Featured Trade: (MAD HEDGE FUND TRADER SURGES AHEAD WITH A 5.78% 2014 PROFIT), (SPY), (TLT), (XLK), (XLF), (XLE), (AAPL), (SFTBY), (FXY), (AT&T IS DILAING A WRONG NUMBER), (T), (VZ), (NFLX), (AMZN)
SPDR S&P 500 (SPY)
iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond (TLT)
Technology Select Sector SPDR (XLK)
Financial Select Sector SPDR (XLF)
Energy Select Sector SPDR (XLE)
Apple Inc. (AAPL)
SoftBank Corp. (SFTBY)
CurrencyShares Japanese Yen Trust (FXY)
AT&T, Inc. (T)
Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ)
Netflix, Inc. (NFLX)
Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN)
https://madhedgefundtrader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/cropped-mad-hedge-logo-transparent-192x192_f9578834168ba24df3eb53916a12c882.png00Mad Hedge Fund Traderhttps://madhedgefundtrader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/cropped-mad-hedge-logo-transparent-192x192_f9578834168ba24df3eb53916a12c882.pngMad Hedge Fund Trader2014-01-17 01:05:582014-01-17 01:05:58January 17, 2014
The red hot performance of the Mad Hedge Fund Trader?s Trade Alert Service has maintained its blistering pace from last year, picking up another 5.73% profit in the first two trading weeks of 2014. The S&P 500 was down during the same period. Since the beginning of 2013, I am up 73.23%.
2013 closed with a total return for followers of 67.45%. Including both open and closed trades, all nine of the Trade Alerts issued so far this year were profitable, a success rate of 100%.
The three-year return is now an eye popping 128.3%, compared to a far more modest increase for the Dow Average during the same period of only 35%. That brings my averaged annualized return up to 41.6%.
This has been the profit since my groundbreaking trade mentoring service was launched in 2010. It all is a matter of the harder I work, the luckier I get.
The hot streak continues. It seems like I can do no wrong, but am avoiding walking under ladders, breaking mirrors, and trading on Friday the 13th.
I held on to every risk on position during the two-week December correction, fully expecting the pause to become the springboard for a new run to all time highs by year-end. That is exactly what happened in the wake of the Federal Reserve?s decision to taper its quantitative easing program by only $10 billion a month, mere sofa change given the size of our bond market.
The rally then came to a dead stop, once the New Year?s celebrations were over. The disappointing December nonfarm payroll of 74,000 didn?t help. But I held on to every ?RISK ON? position. That turned out to be the perfect thing to do.
In the rapid surge that followed this week, I took profits in the Financials Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLF), thanks to the leadership of the big banks. Ditto for my long position in the S&P 500 (SPY).
I also did well with my bets on the Technology Select Sector ETF (XLK). I benefited from a huge run in Apple (AAPL), its deal with China Mobile (CHL) assuring that my call options expired at their maximum value.
My assumption that Obamacare would herald a new golden age for the health care industry proved dead on, with my long in Gilead Sciences (GILD), racing to new highs. My short in the Japanese yen (FXY) provided yet another paycheck, like the ever faithful rich uncle.
Progress in the Geneva peace talks with Iran crush oil and robbed me of some of my profits in my Energy Sector Select SPDR ETF (XLE), but I still closed out positive. I even made a small amount of money in my Treasury bond short, despite a ferocious five point rally against me.
I am now 70% in cash, awaiting better entry points in the market on which I can pounce. I am still lugging a long in Softbank (SFTBY) shares at cost, awaiting the Alibaba IPO. I also slapped on a short position I AT&T (T) yesterday, a favorite hedge fund target, capitalizing on an ever weakening cash flow position in the company.
My esteemed colleague, Mad Day Trader Jim Parker, has also been coining it. Since April, his own performance numbers have just come back from the auditors, revealing that he is up a staggering 374%. That is just for an eight month year!
The coming winter promises to deliver a harvest of new trading opportunities. The big driver will be a global synchronized recovery that promises to drive markets into the stratosphere in 2014.
