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Morning Rage 9.11.2012

Amazon.com, Inc. (AMZN | $256.67) is down less than a half of a point in pre-market trading. Amazon recently released the HD Kindle Fire, to be available at the end of November. Amazon is competing in a market where PC makers have continually failed to take the dominant position from Apple, which has more than half of the entire tablet market. Apple, Inc. (AAPL | 662.74), which is up 2.25 points in pre-market trading, gets its strength from having multiple matching devices that focus on simplicity for the user. Everything is fluid for the user, including the shape and style of all the products.

The one company capable defeating Apple in my opinion, Google (GOOG | 700.77), which is up almost 7.00 points in pre-market trading, has yet to stamp their logo on the outside of sleek hardware. I would also expect Apple to continue pushing other companies off of its platform by taking over their products and services. Apple will hold on to its dominance for a long time. However, the market is saturated with new iPhones and I don’t expect all of the iPhone 4 users to drop their somewhat new phones to get an iPhone 5, due to release Wednesday. This release will not be the same for Apple.

International trade data will be released today. The important data for US markets is the trade gap between exports and imports. I can’t be sure where the US is exporting to with Europe in a mess and China’s growth slowing for almost half of a year. The trade balance is said to continue higher with an estimate over -44.3 Billion. This report will be released at 8:30am EST. 

Alex Kalish has a masters in economics from Suffolk University.

Contact: alexk@keeneonthemarket.com

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Trade of the Day (SHFL) 9.10.2012

UPDATE 9.16.2012:  With a sell-off after Earnings, this stock has sold off and the Call Spread I sold has gone to $.10, good for a triple, but I will leave this trade on until Friday and hope it expires worthless.

UPDATE 9.21.2012  With the stock settling at $15.81, this Spread went out worthless, time to move to the next trade.

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Halftime Report 9.10.2012

Biggest movers in the S&P 500 so far today are Alpha Natural Resources Inc. (ANR) up 3.77%, First Solar Inc (FSLR) up 4.0% and Sprint Nextel Corp (S) up 3.9%. 

Pandora Media Inc (P) continues to slide today, down 4.39%.  Shares of the internet radio provider have been falling since Apple’s announcement of interest in the internet radio business.

James Ramelli B.S. in Finance from UIUC Email: james@keeneonthemarket.comFollow: @Jim_KOTM

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Morning Rage 9.10.2012

AIG is a half of a point higher in pre-market trading. AIG has a 52-week high/low of 35.36/19.18. The stock hit its yearly low at the end of September last year. Since July, the stock has floated above thirty dollars and in the last 3 weeks has been pushing thirty-five dollars, up almost 5% in the last month. AIG reported second quarter growth in early August, growing its insurance operating income 26%. Six major analysts have downgraded AIG’s outlook, as the Fed, possibly holding back dividends among other controls, will regulate AIG.

On Friday, Google (GOOG | 706.15[+6.75%]) broke above the $700 price line, a new four year high. The 52-week range for GOOG is now 480.60 – 712.25, a range of about $230. In pre-market trading GOOG is down less than a tenth of a point, with an overnight high of $709.72, currently sitting at $708.84.

US indices futures are all down. Dow futures have dropped 21 points, NASDAQ futures down five and a half, and the S&P futures down 3.25. News from the National Bureau of Statistics yesterday had exports rising lower than expectations and imports to china decreasing. Consumer credit reports come out today and international trade balance for the US is announced tomorrow.  

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Market Recap 9.7.2012

The biggest movers today were on earnings; Lululemon Athletica Inc. and Smith & Wesson Holdings Corp. Both beat analysts projections and gained over 10% on their stock prices.

Lululemon (LULU) reported a net revenue increase of 33% to $282.6 million from $212.3 million in the second quarter fiscal 2011. Gross profit for the quarter increased 28% to 155.8 million and made up 55.1% of net revenue.

Pandora (P) stock was crushed today on an announcement from Apple, Inc. (AAPL), stating plans to develop a competing internet radio product. Apple has been aggressively competing with other companies who have their service on Apple products, like Google Maps. P was down over 16% today ending at $10.47.

Monday, the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) will release its monthly report on international trade. The current global marketplace has been weak; Some of the stronger european economies have begun to struggle and China’s manufacturing has been shrinking for months now. The report on monday is composed of goods and services that are exported and imported into the US, calculating the balance between the two values. The report will primarily affect currencies.

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Halftime Report 9.7.2012

Both the Dow and NASDAQ fell below its opening price today by 11:00 am, but the S&P 500 stands alone ahead 0.30% for the day sitting at 1,436.52.  US indices futures have stayed put as well. Metals futures gained substantial points today with gold, silver and copper up 1.99%, 3.02% and 3.57% respectively. Silver is sitting just below its high of the day at 33.67 and a high of 33.74. Copper is right below its daily high at 3.6425 with a high of 3.6525. Natural Gas just moved away from its low of the day at 2.6740 with a low of 2.6660, down 3.67%.

The Cooper Companies, Inc. (COO | 93.33) hit a new all time high today gaining 7.32 when the market opened to sit around 93. The gain is representative of the company’s third quarter growth in income of almost 50% from last year. Analyst expected earnings at $1.29 per share but the company outperformed with earnings of $1.36 per share.

Facebook (FB | 19.11) has shown three straight days of growth up almost 2 dollars from its new 52 week low on Tuesday. How long can Zuckerberg’s statement keep Facebook from continuing it’s slope downward? The 52-week at-the-money implied volatility has touched its low today. Put/call sentiment is bullish and the stock might just continue its slow climb up next week.