July 2010

July 2010

The charts referred to below can be viewed at http://www.ibdinvestor.blogspot.com/

· The market is Follow-Thru’d on 7/13, but will this rally succeed after two previous failures?

· LED lighting is looking bright, Veeco Instruments (VECO) and CREE Inc. (CREE) are making it brighter

July started off with the market correcting down, then follow-thru’d on July 13, but after the two 2 previously failed FTD in June, cautious measures are being taken before entering this one. This rally has climbed back up to the 200 day moving line but has been met with some resistance, so a push above this will confirm this FTD. This attempt does has more stock leadership, which increases the odds of success. Leaders are Foreign Banks (Chile's Banco Santander (SAN), Bancolombia (CIB)), Cloud Computing (Salesforce (CRM), VM Ware (VMW), and LED lighting (Cree (CREE), Veeco Instruments (VECO)).

Semiconductor factory workers using Veeco equipment inspect wafers that will be turned into LED chips.

This month’s stock spotlight is Veeco Instruments (VECO) which provides manufacturing equipment for 80% of the world’s LED lighting makers. Their second quarter earnings more than tripled, which beat analyst expectations. The company also reported a backlog of orders and raised the company’s outlook. This will also be good news for CREE Inc. (CREE), a maker of LED lighting. LEDs are everywhere: computer screens, TVs, car lights, street lights, home and business lighting. More expensive than incandescent or fluorescent lights, VEECO’s equipment aims to “greatly decrease” its price, according to Veeco Chief Executive John Peeler. LED’s also have other advantages; less power consumption, up to 1/10^th that of an incandescent bulb and less maintenance. John Valero facilities director at the Hard Rock Café in Las Vegas, says the cost to light the outside of the Hard Rock has been cut to $1,900 a year from $18,000 after their LED conversion.

June 2010

June 2010

*A wild roller coaster ride eventually took the markets down for poor showing 1^st half of 2010.

*If you think Greece is in bad financial shape, the US is actually in worse

*”Look ma, no hands” with Microsoft’s new Kinect for Xbox 360, or “Look ma, no glasses”, got Nintendo’s 3DS.

Figure 1

The market threw out a couple curve balls this month in the way two failed Follow-thru and two failed Correction signals (Figure 1). These signals came quickly which, in my personal studies, are failure prone. It was market volatility and short term profit taking which made June choppy and unpredictable. There was no sign of long term support from institutional buyers. This speaks to the uncertainty about the market. GLD (SPDR gold trust ETF) continued to be the bright spot of the portfolio this month as it climbed toward a all time record high. Technically, the indices have breached support and should be headed lower; BUT in this market, it could throw another head fake up as it did throughout June.

With all the news focused on Greece and the rest of the PIGS, it’s really the US in worst shape, according to Scotia Capital (Figure 2). The markets have given the US more “wiggle room” to bring in fiscal austerity. But that does not seem to be in Geithner game plan, as stated in a letter during June’s G20 conference.

Figure 2

In response, the G-20 as it writes up their position in a three-page communiqué:

Conclusion: the U.S. still doesn't get it. The rest of the world seems to be facing up to the source of the fiscal problems (other than public unions). The U.S. is in an incredibly huge dilemma. The debt levels of the European Union pale in comparison to those of the U.S. Will the New Normal be imposed on the U.S. by the rest of the world? Where does this end? Disaster or just a modest life and economy for the future by countries living within their means? The second might seem pretty nice if it follows the former!

This year’s E3 Conference may have been one of the best ever with revolutionary product introductions from each of the bigs: MSFT (Microsoft Corp), SNE (Sony Corp), and NTDOY.PK (Nintendo Co LTD ADR). Sony introduced their “Wii” controller, called Move (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s9ybHddDMgM). It does improve on the Wii with the addition of a camera to read body movements. The Playstation will also offer 3D gaming with through a software upgrade. Expect Wii and Xbox 360 to follow with their own 3D upgrades. Speaking of 3D, the 3DS handheld from Nintendo was introduced for portable 3D gaming without the glasses! (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pWYgM1RGixM&feature=related) . From Microsoft comes Kinect for Xbox 360, a high def 3D camera to detect precise body movements. In other words, your body becomes a controller. Perhaps the best way to understand this is to see this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iH5d35qVirs&feature=related). With these products generating hardware upgrades and new software sales cycles, keep a watch on GME (Gamestop) at about $21-$22. GME (Gamestop) is the Street’s pure play when it comes to gaming, but be aware, as the market continues to throw out curve balls, individual stocks will follow suit.

