In my recent article about managing risk, I disclosed that about 20% of my stock holdings are stocks that I quickly trade in and out of based mostly on technical analysis. These stocks may be volatile, but by placing tight stop loss orders on my positions, most of the major risk is eliminated. Since Motley…
In my recent article about the Apple stock split, I used Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE: WMT) as an example of the type of successful company that issues stock splits. In fact, Walmart issued nine stock splits between 1971 and 1999! Thinking about Walmart’s long-term track record of consistent performance got me wondering about how the…
After researching a recent article I wrote on the aftermath of the financial crisis, I decided to dig deeper into the story that Bill Ackman (rockstar hedge fund manager, CEO of Pershing Square Capital, and on-again/off-again arch-nemesis of Carl Ichan) has been boosting a large position in Fannie Mae (NASDAQOTCBB: FNMA) and Freddie Mac (NASDAQOTCBB: FMCC) . To understand why Ackman would choose…
I recently wrote an article in which I analyzed insurance giant AIG . There was something about telling the story of AIG that gave me a sense of nostalgia for the good ole days of 2008 and 2009 when the economy was in a tailspin, the Dow Jones was in the process of plummeting 50%, big banks were…
In case you’ve been living under a rock and missed the hundreds of articles, discussions, and analyses of Apple‘s stock split yesterday, shareholders such as myself now have seven times as many AAPL shares in our accounts. Since I get the impression that many AAPL shareholders are inexperienced in trading stocks, I figured I would…
The past few months have not been pleasant for shareholders of Melco Crown Entertainment (NASDAQ: MPEL). After Melco’s spectacular run from around $9 in July of 2012 to it’s all-time high of over $45 earlier this year, shareholders have endured a more than 27% pullback in the past several months. Despite the painful correction, there are still…
Last week I posted about the resistance Melco Crown Entertainment faced in its chart from an imminent overhead death cross. Here’s the chart I included in the article: Here’s what I said about MPEL’s near-term prospects: MPEL’s death cross will be happening at around $35.75, within about 3% of the level the share price…
A while back, I wrote an article about why I’m holding shares of Dynavax. Since I published that post about four months ago, DVAX is down more than 25%. Despite the drop in share price, I’m still up 40% on my trade, but I must admit that Dynavax shareholders haven’t had much fun lately. …
So I haven’t posted for a few days, and unfortunately it’s not because I’ve been on vacation. Analyzing AIG for Motley Fool got me thinking more and more about the financial crisis, and I decided to dig deeper into a recent article I read that Bill Ackman was buying shares of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.…
This week, the S&P 500 cut through the 1900 level like a hot knife through butter. As each new numerical milestone falls, investors are left wondering whether this bull market is reaching its pinnacle. Unfortunately, there’s no certain way to know when a market is reaching a top or bottom. However, one person that has…