Owner: Wall Street Know-It-All URL:http://www.wallstreetknowitall.com Join Date: Thu, 21 Feb 2008 04:23:08 -0600 Rating:0 Site Description: A new blog written by an actual Wall Street stockbroker, adding a fresh perspective to investing. It's filled with stock tips, humor and pathos. Site statistics:Click here
The Tech Renaissance 2008-03-05 00:34:00 There is something stirring in the tech world, again. There are many recent articles hinting towards a “tech renaissance,” and the term “web 2.0,” seems to be gaining popularity. However, the rumors or whispers are still confined to the savvy tech communities and Wall Street. Maybe you have heard of the social platforms such as Myspace, or Youtube, but you have probably just blown them off as websites for kids. In case you aren’t aware, Myspace was purchased by media mogul, Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp in 2005 for $580 million.If you are unsure as to what Web 2.0 is, Tim O'Reilly sums it up best: “Web 2.0 is the business revolution in the computer industry caused by the move to the internet as platform, and an attempt to understand the rules for success on that new platform." O Read more:Renaissance
Bargain Hunting 2008-03-01 00:23:00 The blood bath today worked out perfect for me, and I hope all you savvy investors out there took advantage of it. I got in on some JAVA Mar08 $18 calls for dirt cheap @ .14; although, they did drop down to .10 by the end of the day. This stock is only a few days away from being over $18, but I have 3 long weeks left if it doesn't. What a great day it was to go bargain hunting, especially in the techs. The rumors are rampant in techs right now, and it is only a matter of time before the NASDAQ explodes upward. Oh, and just wait for the commodity bubble to finally burst... all that money will come flowing right back into stocks, especialy the techs!
Read more:Bargain
Trades On My Radar 2008-02-29 02:23:00 I think the Prince of Wall Street's most recent post, "Buy When There's Blood in the Streets," sums up the current market pretty well. The market is finally starting to stabalize a bit, and there are some really great bargains out there. The stocks I have been following for a little while now are AAPL, JAVA, and GOOG. I believe these stocks have been beaten down enough and there is a lot of upside potential.AAPL has found some support and is starting its trend back up. They are expected to blow away their next earnings. Also, the rumors of a stock split are out again, and AAPL is having a meeting next week... I am looking at the Mar 140 calls.GOOG has recently fallen through support, but it climbed right back up. I think now is the time that GOOG will begin its trek back up, and GOOG defin Read more:Radar
Solar Stocks 2008-02-24 05:35:00 With oil closing at a record high of over $100 dollars a barrel and global warming coming into the forefront, many people are now wondering about alternative energy solutions, such as solar power, aka Photovoltaics (PV). This may seem like a new crises, however, similar energy crises have happened before. According to research, "[t]he 1973 oil and 1979 energy crises provided a further impetus to PV development. When oil prices began to fall in the early 1980s the growth of PV was slowed. In the context of historically-low oil prices from 1986-1999, funding for PV research was relatively low and the issue was not high in public consciousness."So, it seems that when oil prices rise to record levels, solar power is pushed to the forefront. I believe now is the time to start looking into solar Read more:Solar
, Stocks
The Results Are In 2008-02-23 03:36:00 Well, it seems that the majority of my readers would like more posts about trading techniques. You asked, and you shall receive. I have put together a trading guide that contains everything you need to know about trading stocks, condensed into three simple steps. Think of it as a cheat sheet to trading stocks. Check it out at StockSkool.com. I have also placed a link on the sidebar. Coming in a close second, was post more about my trades. I will definitely oblige to this request as well. I have already written about a few of my trades, and I intend to write a lot more. A distant third, was for me to write more posts. I intend to do this also; I will be posting daily very soon. Thanks for your participation and look for more opportunities for feedback in the future.
