The Dow dropped 50 points today on good volume.  The advance/declines were positive though.  Simply waiting for tomorrows employment numbers.  This is the first time we've had 2 days in a row down since the beginning of the month.  Still overbought on the stock indices so we'll need to see some more downside before another run higher or at least some sideways price movement.  We will have to see what the numbers are tomorrow and the markets reaction to them.  GE was flat on the day after being higher.  Volume was average.  My February GE calls are still positive but have lost some value.  I will probably dump them sooner rather than later.  Gold fell back today after yesterdays gains.  The precious metal futures lost $20.  The US dollar was a bit weaker as well.  The XAU was off 1 1/4.  ABX, GG and NEM all had fractional losses again on average volume.  My February ABX calls are almost worthless.  I doubt even the earnings report in a couple weeks can save this trade.  It was wrong from the start and I should have simply bailed out of the position the day after I bought it.  Mentally I'm feeling OK.  How much will tomorrows numbers matter?  Probably just a day or so.  This is a momentum rally and I would expect after we take a breather, the prices will head back higher.  Most likely moving up into the February option expiration.  After that, perhaps things will change.  Gold remains dead money.  Even bullish news doesn't do much except for a one day rally.  The gold shares have gotten pummeled.  How much lower can they go?  We'll get some rest tonight and it's on to the jobs number to wrap up the week.

The Next Big Growth Industry Like 3D Printing: Cosmetic Surgery Stocks

American are getting older but looking younger. According to recent data at the United States Census, persons over 55 years old now make up 25% of the population. According to an article published by Stony Brook University School of Medicine, 3.3 million Americans over the age of 55 underwent cosmetic procedures in 2010, and facelifts are up 14% just for men. The article emphasizes the fact that older Americans are turning to cosmetic surgery to compete in the job marketplace.

Innovative procedures in cosmetic surgery, and especially liposuction, have made huge advances recently. The procedure is now much quicker, safer, and with a much faster recovery period. Casey Research has published an outstanding report on the history of cosmetic surgery and the the latest technology in the field.

Will this industry be the next hot industry? Will the stocks in this field rise by 200% in a year like the 3D printing stocks? It is hard to know when revenues will start to skyrocket and investors will jump on the stocks in a narrow niche. There are about a half a dozen cosmetic surgery product companies in this business according to WallStreetNewsNetwork.com, and surprisingly, many of these companies are debt free with a lot of cash on a per share basis.

One of the leaders in the field is Cynosure (CYNO), which produces Smartlipo® LaserBodySculpting™ Workstations used for treating localized fat deposits using a minimally invasive technique, and makes three laser options that take different approaches to treat cellulite: Cellulaze, SmoothShapes XV, and Triactive. The company just released PicoSure, the first picosecond device to remove tattoos. The stock trades at 43 times trailing earnings and 30 times forward earnings. The company has $807,000 in debt, with $5.97 in cash per share. Revenues for the latest reported quarter ending September 30 were up 31.1%. The company reports year-end earnings on February 12 before the market opens.

Solta Medical (SLTM) produces the Thermage CPT non-invasive treatment for skin tightening, and the Liposonix system to destroy unwanted fat cells resulting in waist circumference reduction. The stock trades at 29 times forward earnings, has $27.8 million in debt, and $0.56 in cash per share, amounting to about 22% of the stock price. Revenue for the latest quarter rose by 27.8%. The company reports on February 19.

There are other companies that participate on a peripheral basis of the look-good, look-younger industry. For example, Align Technology (ALGN) makes the Invisilign systems, an invisible orthodontics process for straightening teeth. The stock has a trailing price to earnings ratio of 35 and a forward PE of 24. The company has no debt with $4.03 in cash per share.

PhotoMedex (PHMD) makes XTRAC laser products for psoriasis and vitiligo, NEOVA for premature skin aging, and Omnilux Light-emitting diode for wrinkles and acne. The stock has a PE of 19 and a forward PE of 10. It has $17,000 in debt, with $2.55 in cash per share.

To access a free list of of the cosmetic surgery stocks, and stocks in related industries, go to WallStreetNewsNetwork.com.The list includes the trailing PE, the forward PE, the total debt, the cash per share and the business.

Disclosure: Author did not own any of the above at the time the article was written.

By Stockerblog.com

Really, the market goes down too?  The Dow fell 44 points on average volume.  The advance/declines were about 2 to 1 negative.  GDP was weaker than expected and there was no new news from the Fed.  The stock indexes have been overbought for weeks.  Perhaps now we will see some decline/consolidation.  It is way overdue.  One day doesn't make a trend though.  We've still got to get through the employment report on Friday.  My thinking at the moment is that any decline will be bought.  Todays action may stop the climb of the summation index and that is something to keep an eye on.  GE fell 1/4 on light volume.  Perhaps $23 is not in the near future as I had thought.  My February GE calls are still in the black but by not as much.  I may have to consider getting rid of them if we get another run to $22.50.  The daily candlestick chart doesn't look so bullish after todays action.  Gold had a strong session, up $18 on the futures.  The US dollar was weaker.  The inverse relationship between the dollar and gold is back on track.  The gold shares continue to disappoint as the XAU fell 3/4.  It seems that nothing can get the gold shares moving to the upside.  ABX, GG and NEM all had fractional losses on good volume.  My February ABX calls are still very much in the red.  It appears that this trade will be a loser, barring an unforeseen spike in ABX.  2 days and 2 weeks left in the February option cycle.  The earnings for ABX are due the Thursday of expiration week.  I don't think I'll still be in the trade at that point but you never know.  Mentally I'm feeling OK.  Some weakness today in the stock indices but the rally still seems intact.  No trend lines have been violated and really, it is only one day of decline.  We will have to see how the rest of the week plays out.  There is no love for the gold shares as they continue to drift lower despite higher gold prices.  I have no idea when that will change.  The Gold/XAU ratio has been deep in the buy zone for weeks on end.  It just doesn't seem to work anymore.  It has certainly cost me money.  Overall I think tomorrow will be a holding pattern in the various marketplaces as we await the employment report.  We'll keep an eye on the overnight sessions and go from there.

Stock Tip of the Week: Short Puts

It may sound strange but shorting puts can be one of the safest ways to invest. Put and call options are ways of speculating on the price movements of stocks providing much greater percentage returns (and percentage losses). A call is the right to buy a stock at a particular price within a particular amount of time. The call purchaser hopes that the stock will go up and if it does, the percentage gain will be far more than if just the stock is purchased. If the call is not exercised by the expiration date, the call expires worthless. If you sell (short) a call and you own the stock, if your stock doesn't get called and the call expires worthless, you get to keep the proceeds, the premium, which is a way of generating income, or additional income if the stock is already a dividend payer, on the stock. Options are traded on a per share basis but representing 100 shares. In other words, If a call option is selling for 3.75, it means that the option cost would be $375 and it would give the buyer the right to buy 100 shares.

A put is the reverse. It is the right to sell a stock at a specific price within a particular period of time. Often, owners of a stock buy a put to protect them on the downside. There could be several reasons for this: postponing a capital gain to the following year, uncertainty about upcoming earnings call, belief in a potential market drop. Another reason to buy a put is to speculate that the stock will drop; an alternative to shorting the stock. However, the seller of a put is hoping that the stock will go up and the put will become worthless. If the stock drops, the price of the put will increase and the trader who shorts the put would lose money but would lose less money than if the stock was purchased.

This is where an overlooked trading technique comes in to play. Let's look at a hypothetical example. Suppose XYZ stock is trading at 21 a share. Assume that a one month put with an exercise price, or strike price, of 20 is selling at 1. The buyer of the hopes that it drops significantly. If the stock drops to 17, the put buyer can buy the stock at 17 and 'put' it to the seller of the put at 20, for a 3 point gross profit or after the investment of 1, a net profit of 2, not counting commissions. Or as a simpler alternative, the put would be worth 3 points and could just be sold, for a 200% profit.

Now let's look at the seller of the put. If you are bullish on XYZ stock, you can buy 100 shares of the stock for 21. If the stock does nothing, you make nothing. If the stock goes up 1 point to 22, you make a $100 profit. if it drops to 17, you lose $400. Now here's the tip. If you short the put, and the stock does nothing, the put will expire worthless and you make $100. If the stock goes to 22, the value of the put drops to zero still expiring worthless, and you make a $100 profit. Now suppose that the stock drops to 17, the put is now worth 3, and since it was shorted at 1, it is a net loss of 2 or $200, a much lower loss than if you had bought the stock.

The alternative is that you could have had the stock put to you, meaning that you would be forced to buy the stock at 20. But you would still have been better off than if you had just bought the stock at 21. You end up buying a stock that you wanted, but at a dollar less per share, plus you get to keep the one dollar premium so your cost basis is actually 19. This on a stock that you were willing to pay 21 for. Therefore, the breakeven is 19. If the stock drops drops to 19, the value of the put is 1 which is where you shorted it at.