The Trade Alerts should be coming hot and heavy. Please join me on the gravy train. You will never get a better chance than this to make money for your personal account.
Global Trading Dispatch, my highly innovative and successful trade-mentoring program, earned a net return for readers of 40.17% in 2011, 14.87% in 2012, and 67.45% in 2013.
The service includes my Trade Alert Service and my daily newsletter, the Diary of a Mad Hedge Fund Trader. You also get a real-time trading portfolio, an enormous trading idea database, and live biweekly strategy webinars.? Upgrade to?Mad Hedge Fund Trader PRO?and you will also receive Jim Parker?s?Mad Day Trader?service.
To subscribe, please go to my website at www.madhedgefundtrader.com, find the ?Global Trading Dispatch? box on the right, and click on the blue ?SUBSCRIBE NOW? button.
A High Sierra Pass in 1962
00Mad Hedge Fund Traderhttps://madhedgefundtrader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/cropped-mad-hedge-logo-transparent-192x192_f9578834168ba24df3eb53916a12c882.pngMad Hedge Fund Trader2014-01-17 01:04:312014-01-17 01:04:31Mad Hedge Fund Trader Surges Ahead With a 5.73% January Profit
AT&T (T), or Telephone as we used to call it on the floor on the New York Stock Exchange when we hand traded its shares, enjoyed a nice little 50-cent pop yesterday, to $34, only the second day it managed to rise this year.
The move comes after a federal appeals court in Washington DC ruled that the FCC exceeded its authority when it told Verizon Communication (VZ) that it could not charge different prices to different content providers based on their bandwidth and numbers of users.
This is a reversal of the FCC's "net neutrality" rule and should allow both Verizon and AT&T to increase revenues and help protect their profits from customers who are costing them more money to service. ?Big users of broadband, like Netflix (NFLX) and Amazon (AMZN), saw their shares suffer accordingly.
You would think it would be off to the races for (T). But it won?t, as not all is well with Ma Bell. One of my first jobs at Morgan Stanley some 32 years ago was to break this company up into the seven ?baby bells? at the direction of the Antitrust Division of the Justice Department (I carried the shareholder ballots from one floor of our building to another). The company traded off its local telephone exchanges for the right to go into the computer business. I have been following it ever since.
For a start, (T) is suffering from some major internal cash flow problems. Revenues have been stagnant for years. Its hard-wired infrastructure has been corroding away for years. The capital spending needed to fix this will be a drag on any future earnings, and is unlikely to generate any real payoff. Do you know anyone under the age of 30 who owns a landline? It?s a wireless world, baby. Did I mention that their service sucks beyond belief?
Every pension fund manager in the country already owns this stock for its generous 5.30% dividend yield. One has to ask how long the company can maintain this in the face of a stagnant business in a highly competitive industry. Now that we are in a world of rising long-term interest rates, this yield will provide much less support than it has in the past.
The hedge fund community has been aware of these difficulties for a while, and has been pounding every rally. This is why (T) completely missed out on last year?s ferocious, record setting bull market, posting a zero return for 2013, versus a 26% increase in the main indexes.
AT&T is the oldest stock to inhabit the Dow 30, being a successor to a company founded by Alexander Graham Bell, the inventor of the telephone. It has long been a pillar of the investment establishment (it took a brief vacation from the index after the breakup). Its history mirrors that of American capitalism.
With 100 million customers and a market capitalization of $179 billion, it certainly occupies a big footprint. Time to put this beast out of its misery and retire it to the dustbin of history.
