For the day, Dow fell 290 points  or 3.6 %, to 7842.   S&P 500 lost 37 points or 4.3% and closed at 832, and the Nasdaq fell by 65 points or 3.9% , to 1608.  Crude futures fell $4.45 to $45.88 a barrel, while gold rose $19.60 to $887.50 an ounce.

In my opinion, nothing has changed with the banks from last week or a week before to this week.  The numbers that BAC announced are not that bad for the markets to move that negatively.  It is the negative perception that led to profit taking and intense selling all day today!

I’ll not have new picks for Tuesday.  However, I would not mind buying FAS (3X long in financials) if it trades above $6.96, and with an initial profit target of $9.60.

Happy trading ….

TaurusTrader

http://www.taurustrader.wordpress.com

TaurusTrader portfolio had a great week ….  We were able to sell  6 positions for profit.  CMED (12.9%), AGU (10.7%), TNA (18.7%), WNR (15.3%) and GNK (18.0%) hit their profit targets.  GNK was sold on Friday (Apr 17) @ 18.50.  We added GNK on April 14 for $15.67 … that’s an incredible 18% profit in just 3 days!  WNR was also sold on Friday for $13.60.  WNR was bought on 3/17/2009 for $11.80.  During the week, we also liquidated 50% position in AMR for a 31.1% profit.  XRT was stopped out, but we still made >1% profit on the position.  All remaining positions advanced for the week.

By the end of the week TaurusTrader swing portfolio had positions in -  AMR (50%), FCN, HON, HSP, WDC, EXP, and FMX.

This coming week should be interesting as more and more companies stepping n to earning confession. 

BAC released Q1 earnings this morning …. it earned (EPS 0.44) more money in Q1 compared to all of last year!  Banking sector earnings look decent.  However, the threat of ‘stress test’ and lack of details there off, credit card defaults, and commercial real estate worries – are holding back any advance in stock prices. 

With the global economy showing signs of stabilizing, M&A activities have started to emerge. ORCL announced a $7.4 billion ($9.50 a share) deal to acquire JAVA this morning, triumphing over IBM  …. these are good signs.

For Monday … I’ll again be on the side line, but will be closely watching the technology, transport, and banking sectors for new opportunities.

Happy trading …

TaurusTrader

http://www.taurustrader.wordpress.com

It was a great Thursday for TaurusTrader portfolio.  AGU hit its profit target ($41.50) for 10.7% profit.  AGU was bought on 3/19/2009 for $37.50 a share. 

TNA was even better …. it made 18.7% profit in less than 2 weeks.  TNA was bought on 4/02/2009 for $20.05 a share, and sold today for $23.80. 

TNA and AGU make  five trades closed for profit this week.  Other positions closed were – CMED, AMR and XRT.  XRT  however, was stopped out, but the trade was still profitable!

TaurusTrader swing portfolio currently consists of – WNR, AMR (50%), FCN, HON, HSP, WDC, EXP, FMX, and GNK.  All the picks advanced today!  Incredible!!!

Tomorrow is option expiration day …. too much volatility is expected.  So, I’ll wait till next week for new picks.   PATIENCE PAYS …..

Have a great day and a superb weekend ….  If you had invested with me, you have already assured yourself a fantastic weekend!!!  

TaurusTrader

http://www.taurustrader.wordpress.com

The last-hour surge pushed the Dow up 109 or 1.4%  to 8030.  The S& P 500 index rose 10.6 points  or 1.3%  to 852, and the Nasdaq snuck in to green with a final minute thrust and edged up 1.08, or 0.1% to 1627.   Crude 16 cents to settle at $49.25 a barrel, while gold was down $1.50 to $893.50 an ounce.

The impetus for the final hour turn around was provided by the observation in Federal Beige Book that economic contraction may be slowing down.  The market interpreted this as ‘the end is closer’ ….

TaurusTrader portfolio had a decent day.  AMR was one of the stars in today’s rally, hit it’s first target of $4.85 for a profit of 31.1%.  50% position in AMR was closed today.  For the remaining 50%, the second target is $6.50.  XRT was stopped @ $24.60 (stop moved up once), but still made over 1% profit.  AGU again came very close to hitting the profit target for the second day in a row.  FCN, HON, and EXP had decent gains.