If you really want the stock, there are other ways to play the short put. You could short an at-the-money or slightly in-the-money put, giving you a greater chance of getting put to, and still capturing the premium on the option.

This technique has the advantage of time in your favor. The closer to expiration, the faster the value of the put depreciates. Now the disadvantages. Unless the stock is put to you, you lose upside potential. Also, not every investor is eligible to do this. You would have to be cleared for option trading and spreads by your brokerage firm before you will be allowed to short puts. Also, it is really a good idea to have some experience trading options before trying this.

Higher and higher we go as the Dow gained 72 points on good volume.  The advance/declines were positive.  What more can I say?  The market doesn't go down anymore.  But we all know better than that.  The summation index continues higher.  GDP out tomorrow and the Fed statement.  That should get things moving perhaps.  It has been a great momentum run and there are no signs of it stopping at this point.  But it will eventually.  GE was flat on the day and the volume was light.  My February GE calls remain in the black.  I would still like to wait until GE hits $23 to cash out on this trade.  But nobody cab predict the future.  GE remains overbought.  Gold actually went up today.  The futures rose 7 bucks on a weaker US dollar.  The XAU was higher by 2 1/2.  ABX, GG and NEM all had fractional gains on good volume.  Could this finally be the bottom for the gold shares?  I certainly don't know but it could be the snap back attempt after the recent drop.  My February ABX calls are still solidly in the red.  This is a cut the loss trade now unless we see some big turnaround this week.  Doubtful.  Mentally I'm feeling OK.  The stock indices remain very overbought yet continue to move up.  You cannot fight price.  I have no idea how long this can last but it has certainly lasted longer than I expected.  Perhaps tomorrows data or the Friday jobs report will be the catalyst for a breather.  Gold is once again trying to hold on at its 200 day moving average at $1660.  We'll see.  A weak GDP plus an accommodating Fed should be positives for gold tomorrow if that is indeed the case.  We'll watch what happens overseas tonight and go from there.

Stocks Reporting Earnings Tomorrow, Tuesday, Jan 29

Stocks reporting earnings tomorrow, Tuesday, January 29.

AK Steel Holding (AKS)

Amazon.com (AMZN)

Broadcom Corp. (BRCM)

Corning Inc. (GLW)

Crane Co. (CR)

DR Horton (DHI)

Dolby Laboratories (DLB)

Ford Motor Company (F)

Harley-Davidson (HOG)

International Paper (IP)

Illinois Tool Works (ITW)

Peabody Energy (BTU)

Pentair (PNR)

Pfizer Inc. (PFE)

If you like lists like this, check out the many free stock lists at WallStreetNewsNetwork.com.

Stocks Going Ex Dividend the Second Week of February

  Here is our latest update on the stock trading technique called 'Buying Dividends'. This is the process of buying stocks before the ex dividend date and selling the stock shortly after the ex date at about the same price, yet still being entitled to the dividend. This technique generally works only in bull markets. In flat or choppy markets, you have to be extremely careful, and may need to avoid the technique during those times.

In order to be entitled to the dividend, you have to buy the stock before the ex-dividend date, and you can't sell the stock until after the ex date. The actual dividend may not be paid for another few weeks. WallStreetNewsNetwork.com has compiled a downloadable and sortable list of the stocks going ex dividend during the next week or two. The list contains many dividend paying companies, all with market caps over $500 million, and yields over 2%. Here are a few examples showing the stock symbol, the ex-dividend date, the yield, and the market capitalization.

FirstEnergy Corp. (FE) 2/5/2013 5.51% $16.8B

Intel Corporation (INTC) 2/5/2013 4.30% $104.3B

Rentech Nitrogen Partners LP (RNF) 2/5/2013 8.51% $1.8B

Summit Midstream Partners LP (SMLP) 2/5/2013 7.89% $1.0B

American Electric Power Company, Inc. (AEP) 2/6/2013 4.25% $21.6B

Belo Corp. (BLC) 2/6/2013 3.91% $766.1M

Unilever plc ADR (UL) 2/6/2013 3.15% $51.5B

Unilever N.V. ADR (UN) 2/6/2013 3.16% $51.7B

Oritani Financial Corp. (ORIT) 2/6/2013 3.73% $701.2M

The additional ex-dividend stocks can be found at wsnn.com. (If you have been to the website before, and the latest link doesn't show up, you may have to empty your cache.) If you like dividend stocks, you should check out the high yield utility stocks and the Monthly Dividend Stocks at WallStreetNewsNetwork.com or WSNN.com.

Dividend definitions:

Declaration date: the day that the company declares that there is going to be an upcoming dividend.

Ex-dividend date: the day on which if you buy the stock, you would not be entitled to that particular dividend; or the first day on which a shareholder can sell the shares and still be entitled to the dividend.

Monthly Dividend Stock List
Record date: the day when you must be on the company's books as a shareholder to receive the dividend. The ex-dividend date is normally set for stocks two business days before the record date.

Payment date: the day on which the dividend payment is actually made, which can be as long at two months after the ex date.


Don't forget to reconfirm the ex-dividend date with the company before implementing this technique.

Disclosure: Author did not own any of the above at the time the article was written.

By Stockerblog.com

A slight move lower today as the Dow fell 12 points on light volume.  The advance/declines were negative.  The stock indices are overdue for a pause or decline here but we are probably in a waiting pattern until the Fed announcement on Wednesday.  No reason to think the recent momentum rally is over.  We're still overbought on both a short and medium term basis.  I am still thinking that it is possible to see some volatility this week since it has been quiet for some time now.  We'll see.  GE was up almost 1/4 and the volume was good.  My February GE calls are in the black as GE broke out and continues higher.  I probably should have bought more contracts but hindsight is usually never wrong.  In fact you could probably buy those same calls now and still show a profit before expiration.  I'm going to try and hold on until GE reaches $23.  Gold fell again today, off about $4 on the futures.  The US dollar didn't do much today.  The XAU dropped another 1 2/3.  ABX, GG and NEM all had fractional losses on light to average volume.  My February ABX calls are negative and have lost over 1/2 of their value.  I'll wait for the Fed announcement and go from there on this trade.  This was a loser from the start and I probably should have taken the loss early and been done with it.  We broke out of the consolidation to the downside and getting the calls there was a mistake.  I'll look for a snap back to the breakout to dump this trade for a loss.  May or may not happen.  Mentally I'm feeling OK.  The markets are extended and have been for at least a couple of weeks.  I'm not going to guess when it will end because I haven't been able to yet.  So enjoy the ride.  Gold is going nowhere and the gold stocks have tanked.  My only hope for the ABX trade at this point is some type of rally off of the Fed announcement, followed by a weak jobs report.  Hope has no place in trading.  Tomorrow should be more of the same for the markets as we wait for the Fed.    

Health Food Stocks May Make Your Portfolio Healthier

As baby boomers age, they pay closer attention to their health. As a matter of fact, as seniors start to age, their conversations seem to become more and more peppered with medical issues, weight, and food. The connection between the food you eat and your health and wellness continues to become stronger and stronger. Of course, it is not just older Americans that are concerned about their food and beverage consumption; young people are jumping on the bandwagon in droves.

Investors have been benefiting from the marketers healthy food and beverages, with major health food retailers up 100% or more during the last five years. However, during the last three months, these stocks have been underperforming the Standard & Poor's 500 Index, yet since the beginning of January, the health food stocks are starting to turn back up. According to the free list at WallStreetNewsNetwork.com of health food stocks, there are over a dozen worth investigating.

One of the major players in this industry is Whole Foods Market (WFM), based in Austin, Texas, which owns a chain of supermarkets specializing in natural and organic products. The stock trades at 38 times trailing earnings and 28 times forward earnings. The earnings for the latest reported quarter were up 49.4% on a 23.6% rise in revenues. The company has $1.22 billion in cash, amounting to $6.58 in cash per share. The company reports earnings on February 13. Whole Foods pays a small dividend with a yield of 0.9%.

Hain Celestial Group (HAIN) is a provider of natural and organic foods and personal care products. The company brands include Celestial Seasonings tea, Soy Dream and Almond Dream beverages, the FreeBird brand of organic free range chickens, and whole grain foods through Arrowhead Mills. The stock has a trailing price to earnings ratio of 32 and forward PE of 20. Earnings for the latest quarter were up 40.2% on a 25.4% boost in sales. The company reports on February 5.

There are plenty of other health food stocks such as REEDS (REED), a distributor of natural non-alcoholic carbonated soft drinks and New Age beverages, and SunOpta (STKL), which processes and packages natural and organic food products. To see all the primary companies involved in the health food industry, check out the list of health food stocks at WallStreetNewsNetwork.com.

Disclosure: Author didn't own any of the above at the time the article was written. By Stockerblog.com

The Latest Dividend Boosters

The stock market is rising and more and more companies are raising their dividends. Unemployment is down, and it appears that the economy is improving. When a stock raises its dividend, it is always a good sign. Here are some that have boosted their dividends recently.