Going out on a limb, my may be that the most important feature of the AAPL (Apple Corp) iphone 4 is Facetime, or video conferencing. While it technology has been around for over 30 years, it has yet to be easy and convenient. Initially, it will only be available on WiFi, but as Apple makes this viral, it may become the killer app and reason users will upgrade to 4G. They are off to a great start, check out this touching video http://www.viddler.com/explore/engadget/videos/1503/.

May 2010 Report

May 2010

Many are beginning to doubt how much impact $1 Trillion will have on saving Greece and the other PIIGS. The market response to the bailout was a broad sell off of 3.7% on the NASDAQ and 3.9% on the NYSE. This day also signalled the beginning of a market downtrend. Positions in GLD (SPDR gold trust ETF), PSQ (Proshares Inverse QQQ), SH (SPDR Short S&P500), and SEF (Proshares Short Financials) have benefited from the worst May since 1940.

Market Analysis: Downtrend since 5/4 continues

May 4th signaled a correction in the markets and positions were initiated in GLD (SPDR gold trust ETF), PSQ (Proshares Inverse QQQ), SH (SPDR Short S&P500), and SEF (Proshares Short Financials). These shorts have since benefited from the worst May since1940, and have lifted the portfolio to over 5% for the month.  The market has yet to show any signs of strength. May 27 could have marked a turnaround day with the NASDAQ up 3.7% and the NYSE up 3.9%, but this action came on below average volume, a sign that institutions continue to be reluctant to put money in the market. The major indices have been finding support at the 200 day moving average, an inflection point which could either see a continuation lower or a reversal into higher ground.

The Economy: $1 Trillion isn't worth what it used to be' at least for PIIGS

A $1 Trillion isn't worth what it used to be. This is evidenced with the widespread, 3% sell off response to the Eurozone's approval of the Greece bailout. The world is beginning to understand that it might not be enough. Even with the anticipated cuts in Greece, there would seem to be a cultural bias preventing changes to be implemented.  The financial overseers have no real plan to solve the problem and the stop-gaps only put out a small fire.  It very well may be a problem of insolvency rather than liquidity. Today, Greece is only the tip of a very large iceberg. Portugal, Spain, Italy and Ireland together owe $3.9 trillion in short- and medium-term debts, an amount larger than their combined GDP, estimated last year at $3.3 trillion. The problem directly hits US tax payers, as we are "required" to contribute 17% of the IMF's funding, or $48.6 billion to cover the debts of nations who spend more than they make.

A Vaccine for Cancer: Space age medicine finds its way back to Earth
Recently, an episode of Star Trek: Enterprise aired, called "Terra Nova". One of the inhabits of a lost colony of humans was diagnosed with lung cancer, which had spread to her lymphatic system. The good news is that she was cured...in one day! A vaccine was synthesized from her DNA to attack her specific cancer, kind of like a tailor made suit. More good news, this technology has recently been FDA approved. Provenge from DNDN (Dendreon Corp) is the first FDA approved cancer vaccine for prostate cancer. It will not cure cancer, but will prolong life in late stage cancers. The stock popped up 25% on over 3 times normal volume on April 29th and has since fallen back to it's 50 day moving average. Should a market rally resume, this is one to keep on your watchlist.

April 2010 Investment Report

The market continued to climb, but have thrown many "head fakes"  along the way. Attention has turned to Greece's bailout, but Spain is not far behind. The SEC investigation of Goldman Sachs will be a market game changer. GLD, PSQ, and SH are on the watchlist.

The March 1st follow through triggering a buy signal for the SPY (SPDR S&P 500 ETF) and QQQQ (Powershares QQQ Trust) would have led to gains of 6.4% and 8.25% respectively. This signal was confirmed on 4 reliable sources, but a decision was made to remain in cash. This market has particularly been characteristic of throwing "head fakes" and fooling the crowd, including me. But the rally is showing signs of fatigue, with 6 distribution days on the S&P500 and NYSE. SEC actions against Goldman Sachs also has the potential to drag the market down.

