Written by |

Carl Icahn Looking for Holiday Sales (HPQ) 12.11.2012

[shareaholic app="share_buttons" id="24556347"]

Well, Icahn made a splash on Wall Street today as rumors flew that he now has an interest in the beaten down Hewlett-Packard (HPQ). Hewlett-Packard has taken a big hit in 2012 and is down now 45.68% YTD. This news is still just a rumor since CNBC’s David Faber reported that HPQ is not aware that Icahn owns any shares, and that the company has had no conversations with him.

What catches my eye about this rumor is Icahn is known for making huge splashes in companies that are beaten down. And it’s almost inevitable that we see a move by him into Hewlett-Packard. The negative sentiment on HP could have driven the price down low enough to attract the buyers that are looking for a screaming buy. Quite ironic that it’s the holidays and were all looking for deals….

In breaking down its market cap, its assets minus debt are still worth 50 billion. That’s twice its current market cap of 27.84 billion. Can you say 50% off? Well worth Carl Icahn’s time to show interest….

Author: Peter Nitso

pnitso@yahoo.com

Written by |

Stocks Have Bad Breadth? 10.5.2012

[shareaholic app="share_buttons" id="24556347"]

The 50-day moving average is a popular way to measure short-term momentum and price trend. This line is the average closing price over 50 periods. This technical indicator can be perceived as the dividing line between a stock that is technically healthy and one that is not.

Of the stocks in the S&P 500, 371 or about 74%, opened above their 50 day moving average today. Today in the Dow Jones Industrial Average, 23 of the 30 stocks are opened today above their respective 50.

On the other hand, the 200-day moving average is an indicator of long-term trend. Here, stocks like the more economically sensitive like CAT and AA are very much so off their recent highs and under their 200 day moving average.  The high today in AA just touched its 200-day and pulled back. While it may be tempting to pick bottoms in the losers, perhaps it is prudent to stay with the proven winners.

The chart below is an interesting indicator.  While it may look like just scribbles or bar code on a chart, it actually represents the NYSE advancing declining bias on a daily basis. The yellow and blue lines are respectively the 50 and 200 day moving average. This chart is confirming the bullish sentiment and price action in the market. Basically it is important to watch the yellow line fluctuate relative to the blue, for it represents the average short term bias of issues (stocks).

Screen shot 2012-10-05 at 10.54.58 AM

E-mail the author with any comments, questions, or inquiry

mark@keeneonthemarket.com“>mark@keeneonthemarket.com

Data courtesy of Thinkorswim

Written by |

Morning Rage 9.25.2012

[shareaholic app="share_buttons" id="24556347"]

The tech industry was hit hard yesterday as most of the major players ended down except for Google ($GOOG). Google reach a new all -ime high yesterday of 750.04 and traded in a $20 range. Google ended yesterday up about $15 and continued to surge up another $3.25 after hours making another new all-time high of 752.63.  Other tech stocks didn’t perform as well, Microsoft ($MSFT), Apple ($AAPL), Intel ($INTC), and HP ($HPQ) were all down more than one percent. Apple fans may have to wait for iPhone 5 resupplies around the world because the new front glass component production cannot keep up with demand for the phone.

On the topic of tech stocks, Red Hat ($RHT) released its Q2 earnings, which missed analysts projections causing the stock to tumble an extra $1.74, or 3%, on top of its $0.10 drop yesterday. Red Hat’s earnings projections were lower than Q1 but were still missed by a penny. The fine print reads that the penny lost was due to one-time closing costs.

Two housing reports will be released today, the S&P Case-Shiller HPI and the FHFA House Price Index. The Case-Shiller report tracks housing price changes throughout 20 major US cities and the FHFA report uses data from mortgages to track pricing. With housing news consistently positive in the past few weeks, I would expect more of the same today.