CMS Energy increased the quarterly dividend on the company's common stock by 6 percent

Parker Hannifin Corporation (PH) increased its quarterly dividend by 5%

GATX Corporation (GMT) increased its dividend by 3.3%

NGL Energy Partners (NGL) has bumped up its dividend by about 2%

Old National Bancorp (ONB) declared an increase in its quarterly common stock dividend of 11.1%

First Horizon National Corp. (FHN) announced Wednesday a quarterly dividend increase to 5 cents from 1 cent per share

Harleysville Savings Financial Corp. raised its dividend by more than 10%

Realty Income Corporation (O) declared a 19.2% increase in the company’s common stock monthly cash dividend

Wells Fargo & Company (WFC) raised up its quarterly common stock dividend by 14%

If you like stock lists like this, such as a list of stocks going ex-dividend, beer stocks, candy stocks, or coffee stocks, go to WallStreetNewsNetwork.com.

Stocks Going Ex Dividend the First Week of February

  Here is our latest update on the stock trading technique called 'Buying Dividends'. This is the process of buying stocks before the ex dividend date and selling the stock shortly after the ex date at about the same price, yet still being entitled to the dividend. This technique generally works only in bull markets. In flat or choppy markets, you have to be extremely careful, and may need to avoid the technique during those times.

In order to be entitled to the dividend, you have to buy the stock before the ex-dividend date, and you can't sell the stock until after the ex date. The actual dividend may not be paid for another few weeks. WallStreetNewsNetwork.com has compiled a downloadable and sortable list of the stocks going ex dividend during the next week or two. The list contains many dividend paying companies, all with market caps over $500 million, and yields over 2%. Here are a few examples showing the stock symbol, the ex-dividend date, the yield, and the market capitalization.

Itau Unibanco Holding SA ADR (ITUB) 2/1/2013 4.36% $39.3B

Natural Resource Partners LP (NRP) 2/1/2013 10.06% $2.4B

Suburban Propane Partners LP (SPH) 2/1/2013 8.31% $2.4B

ING Global Equity Divid.&Premium Opp-ETF (IGD) 2/1/2013 10.89% $911.1M

Global Partners LP (GLP) 2/1/2013 7.43% $845.1M

The additional ex-dividend stocks can be found at wsnn.com. (If you have been to the website before, and the latest link doesn't show up, you may have to empty your cache.) If you like dividend stocks, you should check out the high yield utility stocks and the Monthly Dividend Stocks at WallStreetNewsNetwork.com or WSNN.com.

Dividend definitions:

Declaration date: the day that the company declares that there is going to be an upcoming dividend.

Ex-dividend date: the day on which if you buy the stock, you would not be entitled to that particular dividend; or the first day on which a shareholder can sell the shares and still be entitled to the dividend.

Monthly Dividend Stock List
Record date: the day when you must be on the company's books as a shareholder to receive the dividend. The ex-dividend date is normally set for stocks two business days before the record date.

Payment date: the day on which the dividend payment is actually made, which can be as long at two months after the ex date.


Don't forget to reconfirm the ex-dividend date with the company before implementing this technique.

Disclosure: Author did not own any of the above at the time the article was written.

By Stockerblog.com

The climb continues as the Dow gained 70 points on average volume.  The advance/declines were positive.  Nothing technically has changed.  Still overbought all the way around and staying there.  It is the energizer bunny rally, it just keeps going and going.  Nothing to do but enjoy the ride.  We do know it can go on longer than most would expect.  We also know that it won't last forever.  GE was up 1/4 on average volume.  Overbought here as well.  My GE February calls are solidly in the black.  I'll be holding onto them for a while, with 3 weeks left in this option cycle.  The only thing besides Apple that isn't going up is gold.  The precious metal futures fell another $13 today despite weakness in the US dollar.  This usual inverse relationship between the dollar and gold hasn't taken place for weeks.  Perhaps that was a sign to simply stay away from trying to trade gold here.  The XAU fell 4 points and was crushed on the week.  ABX off 1/2, GG down 3/4 and NEM dropped 2/3.  Volume was good to the downside.  My February ABX calls are solidly in the red.  This trade is going to be a loser and it is in the cut the loss mode already.  ABX is oversold at this point so I'll expect a bounce at some point next week.  That may or may not happen.  Gold remains dead money.  Mentally I'm feeling OK.  Perhaps some volatility will return next week as there is a plethora of economic data to decipher.  And a  Fed meeting.  The trend remains up though and it would take a lot to change that.  The stock indices haven't seen any measurable decline so far this year.  Gold itself needs to hold the $1650 level of support, which is just below the 200 day moving average.  The gold shares have already broken down so that may not be a good sign.  A reversal next week would be the only way to salvage the current ABX trade but that is just wishful thinking on my part.  There is no place for wishes in trading.  It's Friday afternoon and time for a break.

The Dow continued higher yet again today but it was a mixed market to be sure.  The most watched index gained 46 points on average volume.  The advance/declines were slightly positive.  The S&P 500 was unchanged on the day and the NASDAQ was lower.  Still both short and medium term overbought and I'm still expecting some sort of weakness or consolidation for the stock indices at this point.  Hasn't happened yet.  The summation index remains in a solid uptrend.  GE gained about a dime on OK volume.  My GE February calls are slightly in the black.  GE probably needs to digest its recent gains here and a sideways channel would not be unexpected.  I'm looking for GE to reach the $23 level before February expiration.  That's my guess at the moment.  Gold took a hit today as the futures lost $16.  The US dollar was barely higher today.  The XAU dropped 5 points.  The gold shares have broken their channel to the downside today.  ABX and NEM both fell 3/4, while GG shed a buck.  Volume was good.  I adjusted down the price for the open order for the February ABX calls and it was filled this morning.  It is already in the red and it already appears that this trade will be a loser unless we see a reversal tomorrow.  That doesn't look very likely.  Yesterdays bearish engulfing patterns on many of the gold share stocks signaled more weakness to come.  In retrospect, I simply should have canceled the ABX call order.  Mentally I'm feeling OK.  The stock indexes continue to defy gravity and that usually doesn't end well.  You cannot fight the trend here though.  I'd expect a quiet end to the week tomorrow but that's a guess as usual.  Gold has lost its luster and continues to be dead money despite the recent $50 move to the upside.  The gold shares are leading the way down here and that is not bullish going forward.  I'll probably be holding on to the February ABX calls into next weeks Fed meeting though.  We'll keep an eye on the foreign markets overnight and take it from there.    

Eva Longoria Stock Index Outperforms the Dow Jones Industrial Average

If you read the weekend edition of The Wall Street Journal, you would have noticed the front page article about famous Desperate Housewives actress, Eva Longoria, and her political activism. She was co-chair of President Obama's re-election campaign and was on stage with the president during the inauguration.

She has had a very successful career, winning several awards for her television roles in Housewives and The Young and the Restless. In addition, she is a successful businesswoman, working as celebrity spokesperson for several products, and even came out with her own perfume, Eva by Eva Longoria.

Because of her fame, her product endorsements and connections to businesses can have an effect on company revenues. The stock prices of these companies can be built into a stock index, which can be compared to stock prices in general. You would find that we first started tracking Eva Longoria stocks back in 2007 and 2008.

If you look at the share prices of the companies Longoria is connected to and built into an index, you would find that since July of 2007, the Eva Index is up 21.7% versus the Dow Jones Industrial Average which was up only 4.3%. The components of the Eva Longoria Stock Index are listed below along with her connections.

Hanes (HBI) celebrity endorsement

New York & Company (NWY) celebrity endorsement

BEBE (BEBE) SPORT celebrity endorsement

Pepsi (PEP) celebrity endorsement

Starred in Desperate Housewives produced by ABC Television owned by Disney (DIS), also starred in ABC's remake of Dragnet

Microsoft (MSFT) 'I'm a PC' television commercial cameo appearance celebrity endorsement

Assumptions:
This is price-weighted index, similar to the Dow Jones Industrial Average. Dividends were included.

Check out additional celebrity stock indices such as Gisele Bundchen, Heidi Klum, and Angelina Jolie, along with numerous other celebrity stock indexes.

Disclosure: Author owns DIS.

Picture courtesy of the US Department of Labor. No celebrity endorsement expressed or implied.

It's the rally that never ends as the Dow gained 67 points on average volume.  The advance/declines were slightly negative though, so perhaps we'll finally see some decline tomorrow.  Or not.  The summation index continues higher.  Very oversold both short and medium term.  This condition cannot last indefinitely.  If we do see any selling though, I believe that buyers will step up rather quickly.  It is that kind of market at the moment.  GE was off a few cents after being off as much as 1/4.  My order for the February GE calls was filled.  It is about at break even.  My thinking is that the price action here in GE is the snap back to the breakout.  I may be early though.  Still three weeks left in the February option cycle.  Gold was off $6 today on the futures as the US dollar was slightly higher.  The XAU however dropped 4 1/3.  The gold shares continue to under perform here.  I may have to reconsider my order for the February ABX calls.  ABX off 3/4, GG down a buck and NEM shed 7/8.  Volume was average.  These issues are trying to break through their 50 day moving averages to the upside but are failing once again.  Gold itself is being turned back by the 50 day as well.  I still have in the open order for the February ABX calls but I may have to adjust or cancel it tonight.  Mentally I'm feeling OK.  A rally today but the breadth did not confirm.  So perhaps we'll get some weakness tomorrow.  GE has pulled back a bit on lighter volume.  I still think getting the calls here would be a good idea.  We'll see.  The gold shares had a very weak showing today.  If there is follow through tomorrow I may have to cancel the ABX call order.  Or at the very least adjust the price that I'm willing to pay for the calls.  It is something to ponder this evening.  We'll see what happens tomorrow.  

