ECB officials state on Tuesday, “Greece’s private creditors to take a deeper write-down on the face value of their holdings.” In my opinion, the profitable way to make money in this economic climate is to buy the rumor and sell the news. If the Greeks deal was reached why is the EUR/USD near its lows? Why are European financials selling off and volatility increased? Monday night Reuters released a report that the Greek deal is reached and the EUR/ USD jumped a staggering 105 pips. Once the details regarding the deal were released, the EUR/ USD lost the majority of the Monday night move and is currently flirting with negative territory.

Crude oil is trading higher for the second week in a row as Iranian risk premium is built in to the max.. or is it? JPM hikes its WTI and Brent Crude price forecasts substantially. Gold is trading at the highs of the session at the all important $1750 level. It appears, the best hedge for inflation is still Gold. USD is under pressure this morning and be prepared for higher volatility in US equity markets as investors scramble.

Tuesday, investors await the US 2 YR note auction. Wal-Mart, Macy’s, Dell, and Kraft all report earnings on Tuesday, February 21, 2012.

By Greg Zimny

First, private bondholders will get a 70%+ haircut, by trading their old Greek bonds for new ones. These new bonds will pay about 3% over a very long term. Once these new bonds hit the open market, what will they sell for? 50% of par? 35%? In other words, the new bonds are likely to be total junk, unless the market believes that getting 3% is a good deal because the EU is backing Greece. However, recent events show the questionable extent of this commitment. Thus way below par may be a good guess, unless future magic tricks by the EU come into play.

This raises another personal question: How can I short the new Greek bonds that will go to private bondholders? There is money to be made here.

Another key issue arises because European governmental entities are apparently able to rid themselves of their bonds at par. Doesn’t this new risk create an interest rate premium on ALL private purchases of sovereign debt in the future? In other words, if the risk to private investors in sovereign debt is far greater than that of government purchasers, shouldn’t the interest rates reflect that?
Specifically, will there be an immediate risk premium in bonds issued by Portugal, Spain, Italy and others?

As Bill Gross tweeted last week, “ECB subordinates all Greek debt holders & in so doing subordinates all holders of Euroland sovereign debt.” This subordination should show its face in a new interest rate premium.

Another important question is, how will the ratings agencies react to the deal? Will they call it a “default?” In last week’s Barber’s Chair, I addressed this issue in depth, concluding that they would. As I stated, “A duck by any other name is still a duck…It is not a daisy or a bluebird or a polar bear with feathers.” In my opinion, the ratings agencies should declare the Greek action a default, and they will.

But if there is a default, this raises another crucial question, How will this effect the credit default swap (CDS) market? A clear “default” would mean that CDS’s have played their proper role in guarding against defaults. But what if European government entities or others claim that the deal is not a “default.” Will CDS issuers try to not pay off? This could result in a decade of litigation, and muddy the entire CDS market. If a CDS will not pay off in the case of a clear default, what good is it? If CDS’s do pay off, how big will the damage be to the CDS issuers? Are we looking at another AIG contagion situation?

In sum, there are many unanswered questions that arise from the Greek debt deal. These questions and others are likely to result in an unclear picture for Europe and the world over the coming weeks and months. Be careful out there!!

Floyd at KOTM please follow me on Twitter @USKOTM

Unprofitable: This trade is unprofitable if SVU Closes under $7.20 by March 16, 2012. The most I can lose on this trade is the amount I paid for these Calls, $.20

Reason I like this Trade:  I have watched and traded SVU over the course of the last couple of weeks.  I have been profitable, so I continue to trade the names that I have made money on and pass on stocks that I lose money on.  SVU has sold off very hard on earnings and I remembered that a customer sold 32,247 SVU Feb 7 Puts about a month ago, so I figured the stock would rally today and close above $7.  When a customer bought 5700 March 7 Calls for $.20, I jumped on board and bought them as well.

UPDATE 2.17.2012 I sold 1/3 of these Calls for $.25, 1/3 for $.30, and then 1/3 of the Calls for $.35.  This averages to $.30 and I paid $.20, so this is good for 50% in a day.  Ill take that for some beer drinking money and move on to the next trade.

Read more about february by keeneonthemarket.com

UNUSUAL OPTION ACTIVITY:In FTR, they sold 20,000 MAR 4 Calls, post earnings for $.60. This could be against Feb positions that a customer has been building over the last few months. We have seen a customer sell 22,000 GFI Jul 18 Calls for $.45. In XLF, a customer bought 175,000 May 16 calls for $.21. This is a huge bet on America that things are getting better. Perhaps risk is here to stay.

By: Greg Zimny

Halcon Resources (HK)
Halcon Resources was formed on February 8th in what was basically an acquisition and recapitalization combo. RAM Energy Resources was recapitalized by receiving $550 million in securities from Halcon Resources, LLC. This includes $275 million in new common stock and $275 million in convertible notes as well as warrants to purchase 110 million more shares at $4.50 per share.

Why I Like This Transaction

What gets me excited about this transaction is the fact that the $550 million was put in by Floyd Wilson who will now be the new CEO. Wilson was the former CEO of Petrohawk (who had the symbol HK). Petrohawk was a company Wilson built and sold last summer to BHP Billiton for a hefty premium.

Wilson obviously knows what he is doing and how to create shareholder value. After looking through their recent presentation they made at the Credit Suisse Energy Summit on February 9th you can see the path they are going down. Now flush with cash they are going to commence a drilling program focused on oil and liquids while at the same time monetizing their non-core assets by selling some of there properties.

Slide 26 Says Everything You Need to Know

The reason I love this opportunity so much can be summed up on their slide number 26 from their presentation. The slide is titled “Creating Value” with the following steps listed. Establish Well-Capitalized Platform (This has been done with the recapitalization.) Grow Reserves and Production (With the cash they received in the recapitalization they will put to good use to commence with a drilling program to beef up production but more importantly reserves.)

Minimize Operating Costs/Maximize Price Realizations

Divest High-Cost and Non-Core Assets (They’ve already announced three properties for sale so they can focus on their core assets.)

Built to Sell (Emphasis Added!)

This is the key reason here. Wilson built Petrohawk and sold it. Now he is stating he is going to build Halcon and sell it. Add to that he has $550 million reasons to follow through with this pledge. He even went back to the same symbol (HK) as Petrohawk.

Tremendous Long Term Opportunity

This isn’t a fast trade stock; rather it is for your long term portfolio. This is an opportunity to buy a company where the CEO has a history of building a company then selling it and has come right out and told you this is what he intends to do here. With a $300 million market cap this stock has plenty of room to get bigger and then be sold for a premium. While this could take years, I think you can start a position and buy the dips and follow along with a shrewd operator and make a healthy profit.

Disclosure: I bought a sizeable position in HK and intend to keep adding to it here over the next several weeks/months. Right now I see it becoming the largest holding in my long term account.