Looks like AT&T is Dialing a Wrong Number
https://www.madhedgefundtrader.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/Lily-Tomlin.jpg296315Mad Hedge Fund Traderhttps://madhedgefundtrader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/cropped-mad-hedge-logo-transparent-192x192_f9578834168ba24df3eb53916a12c882.pngMad Hedge Fund Trader2014-01-17 01:03:332014-01-17 01:03:33AT&T (T) is Dialing a Wrong Number
?There are two giant entities at work in our country, and they both have an amazing influence on our daily lives. . . one has given us radar, sonar, stereo, teletype, the transistor, hearing aids, artificial larynxes, talking movies, and the telephone. The other has given us the Civil War, the Spanish-American War, the First World War, the Second World War, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, double-digit inflation, double-digit unemployment, the Great Depression, the gasoline crisis, and the Watergate fiasco. Guess which one is now trying to tell the other one how to run its business?? said a sign that hung at AT&T headquarters in New York before its breakup in 1982.
https://www.madhedgefundtrader.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/Operator.jpg260361Mad Hedge Fund Traderhttps://madhedgefundtrader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/cropped-mad-hedge-logo-transparent-192x192_f9578834168ba24df3eb53916a12c882.pngMad Hedge Fund Trader2014-01-17 01:02:362014-01-17 01:02:36January 17, 2014 - Quote of the Day
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. Read more
https://www.madhedgefundtrader.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/slider-05-trader-alert.jpg316600Mad Hedge Fund Traderhttps://madhedgefundtrader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/cropped-mad-hedge-logo-transparent-192x192_f9578834168ba24df3eb53916a12c882.pngMad Hedge Fund Trader2014-01-16 11:06:492014-01-16 11:06:49Trade Alert - (AAPL) January 16, 2014
Apple (AAPL) has delivered again, choosing the expiration week of my January, 2014 $490-$520 bull call spread to take forward their gigantic joint venture with China Mobile (CHL), far and away the world?s largest phone company. Expect to see video of long lines forming at Apple stores throughout china. This is always good for the share price.
This assures that the spread will expire at its maximum value of $30, up 22.7% from my $24.45 cost. Not bad for a six week position.
The China deal promises to take Apple a quantum leap forward in the global marketplace. There are 40 million high-end consumers in the Middle Kingdom who already own deactivated and unsubsidized iPhones costing $1,000 each. The (CHL) deal is expected to add another 10-30 million buyers to that figure, taking the total China market up to 70 million units.
That is equivalent to a hefty 26% of global sales. Some 57% of China?s Internet traffic takes place using Apple?s IOS operating system, another indicator of how widely these devises are used.
The China deal caps a six-month offensive by the company on the good news front. It has upgraded virtually its entire product line. The iPad Air, which I bought yesterday, is a wonder to behold. Sales are coming in ahead of expectations, and earnings are improving. Competitor Samsung has been knocked back on its heels.
The grand finale for this move could come when the company announces calendar Q4 earnings on January 27. The average consensus EPS of 22 analysts is $14.04/share, compared to $13.81 for the same period a year earlier, a gain of 17%.
Apple has been a steady earner for me since the stock bottomed last July. Since then, Apple has been one of the top performing technology shares, rocketing some 49%. So I wouldn?t necessarily load the boat right here. Better to wait for the next 10% dip, which always seems to come.
The valuation of Apple remains a mystery to long time equity analysts, who can?t understand why the firm remains so constantly cheap. It now trades at only 12 times earnings, a 25% discount to the market S&P 500.
With a market capitalization of $504 billion, it is the world?s largest publicaly listed company. It therefore takes a lot of money to move the needle on this stock. It is already owned by 1,279 mutual funds and is their largest holding. It seems that a different physics applies when exploring balance sheets and income statements of this size.
By the way, if you have switched your company over to an all Apple network, as I have, and are dying for some first class technical support, check out the company?s Joint Venture service (click here for website). For $500 a year you can get a genius to call you at any time, anywhere, to answer questions about any Apple product. Since I have all of them, it is worth its weight in gold. These people are really worthy of the term ?genius.?
Thanks Again, Steve
https://www.madhedgefundtrader.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/apple-1.jpg333300Mad Hedge Fund Traderhttps://madhedgefundtrader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/cropped-mad-hedge-logo-transparent-192x192_f9578834168ba24df3eb53916a12c882.pngMad Hedge Fund Trader2014-01-16 01:05:032014-01-16 01:05:03Cashing In on Apple
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.