Continuing higher as the Dow gained 62 points on average volume.  The advance/declines were 2 to 1 positive.  Overbought and staying there.  It seems that even the slightest decline finds buyers these days.  I'm not sure how long this can last but you cannot fight the trend.  I would expect to see some weakness here but I've expected that more than once this year and it hasn't happened.  The summation index continues to the upside as well.  The momentum rally is intact for now.  GE lost a nickel on good volume.  I'm leaving in my open order for the February GE calls.  Still waiting for the snap back from breaking above the declining tops line from October.  If and when that occurs, then the order will probably be filled.  Gold is in rally mode as well.  The futures gained $6 as the US dollar was lower today.  The XAU followed the market, higher by 2 7/8.  ABX and NEM up 3/4,  and GG gained 1 1/8.  The volume was good to average.  I'm also leaving in the open order for the February ABX calls as well.  The gold shares have been moving sideways for about 3 months.  The breakout should be a pretty good move once it gets started.  The question is, which way?  Mentally I'm feeling OK.  The stock indices have been going practically straight up since 2013 began.  How much longer can this last?  I don't know.  Not a lot of economic data out this week.  Money continues to flow into stocks.  Gold has rallied back to the 50 day moving average.  That could provide some near term resistance.  We'll keep an eye on overseas markets overnight and go from there.          

Apple Closed at Exactly 500.00 per Share Last Friday

Apple (AAPL) closed at exactly 500.00 per share last Friday, not 500.37, no 499.98, but exactly 500.00, with the four zeros. What's up with that?

Maybe because it was options expiration day? Do you know the chances of a stock closing the day with four zeros, assuming it closes at 1000 per share or less? The chances are one in ten thousand.

Earnings Announcements for Tomorrow

Earnings announcements for tomorrow:

Advanced Micro Devices (AMD)

Cree Inc. (CREE)

CSX Corp. (CSX)

E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Co. (DD)

Ethan Allan Interiors (ETH)

Freeport McMoRan Copper & Gold (FCX)

Google Inc. (GOOG)

II-VI Inc. (IIVI)

Kansas City Southern (KSU)

Norfolk Southern Corp. (NSC)

PetMed Express Inc. (PETS)

RF Micro Devices (RFMD)

TD Ameritrade Holding Corp. (AMTD)

Texas Instruments (TXN)

Verizon Communications (VZ)

More Companies Raising their Dividends

A great New Year's start is news that your stock is raising its dividend. Here is a selection of stocks that recently bumped up dividend payouts.

Enterprise Bancorp (EBTC) declared a 4.5% dividend increase

Pizza Pizza Royalty Corp. (PZA.TO) announced a 4.2% increase in its monthly dividend

Black Rock (BLK) raised its quarterly dividend 12%

Core Laboratories (CLB) raised its quarterly dividend 14.2%

Family Dollar (FDO) boosted its quarterly dividend 24%

Finish Line (FINL) raised its quarterly dividend by 17%

Kinder Morgan (KMI) bumped up its quarterly dividend 19%

Oneok Partners (OKE) raised its quarterly dividend 9%

Packing Corporation of America (PKG) had a 25% in dividend payout

Wisconsin Energy (WEC) spiked its quarterly dividend by 13%

Corus Entertainment (CJR-B.TO) announced a 6.25% dividend increase

If you like stock lists like this, such as a list of stocks going ex-dividend, beer stocks, candy stocks, or coffee stocks, go to WallStreetNewsNetwork.com.

Exclusive Interview with Top Stock Trader and Actress Rachel Fox part 2

If you missed the first interview with Rachel Fox back in November, you should check it out at Rachel Fox Interview Part 1. The following is Part 2 of an exclusive Stockerblog.com interview with Rachel G. Fox. You should pay attention to her for several reasons. First of all, she is a female stock trader with a very successful track record in a field that is dominated by male stock traders. Second, she is a very young trader, only 16 years old, in a field that is dominated by traders who are much older. And third, she is an actress, who starred in Melissa & Joey, and had a reoccurring starring role in Desperate Housewives, in which she was nominated for a Best Recurring Young Actress in a Television Series Award and a Best Recurring Young Actress in a Comedy Series. Rachel Fox is also the publisher of her own blog, FoxOnStocks.com. Check out this fascinating interview.

Now that the Fiscal Cliff is no longer much of an issue, are you bullish on the stock market in general for this year?

The fiscal cliff is a non-issue for the moment but there are going to be three more Fiscal Cliff related deadlines coming up during the year; the next one is in March. It's not fully off the table, so there are still some things that I'm just a bit concerned about. I just don't usually trade based on the year. I don't think long term, I just think more day-to-day, and what it is going to do next week, a week-to-week thing. I have been doing a lot of shorting recently on a lot of different stocks that are overbought.

Speaking of holding periods, what is the shortest holding period you have ever held a stock?

Seven minutes, I got out super quick.

What is the longest holding period you have ever had for a stock, not counting your first bad investment?

I had a trade in the Chinese technology stock, SOHU. I had a long position in it back in May, when the entire market did a dip downward, and it dropped like seven dollars. I had this feeling that I would hold on to it and it will come back, so I held on to it for five months, and it ended up rising back up the seven dollars that it dropped plus another seven dollars, and I made a great profit off of that.

If a trade turns against you, do you hold your position, add to you position, or bail out?

So many factors affect it, it's so hard to tell. Some stocks I'm absolutely confident on, and say it drops a bunch, then I do what a lot of people say not to do, and I will dollar-cost-average. I know people say never do that, it is so ridiculously risky. I try never to get lost in my ego, and try not to get emotional with my trades, but sometimes when I just know it's going a certain way, I'll dollar-cost-average.
My biggest trade ever actually I made the most doing that, with the oil stock, SLB. I had bought it, then it had dropped; I dollar-cost-averaged, and it ended up rising to a great profit.

The follow-on question to that is at what point do you make that decision? In other words, if you do dollar-cost-averaging, is it a gut feel, or do you wait for a certain percentage drop, or a dollar amount drop or what?

I don't have a specific amount necessarily, and I don't have a specific percentage where I've got to get out of it or have to average out. A lot of it is personal to every person as to how much they feel like risking, how much they are comfortable with. It's personal to every single trader. It's just like not taking a stock tip from anyone.

Do you ever trade microcap or penny stocks?

I have not ever traded a penny stock. Well, actually that one stock I blogged about, RAYS, my first trade that ended up turning into a penny stock after I bought it. Other than that, I don't. They can only move a penny up or a penny down, and it seems like there is more logic to trading higher priced stocks.

Do you prefer limit orders or market orders?

Market orders. I'll watch the stock, I'll watch the ticks, and I'll have the market order on the next screen, and I'll be waiting to hit the order. The second it hits where I want to I'll hit the order button. I usually get pretty close or exactly what I wanted. That way, I don't leave it up to chance whether I get it or not. Because there have been times where I left it up to chance with limit orders, and it doesn't quite get there and it ends up doing what I thought it would,

Do you ever use stop orders?

People recommend that a lot; I don't. It's uncomfortable for me to think that it could barely touch the price then have the sell order be placed on the stock then have the stock go up where you thought it was going to go. I leave it up to my instincts.
And other than my first trade, I haven't had any humongous losses; I'm pretty good at controlling when it's dropped enough, I know when to get out.

How often do you short stocks?

As of about October, about 70% are shorts and 30% are long buys. I short a lot; it just works. I get psychological ideas of when something's going to drop; I just have a good feel for it.

Do you think your profits are better on your short side or your long side or about equal?

It's hard to say because I have been buying long for a lot longer than I have been shorting. I think they're pretty neck and neck. Actually I'm going to say when I short I make better profits.

Are you planning on getting into options trading at any point?

Definitely, 100%. I think the idea of options minimizing your risk and maximizing your gains, I just love the concept of it. I think it's amazing. The other thing about options is that you have to really, really know a lot. I feel like with stock trading I understand it and I can place trades, but options I will have to really understand a lot about them.
I'm also really interested in writing covered call options and collecting the premiums on high paying dividend stocks. I just read about that strategy a little bit ago and I thought 'Wow, that's so cool. I've got to try that.'

When you have losing trades, do you ever get really stressed out, and if so, how do you deal with stress?