Picks for Thursday, April 16:  An increasing stream of quarterly results from companies is likely to add to the market’s volatility.  Reports from JPM andGOOG on Thursday could reshape how investors feel about the financial and technology industries. Figures are also due on home construction and unemployment claims.

I’ll wait for reports from JPM and GOOG before committing fresh money on new picks.  However, if JPM reports a great quarter, and the market responds positively, I would buy FAS (Financial 3X long ETF) at around $9.50, and hope to ride the momentum till it hits $11.60.

I’ll also have following stocks on my radar for any swing trading opportunities:  WFC, MS, MELI, IPI, HP, TCK, and BX

AMR has hit its first profit target of $4.85 this morning.  TaurusTrader liquidated 50% of position in AMR for a nice profit of 31.1%.  If you remember, AMR  was bought at $3.70 and added to TaurusTrader portfolio on March 16.

The second target for the remaining 50% of AMR is $6.50. 

AGU is very close to hitting its target @ 41.50 …. Hopefully, we would be able to close it before the end of the day!

Happy trading …

TaurusTrader

http://www.taurustrader.wordpress.com

For the day, Dow lost 138 points or 1.7%, to close at 7920. The S&P 500 lost 17 points or 2%, to 841, while the Nasdaq shed 28 points or 1.7%, to 1626.   Crude fell 64 cents to settle at $49.41 a barrel, and gold lost $3.80 to $892 an ounce.

Financials led the stock market lower on Tuesday as investors brushed off an upbeat earnings by GS and focused on disappointing economic data.  Retail sales for March came in at -1.1%, far below the expected, a 0.3-percent increase.  Excluding the autos, sales fell 0.9%.  January and February sales figures were, however,  revised upward.  Still, the unexpected sharp drop spooked the market.  Meanwhile, the PPI dropped 1.2%.  Excluding food and energy costs, core PPI was flat.  Business inventories dropped 1.3% in February as expected.

A spirited speech by President Obama explaining the origin and nature of the economic crisis, and an all out effort by the administration to grow the economy – could not inspire the markets.  Similarly, Ben Bernake’s speech was also ignored despite his observation that “the economic decline is slowing down off late”

TaurusTrader portfolio closed a position for profit and added a new position.  CMED hit the profit target of $18.60 in the morning for a 12.9% profit.  AGU and AMR came very close to hitting target before retreating. Very volatile  TNA lost about 10% for the day.  Today’s pick, GNK was bought at $15.67.  The other pick, FAS did not activate the buy limit, hence was not bought.

Focus list for Wednesday:  Earnings and economic data will be the center of focus again on Wednesday.  INTC reported earnings of 11 cents a share after the close on Tuesday.  This beat the street expectation handily, but the shares were down in after-hours trading as the chip giant refused to provide an outlook.  The rail-road giant, CSX was up over 3% in the after hours trading following it’s better than expected earnings report.

On the economic front, the scheduled events for Wednesday include:  Weekly mortgage applications; NY Fed Empire State survey; CPI; industrial production; weekly crude inventories; NAHB housing index; Fed’s beige book.

Markets are still in a flux …. It is hard to predict the short term direction.  TaurusTrader portfolio has 12 open positions, and is well diversified.  I’ll be watching my positions with tight stops.  I do not want to risk more capital on new positions.  I’ll be happy to watch from the side lines, at least for now on Wednesday.

If there are questions, please do post ….

Happy trading …

TaurusTrader
http://www.taurustrader.wordpress.com

Today’s pick, GNK was activated this morning and bought for $15.67 …. GNK is already up nicely and trading @ $16.13 now (10:10 am).

Market is down triple digits following a disappointing retail data.  Hope it will turn around before close!

Happy trading …

TaurusTrader

http://www.taurustrader.wordpress.com

For the day, Dow lost 26 points or 0.3% to close at 8058.  The S&P 500 rose 2.17 points or 0.3%  to 859, and the Nasdaq barely unchanged at  1,653.

