Thursday, September 29, 2011

Me thinks this market be crazy




If you invest in momentum stocks like I do, you're not really sure what rally the lame-stream media is talking about today. Up 140? The Dow once again masks the ugly, underlying action that, at least for the time being, is the true tale of this market. I have about 100 companies I watch on a regular basis, and five had green arrows today. Five. This looks like a big move away from risk, or as the kids are saying "Risk Off." But, I did do some shopping today. I bought some Alexion Pharma (ALXN) as it was down 4%. I had been looking for this one to pullback for a while and today gave me the opportunity to add to my position. Also, I am now speculating on a Netflix (NFLX) takeover with the NOV 135 calls. I covered some of my shorts in Fossil (FOSL) only because by mid-day the stock was down almost 12%! It ended the day down 7% so I'm already happy with the move. I still think there is plenty of downside risk out there, so I'll be leaving the rest of my Fossil (FOSL) shorts on until I see some better data points out of Europe and China. China took center stage today as fears of a hard landing have accelerated. If it's not Europe, it's China. We can't get a break! Add to that the SEC is now probing Chinese companies to make sure their balance sheets aren't air, and that made for an all-out sell-off in the Chinese ADR's. Baidu (BIDU) and New Oriental Education and Tech (EDU) were down huge but parred their losses going into the close. At one point New Oriental Education and Tech (EDU) was down over 18%! I had to literally leave the office so I wouldn't buy these names, but it looks like I would have already made a handy profit had I just listened to my instincts. I wouldn't have held anything overnight, but it would have been one boss of a day trade. 

This is not a recommendation to buy or sell any securities. DAK was long ALXN and NFLX, and short FOSL at time of publication but positions can change at anytime.

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