Denial works really nice. (laughter) Well, when I have a losing trade, I never let a stock lose so much where I know I'll start to lose sleep. I'll never let it get to that point. I'll try to take as much control as I possibly can. Sometimes it will just fuel my fire, where like if I lost this then I have to make double that in the next trade, so here we go and find a winner again, and be all motivated again; it really puts the pressure down and I have to make this back. I try to twist it in my mind to be like that.

Do you have any college plans at this time?

I finished high school early and next semester I'm going to be taking some music theory classes actually at a college in LA. I also have a band and I'm really into rock and roll music and I really want to learn how to write great songs. Right now I don't have any plans to go and study at a college anything financial, except that I am in the process of studying for my Series 6 license. I think what they teach you and what you study, all that information would be so good. That's were I first learned about the concept of options.

Any New Year's resolutions that you would be willing to share?

Take the stairs instead of taking the elevator. (laughter) I don't really have any, but it's cool that you asked that because I actually did just write a blog on people who are wanting to make trading their New Year's resolution or investing long term or day trading. I have this blog on how to turn the resolution into actual realty. So they should go to FoxOnStocks.com and anyone who wants to trade or invest should read it.
Also, I'm starting to dabble in forex trading. I just opened an online virtual trading account where you trade with fake money and that's pretty fun. I'm trying to learn a lot about that as well. I placed my first virtual trade the other day and so far I'm making some nice virtual money. So I'm looking into that.

You've provided a lot of great information. Thank you for doing the interview.

Thank you so much. I'm happy to do it.

Check out Rachel Fox's guest blog about tech stocks at Stockerblog.com. Also, check out the Rachel Fox Interview Part 1.

The picture is from Rachel Fox's appearance in the Daniel Craig film, Dream House. Picture is published courtesy of and with permission from the public relations firm of Rachel Fox.

No investment recommendation nor any investment promotion is expressed or implied by either Stockerblog.com or Rachel Fox in this interview.

3 More Stocks Selling Above $4000 a Share: What is it about California Banks?

California is different from other states, and not just due to its diverse economy. If California was a separate country, it would be one of the top ten countries of the world in terms of gross domestic product, larger than the GDPs of Russia, India, and Canada. Although the state is one of the largest users of energy, the per capita energy use is one of the smallest of all the states. It was the state that passed the first statewide medical marijuana initiative back in 1996. The state has the lowest and the highest points in the continental U. S. The modern day fortune cookie was invented in California. And right now, California seems to be the only state that doesn't have a flu epidemic (yet).

So what does this have to have to do with high priced stocks? Absolutely nothing, except that three of the highest priced stocks are California banks. What's up with that? These three high priced stocks are in addition to the one featured in the article Five Stocks Trading above $4000 a Share.

Sunwest Bank (SWBC) closed at 29,000 today, up 2,100 or 7.81%, with a huge trading volume of 1. That's one share. This banking company headquartered in Irvine, California, has branches in Tustin, Anaheim, Irvine, Laguna Hills, San Clemente and Encinitas, California, and in Flagstaff and Cottonwood, Arizona. It was ranked fourth out of the 200 top community banks and thrifts in the US, based on its three-year average return on equity.

Mechanics Bank (MCHB) based in Richmond, California, was founded in 1905. It has 33 branches in Contra Costa, Alameda, San Francisco, Marin, Napa, Placer, Sacramento, and El Dorado counties. The stock closed a couple days ago 10,850. The stock trades at 12.2 times earnings and pays a 3% yield, a lot more than what it currently pays on its savings accounts.

Farmers & Merchants Bank of Long Beach (FMBL), founded in 1907, is based in, where else, Long Beach, California. It has 21 branches in Los Angeles and Orange Counties. The stock trades at 9.3 times earnings and pays a yield of 1.9%. The stock closed at 4,550.00, up 62.00 or 1.38% at a volume of 46 shares for the day.

If you like interesting lists like this, check out many of the free stock lists at WallStreetNewsNetwork.com.

Continuing higher for expiration Friday as the Dow gained 53 points on average volume.  The advance/declines were about 2 to 1 positive.  The summation index continues higher.  We're still overbought and still moving higher.  My guess is that declines will be bought.  There is nothing to stop the rally at this point.  I do however expect some weakness early next week as we do need a pause.  That would be a chance to get some calls as the uptrend continues.  GE reported earnings today and the market liked what it heard.  The stock rose 3/4 on extremely heavy volume.  My GE calls turned a 125% profit but it could have been much better as I sold early in the morning at the worst possible time.  The trading is never easy.  I could have done another 75% to 80% if I would have held on longer.  Doesn't matter now.  We have a valid break out through the downtrend line on the daily charts.  The next technical expectation would be a snap back towards that line before moving higher.  I'll probably try the February GE calls here on the snap back if it occurs.  Gold was off 4 bucks on the futures as the US dollar had a strong session.  Once again we should have been much worse on gold for the day with such dollar strength.  The inverse correlation between these two just isn't happening now.  The XAU was off a fraction.  ABX and GG were little changed while NEM gained 1/2.  Volume was light.  I am leaving in the open order for the February ABX calls however I adjusted the price lower.  I'll have to reconsider this trade over the weekend because gold still continues to be dead money even with this weeks $20 gain.  Mentally I'm feeling a bit frustrated as the GE trade was a winner but the lousy exit leaves me with mixed feelings.  On the one hand it starts the year off right with a winner.  However since the gains should have been much more, it leaves a lot to be desired.  My trading is always a work in progress.  The stock indices continue to the upside and there seems to be nothing coming up to derail the party.  We'll see if we can continue the bash next week.  Gold had a good week but the gold shares were actually lower on the week.  Perhaps I should focus my energies elsewhere.  It will be another thing to ponder over the long weekend.  For now it's Friday afternoon and time for a break.

Stocks Reporting Earnings Tomorrow, Friday January 18

Stocks Reporting Earnings Tomorrow, Friday January 18

Rockwell Collins (COL)

General Electric (GE)

Johnson Controls (JCI)

Morgan Stanley (MS)

Parker Hannifin Corp. (PH)

Schlumberger Ltd. (SLB)

State Street Corp. (STT)

A nice move higher today as the Dow gained 84 points on average volume.  The advance/declines were 3 to 1 positive.  A day late from what I expected but that means nothing now.  We were up over 100 during the session.  Overbought, staying there and the summation index continues to the upside.  This won't last forever but we can enjoy it from the call side while it does.  Expiration tomorrow and anything can happen.  GE was up over 1/8 on heavy volume.  We were much higher but came off of the best levels of the day.  My GE calls are still in the black but that could change with the earnings out tomorrow morning.  We did break through the downtrend line that has been in place since October but fell right back down.  Tomorrows price action will determine the outcome of this trade.  Gold was higher again today, up $7 on the futures.  The US dollar was a bit lower today.  The XAU dropped 7/8.  ABX, GG and NEM once again had fractional moves one way or the other on average volume.  My open order for the February ABX calls was almost filled this morning.  Perhaps this trade will get done next week.  Mentally I'm feeling OK.  The trend remains up and the small stocks are leading the way and that is bullish.  One day left in the trading week before a long holiday weekend.  The GE trade will be completed tomorrow.  Earnings will determine the outcome.  It could go either way.  Gold has had a nice week so far but the gold shares have not participated.  That usually isn't bullish going forward.  I'm leaving in the open order for the February ABX calls regardless.  The gold shares remain oversold and that condition won't last forever.  On to expiration Friday.     

Stocks Going Ex Dividend the Fifth Week of January 2013

  Here is our latest update on the stock trading technique called 'Buying Dividends'. This is the process of buying stocks before the ex dividend date and selling the stock shortly after the ex date at about the same price, yet still being entitled to the dividend. This technique generally works only in bull markets. In flat or choppy markets, you have to be extremely careful, and may need to avoid the technique during those times.

In order to be entitled to the dividend, you have to buy the stock before the ex-dividend date, and you can't sell the stock until after the ex date. The actual dividend may not be paid for another few weeks. WallStreetNewsNetwork.com has compiled a downloadable and sortable list of the stocks going ex dividend during the next week or two. The list contains many dividend paying companies, all with market caps over $500 million, and yields over 2%. Here are a few examples showing the stock symbol, the ex-dividend date, the yield, and the market capitalization.

Boardwalk REIT (BOWFF) 1/29/2013 3.0% $3.1B

ConAgra Foods, Inc. (CAG) 1/29/2013 3.4% $12.1B

DNP Select Income Fund Inc. (DNP) 1/29/2013 8.4% $2.2B

WAJAX Corp (WJXFF) 1/29/2013 7.9% $688.4M

Bird Construction (BIRDF) 1/29/2013 5.4% $557.3M

Bank of Montreal (BMO) 1/30/2013 4.7% $40.1B

The additional ex-dividend stocks can be found at wsnn.com. (If you have been to the website before, and the latest link doesn't show up, you may have to empty your cache.) If you like dividend stocks, you should check out the high yield utility stocks and the Monthly Dividend Stocks at WallStreetNewsNetwork.com or WSNN.com.

