Apr
23
Where is the Dollar Headed?
The Euro has reached 1.60 to the U.S. dollar, and there’s currently no end in sight for the Euro’s strength. Speculators will continue to take the currency higher until the European Central Bank (ECB) starts to wince. That may not come for another several hundred pips. The dollar looks likely to continue falling and the euro to continue rising until either the U.S. or euro zone dramatically changes its policy or intervenes. Next week, the Federal Reserve will meet to set interest rates. A cut of only 25 bp would […]
Apr
15
CROX gets the Boot…
CROX- For traders who have portended the waning appeal of synthetic clog maker Crocs, today’s lowering of the company’s Q1 forecast on lower sales simply states a truth long deferred for the trend shoe – namely, that Crocs are a fad and that fads tend to fall by the wayside. To be sure, there’s something about the immediate 43% drop in Crocs share price to $10.14 that smacks of a pent-up desire to sell the stock. Peril is written all over the elevated implied volatility reading in Crocs options, which […]
Apr
14
The Dragon
Using “The Dragonâ€? a stock & option screener in OptionsXpress, the following stocks showed some unusual volume activity in the options market. These are just a few of the stocks that were found to have unusual option activity on Monday, April 14th. “The Dragonâ€? is just one of many resource’s that you have access to in your OptionsXpress account. I have found it to be a great way of looking for trade opportunities. XLF- Financial Select SPDR – Shares in the financial sector ETF slid more than 2% on Wachovia’s […]
Apr
11
Earnings, Retail Sales & M&A
Good morning. Premarket futures are lower as investors buckle up for what will likely be a difficult earnings season. This morning’s weakness is blamed on Wachovia (WB) who reported an unexpected loss and negative comments by a Goldman Sachs strategist who expects stocks to fall further as earnings come out. On the bright side we have a better than expected retail sales report in March and a little M&A activity as Blockbuster (BBI) made a $1 billion dollar bid for Circuit City (CC) and reports suggest that NorthWest Airlines (NWA) […]