Shares of Vianet21 rose 10% last Friday, on strong volume, and call option volume came in at 4 times the 5 day trading average. Those 2 things combined usually get my attention so I did a little reading up on Vianet this weekend. The company is basically China’s version of Equinix and Rackspace here in the United States. All of these companies provide cloud computing services for companies. Vianet21 has been around since 1999, has been trading on the Nasdaq since 2011. (more…)
Think like a bear using the Proshares Ultrashort S&P 500 (SDS)
It’s not often easy for a beginning investor to be a contrarian on the market. Partly it’s a conditioning by the investing media that gets everyone excited about investing in stocks and chasing the hottest fads, and the most exciting trends. Another thing that makes it hard for novices is their inexperience with identifying when a stock or index could have the makings of a bearish stock chart instead of a bullish one. (more…)
Molycorp (MCP) – another short squeeze gem
Molycorp, Inc. produces and sells rare earth and rare metal materials in the United States and internationally. The company’s Resources segment extracts rare earth minerals, including rare earth concentrates; rare earth oxides (REO), such as lanthanum, cerium, neodymium, praseodymium, and yttrium; heavy rare earth concentrates, which include samarium, europium, gadolinium, terbium, dysprosium, and others; and SorbX, a line of proprietary rare earth-based water treatment products (more…)
Liquidity Services (LQDT) has short squeeze potential
Liquidity Services, Inc. operates various online auction marketplaces for surplus, salvage, and scrap assets in the United States. The company’s auction marketplaces include liquidation.com that enables corporations to sell surplus and salvage consumer goods and capital assets; govliquidation.com, which enables selected federal government agencies to sell surplus and scrap assets; and govdeals.com that enables local and state government entities, including city, county, and state agencies, as well as school boards and public utilities to sell surplus and salvage assets. (more…)
Chicos (CHS) Is Finally Joining The Retail Party
Retail has been fun ride so far this year. XRT, the SPDR S&P Retail ETF, is up 19.5% YTD. Despite wary consumers, despite stagnant wages, despite less-than-stellar same store comps and revenue growth in many corners of the industry, retail has chugged along unfazed. This is, however, looking at things from the ETF view. Lumped all together, it is easy to assume good fortune on the part of the entire sector. But for investors in individual company names, depending on where they sit, retail has either been a renewed love affair or a frustrating exercise in watching your neighbor’s grass get greener while yours seems to wither. (more…)
Bubble in Utilities? Short OGE
Recently utility stocks have been getting bid up in a manic frenzy as investors pile into low volatility ETFs that have a large holding of utility stocks, and as investors seek to park their nest eggs in the perceived safety of stable, cash flow rich companies. (more…)
Blue Nile – An earnings disappointment leads to opportunity
Blue Nile has a combination of things going on that I like to look for as a speculative trade: (more…)
AOL Is Patched But Not Fixed
AOL (NYSE: AOL) pulled off quite a feat last quarter, reporting that its revenue grew for the first time in eight years in the fourth quarter of 2012. While that is impressive, I remain concerned about the financial pressures the company will continue to endure due to its still unprofitable venture called Patch. (more…)
Profit from a Narrow trading range in Ann Taylor (ANN)
I’ve been watching Ann Taylor (ANN) since it announced an earnings beat a few weeks ago. The stock has gradually fallen back down to the support zone that it broke out from on the earnings release. I also noticed today that the stock is weakening in volume and daily price range as the stock nears support, and I see an opportunity to make a trade that will earn us a profit in one month’s time if ANN’s listlessness continues. (more…)
Shorting China with FXI
I was very interested in the Flash Manufacturing Report last night from China. It was not good but not a lot worse than last month. However, the fact that they haven’t been able to turn it around yet has interested me in shorting the last rally in FXI. (more…)