Posts Tagged ‘cnbc’
Wall Street Shuffle Show Nov 21, 2011
November 21st 2011 Seg 1
CNBC Fast Money Halftime Report Today
Smart Investing Daily – Four Financial Market Signposts Point to Santa Rally
Back on Oct. 1, when the S&P 500 was at 1,136, I gave you four reasons why I thought stocks were still cheap. Today, even with the index almost 90 points (8%) higher, I still believe you should be buying certain U.S. equities. If you have been reading Smart Investing Daily regularly, you know that Sara, our guests and I try to offer you real, practical, actionable advice that makes sense.
Figuring the Financial Market Out Is NOT Impossible
We often forget what is behind the financial market’s proverbial curtain. Behind all the numbers, algorithms, earnings, charts, forecasts and analysis is one thing that makes it all come together and offers rationale for all these seemingly random numbers and patterns: the human mind.
Smart Investing Daily – Two Strong Companies in a Dead Housing Market
Monday, 29 November 2010
I have been examining real estate investments in several different forms since early 2009, when I was one of the first on CNBC to begin recommending it, albeit cautiously.Back then, I was recommending the purchase of XHB, a housing ETF that was trading for about $9, as a diversified proxy for an actual investment in real estate.
I was drawn to XHB mainly because the stock had been beaten down so badly and the homebuilders in particular were in such an oversold condition, it seemed that most of them from a valuation standpoint were pricing in a complete bankruptcy situation. This price action, to me, seemed overdone. The XHB hit a high of almost $20 earlier this year…
Know Your Investment Intimately
When investing, you have to be extremely selective in both the angle at which you invest in a sector you like as well as the vehicle (stock, ETF, option, bond, etc.) that you choose. At certain times,
Smart Investing Daily – Is Your Portfolio Safe During Options Expiration?
Tuesday, 16 November 2010
Option expiration is this Friday and it’s not only option traders who need to be extra observant. Even if you’re an average stock investor, there are a couple things you need to know about option expiration week that affect you as well… and your broker isn’t telling you.
Volatility is most likely the first word that comes to mind when you think about option expiration week. Several “experts” on CNBC have begun to stir the “volatility” buzz. Most media outlets tend to exacerbate this misnomer. More accurately, using the word volatile or unstable as the main descriptors for option expiration would not be my choice. Especially not in the last six months.
Of course, in the early days of options trading, option expiration played a larger role because options markets and stock markets for that matter were not as liquid, efficient or easily traded as they are today. Back in the ’70s, ’80s and even ’90s, lower options and stock volume — coupled with fewer market participants — caused weird movements in certain stocks and indexes during expiration… making it a “feared” event.
Being that the mechanics and technology of the markets have changed quite a bit in recent years and options volume has been growing exponentially over the past decade, the behavioral characteristics of options expiration and its volatile past have, in my opinion, greatly dissipated.
Don’t Get Lost in the Computing “Cloud”
by Jared Levy on October 8th, 2010
Wednesday on CNBC’s Fast Money Halftime Report, we focused a good amount of time on the “cloud computing” sector. More specifically, we discussed the pummeling many of these stocks were taking on the day.
I think the phrase “cloud computing” now is analogous to “.com” in the late nineties. Back then, we knew the Internet was going to be big and would change many of our lives. What we didn’t know was which companies were going to be instrumental in not only bringing the net into our homes and workplaces, but also which companies would be able to leverage themselves the most through this new way of connecting the world.
The .Com Craze
Any company that had the suffix “.com” was snapped up by investors because they really had no clue as to how the landscape would shake out. Then of course there was the possibility that a .com company would be acquired by a larger company that wanted their technology, patents, or services. It was a free-for-all that made many people rich but also sent many to the poorhouse after the house of cards fell in 2000/2001.
In reality, the proverbial house of cards didn’t fall, per se; it came together and provided clarity. Soon, investors began to see which companies were going to triumph and which would falter in the Internet space.
Companies like eBay (NASDAQ:EBAY), Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN), AOL (NYSE:AOL), and Yahoo! (NASDAQ:YHOO) – high-flying stocks in the late 90s – were brought back down to earth in terms of their price. Nevertheless, they were forming the foundations for how we did business on the net….
Traders Fear ‘Wall Street’ Sequel Will Bash Banking
Published: Friday, 24 Sep 2010 | 11:27 AM ET
By: Jesse Bergman with Kate Kelly
CNBC.com
Back in 1987, the movie “Wall Street” inspired a generation to enter the world of finance. But within that industry, attitudes toward the long-anticipated sequel are surprisingly subdued.
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20th Century Fox
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The main concern: that the new movie will be a platform for bank-bashing.
Already smarting from the anti-Wall Street rhetoric from the Obama Administration and hopeful that Republicans will gain control of Congress in the mid-term elections, some traders see “Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps” director Oliver Stone as a liberal mouthpiece and believe he’ll use the new film to embarrass their profession.
Check out the Story HERE on CNBC.com
A Technical Look Moving into Next Week
by Jared A Levy
The Federal Reserve partially confirmed Tuesday what we already knew (with respect to the state of our economy) and failed to change interest rates. Ben Bernanke et. al. did, however, state their intentions to begin using the proceeds from maturing mortgage bonds acquired during the crisis to keep its holdings of domestic securities around $2 trillion.
While this certainly isn’t true easing of monetary policy, but rather prevention of tightening, the act seemed to be interpreted as not enough action on the FOMC’s part to bolster our ailing economy. Are economists ever happy? 
Wednesday’s worse-than-expected trade balance number coupled with a slowdown in Chinese factory production sent the markets sharply lower, violating some key short-term technical levels, mainly in the S&P 500 Index. What I also found interesting was a Wall Street Journal/NBC news poll revealing that almost two-thirds of Americans still believe the economy is on a downward slope and has not bottomed out yet. These new results are much higher than the 53% of Americans who felt that way in January. The poll also showed an extremely high distain for our friends in Washington.
As a shorter-term trader, I tend to capture a quick snapshot of the macro economic climate/sentiment at present and find what, if any, catalysts might change those assumptions in the next couple weeks. At the same time, I examine the upcoming economic and corporate data announcements for the same reasons. Finally, I use technical analysis to research specific securities and then apply the appropriate options strategy based on my findings.