Archive for the ‘Stock pick’ Category

« Older Entries

$aapl where is Apple Stock Headed – July 2010 After record Earnings

Wednesday, July 21st, 2010
Share

So Apple reported their earnings on Tuesday night on 7/20. Highest ever earnings reported by Apple. Apple rose almost 20$ within a matter of 1 day and then during the day entire market decided to take a U turn. Apple could not contain its gain during After hours trading. Apple however did move up from its last close on Tuesday right before earnings. So is that good sign or a bad sign? No one really knows. Technical traders will out claiming one thing, fundamentalists will tell you another thing, Apple lovers will describe a whole another story.

Best way to trade any stock is usually based on your guts. You have to gather info from various sources and then call the shots yourself.

Lets look at what major factors Apple has currently:

Positives about Apple during Q3

  1. Record sales for iPad & iPhone
  2. Upbeat market sentiment about $aapl after earnings
  3. Superior products
  4. Steve Jobs did an awesome job by retaining Apple lovers by admitting to slight problems with very limited number of iPhone 4.
  5. Continued research into product improvement
  6. New product line up – This is unannounced as of right now. This will unfold in near future on its own
  7. Potential Introduction of iPhone with other careers like Verizon & T-Mobile
  8. Launch of Apple products in other countries

and the list goes on and on and ……

Negatives about Apple during Q3

  1. Consumer Reports claim about Antenna problem with iPhone 4: Well as Apple has reported, problem is limited to very few people. Less than 1 percent of total iPhone 4 owners. So this probably not a such a huge deal
  2. Apple has become too big. Now its time for others to try to bring Apple down. There will be several companies conspiring. If Apple is truly Amazing, it will come out even stronger. If $aapl breaks 273-275 range, it appears it might soar to 330$ very soon. It will be fun ride thats for sure.
  3. Overall economic conditions: Well no one can do anything about that. But can you really stop a company expanding 78% year over year from reaching new highs every day, every month?

Tags: ,
Posted in Economy, Smart Phone Industry, Stock pick, Technology | No Comments »

May 2010 Market Correction – My Portfolio Breakup

Saturday, May 22nd, 2010
Share

Last week we saw the worst downfall of the stock market in the year. After the stock market broke the 11k record, everyone thought we were on the road to the promised land. However several of us forgot  the basic principal of stock market investing: market correction after long bull run! When EURO started tumbling amid the Greece crisis, followed by Goldman Sachs lawsuit filed by SEC & BP’s oil spill in the gulf, it was perfect opportunity for panic to set in. Big investors started emptying  their portfolio and converting into cash.

I lost close to 4% of my portfolio value on Wednesday. I realized the trend and I followed the suit. Picked my most volatile stocks and sold them immediately. That put me at 30% cash of total portfolio value. And then I waited for panic to settle. Thursday night market closed more than 3% down. That is when I decided to load up, leaving around 10% still in the account in case another bear run. As people were expecting, market bounced back on Friday and the green everywhere in the portfolio hurt my eyes for a change ;)

Bottom line is that investors should be careful not to freak out and miss out the opportunities lying in the bear markets. Buffet is a big proponent of encouraging people to invest when 95% of the investors are pulling out. That is the perfect time to make quick buck :) This time around, I am glad I was able to exercise my learning over several bears recently.

Tags: , ,
Posted in 2009 Recession, Is it time to invest?, Learn how to invest, Stock pick | No Comments »

Is it a good time to invest in tech stocks? – Appl, HPQ, CSCO, MS, HPQ, GOOG, LEAP, ATVI

Wednesday, May 12th, 2010
Share

Technology is big right now thanks to companies like Apple (NYSE:APPL) and HP (NYSE:HPQ) buying up companies and launching innovative products. Many investors look at getting into tech stocks because there is so much room for growth and the industry moves so fast. So, for 2010, should you be investing in technology or is the technology industry having trouble along the lines seen in other sectors?

The market sell off this week has hurt many of the gains seen in the technology market recently. The sell off of the past few days has caused many to worry about the stability of the global economy. The S&P 500 lost 7% of its value during the second week of May, while the Dow Jones lost 700 points.

Which sector took the biggest hit with this sell-off? It was the technology sector.

Three of the main indexes for the technology industry (NASDAQ Composite Index, Morgan Stanley High-Tech Index, Philadelphia Semi-Conductor Index) all saw their values fall. One company that really took a hit was Apple and that worries many investors because Apple has been riding high with the release of the iPad. In the past week, Apple lost 10 percent of its value and the stock dipped below $200. While it rose, it was below the high it reached in April. One of the main reasons for this was the announcement by Nokia that it was launching a patent-infringement suit against Apple for the technology being used in the iPhone and iPad devices.