While everyone knows pigs can't fly, PIIGS countries are flying high in debt and are in the verge of taking financial nose dives. Greece saw its bond rating downgraded to junk and are weeks away from defaulting on loans. Yet, unions still may not accept EU and IMF terms of raising retirement age of 53 or give up bonuses equaling 2 months pay. Spain is not far behind as it reported 20% unemployment last month. But this crisis has far greater implications. Morgan Stanley has 69% Tier 1 PIIGS capital exposure and JP Morgan Chase 20%. In total, US banks have $238 billion of investments in these countries. The Euro is also threatened, as the currency shared by the 16 European nations is weakening. Which, also threatens global economic recovery.

A play on the PIIGS crisis is the flight to safety in GLD (SPDR gold trust ETF).  The yellow metal broke out of a double bottom on April 9th, found support at the 20-day moving average and broke out a second time on nearly twice its average trading volume. This can be bought as it falls back to its pivot at 114.11, or preferably at 113.03 which is the 20-day moving average. With the current rally which started on March 1st showing signs of weakness, positions in PSQ (Proshares Inverse QQQ)  and SH (SPDR Short S&P500) will be started when the market signals a Correction.

March Newsletter

A follow-through was signaled on March 1^st , carrying the markets into positive territory for the year. But the rally may be fizzling. Default risks increased for Greece and Portugal. QQQQ, SPY, and UUP are being watched as potential buys

The NASDAQ staged a "cautious" follow-through on March 1st. The signal was questionable with only the NASDAQ meeting the absolute minimum 1.6% gain on higher volume. Nevertheless, the rally pushed the indices into positive territory for the year; in a cautious and tender way. To everyone’s surprise, the market held up the day after the healthcare bill passed. This would have been a good sign, but back to back distribution, or high sell off days weakened this rally. Semiconductor and Chinese internet stocks have led the way, but have also experienced recent selling pressure. Investing in this market remains difficult. Money managers are being pressured keep their portfolios on par with market performance, but their lack of volume equates to their lack of conviction.
In financial news, 2010 will mark the change of social security outflows exceeding tax inflows, six years earlier than government forecasted. The Congressional Budget Office estimates present value of unfunded social insurance expenditures at $46 trillion. The healthcare bill may add another $562 billion to this over the next decade, according to an ex-CBO director in the The New York Times. In the article "Fantasy In, fantasy out", the bill's claim of reducing the deficit by $138 billion is nothing but a"slight of hand", applying front-end loaded revenues and back-end loaded expenses. Abroad, the PIGS continue to make a lot a noise. Portugal was Fitch downgraded from AA to AA on increased default risk, and Greece’s auction of 5.9% bonds showed lackluster support with investors.  Interestingly, this boosted US dollar; which is the "taller midget" among financially troubled countries.
With 4 recent distribution days, the rally may be fizzling out, or taking a rest before moving higher. Many of the market leaders have been under selling pressure, another negative for rallies. Buy opportunities may come from 20-day moving average pullbacks on the indices; 115.71 for the SPY (SPDR S&P 500 ETF) and 47.48 for the QQQQ (Powershares QQQ Trust). Another from the US dollar, which staged an impressive breakout on 3/27 but retraced back down.  UUP (PowerShares DB US Dollar Bullish Fund ETF) looks buyable on a move above its previous high at 24.14. Just be careful as the dollar sometimes trades with wide intraday swings.

March Newsletter

A follow-through was signaled on March 1^st , carrying the markets into positive territory for the year. But the rally may be fizzling. Default risks increased for Greece and Portugal. QQQQ, SPY, and UUP are being watched as potential buys

