Small Businesses Are Not Optimistic – Is Health Care Cost the Reason?

0
September 3, 2010
Small Businesses Are Not Optimistic – Is Health Care Cost the Reason?

One of the things that talking heads keep repeating is that increased health care costs are one of the reasons causing employers to avoid adding new hires.  This is reported to be especially important for smaller companies. It certainly is true that small business is seeing much less indication of recovery.  The NFIB (National Federation of Independent Business) survey is much more pessimistic than the ISM (Institute for Supply Management) as shown in the following graph: The NFIB survey covers small businesses, while the ISM surveys large companies.  A quote from the 5-Min. Forecast: “The persistence of Index readings below 90 is unprecedented in...
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Can News Trump Technical Analysis?

0
September 3, 2010
sp500 9-2

The simple answer is yes and that is one major reason why I am not gambling on the news tomorrow.  Technical analysis helps identify trends to help guide investment decisions but, TA should never be the sole tool used in making those decisions.  Fundamentals play a role even though not much of a role in this year’s market.  News and market sentiment are playing an even more critical role this year.  The news combined with the market sentiment is creating significant volatility that we continue to see.  This is a very news-driven market and Friday should prove that to...
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Will We Follow-Through or was Wednesday Just a Trap?

4
September 2, 2010
monthly_sp500_9-1

The bulls were looking for a reason to buy at these low levels and yesterday provided that oversold opportunity. China PMI came in slightly better than expected and that was a big relief to most concerned over the continuous soft data we have seen recently. The bulls gapped-up on this news only to see better-than-expected ISM index numbers, which fueled another leg up on the day. The bulls were able to shrug off the terrible ADP employment numbers as well, which was encouraging. Estimates were for an increase of 13,000 (actually a wide range of estimates that were even...
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Don’t Feel Obligated to Play this Market

1
August 31, 2010
SPY 8-31

While the bears didn’t gain any ground today, the bulls couldn’t get anything going either. With consumer confidence coming in slightly better than expected (yet not a strong number), the bulls tried to make a move north. Unfortunately, they quickly lost steam and we traded in a tight range all day long before ending the day about even. We had strong volume Tuesday, not typical for this historically slow season. I mostly attribute it to short covering and many longs anxious to sell into any strength rather than a bullish accumulation day. It felt like very little was happening...
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Precious Metals Approaching Resistance

0
August 31, 2010
Precious Metals Approaching Resistance

Looking at the metals market I believe we’re going to be running into some major resistance soon for a couple of reasons. I share a different opinion than most that these markets are going to explode to the upside and below I’ll explain my reasons. I do believe the bull market in gold/silver will continue, just with a fairly deep correction to stir the pot and shake out any weak hands, as well as give new traders/investors a chance to get on board this bull train. I’m not suggesting to take action at this time and position yourself on...
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Economic Data Conflicts With Obama’s Speech

2
August 31, 2010
Economic Data Conflicts With Obama’s Speech

President Obama just finished speaking about the economy. He said nothing other than the usual political blaming of the opposition party for keeping him from getting America working again. Here are the charts of four major areas of the economy as of mid-August… Durable goods orders have leveled off after a partial rebound from the 2009 lows. Initial unemployment claims are rising again. New home sales have continued their multi-year sales trend decline. Existing home sales have plummeted in the wake of the two absurd homebuyer home credits that were set to expire in November and actually ended a...
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Choosing Sides In The Howard Stern / Sirius XM Negotiations

6
September 3, 2010

Back on Wednesday, a poster on the SatwavesPro forum brought up the issue of Howard Stern and his contract negotiations. “HillBilly” as he known stated that would cancel his subscriptions and sell his stock if Sirius XM did not re-sign Howard Stern. I set off on a mission to show him exactly why it would make no difference if Howard Stern remained at Sirius...
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Making Sense of August Auto Sales From A Sirius XM Investment Perspective

3
September 2, 2010

Once again, if you listened to the mainstream media, you were left yesterday feeling as though a recovery in auto sales was nothing more than a pipe dream. Last month as sales exceeded those in the previous year, the media changed the way auto sales were reported and focused all of its attention on the month over month numbers which promoted weakness in the auto industry....
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What Is Howard Stern Really Worth To Sirius XM?

