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  • Finance 0

    E A Dangerously Illiquid Market

    The rapid swings by so many formerly hot stocks (and even some cooler ones) has nothing to do with scatterbrained rotation as pundits claim; nor the Davos statements; nor what a beleaguered Fed said to defend their positions. The primary reason is because the market is dangerously illiquid. Pundits use all these factors; of course with a core of truth; to suggest that American companies would not be a bit disadvantaged or behaving poorly, if not for what the Fed has done.  What are the pundits missing? Mostly that they retroactively figure this out; and it’s at least a year after it became clear that an unending stimulative QE policy w...
    On January 28, 2016 / By
  • Finance 0

    Self-Deception Rules Two-Way Market Action

    Let’s see we were higher last Friday by Dow 200 points, Monday down 200 points, Tuesday up 200 points, Wednesday down 200 points and Thursday up over 100 points. Is that a victory for bulls? Hardly.  Volatility is especially high to which you’d logically respond— “no kidding!” Thursday’s rally didn’t exceed 200 points but bulls are watching crude oil price gains like a bottom is now in. But is it really? If you believe the questionable notions that OPEC and Russia can lower production by 5% and would do so without cheating, then I have a bridge to sell you. Lower highs and lower lows remains the bearish factor for market...
    On January 28, 2016 / By
  • Finance 0

    Amgen Beats Q4 Earnings, Revenue Estimates

    Amgen Inc. (AMGN – Analyst Report) just released their fourth quarter fiscal 2015 earnings results, posting earnings of $2.61 and revenue of $5.54 billion. Currently, AMGN has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold), but it is subject to change following the release of the company’s latest earnings report. Here are 5 key statistics from this just announced report below. Amgen:                                                  Beat earnings estimates. The company posted $2.61, beating our Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2.27. This number excludes $0.24 from non-recurring items. Beat revenue estimates. Th...
    On January 28, 2016 / By
  • Finance 0

    Fundamental And Finance; Really Downward

    Rumors persisted about Iran, Russia or OPEC close to declaring productions cuts, so that has to factor at least into sentiment about oil trading. However, with rumors being denied, the physical universe of crude oil especially in the US has been fundamentally more negative again. Yet, oil prices have reached back to almost $34 (front month futures) again today just a day after the US EIA reported a record high in crude inventory. For answers to what may seem contradictory we need only look to the Far East (west from the US, that is). In order to view the full landscape including oil, you have to start at the end of last year. Not only was it ...
    On January 28, 2016 / By
  • Finance 0

    Death Throes Of The Bull

    The fast money and robo-machines keep trying to ignite stock rallies, but they all fizzle because bad karma is beginning to infect the casino. That is, apprehension is growing among whatever adults are left on Wall Street that 84 months of ZIRP and $3.5 trillion of Fed balance sheet expansion, aka money printing, didn’t do the trick. Not only is the specter of recession growing more visible, but it is also attached to a truth that cannot be gainsaid. Namely, having stranded itself at the zero bound for an entire business cycle, the Fed is bereft of dry powder. Its only available tools are a massive new round of QE and negative interest...
    On January 28, 2016 / By
  • Finance 0

    5 Undervalued Companies With A Low Beta – January 2016

    There are a number of great companies in the market today. By using the ModernGraham Valuation Model, I’ve selected five undervalued companies with a low beta reviewed by ModernGraham. A company’s beta indicates the correlation at which its price moves in relation to the market. A beta less than 1 indicates a company is less volatile than the market. Each company has been determined to be suitable for either the Defensive Investor or the Enterprising Investor according to the ModernGraham approach. Defensive Investors are defined as investors who are not able or willing to do substantial research into individual investments, and there...
    On January 28, 2016 / By
  • Finance 0

    AUDUSD Caps Strength Below The 0.7096 Zone

    Although AUDUSD remains biased to the upside on correction, it continues to retain its broader medium term bias below the 0.7096 zone. Unless that is decisively taken our, the pair faces downside pressure. On the downside, support resides at the 0.7040 level where a breach will aim at the 0.7000 level. Below that level will set the stage for a run at the 0.6950 level with a cut through here targeting further downside pressure towards the 0.6900 level. On the upside, resistance lies at the 0.7100 level. A cut through here will turn attention to the 0.7150 level and then the 0.7200 level where a violation will set the stage for a retarget of th...
    On January 28, 2016 / By
  • Finance 0

    Today’s Best Small Caps – January 28, 2016

    As I write this post the majority of stocks in the Barchart data base are still trading under their 20, 50 and 100 day moving averages. The percentage of those trading above: 28.83% – above the 20 DMA 15.89% – above the 50 DMA 18.04% – above the 100 DMA I used Barchart to sort the S&P 600 Small Cap Index stocks first for the highest technical buy signals, then I used the Flipchart feature to review the charts. Today’s list includes Laclede Group (NYSE:LG), Francesca’s (Nasdaq:FRAN), Electo Scientific Industries (Nasdaq:ESIO), Coresite Realty (NYSE:COR) and Agree Realty (NYSE:ADC). Laclede Group Ba...
    On January 28, 2016 / By
  • Finance 0

    For Amazon, The Only Chart That Matters

    For all the traders and hedge fund managers who are under 30, Amazon (AMZN) has been here before, and not just once: a place where the company’s growth prospects – perceived as virtually boundless – were put into question, leading to a collapse in the soaring stock price. Indicatively, putting the company’s “valuation” in context, AMZN is now trading at a PE of roughly 460x, which compares to 87x during the last peak in the summer of 2008. But what matters for Amazon has never been earnings: it was always top line growth (the company generated $107 billion in sales in 2015 and less than a billion in net in...
    On January 28, 2016 / By
  • Finance 0

    Amazon Earnings Miss, Blown Up A/H

    Here is what the chart would look like if it were trading in regular hours, after the Amazon earnings miss. How do you like my art work? Ugly, I know. That is it for me with the ‘bounce’ scenario. I dumped SPY after hours for a minor loss and GOOGL for a reduced profit. The internets were the strongest group and if this goes south where are the rats going to run? I’ll contentedly sit mostly in cash, Treasuries and a few shorts until I get a read on things....
    On January 28, 2016 / By