The NASDAQ staged a "cautious" follow-through on March 1st. The signal was questionable with only the NASDAQ meeting the absolute minimum 1.6% gain on higher volume. Nevertheless, the rally pushed the indices into positive territory for the year; in a cautious and tender way. To everyone’s surprise, the market held up the day after the healthcare bill passed. This would have been a good sign, but back to back distribution, or high sell off days weakened this rally. Semiconductor and Chinese internet stocks have led the way, but have also experienced recent selling pressure. Investing in this market remains difficult. Money managers are being pressured keep their portfolios on par with market performance, but their lack of volume equates to their lack of conviction.
In financial news, 2010 will mark the change of social security outflows exceeding tax inflows, six years earlier than government forecasted. The Congressional Budget Office estimates present value of unfunded social insurance expenditures at $46 trillion. The healthcare bill may add another $562 billion to this over the next decade, according to an ex-CBO director in the The New York Times. In the article "Fantasy In, fantasy out", the bill's claim of reducing the deficit by $138 billion is nothing but a"slight of hand", applying front-end loaded revenues and back-end loaded expenses. Abroad, the PIGS continue to make a lot a noise. Portugal was Fitch downgraded from AA to AA on increased default risk, and Greece’s auction of 5.9% bonds showed lackluster support with investors.  Interestingly, this boosted US dollar; which is the "taller midget" among financially troubled countries.
With 4 recent distribution days, the rally may be fizzling out, or taking a rest before moving higher. Many of the market leaders have been under selling pressure, another negative for rallies. Buy opportunities may come from 20-day moving average pullbacks on the indices; 115.71 for the SPY (SPDR S&P 500 ETF) and 47.48 for the QQQQ (Powershares QQQ Trust). Another from the US dollar, which staged an impressive breakout on 3/27 but retraced back down.  UUP (PowerShares DB US Dollar Bullish Fund ETF) looks buyable on a move above its previous high at 24.14. Just be careful as the dollar sometimes trades with wide intraday swings.

February 2010 Report

 

 

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Mixed economic signals continue to feed investor uncertainty and apprehensiveness. While a follow through (the technical signal for a new rally) may occur, it will be failure prone. TJX (T J X), which operates off price TJ MAXX, Marshalls, and Homegoods is profiting and staged a nice breakout, but would still be a cautious buy given the overall market.

The markets started the month falling into a ditch, then turned around, eventually ending +1.4% for the S&P500, and +3.9% on the NASDAQ. Investors remained "wishy washy", even as the the month ended in a 14 day rally attempt. The technical signal, or follow through, to start a new market uptrend is a 1.7% up day on above average volume, on one of the major indices. Follow Through's are usually reliable with a 70-80% historical track record, but this may be failure prone with a high 14 day count. The declining volume and wide price swings are secondary indicators of a weak market and translates to investor confusion and a lack of conviction. On the other hand, the market is very good a fooling investors, and it would not surprise me to see this follow through work.

While the Fed's action to raise the discount rate could be seen as a sign of recovery, it's really the Fed funds rate that needs to be watched. The discount rate is used primarily for bank to banks business, and the Fed fund's rate loans to customers. Also known as the prime rate, it impacts everything from credit card, mortgages, business loans, CD's, savings accounts. There was other economic news which did not support a recovery:

• Fitch Ratings reported that U.S, jumbo mortgages at least 60 days late reached 9.6% in January vs. 9.2% in December. It was the 32nd straight increase in "serious delinquencies."
• Wal-Mart reported that sales in stores open for a year fell in the 4Q of 2009- the first decline in history. 
• The Fed reported that the year to year change in Commercial and Industrial loans is the lowest ever, since it started tracking this in 1948

• Sovereign default may be more widespread than the PIGS countries (Portugal, Ireland, Greece, Spain) as Standard & Poor's is considering the credit rating of the UK

There are very few stocks showing on my screens, but my favorite this month is T J X (TJX), which operates TJ MAXX, Marshalls, and Homegoods. A recent article in Investor's Business Daily mentioned that their buyers are out 40 times a year looking for deals compared to other retailers' 4 times a year. The result is getting same name brand merchandise at a discount of 50% or more, and the same merchandise that may be currently available at a department stores or national retailer chain. In my store checks, I have noticed several store improvements. Customer Service on par with a department store, faster store checkout, organized and cleaner stores. All this has resulted in impressive earning and sales. Over the past 4 quarters, both have accelerated with earning at 20%, 30%, 42%, 71%; and sales at 1%, 4%, 10%, and 10%. While the stock did stage a healthy breakout on 2/25, it is still a somewhat risky buy given the current overall market environment.