Wall Street Blogs 2008-02-16 03:03:00 Now that I have started my own Wall Street
blog, I did a little research about how Wall Street
blogs are perceived by the public. I came across this article that stated, "[b]ack in the 1980s and 1990s, a Bloomberg terminal or subscriptions to news services could give you a jump on the hoi polloi. Today, it's the masses that often have the jump, thanks to blogs and other tipster sites."So, it seems that maybe Wall Street blogs are actually useful. I have checked out most other top Wall Street blogs and have been unimpressed. They are filled with gibberish, and links to the same artilces you could find on your own at any of the Wall Street websites such as CNNMoney.com. I hope to create a blog that is a fresh change from the monotonous dribble that most other blogs seem to spew. That said, I Read more:Blogs
Expiration Friday: it only comes around once a month! 2008-02-16 02:42:00 You win some, you lose some. I went all out this morning... I bought several hundred HOKU Feb 08 $10 calls for $.10 when HOKU was trading in the $9.90's. The markets seemed to have bottomed out for the day after the bad NY manufacuring and bad UM consumer sentiment reports. I thought that the reports weren't that bad because the national manufacturing report came out just a few weeks ago and beat the consensus. The NY manufacturing just covers NY and most manufactures have left to go out West. I thought the markets would rally towards the end of the day and that HOKU would follow. I also thought that since HOKU didn't go up as much as the other solars on Wednesday when FSLR crushed their earnings, that it had some room to go up. I was expecting HOKU would rise to around $10.25-$10.50 by th Read more:comes
, Expiration
, Friday
CSCO's Earnings 2008-02-09 03:53:00 Cisco came out with their earings last fall and met expectations, however, they lowered their guidance going forward. The stock was in the mid 30's last fall, and after the news they dropped to around 30. In the following months CSCO continued to drop with the market. They got down to the mid to low 20's when their new earnings were about to come out for the next quarter. I knew that they weren't going to surprise with any good news because every other tech was a disappointment to the market. The day when CSCO was reporting their earnings after hours, I bought the Feb08 22.5 puts for around 40 cents. When I bought them CSCO was up close to 24, which placed my puts around a dollar fifty out of the money and there was only a week and a half left until expiration. By the end of the day I had Read more:Earnings
My First Post 2008-02-02 00:54:00 It is currently around 11 pm on a Fri night. I got home from work a couple hours ago, had a few beers and then became bored. I started this website about 2 weeks ago but have been skeptical about writing. But tonight, I thought fuck it, why not. So, here goes... my attempt at writing about my experiences as being a stockbroker for a prestigious Wall Street firm.First
off, let me explain what kind of stockbroker I am. I do not sell stocks. I do not get paid with commissions. I get paid salary for answering my clients' questions and conversing about the stock market; and yes, I am a licensed stockbroker. The difference between me and the stereotypical stockbroker is that I know how to trade and I know how the market works. The rest just know how to sell. I know this because I have to answer
Stock Tip of the Week! 2008-03-12 04:01:00 Here is a trade I am thinking about, and I think it may be worth your while to pay attention. General Mills (GIS) is reporting their third quarter earnings on Wednesday 3/19, at 8:30AM ET. Wheat has been reaching record high prices, and grain costs make up about 22% of GIS' total cost of goods. You do the math. A JPMorgan analyst recenly commented, "rising U.S. grain prices this year are expected to hurt cereal makers, like General Mills." In a Jan. 30 conference call, the chief executive of Kellogg, A. D. David Mackay, said, “everyone is feeling these inflationary pressures,” and General Mills cited rising ingredient costs when it increased cereal prices last June.GIS has also had a nice run up lately, currently at $57.14, thanks to the dividend increase on 3/10, and the Fed intervent Read more:Stock
The State of the Market 2008-03-08 02:17:00 As you know, the markets are very volatile right now, to say the least. Most investors, retail and yes, institutional, are hanging on every word every analyst says; each have their finger on the trigger, ready to sell at any slight movement or news story. Normally, when investors are rational and they are not acting on emotion, bad news will come out and investors let it roll right off their shoulders, because they trust the markets and the stocks they are in. Rational investors believe the bad news will only create a temporary slide, at most, and they are usually right- their stocks come right back up.Now, somebody whispers a bad rumor and everybody is selling. And then everybody else is selling for no other reason than because they heard someone else is selling. Fear is a self-fulfilling Read more:Market
, State
A tip for all the daytraders. 2008-03-21 03:51:00 Do yourself a favor, trade only a couple of stocks. Do not constantly move from stock to stock, trying to find a winner. Trade only what you know. If you stick to one or two stocks that you follow everyday, and are disciplined in your strategy, you will come out ahead. Trust me.