Dividend definitions:

Declaration date: the day that the company declares that there is going to be an upcoming dividend.

Ex-dividend date: the day on which if you buy the stock, you would not be entitled to that particular dividend; or the first day on which a shareholder can sell the shares and still be entitled to the dividend.

Monthly Dividend Stock List
Record date: the day when you must be on the company's books as a shareholder to receive the dividend. The ex-dividend date is normally set for stocks two business days before the record date.

Payment date: the day on which the dividend payment is actually made, which can be as long at two months after the ex date.


Don't forget to reconfirm the ex-dividend date with the company before implementing this technique.

Disclosure: Author did not own any of the above at the time the article was written.

By Stockerblog.com

Stocks Reporting Earnings Thursday January 17

The following stocks are reporting earnings Thursday January 17

ASML Holding NV (ASML)

American Express (AXP)

Bank of America (BAC)

BB&T Corp. (BBT)

Citigroup (C)

Capital One Financial (COF)

Fastenal Co. (FAST)

Fifth Third Bancorp (FITB)

Intel Corp. (INTC)

PNC Financial Services (PNC)

Xilinx Inc. (XLNX)

I expected a decent move to the upside today and we certainly didn't get it.  The Dow fell 23 points on light volume.  The advance/declines were negative.  It was a mixed market to be sure, with the NASDAQ moving slightly higher.  The stock indices have been milling around since the huge fiscal cliff spike to the upside.  The summation index continues higher but price is lagging here.  The technicals remain overbought.  I'm still looking for higher prices ahead but not with the same conviction that I had before today.  When the market doesn't do what you expect, then something else is going on that you obviously don't know about.  GE fell a touch on average volume.  Looks like this GE trade will depend on the earnings and that is always just a 50/50 proposition.  The technicals here are mid-range, so just about anything can happen.  Gold was little changed on the futures and the same for the US dollar.  The XAU lost 1 1/8.  ABX, GG and NEM were all lower by 1/3 or so on light volume.  I'm still leaving in the open order for some February ABX calls.  The technicals for the gold shares remain more oversold than overbought.  Mentally I'm feeling OK.  2 days remain in the January option cycle and I decided not to try the OEX calls here.  I expected market strength today and we didn't get any.  So I'm not exactly sure now where we go from here.  GE is simply an earnings play now.  Not exactly my favorite kind of trade.  Gold remains dead money but I'll try the ABX calls if my price is hit for the options.  Hasn't happened yet.  We'll see what tomorrow brings.

A day similar to yesterday as we sold off early and then made it all the way back.  The Dow gained 27 points on light volume.  The advance/declines were positive.  Still overbought and moving higher.  I would expect a decent move to the upside tomorrow, according to what I'm looking at.  The expiration week positive bias is just one of the reasons.  You never really know though, as the recent ascent has been on pretty light volume.  We'll see what happens.  It is probably too late for the January OEX calls.  GE didn't do much today and the volume was light.  The GE calls I have are still slightly in the black.  It looks like it will all depend on the earnings report due Friday.  However if we do have a good upside day tomorrow, perhaps GE can break through the downtrend line on the daily charts.  Wishful thinking perhaps.  Gold moved nicely higher again today, up $14 on the futures despite strength in the US dollar.  This relationship continues to baffle me as it has not acted in the normal pattern for some time now.  I do not know what it means going forward.  The XAU only rose 7/8.  ABX, GG and NEM had fractional moves one way or the other again.  The volume was nothing special.  I almost bought some February ABX calls but didn't.  I am leaving in the open order for the February ABX calls that I already have opened.  Once again I'll need to see some weakness in ABX for this order to be filled.  Didn't happen today.  Mentally I'm feeling OK.  The market has the feel of wanting to go higher here and I'm in that camp for the short term.  But after this week, who knows?  Waiting on the GE earnings at this point.  Gold looks like it is going to hold its 200 day moving average here and that is usually bullish going forward.  However that doesn't mean that the gold shares are going to rally.  We've been moving sideways to lower in the gold shares since mid-November.  Gold has been dead money for quite a while.  I'm still willing to try the February ABX calls if we get some pullback though.  May just be another mistake.  Time will tell.  On to Wednesday. 

Five Stocks Trading above $4000 a Share

Some investors like low priced stocks, some like high priced stocks, some don't care what the price is as long as the stock price goes up. Here are five stocks that are trading above $4,000 a share.

Of course the most famous high price stock is Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (BRK-A) which is trading at $143,300 per share. The stock trades at 17.8 times current earnings.

Bactolac Pharmaceutical (BTCA) is a company which makes and distributes vitamins, nutraceuticals, and private label nutritional supplements. The stock last traded at $100,000 per share on December 21. Back in 2008, the stock traded as low as $24,050.

Ergo Science Corporation (ERGN) is a publisher of business information through printed magazines, Web sites, data services and directories. The stock last traded at $9,000 on January 3.

Highwater Ethanol (HEOL) last traded at $5,500 per share on March 22.

The Seibels Bruce Group (SBBG) is a provider of services to the insurance industry and offers automobile, flood, and other property and casualty insurance services. This stock is much more actively traded than most of the other above, as two shares traded today at $4300 per share.

If you like interesting stock lists like this, check out many of the free stock lists at WallStreetNewsNetwork.com.

Stocks Reporting Earnings Tomorrow

The Bank of New York (BK)

Comerica Inc. (CMA)

eBay Inc. (EBAY)

Goldman Sachs (GS)

JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM)

Kinder Morgan (KMI)

U.S. Bancorp (USB)

3D Printing Stocks Up Over 200% Since I Wrote About Them Last Year

3D printers are machines that can 'print' anything from toys to machine parts to automobiles to houses! If you saw my 3D Printing article last month, you would see that the two main players in the industry are 3D Systems Corporation (DDD) and Stratasys (SSYS).

At the time the article was written on December 13, 2012, 3D closed at 46.08, it is now trading at 61.27, an increase of 33%. Stratasys traded at 70.46 back then, now it is at 83.69, a rise of over 18%. And one 3D stock that I didn't write about, and is a much smaller company, is Organovo Holdings (ONVO), which closed at 2.16 on December 13 and is now at 3.84, an incredible increase of 77%.

Of course, this wasn't the first time I wrote about 3D printing. I have featured several articles throughout the year. One of the first articles I wrote about was on January 8, 2012. At that time DDD which closed at 15.81 the next business day, an incredible increase of 287%, and SSYS was at 35.15, and has risen 146%. This is an average percentage increase of 216%.

Is the run on these stocks over? Even though they may be good for the long term, I would say that they are certainly due for a pullback. Now it is time to look for the next hot industry.

Disclosure: Author didn't own any of the above at the time the article was written.

By Stockerblog.com

Running in place it seems as the Dow gained 18 points on light volume.  The advance/declines were about even.  Sold off early and then came back throughout the trading day.  The summation index continues to the upside.  I expected some weakness early this week and we may have seen it this morning.  I would expect a pretty good move to the upside within the next 2 days.  It is expiration week.  GE was flat on the day with light volume.  My January GE calls are still slightly positive.  It looks like I'll be holding them into the earnings report on Friday.  We still need to get through the downtrend line from last October.  Hasn't happened yet.  Gold rose $8 on the futures as the US dollar was flat today.  The XAU lost 3/4.  ABX, GG and NEM had fractional moves one way or the other on light volume.  I'm leaving in the open order for the ABX February calls.  I'll need to see some weakness in ABX for this order to be filled.  Mentally I'm feeling OK.  Still overbought on the stock indices.  Regardless, my technical work shows that we will most likely see a pretty good upside move within the next couple of days.  I could be wrong.  ABX is stalling at its 50 day moving average.  A move above this line would be a positive sign.  4 days left in the January option cycle.  We'll keep an eye on what transpires overnight and go from there.   

Top Technology Short Squeeze Plays for Stock Traders

A short squeeze takes place when an excessive amount of short sellers have shorted a stock, the stock comes out with good news, and the price of the stock spikes by an excessive amount, because all the short sellers have to scramble to cover their positions by buying in their shares, often due to the fact that they are getting margin calls.

Potential short squeeze plays have several metrics for comparison purposes. One of the most popular metrics is the Short Interest Ratio, also known as the Days to Cover. What this measures is the number of days it would take the short sellers to cover their positions based on the average daily trading volume. The longer it would take to cover, the higher the ratio. Another analysis is the shares short as a percentage of float. The higher the percentage, the greater the chance that an upside shock would drive up the price.

The technology sector has many short squeeze plays to choose from. Here are some examples. Shown is the name of the company and the short interest ratio. in other words the number of days it would take the short sellers to cover their positions based on recent volume.

Carbonite (CARB) 34.5

Ebix (EBIX) 30.4

Opentable (OPEN) 19.8

Skullcandy (SKUL) 15.4

Ubiquiti Networks (UBNT) 14.5

Magicjack Vocaltec (CALL) 10.3

GT Advanced Tech (GTAT) 8.2

The above are worth checking for the possibility of any positive news as potential trades.

