SubscribeNaked Shorts Exposed - We lose, they win…
May 18, 2007
I have seen first hand the process of shorts unable to be delivered. Trading firms offer their clients shorts up to , say 10,000 shares on a stock for almost all stocks that trade. Then, when it actually comes to the part about delivery, it never happens. The requirements to short are very clear and at the very essence, is the ability for brokerages to lend “eligible” stocks to the short sellers from other accounts, which also has clear rules that were created by the SEC. (Partial text of the latest Rule)
V. Rule 203 — Locate and Delivery Requirements for Short Sales
A. “Locate” Requirement
We are adopting proposed Rule 203, with some modifications, after considering the comments received.53 As adopted, Rule 203(b) creates a uniform Commission rule requiring a broker-dealer, prior to effecting a short sale in Read more
RAZR2 has a Dull Edge
May 16, 2007
Motorola will surely have nice sales from the new RAZR2 with its new iTunes capability and additional features. ALTHOUGH it seems much more like the RAZR v.4 as it has not shown any significant technology breakthroughs or benefits over phones that are in production today.
As has been note before, even of this phone is a
major hit and takes the world by storm, the current management of MOT has the clear inability to convert any revenue to additional net profits. It is a shame that Ichann is having such a difficult time with his attempt to right the ship.
Instead of putting out products that are small enhancements, put some R&D money into the finance division in an attempt to figure out how to turn a profit from the incredible sales that they have on their current arsenal of handset products.
From Press release and related news sources:
Motorola introduced five new phones for its 2007 collection, four of which were updates of prior year’s models, including the next-generation RAZR — RAZR 2. Analysts seemed mostly unimpressed with the new product lineup. An analyst at Prudential commented, “People went in there thinking that maybe there would be a game-changing new device. What we got was a new Razr. Maybe it buys them some time before they really have to come up with something really differentiated.” The
RAZR is Motorola’s all-time best-selling phone with 98 million unit sold. The RAZR is “not a product, it’s a brand,” said CEO Ed Zander. Other new mobile devices include the MOTO Z8 (dubbed “media monster”), MOTO Q8 and Q9 (smart phones) and ROKR Z6 (music phone). Separately, Motorola and Napster have entered an agreement to offer Napster’s music subscription service to certain Motorola phones,
set to begin in the second half of ‘07 in the U.S. and Europe. Shares of Motorola lost 1.3% to $17.92 in normal trading Tuesday, but rose 0.45% to $18.00 in the after-hours.
The Disciplined Investor Podcast - Episode 9
May 16, 2007
Larry Kudlow interview, Preferred Stocks for tax advantaged income, Merger and Buyout candidates, Real Estate concerns. This show is jam packed!
Larry Kudlow of Kudlow and Company, CNBC nightly. We ask: What is going on with the markets, is Asia a concern and is the dollar undervalued.Who is likely to win the 2008 Presidential race?
Income producing stocks, 6%-7% with limited volatility and only pay 15% tax the yield. (See Quantum Online for research on Preferred Stocks)
Speculation on the next buyout/merger candidates…….The GAP (GPS) is ripe for a a change. Reseach In Motion (RIMM) and Palm (PALM) an interesting merger idea? Valueclick (VCLK) could be a great benefit to a company like Microsoft (MSFT) or Yahoo (YHOO)…
Subprime concerns continue to push down the housing sector and the NAHB showed a drop to 30 in the housing index.
* Subscribe via iTunes and kindly leave feedback….
DNDN - More Info and More Confusion on Provenge
May 15, 2007
The saga continues with DNDN. The stock is moving a bit higher. There are many people’s lives that may now be in further disarray as the
long-awaited and deeply hoped-for FDA approval of the prostrate cancer treatment Provenge has been delayed. There is a rather large commotion concerning several inconsistencies with the FDA decision. (By the way, a 90% historical correlation on approvals with the FDA and Advisory Panel is rather impressive. What changed?)
Maybe there is some confusion with this, but it does seem rather odd that one particular FDA panel member, Dr. Sher is so outspoken, especially as this particular therapy seems to be safe. It also seems blatantly obvious to all there are many conflicting parties that are lobbying for or against this drug and more concerning that it was voted to be unanimously “safe”. One sticky point that is being argued amongst the opposing sides is the whether or not the panel’s vote on the efficacy was done in a correct manner. Read more
CNBC Portfolio Challenge Final Results - 2007
May 13, 2007
We ended with a $375,000 profit!
The 10 week contest is over and we came out in the top one percent of all portfolios. The fact is that we were as high as 900 and dropped down only during the final 2 weeks while still remaining in the top one percent. Over 1,000,000 contestants have been involved with managing portfolios for the chance to win the $1,000,000 grand prize. CNBC even recruited “Celebrity Traders” and had them openly square off against each other.
Most of the “Celebrity” portfolios were broad based with a wide diversification of positions. They seemed to be playing it on the conservative side, clearly not wanting to be embarrassed by any big losers. Most of their portfolios stayed closed to the original $1,000,000 through the contest with a few making a late run higher to show good profits. (The celebrity winner, Johnathan Tucker ended with $1,280,55) Read more
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