Sometimes, you just have to go with your gut. 2008-03-21 03:02:00 It seems like my recent trades, which analytically appeared sound, have been turning out losers. After my most recent blunder with General Mills (GIS), I decided to trade like I used to trade - on instinct, rather than over analyzation. The stock market can be very irrational, and you have to adapt.I ended up buying Guess (GES) Mar08 $35 calls on Tuesday, just before their earnings were going to come out after the bell. I had a feeling their earnings would be good. They were reporting their 4th quarter earnings, which includes holiday sales. Also, the retail numbers lately have actually been good. The chart looked like I had some room on the upside, so I bought the calls for around a buck, when GES was trading around $34.The earnings came out good, and I breathed a sigh of relief. However, Read more:Sometimes
Goodbye, Bear Stearns. 2008-03-21 02:36:00 I believe this past week will be remembered for a very long time. The question that remains on most peoples' minds is, "how could a relatively small number of defaults on mortgages cause such a financial crisis?" The answer is simply, risk. With greater risk comes greater returns. However, most people never truly contemplate the potential results of risk when times are good, especially when it comes to home prices. Home prices have historicaly never really come down - they steadily go up. It seemed like a win win deal. Without going into too much detail, home prices did go down, and the percentage of foreclosures and defaults doubled (still, a relatively small number compared to good loans). Stearns
.htm">Bear Stearns
happened to be a big time player in the mortgage securities business. They were extrem Read more:Goodbye
Blog Update 2008-04-03 02:23:00 I just wanted to check in with all my readers - sorry, I have been very busy lately and I have not been able to post. I plan on posting again this Friday and also picking up the pace of my posts thereafter. I have a made a few good trades that I am excited to share, and also some keen market insight. Sorry again for the recent lapse of posts.
Read more:Update
Are Politicians the Scum of Scum? 2008-04-05 03:27:00 I think so. Our political environment has become so corrupted and futile, that the debates have turned into a third grade playground fight. I am really tired of this bullshit. First, there's Barack and his eloquent way of speaking, but then his preacher for 20 years has casted a dark cloud of bottled up racism. Then there's Hillary and the false assumption that she implies Bill. I thought she was smart enough to actually present herself as a potential presidential candidate, but she is too caught up in the 3rd grade playground fight with Barack.And on the other side of the ring is John. Good 'ol John. The war veteran, that was also a POW, which seems to encompass the all American presidential candidate. However, he lost to little bush TWICE, and he is 72 years old - not to discriminate bec
There's Nowhere But Up From Here 2008-04-05 03:02:00 The markets have bottomed out folks. Time to get off the sidelines and back into the market. The way the Feds reacted to the potential collapse of BSC has infused confidence back into the markets. The dollar has also rebounded. Expect volatilty to still remain, especially in the financials; but, expect great returns by getting in now and holding on for the next year or so. As I have said before, look into techs and alternative energy, such as solar.
Read more:Nowhere
Market Insight 2008-04-25 09:40:00 The dollar is gaining strength against the EURO on the belief that the feds will not cut interest rates again, plus the ECB will start to cut rates soon. This shift is causing all the irrational investors that thought that gold would protect their money against inflation to either sell out of gold or lose their recent profits.Other commodities such as oil are also beginning to back off their record highs. It seems like all the irrational investors are now starting to pick up financials that are at record lows, ironically. I will repeat myself again, invest in tech and solar. If you are feeling extra aggressive, look towards an up and coming pharmaceutical, such as Callisto. I have been dabbling in the real estate market lately, hence the lack of posts.