If you like interesting stock lists like this, check out the many free stock lists at WallStreetNewsNetwork.com.

Disclosure: Author didn't own any of the above at the time the article was written.

The Lost Generation Palindrome Video

This video has nothing to do with stocks or investments but it is an interesting palindrome (forwards backwards) video. You need to watch at least more than half the video to see why.

Income Tax Filing Deadlines

Income Tax Filing Deadlines

Excerpted from J.K. Lasser's Your Income Tax 2013: For Preparing Your 2012 Tax Return

January 15, 2013 - Pay the balance of your 2012 estimated tax. If you do not meet this date, you may avoid an estimated tax penalty for the last quarter by filing your 2012 return and paying the balance due by January 31,2013.

Farmers and fishermen: File your single 2012 estimated tax payment by this date. If you do not, you may still avoid an estimated tax penalty by filing a final tax return and paying the full tax by March 1, 2013.

January 31, 2013 - Make sure you have received a Form W-2 from each employer for whom you worked in 2012.

April 15, 2013 - File your 2012 tax return and pay the balance of your tax. If you cannot meet the April 15 deadline, you may obtain an automatic six-month filing extension by filing Form 4868 (on paper or electronically). However, even if you get an extension, interest will still be charged for taxes not paid by April 15, and late payment penalties will be imposed unless at least 90% of your tax liability is paid by this date or you otherwise show reasonable cause. If you cannot pay the full amount of tax you owe when you file your return, you can file Form 9465 to request an installment payment arrangement.

If on this date you are a U.S. citizen or resident living and working outside the U.S. or Puerto Rico, or in military service outside the U.S. or Puerto Rico, you have an automatic two-month filing extension until June 17, 2013.

Pay the first installment of your 2013 estimated tax by this date.

June 17, 2013 - Pay the second installment of your 2013 estimated tax. You may amend your estimate at this time.

If on April 15 you were a U.S. citizen or resident living and working outside the U.S. or Puerto Rico, or in military service outside the U.S. or Puerto Rico, file your 2012 return and pay the balance due. You may obtain an additional four-month filing extension until October 15, 2013, by filing Form 4868.

If you are a nonresident alien who did not have tax withheld from your wages, file Form 1040NR by this date and pay the balance due.

September 16, 2013 - Pay the third installment of your 2013 estimated tax. You may amend your estimate at this time.

October 15, 2013 - File your 2012 return if you received an automatic six-month filing extension using Form 4868. Also file your 2012 return and pay the balance due if on April 15 you were a U.S. citizen or resident living and working outside the U.S. or Puerto Rico, or in military service outside the U.S. or Puerto Rico, and by June 17 you qualified for an additional four-month extension by filing Form 4868.

December 31, 2013 - If self-employed, this is the last day to set up a Keogh plan for 2013.

January 15, 2014 - Pay the balance of your 2013 estimated tax.

April 15, 2014 - File your 2013 return and pay the balance of your tax. Pay the first installment of your 2014 estimated tax by this date.

15th day of the 4th month after the fiscal year ends - File your fiscal year return and pay the balance of the tax due. If you cannot meet the filing deadline, apply for an automatic four-month filing extension on Form 4868.

Excerpted with permission of the publisher, Wiley, from J.K. Lasser's Your Income Tax 2013: For Preparing Your 2012 Tax Return. Copyright © 2012 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved. This book is available at Amazon and all book sellers.

A scant higher drift as the Dow gained 17 points on light volume.  The advance/declines were slightly positive.  Just marking time here or so it seems.  We opened lower and spent the rest of the session getting back to break even.  I'm looking for weakness at the beginning of next week, followed by some type of move higher.  That's my guess for now.  With only a week to go in the January option cycle the risk obviously increases.  I still may try the OEX calls if conditions come up ideal.  They rarely do.  GE lost a few cents and the volume was average.  Still can't get through the down trend line on a daily basis.  If we do, my GE calls will be profitable.  If we don't, the opposite.  Earnings on expiration Friday.  Gold fell today, off $17 on the futures despite weakness in the US dollar.  This relationship continues to be dysfunctional.  I'm not sure what it means but it isn't bullish for gold.  At some point it will change but it has been a while.  The gold shares are outperforming gold itself here.  However in this environment that means they are just going down less.  The XAU dipped 1/4 today.  ABX, GG and NEM all had fractional losses.  The volume was light to average.  I replaced my open order for the February ABX calls with the original trade, moving to a lower strike price.  I may simply try and enter this position on Monday if we see some weakness.  Mentally I'm feeling OK.  The stock indices are overbought and staying there.  The summation index continues higher.  It's my belief that we'll hold up into the expiration and then we'll see what happens after that.  I'll probably hold the GE trade into the earnings report but that could change if GE rallies next week.  Gold continues to frustrate as it hovers along its 200 day moving average at $1660.  This has gone on for 3 weeks.  It will be decided which way we are going sooner or later.  I'm still inclined to try the gold share calls again.  That's it for this week.  Friday afternoon and time for a break. 

Stocks Going Ex Dividend the Fourth Week of January

  Here is our latest update on the stock trading technique called 'Buying Dividends'. This is the process of buying stocks before the ex dividend date and selling the stock shortly after the ex date at about the same price, yet still being entitled to the dividend. This technique generally works only in bull markets. In flat or choppy markets, you have to be extremely careful, and may need to avoid the technique during those times.

In order to be entitled to the dividend, you have to buy the stock before the ex-dividend date, and you can't sell the stock until after the ex date. The actual dividend may not be paid for another few weeks. WallStreetNewsNetwork.com has compiled a downloadable and sortable list of the stocks going ex dividend during the next week or two. The list contains many dividend paying companies, all with market caps over $500 million, and yields over 2%. Here are a few examples showing the stock symbol, the ex-dividend date, the yield, and the market capitalization.

The Clorox Company (CLX) 1/18/2013 3.5% $9.6B

Putnam Municipal Opportunities Trust (PMO) 1/22/2013 5.1% $561.6M

Putnam Premier Income Trust (PPT) 1/22/2013 5.9% $755.8M

Royal Bank of Canada (RY) 1/22/2013 4.0% $87.9B

Alpine Global Premier Properties Fund (AWP) 1/22/2013 8.3% $762.9M

The additional ex-dividend stocks can be found at wsnn.com. (If you have been to the website before, and the latest link doesn't show up, you may have to empty your cache.) If you like dividend stocks, you should check out the high yield utility stocks and the Monthly Dividend Stocks at WallStreetNewsNetwork.com or WSNN.com.

Dividend definitions:

Declaration date: the day that the company declares that there is going to be an upcoming dividend.

Ex-dividend date: the day on which if you buy the stock, you would not be entitled to that particular dividend; or the first day on which a shareholder can sell the shares and still be entitled to the dividend.

Monthly Dividend Stock List
Record date: the day when you must be on the company's books as a shareholder to receive the dividend. The ex-dividend date is normally set for stocks two business days before the record date.

Payment date: the day on which the dividend payment is actually made, which can be as long at two months after the ex date.


Don't forget to reconfirm the ex-dividend date with the company before implementing this technique.

Disclosure: Author did not own any of the above at the time the article was written.

By Stockerblog.com

The Dow moved to a new high for the year as it gained 80 points on good volume.  The advance/declines were almost 2 to 1 positive again.  I expected more consolidation before moving higher but that is not the case.  The summation index continues to the upside.  It looks like it is probably too late to try the OEX calls for January.  Unless we see a sharp pullback, I most likely will not attempt that trade.  We are on the way to being both short and medium term overbought on the stock indices but aren't there yet.  GE was up 1/4 on light volume.  My GE January calls are now slightly in the black.  If we can get through the down trend line that has been in effect since October on good volume, I'd expect GE to approach $22 in a hurry.  That line is around the 21.45 level.  I'm still likely to hold onto this trade into the earnings on expiration Friday, unless we run up before that report.  Gold had a good day as the US dollar got crushed.  Talk out of Europe sent the euro higher and the dollar lower.  The gold futures rose $22.  The XAU gained 3 3/4.  ABX up 7/8, GG higher by 1 1/2 and NEM up a buck.  Volume was average for the gold shares.  This could finally be the start of an extended move higher for the gold shares but it hasn't happened yet.  I canceled my open order for the February ABX calls and replaced it at a higher strike price since the premiums moved away from my previous order.  I may have to adjust as we move forward and I also may already be too late.  Mentally I'm feeling OK.  The stock indexes continue higher and I expect that to be the case into next weeks expiration.  The over the counter issues lagged today, so maybe we will see some backing and filling in the next couple of days.  That's just a guess as usual.  Gold finally moved in tandem with weakness in the US dollar, so perhaps the normal inverse relationship will be back in play with these two.  A weaker dollar would also be supportive to higher equity prices as well.  We'll see how we close out the week tomorrow.   

