Biggest Bullish Activity 2.28.2013

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bullishPaper bought 37,402 AMTD Aug 23 Calls for $.25 (18.5 times usual volume) when stock was trading $19.09
Paper bought 1800 INFA June 35 Calls for $3.50 (7.6 times usual volume) when stock was trading $35.36
Paper bought 905 REN April 7.5 Calls for $2.35 (3.9 times usual volume) when stock was trading $9.61
Paper bought 950 PLCM July 10 Calls for $9.10 (3.5 times usual volume) when stock was trading $9.10
Paper bought 982 PGH Oct 5 Calls for $.15 (2.8 times usual volume) when stock was trading $4.13

Is Silver Undervalued? (SLV, GLD, USD) 2.27.2013

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The chart of silver may be depicting a buying opportunity with limited risk and a tight stop. Silver is in a down channel, but the current price may be suffering from an oversold condition.  The market has seen this movie before. Silver saw a similar slump in December of 2012 where the metal fell over 10% as it traversed from the upper bound of the channel to the lower bound of the channel. The candlestick formation when silver bottomed during the aforementioned period is eerily similar to the ones at the present time. See chart below for specifics, but in essence, they are forming neutral dojis…an early indicator of a bottoming process.

Other drivers of the metals trade include push and pulls from the currency market. Over the same period mentioned above, the US Dollar index has rallied and the EUR/USD currency pair has fallen, giving more reason for the metal weakness. This may soon cycle back to prior levels, but is absolutely a risk to the outlined thesis.

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salerno.mark.a@gmail.com

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What Would A Stock Split Mean for Apple (AAPL)? 2.27.2013

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Well, a stock split is very straightforward. All it means, in this case, is the price will be chopped in half to $224 and the shares outstanding will double. This doesn’t affect the market cap of Apple, or the value of your current shares. The whole point of doing this would be to allow more investors/traders to pick shares of Apple. The concept of stock splits is no revolutionary idea, they are just a way to create some buzz and allow more people to get their hands on the stock. But hey, when the stock is down 36% in 5 months, splitting the stock might not be that bad of an idea! Can I hear a 3-1 or 4-1 split?

Apples pile of cash is no secret to anyone, as it continues to grow as you read this. But what could they possibly do with $135 billion that could satisfy investors? Increase the yield? Sure, if you own 10 million shares and are seeing these payouts extremely beneficial to your pockets. But for the average investor/trader that is not the case. What would be beneficial is to actually do something with that money, such as innovate and buy up companies that bring value. I truly miss the days where Apple would come out with a breath taking product twice a year. Of course Steve Jobs is gone, but is the vision?! I don’t think so, but its clear an ‘X’ factor is missing.

The meeting tomorrow will hopefully clear the air for everyone, and I do expect Apple to announce a stock split. But, what truly matters here is if Tim Cook is focused on quieting the whining from investors, or, focused on getting that Apple mojo back during the Job days.

Author: Peter Nitso
pnitso@yahoo.com
Twitter: @PeterNitso

Biggest Bearish Activity 2.20.2013

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Bear CNBC Day TradingPaper bought 868 WLK April 95 Puts for $7.00 when stock was trading $90.74
Paper bought 4385 AUMN June 2.5 Puts for $.325 (6.7 times usual volume) when stock was trading $2.82
Paper bought 1852 LPX March 20 Puts for $.25 when stock was trading when stock was trading $21.80
Paper bought 1458 ATML March 7 Puts for $.25 when stock was trading $7.16
Paper bought 5086 TIBX March 20 Puts for $.20 (3.6 times usual volume) when stock was trading $22.31

Rhetoric Aside, Where Does HLF Really Go From Here? 2.19.2013

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Investors continue to ask the question… where does Herbalife go from here?

Well, Icahn believes the answer to that question is up. In his most recent appearance on CNBC, Carl said, “I buy things I think are undervalued.” From this statement it’s clear that he’s banking on making money from being long HLF.

I know quite a few investors will take his word and get long HLF as well…but do the charts line up with Icahn’s current view? Lets check it out…

Going back to the lows made in early 2009, it looks like a clear five waves completed in April 2012 at $73. Since that high, there as been a strong reversal, but it was done so in a corrective fashion (three waves). This tells me one of two things… one being that we are going to see a strong reversal right here ($38-$44), to bring us down in a fifth wave completing near the $10-$15 region. The second being that we have bottomed at $24, and will now begin a stronger third wave up that could take a couple years to complete.

When looking at both of these possibilities, the most probable scenario that I see playing out is a third wave up. The MACD is portraying some nice positive divergence, and gives me more confidence that we will see higher levels before we see lower. My initial targets are the $55-$63 region for (iii) of 3 before we see a stronger consolidation in (iv) of 3. By year-end I could even see wave 3 ending up near $72-$80!

When putting counts on a stock, you always need to have stops that invalidate your current position. If the price action falls below the $30.73 that would be my first indication that we are in a fifth wave down, with $23.91 being the nail in the coffin for the bulls. Bulls do not want to see it below that level!!

In the long I am optimistic on Herbalife, and have to say that Carl Icahn might have snagged up a ‘diamond in the rough.’

HLF 3Day 2.18.2013

Author: Peter Nitso
pnitso@yahoo.com
Twitter: @PeterNitso

LNKD Surges (LNKD, QQQ, FB) 2.8.2013

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 The options were expecting about a $9.00 move in the stock and according to current prices, the move is going to be outside of that. The ‘at the money’ straddle was just about $9.50 too.  Today’s move was basically unlikely, according to what the options were implying yesterday.  LNKD is probably going to open up at a new all time high. Bullish fundamentals are paired with bullish management.

Analysts are moving around their PTs. BMO Capital Markets maintained LNKD at market perform, but raised its $130 PT. JEF held on to its buy rating and increased its PT to $170.

Salerno.mark.a@gmail.com

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