While the Diary of a Mad Hedge Fund Trader focuses on investment over a one week to six-month time frame, Mad Day Trader, provided by Jim Parker, will exploit money-making opportunities over a brief ten minute to three day window. It is ideally suited for day traders, but can also be used by long-term investors to improve market timing for entry and exit points. Read more
As a potentially profitable opportunity presents itself, John will send you an alert with specific trade information as to what should be bought, when to buy it, and at what price. This is your chance to ?look over? John Thomas? shoulder as he gives you unparalleled insight on major world financial trends BEFORE they happen. Read more
While the Diary of a Mad Hedge Fund Trader focuses on investment over a one week to six-month time frame, Mad Day Trader, provided by Jim Parker, will exploit money-making opportunities over a brief ten minute to three day window. It is ideally suited for day traders, but can also be used by long-term investors to improve market timing for entry and exit points. Read more
Global Market Comments
December 12, 2014
Fiat Lux
Featured Trade:
(DECEMBER 17 GLOBAL STRATEGY WEBINAR),
(IT RAINS IN CALIFORNIA!),
(TESTIMONIAL)
As I write to you, torrential sheets of rain are pounding the windows of my home. The wind is shaking the building down to the foundation. I?m typing as fast as I can, and praying that the power can stay on long enough for me to finish this piece.
And, oh yes, people are cheering.
The ?Pineapple Express? that barreled in on we San Franciscans from Hawaii is expected to dump 5-8? of rain, with some neighborhoods getting a drenching 13 inches. Much of the city?s downtown is without power, and the BART station is closed.
That compares to a normal full year of 23.64 inches, and a minimal 12.54 inches last year. That was one of the driest years since 1851.
It was probably the most widely forecast storm in California history. Almost every Bay Area school system closed. The California Highway Patrol warned drivers to avoid non-essential driving. Many took the hint and enjoyed a day off.
What was really interesting was the 77-year-old Golden Gate Bridge?s 70 mph design limitation. That?s the speed that local gusts reached. To be safe, the Bridge Authority limited traffic to a single lane each way, and banned trucks outright. As of this writing, it is still standing.
The storm at Lake Tahoe was even more amazing. Winds near Donner Pass were clocked at 135 mph. Some four feet of snow fell at the upper altitudes. The Trans Sierra Interstate 80 has been closed for hours. The onslaught rescued the Christmas ski season just in the nick of time.
It looks like I?ll be taking my snowshoes out of storage early this year.
After suffering through a five yearlong drought, it is now expected to rain nonstop for three weeks.
The drought inflicted a serious economic impact on the state. The prices for our major crops (DBA), grapes, almonds, hay, cotton, oranges, walnuts, rice, apples, and lemons have been soaring. Even our largest cash crop, marijuana (an estimated $5 billion per annum), was affected.
Farmers resorted to drilling deep wells of 1,000 feet or more to tap ancient aquifers. That has led to widespread subsidence. Some areas are now ten feet lower than they were 100 years ago.
The drought all added fuel to the political fires. Many of the battles here have long revolved around water, with profligate Los Angeles (huge lawns, golf courses, and too many people) perennially attempting to steal H2O from the wetter north, via long, expensive canals that we all have to pay for. Now that everyone is soaked, perhaps tempers will ease.
Thank you for the many emails expressing concern for my safety. Even I was not willing to undertake my nightly four-hour mountain backpack in this pestilential weather. However, I will be shopping for a new set of patio furniture, once the January sales hit.
Is anyone knowledgeable about Costco?s offerings on this front?
?You have to be very careful giving up analogue dollars for digital pennies,? said Jeff Zuker, CEO of NBC.
While the Diary of a Mad Hedge Fund Trader focuses on investment over a one week to six-month time frame, Mad Day Trader, provided by Jim Parker, will exploit money-making opportunities over a brief ten minute to three day window. It is ideally suited for day traders, but can also be used by long-term investors to improve market timing for entry and exit points. Read more
Global Market Comments
December 11, 2014
Fiat Lux
Featured Trade:
(OIL GRINCH KO?S CHRISTMAS RALLY),
(SPY), (OXY), (XOM), (SCTY), (FSLR), (VSLR), (XLK), (BBH),
(TESTIMONIAL),
(AN EVENING WITH CONGRESS BARNEY FRANK)
SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY)
Occidental Petroleum Corporation (OXY)
Exxon Mobil Corporation (XOM)
SolarCity Corporation (SCTY)
First Solar, Inc. (FSLR)
Vivint Solar, Inc. (VSLR)
Technology Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLK)
Market Vectors Biotech ETF (BBH)
The continuing collapse in oil prices has finally spilled over into the real world, at its worst knocking 290 points off of the Dow Average yesterday.
Traders who grew accustomed to a market that went up like clockwork every day were in for a rude awakening. Is the positive case for equities coming to an end?
Is the bull dead?
Not yet. All we are seeing is a normal 5%-7% correction in a long-term uptrend. It?s really all about the numbers, as it always is.
American companies are still on tract to increase earnings by 10% in 2015, and S&P 500 earnings are set to reach $130. Technology and innovation are hyper accelerating. Our energy costs have been cut in half, creating a giant tax cut. The world still wants to send its money here.
Goldilocks is still alive and well, just momentarily hiding under the bed.
Yes, it?s another buying opportunity.
This time, however, it?s different.
Oil has gone down so fast, some $46, or 43% in a scant six months that it has set the cat among the pigeons within the producing countries. The decline has been so precipitous that the budgets of oil producing countries from Saudi Arabia, to Russia, to Norway, have taken a real walloping. What else would you expect when your principal revenue source suddenly halves?
The plunge caught the producers totally by surprise. So to meet budget shortfalls, they are having to raise cash from their sovereign wealth funds. Some 15 of the world?s 20 largest sovereign wealth funds are run by oil producing countries.
To raise money, they are having to sell off investments, primarily stocks, and especially energy stocks. That is one of the few industries they actually understand.
This all means that the selling should dry up going into yearend, once budgetary requirements are met. If the price of oil stabilizes here at $61, or heaven forbid, starts to rise, then their selling of stocks completely ceases.
The bull market returns.
After suffering through a Trade Alert drought that has lasted more than a month, there are finally some nice trades setting up. I?m thinking specifically about the S&P 500 (SPY), energy (OXY), (XOM) and Solar stocks (SCTY), (FSLR), (VSLR), and even a chance to get back into the front-runners, technology (XLK) and biotech (BBH). Europe is also finally starting to look enticing.
Watch this space.
Goldilocks is Still Alive and Well
Just want to let you know that I have had some great trades with you this year. I made the most money on (FXE), with (IWM) in second place. (IBM) was in third place - with one trade from you and comments from Jim Parker.
I've found that when Jim says a stock has hit bottom it's usually a good time to buy, even if he doesn't send out a Trade Alert. You were right when you said we can make more money waiting for a few good trades instead of overtrading.
Most of the money I lost this year was from my own mistakes - overtrading, not stopping out and waiting too long to take profits. My intention was to do only what you said, but the market is very tempting.
After looking back on my trades this year, I'm thinking I should reconsider and sign up for Jim's service again. It doesn't take many trades to pay for the service, even if I can't keep up with it all the time. And I learn a lot from him too.
I expect 2015 to be a great year! Safe travels over the holidays!
Susanna
Orlando, Florida