Further Update to: Trade Alert -(T)
Trade Alert - (T)
Buy the AT&T (T) February, 2014 $35-$37 in-the-money bear put spread at $1.79 or best
Opening Trade
1-15-2014
expiration date: February 21, 2014
Portfolio weighting: 10%
Number of Contracts = 60 contracts
AT&T (T), or Telephone as we used to call it on the floor on the New York Stock Exchange, enjoyed a nice little 50-cent pop today, to $34, only the second day it managed to rise this year.
The move comes after a federal appeals court in Washington DC ruled that the FCC exceeded its authority when it told Verizon Communication (VZ) that it could not charge different prices to different content providers based on their bandwidth and numbers of users.
This is a reversal of the FCC's "net neutrality" rule and should allow both Verizon and AT&T to increase revenues and help protect their profits from customers who are costing them more money to service. ?Big users of broadband, like Netflix (NFLX) and Amazon (AMZN), saw their shares suffer accordingly.
You would thing it would be off to the races for (T). But it won?t, as not all is well with Ma Bell. One of my first jobs at Morgan Stanley some 32 years ago was to break this company up at the direction of the Antitrust Division of the Justice Department (I carried the shareholder ballots from one floor of our building to another). I have been following it ever since.
Far a start, (T) is suffering from some major internal cash flow problems. Revenues have been stagnant for years. Its hard-wired infrastructure has been corroding away for years. The capital spending needed to fix this will be a drag on any future earnings, and is unlikely to generate any real payoff. Do you know anyone under the age of 30 who owns a landline? It?s a wireless world, baby. Did I mention that their service sucks beyond belief?
Every pension fund manager in the country already owns this stock for its generous 5.30% dividend yield. One has to ask how long the company can maintain this in the face of a stagnant business in a highly competitive industry. Now that we are in a world of rising long-term interest rates, this yield will provide much less support than it has in the past.
The hedge fund community has been aware of these difficulties for a while, and has been pounding every rally. This is why (T) completely missed out on last year?s ferocious, record setting bull market, posting a zero return for 2013, versus a 26% increase in the main indexes.
AT&T is the second oldest stock to inhabit the Dow 30, after General Electric (GE), and has long been a pillar of the investment establishment (it took a brief vacation from the index after the breakup). With 100 million customers and a market capitalization of $200 million, it certainly occupies a big footprint. Time to put this beast out of its misery.
Please note that I placed the lower $35 strike of the put spread above the top of the stock?s three month trading range. I am only going out a month to the February expiration. This will be a good bet when the main market is topping, in a stock that at best, is facing another go nowhere year. See, there is a method to my ?Madness.?
The best execution can be had by placing your bid for the entire spread in the middle market and waiting for the market to come to you. The difference between the bid and the offer on these deep in-the-money spread trades can be enormous. Don?t execute the legs individually or you will end up losing much of your profit.
Keep in mind that these are ballpark prices only. Spread pricing can be very volatile on expiration months farther out.
If you can?t do the options then just sell short the stock outright with a tight stop. We could be in for some mileage here.
Here are the specific trades you need to execute this position:
Buy 60 February, 2014 (T) $37 puts at???????$3.05
Sell short 60 February, 2014 (T) $35 puts at????..$1.26 Net Cost:?????????????????.......$1.79
Profit: $2.00 - $1.79 = $0.21
(60 X 100 X $0.21) = $1,260 or 1.26% profit for the notional $100,000 portfolio.
Looks Like AT&T is Dialing a Wrong Number
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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
00Mad Hedge Fund Traderhttps://madhedgefundtrader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/cropped-mad-hedge-logo-transparent-192x192_f9578834168ba24df3eb53916a12c882.pngMad Hedge Fund Trader2014-01-15 15:43:532014-01-15 15:43:53Trade Alert - (T) January 15, 2014
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. Read more
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