Apple was not the only company to lose value. Cisco (NASDAQ:CSCO) lost three percent of its value and fell by 78 cents.

Microsoft l (NYSE:MS) lost 77 cents a share, which is 2.7 percent of its value.

HP (NYSE:HPQ), which recently saw an increase in its share value thanks to the purchase of Palm, had a 3.3 percent decrease of $1.60.

Google (NASDAQ:GOOG), the technology powerhouse, saw a decrease as well. Its stock dipped by $5.53 a share to $493.14, which marks the first time since 2009 that the company’s stock has been below $500 a share.

Leap Wireless International (NASDAQ:LEAP) lost 15 percent of its value, or $2.52 after they announced a first-quarter loss of $68 million, which is $18 million more of a loss than the company had a year ago.

Not all stocks fell though. Activision Blizzard Inc (NASDAQ:ATVI) was up seven cents a share after it was announced that World of Warcraft and Call of Duty game sales were doing very well, doubling the first-quarter earnings of the company.

Anyone can tell you that the tech market is a volatile one. While there is the possibility to make a lot of money with it, you can lose a lot of money. The tech industry collapsed in the early-2000s after a very rapid growth. Many lost money but anyone who bought 100 shares of Google for one dollar now sees their profits up by 500 times. So, it is a good market to be in but it can be chaotic. That being said, currently tech stocks are dealing with some major hits and it may be a few months yet before the tech sector recovers.

Further Links:

Smart Phone Industry: Where is it headed?

Future of Best Buy: Largest Retail Electronics Store

Tags: , ,
Posted in Economy, Is it time to invest?, Smart Phone Industry, Stock pick, Uncategorized | No Comments »

The Worst Stocks of April 2010 – AKS, MEE, MCO, KG

Saturday, May 8th, 2010
Share

Overall, April 2010 was a good month for the stock market. The Dow Jones pushed above 11,000 for the first time since 2008, and many stocks saw their values rise. Banks were coming out of the financial crisis, jobs were being created and the Dow Jones had its 12th month of gains in the last 14. However, the month of April 2010 was not good for all and there were some stocks that fell in value in order to show us that the economy isn’t quite perfect yet.

When most investors look back at April 2010, they will see a month that was pretty decent. Yes, the end of the month saw some slipping as a result of the Goldman Sachs criminal investigation and the energy sector crash due to the oil rig explosion in the Gulf of Mexico. Even with those black marks, the stock market continued to improve. The Dow Jones had its 12th month of gains in the last 14 and even rose above 11,000 for the first time since the financial crisis began in 2008.

Sadly, not all stocks did well. There were plenty that saw their values crash over the course of the month. So, here are the worst stocks of April 2010.

  • AK Steel Holding (NYSE:AKS): This steel company saw its share value fall immensely, by 27 percent. The fall was as a result of the Massey Energy accident that same month. With AK Steel Holding buying one-quarter of all the coal it uses from the Upper Big Branch Mine, which is where the tragic mine accident occurred, the company suffered as a result. Earnings for the company were down, and the price of steel from the company is expected to go up 30 percent, which worries many investors.
  • Massey Energy (NYSE:MEE): The worst performing stock of April 2010 was Massey Energy, which suffered a 30 percent drop in its value during the month. The company operates the Upper Big Branch Mine, and with the explosion and death of dozens of workers, the company was hit very hard. Not to mention there is now an FBI investigation against the company.
  • Moody’s Corp (NYSE:MCO): Due to several factors that hit the company in April 2010, it saw its value fall significantly. The company received a subpoena from the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission for one thing, which caused a 17 percent drop in its share price. As well, the company is being seen as a bad investment due to the changing financial reform legislation coming through Congress that could hurt this credit company.
  • King Pharmaceuticals (NYSE:KG): In the healthcare field, we have King Pharmaceuticals, which saw a 17 percent drop in its value due to an FDA committee was discovered to have not had enough evidence to support a New Drug Application for Acurix, which is a painkiller developed in part by King Pharmaceuticals.

The S&P 500 and the Dow Jones continued to rise in the month of April, despite these stocks mentioned above. While plenty of other stocks rose, these ones could not just muster enough, due to circumstances, to make a profit. Will they continue to fall? Will there be more trouble ahead? We will see when we compile a list of the worst stocks of May 2010.

10 FREE Stock Trades Monthly with Zecco

Up To Return In 1 Hour! Simple & New Options Trading Platform Start Making money Now!

Tags: , , ,
Posted in Is it time to invest?, Stock pick | No Comments »

« Older Entries