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    E Test Driving Tesla’s Self Driving Technology

    I knew I was on the right track when the salesman told me that the customer who just preceded me for a Tesla (TSLA) Model X 90D SUV was the Golden Bay Warriors star basketball player, Steph Currie. Well, if it’s good enough for Steph, then it’s good enough for me. Last week, I received a call from Elon Musk’s office to test the company’s self-driving technology embedded in their new vehicles for readers of the Diary of a Mad Hedge Fund Trader. I did, and prepare to have your mind blown! I was driving at 80 MPH on CA-24, a windy eight-lane freeway that snakes its way through the East San Francisco Bay mountains. Suddenly the salesman r...
    On May 17, 2016 / By
  • Finance 0

    Soros Makes Gold His Largest Holding As He Cuts Equity Exposure To Lowest Since 2013, Doubles S&P Puts

    One of the more closely watched 13F reports yesterday in addition to that of Warren Buffett was that of Soros Fund Management, the family office of George Soros, which revealed that while the 85 year old billionaire was not quite as bearish as his former chief strategist Stanley Druckenmiller, or Carl Icahn for that matter, had turned decidedly sour on overall equity exposure. As shown in his 13F, Soros slashed his overall long equity holdings by over 25% to just $4.5 billion as of March 31, which was the lowest such position since 2013. As previously discussed, Soros has warned of risks stemming from China’s economy, arguing its debt-fuele...
    On May 17, 2016 / By
  • Finance 0

    The Master Trader

    The mastery of trading is a long and uneven process of consistently looking for improvement combined with a high level of discipline. The steps that I have outlined here are not a prerequisite for successful trading, but definitely act as a great tool for improvement. Guest post by: www.colibritrader.com Steps to Mastery STEP 1: Visionary EVERY master trader should be able to envision the end result and then follow a predetermined set of rules in order to achieve these results. Master traders are trading in terms of commitment to a higher goal, as opposed to reaching self-fulfillment. For this step, it is important that the master trader shou...
    On May 17, 2016 / By
  • Finance 0

    These Four Things Could Boost This Specialty Retailer’s Earnings

    The Children’s Place Retail Stores (PLCE) Consumer Discretionary – Specialty Retail | Reports May 17, Before Market Opens Key Takeaways The Estimize consensus is looking for earnings per share of $1.06 on $415 million in revenue, 3 cents greater than Wall Street on the bottom and $3 million on the top. So far Q1 is off to a strong start with comparable store sales running at 9.7% through the first 6 weeks. Q4 2015 was the first quarter that revenue growth turned positive in nearly 2 fiscal years. Clothing retailer, The Children’s Place, is scheduled to report first quarter earnings today, before the market opens. The company capped...
    On May 17, 2016 / By
  • Finance 0

    Trading The Hang Seng Index This Week

      The performance of the Hang Seng Index has been rather disappointing in 2016. What started off on a low note failed to gain traction for any significant period of time and by April, the bears were back in full force. For the year to date, the Hang Seng index has shed 9.27% which is substantially better than the 25.91% decline that the index recorded over the past 1 year. The 52-week trading range for the index is 18,278.80 on the low end and an incredible 28,524.60 on the upper end. Right now, the Hang Seng index is barely hovering above the bottom of the 52-week trading range. Yesterday (Monday, 16 May), the 50-member index had 12 membe...
    On May 17, 2016 / By
  • Finance 0

    BofA Research Analyst Paul Ciana Stopped Out On Oil Short Call

    Video length: 00:01:43 Technical Analysis is a tool that requires a lot of art in its application compiled with the mathematical science underlying the craft.  Video length: 00:08:41...
    On May 17, 2016 / By
  • Finance 0

    Futures Fizzle After Oil Fades Bounce Above $48

    It has been more of the same overnight, as global stocks piggybacked on the strong US close and rose despite the lack of good (or bad) macro news, propelled higher by the two usual suspects: a higher USDJPY and a even higher oil, if mostly early on in the trading session. Yes, the oil squeeze higher continues, and as the charts below courtesy of Andy Critchlow show, Brent is now 82% higher in the past 82 days… … while crude has had its strongest rally Brent is now 82% higher in the past 82 days.   However, after rising above $48 for the first time since October, crude finally pulled back modestly and was unchanged at last check...
    On May 17, 2016 / By
  • Finance 0

    Investors Face This Risk From Coal’s Quick Death

    Coal is struggling and unpopular in all but a handful of regions where they actually pull it out of the ground. But simple economics rather than public perception is what’s set to deal coal its death blow. Coal’s limited economic importance isn’t likely going to be enough to overcome the latest wave of bad news buried in a series of recent reports – the most dramatic indication yet that coal is dying even faster than expected. You see, a relative newcomer to U.S. electricity production (you guessed it: natural gas) is pushing down prices for old stalwarts like coal and even nuclear power. Simply put, the black rock has 12 ...
    On May 17, 2016 / By
  • Finance 0

    EC A Flatter Treasury Curve… And Slower Growth?

    The spread between long and short Treasury yields has been narrowing lately, a change that some analysts see as a warning sign for US economic growth. The current numbers overall suggest that that the macro trend is sliding into the business-cycle ditch, but there’s still plenty of concern about painfully slow growth. How slow can it go before tipping into a formal recession? No one really knows, but the flatter yield curve these days is attracting attention in the wake of wobbly equity prices and mixed economic news. “The yield curve itself signals that things are not good looking into the future and talking about recession risk,” Stev...
    On May 17, 2016 / By
  • Finance 0

    Bear Of The Day: Suburban Propane

    I can only speak for myself, but I believe that most people like warm weather better than cold weather. But the weather does play a key role in some areas of commerce. The winter that is almost behind us (it still gets cold in Chicago at night), but it was a mild winter compared to recent years. According to NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration), the 2015-2016 winter was 13% warmer in the contiguous United States. This warmer weather negatively impacted Suburban Propane Partners (SPH – Snapshot Report), and they are our Zacks Bear of the Day.   This Zacks Ranked #5 (Strong Sell) company is a publicly traded Delawar...
    On May 17, 2016 / By