10
September 1, 2010

By now you’ve heard it said by several analysts that it makes no difference whether Sirius XM re-signs Howard Stern or not. Most of them however know little about Stern except that his compensation package seems extraordinarily high. I would venture a guess that they do not know or understand what Stern’s $500 million package includes, nor are they considering the breakeven point that Sirius...
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Is Charles Ergen Seeking A Sirius XM Takeover?

5
August 31, 2010

I was asked a few days ago for my perspective on potential suitors for Sirius XM Radio. This is not surprising in the wake of the 3PAR (NYSE: PAR) bidding war between Hewlett Packard (NYSE: HPQ) & Dell (NASDAQ: DELL). The talk of the street these days is all about mergers and acquisitions, centered specifically on the mountains of cash that are accruing on the...
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Sirius XM Accelerates Hiring: Listings Give Glimpse Into Future

2
August 31, 2010

How can you tell if a company is growing? CNBC recently began asking its guests whether or not they were hiring at the present time. There may be turmoil in the markets and the economic outlook may remain uncertain, but at Sirius XM Radio growth seems to be accelerating. A look at the job listings tells the tale. There are 111 positions posted at...
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Serious News For Sirius XM Investors

8
August 29, 2010

I received an email yesterday which politelty suggested I write at least one article a day specific to Sirius XM Radio. One of the advantages however to converting to a subscription based format rather than ad based model, is that I can focus on quality of content rather than quantity. There are enough Sirius XM sites out there which fill the quantity void, which publish redundant and...
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Why Doesn’t Sirius XM React To Positive News?

6
August 24, 2010

When I launched SatwavesPro.com, I formed a goal of expanding the knowledge base of investors by providing a much broader look at the things that can contribute to the performance of any stock, including Sirius XM Radio. One of the biggest mysteries to shareholders of Sirius XM stock these days is why Sirius XM seldom seems to move up on positive news. The most typical answer...
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Technical Alerts

sp500 9-2

Can News Trump Technical Analysis?

The simple answer is yes and that is one major reason why I am not gambling on the news tomorrow.  Technical analysis helps identify trends to help guide investment decisions but, TA should never be the sole tool used in making those decisions.  Fundamentals play a role even though not much of a role...

Aluminum Will Be Needed In The Industrial Recovery

Aluminum Will Be Needed In The Industrial Recovery

This morning I added Alumina Ltd. (AWC) to the Barchart Van Meerten Speculative portfolio. AWC’s principal activities are mining, processing and marketing of minerals, metals, fertilizers, exploration for minerals, and investments in companies producing metals, minerals and chemicals. They are a fully integrated company from the mining of bauxite at 8 different mines, to...

Pressure Still on the Bulls

Pressure Still on the Bulls

I mentioned yesterday here on twitter that the markets seemed like they were gearing up for a big move. I just had the direction wrong and never thought Obama could move that many people to jump back in the markets, but it is what it is. Anyhow, before I talked about the markets, click...

monthly_sp500_9-1

Will We Follow-Through or was Wednesday Just a Trap?

The bulls were looking for a reason to buy at these low levels and yesterday provided that oversold opportunity. China PMI came in slightly better than expected and that was a big relief to most concerned over the continuous soft data we have seen recently. The bulls gapped-up on this news only to see...

NetSuite is poised for growth

NetSuite is poised for growth

This morning I added NetSuite ( to the Barchart Van Meerten New High portfolio. The company is a leading provider of on-demand, integrated business management software for growing and mid-size businesses. With thousands of customers globally using NetSuite’s online products and professional services, companies are enabled to manage all key business operations in a...

SPY 8-31

Don’t Feel Obligated to Play this Market

While the bears didn’t gain any ground today, the bulls couldn’t get anything going either. With consumer confidence coming in slightly better than expected (yet not a strong number), the bulls tried to make a move north. Unfortunately, they quickly lost steam and we traded in a tight range all day long before ending...

The Short Side

Can News Trump Technical Analysis?

The simple answer is yes and that is one major reason why I am...

Will We Follow-Through or was Wednesday Just a Trap?

The bulls were looking for a reason to buy at these low levels and...

Bearish Harami Formation a Sign of Market Downside?

After a strong showing Friday by the bulls and the chance to show us...

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