How to Invest Like Al Gore and Become Richer than Romney

By now, you have probably seen several news sources report how former Vice President of the United States Al Gore, has sold his television network, Current TV, to Al Jazeera recently for $500 million. His share is reportedly one fifth of that, $100 million. Several years ago, he started an investment company called Generation Investment Management with David Blood, a former executive with Goldman Sachs. Gore's wealth has grown from about $2 million twelve years ago to $300 million now, according to Forbes Magazine, which works out to an average annual return of about 57%. (The return was so high that the Excel RATE function couldn't come up with an answer so I had to manually calculate in in Excel.)

Have you heard of these stocks: Danaher (DHR), Henry Schein (HSIC), or Waters (WAT)? If not, maybe you should find out more about them. They are the three largest holdings of Al Gore's investment company according to the free list of Al Gore stocks at WallStreetNewsNetwork.com.

Danaher Corporation, based in Washington DC, is a producer and and marketer of professional, medical, industrial, and other products for the environmental, testing, life sciences, dental, and equipment manufacturing industries. The stock trades at 18 times trailing earnings and 17 times forward earnings. The earnings for the latest reported quarter were up 4.8% on essentially flat revenues. The company pays a small dividend of 0.2%.

Henry Schein, Inc. is a Melville, New York distributor of healthcare products and services, such as dental products, branded and generic pharmaceuticals, vaccines, and surgical products. The stock has a trailing price to earnings ratio of 20 and a forward PE of 17. Quarterly revenues were up 5.7% with earnings up 5.2%. The stock does not pay a dividend.

Waters Corporation is a Milford, Massachusetts manufacturer of high performance liquid chromatography, ultra performance liquid chromatography, and mass spectrometry technology systems. Earnings for the latest quarter were down 2.1% on a 1% drop in sales.

For a list of all the top Al Gore stocks, which includes over half a dozen which pay dividends, go to WallStreetNewsNetwork.com.

Disclosure: Author didn't own any of the above at the time the article was written.

By Stockerblog.com

Back to the upside today as the Dow gained 61 points on light volume.  The advance/declines were 2 to 1 positive.  I think that we are still in a consolidation mode until next week.  I would expect a bit more weakness moving forward before we see another leg up.  I'm still looking at getting some OEX January calls at the beginning of next week.  The summation index is moving higher.  GE was up a bit on light volume.  My GE January calls are about break even.  I'll be holding this trade into next week, perhaps all the way to the earnings report at the end of next week.  Gold was off $6 on the futures as the US dollar was higher today.  The XAU fell 3/4.  ABX, GG and NEM moved fractionally one way or the other on what passes for average volume these days.  Still not much going on in the gold market.  I've left in the open order for the ABX February calls.  Mentally I'm feeling OK.  The markets are actually pretty quiet so far this week.  Not really a lot of movement and the VIX is very low.  Hopefully we aren't getting too complacent because that could eventually lead to volatility.  I'm sticking with the game plan in place for now.  Hold the GE calls and attempt some OEX calls early next week.  I'm leaving the gold trade order out there in case we see some more weakness in ABX.  That potential trade also has a lot more time on it if filled.  We'll see what Thursdays trading brings.

Top Biotech Short Squeeze Plays for Stock Traders

A short squeeze takes place when an excessive amount of short sellers have shorted a stock, the stock comes out with good news, and the price of the stock spikes by an excessive amount, because all the short sellers have to scramble to cover their positions by buying in their shares, often due to the fact that they are getting margin calls.

Potential short squeeze plays have several metrics for comparison purposes. One of the most popular metrics is the Short Interest Ratio, also known as the Days to Cover. What this measures is the number of days it would take the short sellers to cover their positions based on the average daily trading volume. The longer it would take to cover, the higher the ratio. Another analysis is the shares short as a percentage of float. The higher the percentage, the greater the chance that an upside shock would drive up the price.

One industry group that has a lot of volatility and is closely followed by stock traders is the biotech/pharmaceutical/healthcare sector. Many of these stocks have high short interest ratios. One example is Spectrum Pharmaceuticals (SPPI) which has about 59% of the shares short and a short interest ratio of 27. This means that if all the short sellers wanted to cover, it would take 27 days to do so based on the number of shares traded each day. The stock has a trailing and forward price to earnings ratio of 8, and earnings for the latest reported quarter of 5.2% on a 35.3% rise in revenues. It has 2.46 in cash per share. The company's primary products are ZEVALIN, a cancer therapy, and FUSILEV for patients with osteosarcoma.

Another short interest squeeze candidate Questcor Pharmaceuticals (QCOR) with a short interest ratio of 17. Also, 52.5% of the float is short. The stock trades at 10.5 times trailing earnings and 6.8 times forward earnings. Earnings for the latest reported quarter were up a substantial 143.7% on a 134.6% increase in sales. The company is a provider of prescription drugs for the treatment of multiple sclerosis, nephrotic syndrome, and infantile spasms.

Other heavily shorted healthcare stocks include Bio-Reference Laboratories (BRLI) with a short interest ratio of 25, Sequenom (SQNM) with a ratio of 12.4, and Dendreon (DNDN) at 9.7.

If you like interesting stock lists like this, check out the many free stock lists at WallStreetNewsNetwork.com.

Disclosure: Author didn't own any of the above at the time the article was written.

Another loser today as the Dow fell 55 points on light volume.  The advance/declines were about even.  Weakness or sideways action is to be expected this week.  I'm sticking with that thesis for now.  I still think expiration week will be positive.  I'll be looking at the OEX January calls later this week or on Monday for purchase to be held into the end of expiration week.  The summation index is still heading up.  GE was off 1/4 on light volume.  It is trying to hold at the 50 day moving average.  My open order for the GE January calls was filled in the morning.  They are showing a slight loss.  8 days to go in the January option cycle.  I'll probably hold onto these calls until next week.  Earnings due on expiration Friday.  Gold rose $15 on the futures and the US dollar was up a bit as well.  The XAU only managed a gain of 1/3 though.  ABX off 5/8, GG higher by 7/8 and NEM up 1/2.  Volume was OK for the gold shares.  I still have the open order in for the February ABX calls.  It might get filled tomorrow if weakness persists in ABX.  I'm not exactly sure if this trade is worth doing since gold has been dead money for so long.  But I guess I'm willing to try it one more time.  Mentally I'm feeling OK.  I still think we are in a digestion period from the recent huge gains in the stock indices.  The rally has been led by the small cap stocks and that implies higher equity prices moving forward.  The first trade of the year has been filled with the January GE calls.  We'll see what happens.  Gold is trying to hold at its 200 day moving average at around $1660.  Whether or not it does will determine how any gold share trade does in the near future.  We'll keep an eye on the markets overnight and take it from there.

Stocks Going Ex Dividend the Third Week of January 2013

  Here is our latest update on the stock trading technique called 'Buying Dividends'. This is the process of buying stocks before the ex dividend date and selling the stock shortly after the ex date at about the same price, yet still being entitled to the dividend. This technique generally works only in bull markets. In flat or choppy markets, you have to be extremely careful, and may need to avoid the technique during those times.

In order to be entitled to the dividend, you have to buy the stock before the ex-dividend date, and you can't sell the stock until after the ex date. The actual dividend may not be paid for another few weeks. WallStreetNewsNetwork.com has compiled a downloadable and sortable list of the stocks going ex dividend during the next week or two. The list contains many dividend paying companies, all with market caps over $500 million, and yields over 2%. Here are a few examples showing the stock symbol, the ex-dividend date, the yield, and the market capitalization.

The Gabelli Dividend & Income Trust (GDV) 1/14/2013 5.9% $1.3B

Saul Centers Inc (BFS) 1/15/2013 3.5% $834.4M

McGrath RentCorp (MGRC) 1/15/2013 3.3% $719.5M

Cracker Barrel Old Country Store, Inc. (CBRL) 1/16/2013 3.1% $1.5B

Enersis S.A. ADR (ENI) 1/16/2013 3.2% $11.8B

Empresa Nacional de Electricidad ADR (EOC) 1/16/2013 3.1% $13.2B

The Clorox Company (CLX) 1/18/2013 3.5% $9.6B

The additional ex-dividend stocks can be found at wsnn.com. (If you have been to the website before, and the latest link doesn't show up, you may have to empty your cache.) If you like dividend stocks, you should check out the high yield utility stocks and the Monthly Dividend Stocks at WallStreetNewsNetwork.com or WSNN.com.

Dividend definitions:

Declaration date: the day that the company declares that there is going to be an upcoming dividend.

Ex-dividend date: the day on which if you buy the stock, you would not be entitled to that particular dividend; or the first day on which a shareholder can sell the shares and still be entitled to the dividend.

Monthly Dividend Stock List
Record date: the day when you must be on the company's books as a shareholder to receive the dividend. The ex-dividend date is normally set for stocks two business days before the record date.

Payment date: the day on which the dividend payment is actually made, which can be as long at two months after the ex date.


Don't forget to reconfirm the ex-dividend date with the company before implementing this technique.

Disclosure: Author did not own any of the above at the time the article was written.

By Stockerblog.com