The Morning Morsel-Gotta Love the Volatility

Posted by UpsideTrader
on February 26th, 2010

Chart Courtesy of Bespoke

Legend has it that the shorts are “usually right”, after all they do more homework. Right? Jim Chanos was shorting Enron when the clueless bull market geniuses in their ivory towers were issuing strong buys at the bulge bracket firms.

John Paulson made the “Greatest Trade Ever” as he was short sub prime and the insurers. The analysts loved those stocks too, all the way down to a drill bit.

First Solar (FSLR) just broke $100 yesterday for the first time since November 08, it was heavily shorted. If you’re caught leaning the wrong way however, a short squeeze can be a widow maker.

It’s your money, so you decide.

The market had a vicious sell off at the open yesterday, only to trade sideways until about 2pM when stocks got off the mat and caught some lightening in a bottle. Great trading and great volatility. It’s easy to get whipsawed in this market, so stay nimble.

Friday, February 26, 2010

Economic

07:00 Chile Jan Industrial Production, Jan Unemployment, Jan Copper Production

08:30 Preliminary Q4 GDP q/q (last 5.7%), Q4 GDP Price Index (last 0.6%), Q4 Personal Consumption (last 2.0%), Q4 Core PCE q/q (last 1.4%)

09:45 Feb Chicago Purchasing Manager Index (last 61.5)

09:55 Feb Final University of Michigan Confidence (last 73.7)

10:00 Jan Existing Home Sales (last 5.45M, m/m -16.7%), Feb NAPM-Milwaukee (last 56)

11:00 Colombia Jan Unemployment

Events

Colombia Rate Decision. 10:45 Fed’s Dudley and Kocherlakota to speak at US Monetary Policy Forum. 13:30 Fed’s Tarullo, Evans to speak at US Monetary Policy Forum. SNDK Investor Day. PSEG Analyst Day. ETN Analyst Meeting. Trades Ex-dividend: GS $0.35.

Earnings

Before the Open: CAS, BIOS, CNP, DRH, FCN, ZINC, IPG, JRCC, MGLN, MCCC, MPR, MSA, MIR, NWN, POM, SUSS, TTI, TREX.

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The information in this blog post represents my own opinions and does not contain a recommendation for any particular security or investment. I or my affiliates may hold positions or other interests in securities mentioned in the Blog, please see my Disclaimer page for my full disclaimer.