up 44
points at 11545. The S&P 500
gained 5 points to 1318 and the NAZZ
rose 12 points to 2230.
Breadth was 2/1
positive and volume was brisk.
New highs expanded to
380 while new lows were static at
120.
And there are two more fund games days left this week at the
big casino.
*****
12 September 2006 Daily Comment
Thoughts
Asia was
mixed overnight and European bourses are fractionally higher. Treasuries are
weak again this morning with the tow-year at 4.85% and the ten-year at 4.82%.
Oil is up pennies at $65.90 and gold has bounced to $603.
*****
Bristol Myers is meeting to decide whether to fire CEO Dolan. That
is a no brainer to us but we are sure he will receive a very nice send off
package. We have had such bad karma with the shreds that we are not going to
participate.
*****
Texas Instruments gave guidance last night and it wasn’t too hot or
too cold. The shares are trading a few pennies higher.
*****
The July Trade Deficit was $68 billion.
*****
1280 on the S&P 500 remains the line in the sand.
*****
We made a quick trip to Madison
to pick up our car and returned three and one half hours later to find
retailers on fire as oil had dropped to $64.45 and the big boys and girls seem
to be entertaining visions of shoppers galore with new found wealth of a few
unspent pennies per gallon of gas to devote to retail purchases.
Happily we own a few retailers
but we are more jaundiced about lower oil and thus gas prices working wonders
on the economy. But we aren’t about to kick a gift horse in the mouth and so we
are hoping that the hedgies keep rotating to retail.
*****
We read that
each $1 decline produces a roughly $7 billion benefit to U.S. consumers, if that price drop is sustained for a year. This
means that with oil down about $15 from its peak, consumers will have roughly $105
billion more in their pockets than they would if oil stayed at its peak. That's
enough to add close to a percentage point to growth in the $13 trillion U.S. economy, not counting in any multiplier effects and the benefit
that the oil drop will have on consumer confidence.
*****
The auction of ten-year
Treasuries was strong and as a result the ten-year has rallied from 4.82% to
4.79%. Since dealers bought a lot of the auction paper though, the rally may be
short lived.
*****
We have reconsidered our Ford sale given that Willie Ford has
stepped aside for a supposed cost cutter. Ford is going to survive and we think
the
street will take a second look at Ford because of the new guy. We are reestablishing
a position in the stock in many accounts.
*****
Apple did not introduce an I Pod cell phone today when it was
announcing new products today. We think that may give a boost to Palm and we are adding more shares to
our larger accounts.
*****
With the rally today we are selling our Dell Computer holding.
It is a good discipline to sell a loser on a rally day when other gains mute
the pains. Dell has moved up today with the markets and we are taking a scratch
profit/loss. We may go back to the stock later this fall but for now we want to
be out of it while the investigations are continuing Because of the inquiries
and time involved DELL hasn’t been able to file its quarterly earnings report.
*****
Fed Member Janet Yellen said
Tuesday: "The bottom line is this:
With inflation too high, policy must have a bias toward further firming. The
current stance of policy will move inflation gradually back to the comfort zone
while giving due consideration to the risks of economic activity,"
Yellen's "comfort zone" on inflation, one that she considers "an
appropriate long-run inflation objective for the Fed," is 1 percent to 2
percent on the core personal consumption expenditures, or PCE, price index.
That measure ran at 2.4 percent in the year through July.
*****
Gold finished at $594 and Oil
ended at $63.76 in NYC. Treasuries
were flat on the short end and rallied on the auction news on the longer end. The
two-year closed at 4.82% and the ten-year at 4.78%.
The DJIA gained 102 points to 11498. The S&P 500 rose 13 points to 1313 and the NAZZ jumped 42 points to 2215.
Breadth was positive all day and ended 3/1 to the good. Volume was active.
New highs were 305 and new
lows were 135.
This is an expiration week so
anything can and will occur. Join us tomorrow for fund games at the big casino.
*****
11 September 2006 Daily Comment
Thoughts
Asia was
lower overnight with Japan
down 1.7% and Hong Kong down over 1%. North
Korea is talking about exploding another nuclear
device.
Europe is
lower and Gold is at $600 with Oil under $66 at $65.32. Treasuries are
firm.
*****
Dell announced that it is not filing its second quarter 10Q because
it is still researching various revenue and other financial stuff from the past
that may call for a restatement. That news has the shares down a $1 this morning
at $20.75. We are not happy with this development but will hold for the moment.