Read more:Insight
, Market
Real Estate Investing 2008-05-24 02:55:00 Talk about buying at a bottom - real estate prices are finally dropping like they should. The banks that have been holding onto these forclosures, trying to sell them at ridiculously high prices, have finally dropped their prices. And by dropping their prices, I mean they are dropping them drastically. Real estate markets such as Southern California and the Phoenix metro area are beginning to show Read more:Estate
, Investing
, Real Estate
The Oil Bubble 2008-05-24 02:42:00 I figured I might as well talk about it, because it's really affecting the stock market right now. Oil is completely over priced. The demand is artificial right now -it's just a bunch of speculators buying it because it's going up. The law of supply and demand applies to this situation, but investors are over reacting to the increased demand expected in the future. There has not been an explosion Read more:Bubble
My New Investing Strategy 2008-05-24 02:33:00 After swinging too many times for the home run I have decided to change my investing strategy. I used to just throw money around like it was a game - just swinging away for the fences. There is a lot of money that can be made by buying out of the money options close to expiration, but the odds are definitely not in your favor. My new investing strategy is buy writes. The odds off profiting from se Read more:Investing
, Strategy
Stock Market Cycles 2008-05-28 21:42:00 How nice would it have been to read this article in the New York Times last year, and actually listened. These guys predicted the stock market correction and they couldn't have done it at a better time - about 10 days before the stock market crumbled under the sub-prime induced credit crisis. Like they say, hindsight is always 20/20. More importantly, stock market cycles or business cycles are nor Read more:Cycles
, Market
, Stock
, Stock Market
After Hours Trading 2008-05-30 01:16:00 I have too many clients asking me what after hours trading is, so I am going to dispel the myth tonight. After hours trading began less than a decade ago thanks to the help from computers. It's basically an electronic market with no regulation. I tell my clients it's like trading in the wild wild west. There is no entitlement, which means if you saw a quote displayed and you had your order in, yo Read more:Hours
, Trading
Plastic Solar Panels 2008-05-29 20:26:00 Startup companies such as Konarka and Nanosolar have developed plastic solar panels. Say goodbye to the bulky silicon based solar panels and say hello to pliable panels that you can mold around your roof tile. Not only will this be more appealing to the eye, but it will create even more surface area to soak up the sun's energy. By 2009 you should see some of these products hitting the market.My Read more:Plastic
, Solar
Will Money Suddenly Pull Out of Oil? 2008-05-29 15:16:00 A lot of analysts are pointing to the fact that oil prices are not due to demand, but to speculators and price manipulation. You can also simply chart a graph of supply and demand to see that the price is not being held up by demand.This is why I bought the ultra short oil ETF, DUG today. This is a great way to profit on oil prices coming down. I also started a poll about the price of oil to see w Read more:Money
, Suddenly
Venture Capital 2008-05-30 05:03:00 After writing my post, Plastic Solar Panels, about startup companies innovating new solar technology, I got to thinking... it seems there are a lot of grand ideas being developed by small, private companies. I found a really good article about why such companies are staying private. Venture
Capitalists are taking advantage of this and are profiting big time. No longer are venture capitalists riski
After Hours Trading 2008-05-30 02:49:00 I have too many clients asking me what after hours trading is, so I am going to dispel the myth tonight. After hours trading began less than a decade ago thanks to the help from computers. It's basically an electronic market with no regulation. I tell my clients it's like trading in the wild wild west. There is no entitlement, which means if you saw a quote displayed and you had your order in, yo Read more:Hours
, Trading
Investing in Water 2008-06-03 18:39:00 Investing in water hasn't really hit mainstream yet; but right now might be the time to start looking into it. Just recently an MIT Professor warned that water is "the next oil." According to an article on Seeking Alpha, "[t]he World Water Council suggests developing countries will need $4.5 trillion in water infrastructure investments over the next 25 years," and in the US alone, we need an addit Read more:Investing
The Crude Oil Short Squeeze 2008-06-06 15:57:00 Crude oil prices are very volitale right now and trying to pick to the top is not easy. According to an energy analyst at Citigroup, "it may be the time to short oil, but then again, it may not." A lot of investors, including myself took a short position in crude oil recently; however, I was one of the smart ones (i.e. lucky) to take my profit off the table after the recent pull back in crude pric Read more:Crude
, Short
, Squeeze
Recommend Site To A Friend