The IEA cut world oil demand forecast by 1 million barrels a day because of tough economic condition around the world.  It also said that the consumption might drop further if the world economy doesn’t recover soon.  On the heel of this news, crude fell $1.25 to settle at $50.05 a barrel.   Gold had a nice up day in a while and rose $12.50 to $895.80 an ounce.

TaurusTrader portfolio had a decent day.  CMED and AMR came very close to hitting the target.  None were stopped out.  All 12 positions have positive unrealized gains heading in to tomorrow’s open.

Tomorrow should be a very interesting day.  Surprisingly,  GS released earnings a day earlier after the markets closed on Monday.   GS reported  a quarterly profit of $1.67 billion, which was way better than the street expected.   GS also expressed its desire to raise $5 billion in a special offering to pay off the TARP money.  The good news from GS follows another positive surprise by WFC last week.  

Traders are also awaiting  results this week from key companies in other industries, including  INTC, JNJ, and GE.  Reports on inflation, housing and manufacturing are also due.

With a positive surprise from GS, the financials should see considerable activity at trading tomorrow.  I also would watch basic materials, minerals, and transportation sectors for positive price action. 

I would be looking to add the following positions to TaurusTrader portfolio:

1. GNK – Buy above $15.67, stop at $13.70, target at $18.50
2. FAS – Buy above $9.80, stop at $7.25. target at $11.50

Apart from these, I’ll also have the insurers, MET and AFL on my radar.  Other stocks of interest are – HP, IPI, BWLD, and PNRA.

That’s it for now …. have a great day trading!

Regards,

TaurusTrader

http://www.taurustrader.wordpress.com

• Monday: JBHT, TLB
• Tuesday:  FAST, GS, JNJ,ADTN, CSX, INTC
• Wednesday:  ABT, SCHW, INFY, LUFK, BTU, PGR, CCK, KMP, LSTR, LLTC, STX
• Thursday:  APH, BAX, BGG, GPC, ITW, JPM, NOK, NVR, PH, PII, SON, LUV, TITN, VIP, BIIB, GOOG, ISRG, SNDK, TK, WERN
• Friday:  AOS, BBT, C, GE

Economic data:  Following economic data releases are scheduled:

• Tuesday:  March producer prices and Retail sales
• Wednesday:  Consumer price index, industrial production data for March, New York manufacturing survey, and housing market index for April, Beige book, Crude inventories
• Thursday:  Housing starts, Jobless claims, Philly Fed survey, and Natural gas report
• Friday:  Consumer sentiment from the University of Michigan, and Ben Bernanke speaks

For details on economic data releases, please refer to:   http://online.barrons.com/public/page/barrons_econoday.html

TaurusTrader portfolio:  To begin the week, the portfolio contains 12 positions.  All 12 have positive unrealized gains and some have have substantial accumulated profits.  So, I’ll be moving the ‘stop loss’ limit on these picks to protect profit and to reduce losses if the market turns against us.  The new stops are noted in “bold” in the following table. 

I do not have any picks for Monday … I’ll wait for a day or two and see how this earnings season would roll out. Per my previous post, I’ll not be day trading.  hence, will not provide any day trade picks for Monday also. 

If there are questions or comments, please do post …..

Have a great week and happy trading.
TaurusTrader
http://www.taurustrader.wordpress.com

For the week, the Dow was up 0.8%; the S&P 500 gained 1.7%, and the Nasdaq rose 1.9%.  Crude almost remained unchanged, but Gold lost a little luster (-1.4%). 

The volatility Index (VIX), otherwise known as the “fear index” sank below the 40-point mark for the first time since last September, 2008.

In TaurusTrader swing portfolio, we added 3 new positions – CMED, OMTR, and XRT.  Two positios – WFC and OMTR were stopped out.  Two recommendations, BCE and RRC did not hit the target buy price.   By the end of the week, TaurusTrader portfolio had following positions:

Apart from these. TaurusTrader also has small open positions in WFC  (bought at $13.75), and MS (bought at $22.30).  These trades were discussed in my April 2 blog.

Next week is a heavy economic and earnings data driven week …. please trade cautiously.

If there are questions or comments, please do post …..

Have a great week and happy trading.

TaurusTrader

http://www.taurustrader.wordpress.com