*****
Friday is Quadruple Witching Expiration and so some of the activity
this week will be in anticipation of that event.
*****
An hour into the trading day and
Silver is down 7%, copper is down 4% and Gold and Natural Gas are both down 3%.
*****
Strong business investment
suggests the U.S.
economy is far from weak despite a slowing housing sector, St. Louis Federal
Reserve President William Poole said on Monday. He warned however that
inflation was running above the range he is comfortable with, and said that if
it did not ease over the medium-term that he would rather "act earlier
rather than later. The economy is not fragile -- it is robust," said Poole,
although he noted that "that's not to say we couldn't have a weak quarter
or two." Poole flatly dismissed
the idea that he was softening his views on inflation after some investors
interpreted recent comments of his as being rather dovish for a reputed hawk.
Instead, he pointed to robust construction in the nonresidential sector even as
the housing market retrenches, and said anecdotal evidence suggested business
plans were in full swing. Poole
acknowledged that at 2.4 percent, the year-on-year inflation according to the Fed's
preferred measure was high -- above his comfort range of 1-2 percent.
*****
We took a new position in PALM in our very large accounts and
also repurchased Lowe’s, UPS, MMM, Ford
and more shares of DreamWorks and J Crew in those accounts. We sold Aetna
holding for a $1.50 profit.
We added Hershey to some accounts that didn’t own it.
We are interested in adding all
these stocks to our other accounts on any sell off but for now we are holding
off. Retailers are strong today as mutual fund oil money is seeking a home. The
rationale is that lower gasoline prices mean more spending money. We don’t buy
that scenario but the big boys and girls make the rules and we just try to
trade around them.
*****
Palm makes the Treo fancy phone and the company pre-announced less than sales for the quarter to be
reported on September 21.
Palm engages in the development,
marketing, and sale of mobile computing solutions worldwide. The company offers
smart phones, as well as handheld computers, add-ons, and accessories in two
product lines: Treo smart phones and Palm, and Tungsten and LifeDrive handheld
computers. Its Treo smart phones combine mobile phone; and wireless data
applications, such as email, messaging and Web browsing, multimedia features,
and productivity software in a device that integrates applications that
included in separate devices into one device. The company’s handheld computers
provide personal information management, and mobile computing and media
experiences for entry-level consumers, mobile professionals, and serious
business users. Its add-ons and accessories help to enhance the end user’s smart
phone and handheld computer experience, including portable keyboards, SD/MMC
expansion cards for storage and content, modems and carrying cases. Palm sells
its products through a network of wireless carriers, and retail and business
distributors to consumer, professional, business, education, and government
users.
Palm has revenues of over $1.4
billion and a market cap of the same amount so it is priced at a very fair one
times sales. With a net $500 million cash position and book value of over $9
per shares and earnings approaching $1 this year the stock is interesting.
*****
Treasuries lost ground on Poole’s
remarks and the two-year ended at 4.83% and the ten-year at 4.80%.
Gold ended down at $597 and Oil
closed at $65.56.
The DJIA closed up 5 points at 11398. The S&P 500 gained 1 points to 1299 and
the NAZZ rose 8 points to 2173.
Breadth was 5/4 negative for the day and volume was moderate.
New highs were 155 and new
lows were 125
And the fund games will begin
again tomorrow at the casino.
*****
8 September 2006 Daily Comment
Thoughts
Several days ago we said Paramount
fired Tom Hanks. Actually they refused to renew their production contract with
Tom Cruise.
*****
In the we all can use a little help department the following news may warm
your heart. News Corp. (NWS) is paying $50,000 a month to rent an apartment for
Chairman Rupert Murdoch, who earns $25.7 million a year. If you would like to
read more about how CEOs take care of themselves at shareholder expense visit http://www.footnoted.org/ .
*****
Overseas markets were and are
fractionally better as the trading day in our great country begins. In NYC gold
is down again to $619 and oil is up pennies at $67.45. Treasuries are
unchanged.
*****
Fed
governor Janet Yellen said on Thursday that, “With
inflation too high, policy must have a bias toward further firming. However, our
past actions have already put a lot of firming in the pipeline. These
will unfold gradually over time. By pausing, we allowed ourselves more time to
observe the data and more time to gauge how much, if any ,
additional firming is needed to pursue our dual mandate."