Kind of a mixed bag today as the Dow fell 17 points on average volume.  The advance/declines were negative.  The overall market was stronger than the Dow.  We were much lower for most of the day but started to come back in the last 2 hours of the trading session.  Short term oversold on the stock indices here with a possible positive divergence on the daily RSI indicator.  The European markets are closed both today and tomorrow.  We should see some type of bounce here tomorrow.  GE fell 3/8 and has broken through the last near term support.  Volume was good.  Todays action would be considered a negative for the overall market going forward if GE is going to be a proxy for the stock indexes.  I'm still looking at the July calls here but simply keep lowering the strike price.  Perhaps today was the time to buy the calls but with no underlying support on the daily charts, I stayed on the sidelines.  Gold fell $8 on the futures but came back in the aftermarket.  The US dollar was weaker today.  The XAU was lower early but came back to post a gain of almost 2 points.  ABX and GG had fractional gains, while NEM rose 1 1/4.  Volume was pretty good.  I placed an order for some June GG calls.  GG has yet to break its down trend line on the daily charts that goes back to the beginning of March.  We are right on the cusp of doing so though.  I'm leaving the order open but most likely I have simply missed the opportunity to profit from the current rise in the gold shares.  The gold shares are short term overbought now.  Mentally I'm doing OK.  We did get some follow through to the downside today in the stock indices but began to fight our way back.  I'm expecting higher prices tomorrow.  I'll consider the July GE trade tonight.  Money continues to flow into the gold shares and this is a trend that I expect to continue for a while.  Declines, if we see any, can be bought.  Not a lot of economic data out this week but we do have a meeting in Europe and Bernanke testifies before Congress on Thursday.  We'll see what tomorrow brings.

Japanese Squat Toilets May Increase Stock Price

A large shareholder of stock in Nomura Holdings, Inc. (NMR) has come up with an interesting and unusual shareholder proposal. He is suggesting that all the company's toilets be replaced with the Japanese squat style toilets. He believes that it will help the executives strengthen their lower bodies and help them 'hunker down.' He said that it will help the company stock price move above four digits.

Nomura is the Tokyo, Japan based financial services company. The stock trades for about $3 a share or less than 250 yen per share.

Electrify Your Portfolio with High Yield Electric Utilities

Did you know that electricity was originally 'discovered' through electric fish back in 2750 BC in Egypt? The word 'electricus' was coined by William Gilbert at the beginning of the 17th century, a British scientist who analyzed the attraction of two objects when rubbed together. The inventor of the incandescent light bulb was not Thomas Edison, but Sir Humphry Davy, who used a platinum filament.

A great way to invest in electricity is through electric utilities. The yields on these utilities range from 3.0% to above 7.0%, based on the free list of electric utility stocks at WallStreetNewsNetwork.com. There are over 30 different stocks that are available for investing.

One of the most diverse utilities, in terms of energy sources is Hawaiian Electric Industries (HE). This is one of the leading utilities involved in the utilization of renewable energy sources for the generation of electricity; the company even uses sugarcane waste to generate electricity. The other sources include wind, solar, photovoltaic, geothermal, wave, hydroelectric, municipal waste, and other biofuels. The latest reported quarterly earnings ending March 31 were up over 34.6% on a 14.7% increase in revenues. The stock has a 4.5% yield and trades at 16 times forward earnings.

Dominion Resources (D) yields 4.1% and trades at 15 times earnings. Earnings for the latest quarter were up 3%, however revenues were down almost 14%. This Richmond, Virginia based company provides electricity to customers in Virginia and North Carolina.

Another high yield electric utility is Ameren Corporation (AEE), which serves customers in Missouri and Illinois. The stock trades at 17 times forward earnings and pays a nice yield of 5.0%. This St. Louis based company generates its electricity from coal, nuclear, gas, and hydroelectric sources.

For a list of over 30 high yield electric utility stocks, which can be downloaded, sorted, and updated, go to WallStreetNewsNetwork.com.

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

 By Stockerblog.com

Don't Forget: The Warren Buffett Lunch Auction Starts Tomorrow

Here's your chance to sit down to lunch with Warren Buffett, head of Berkshire Hathaway (BRK-A) (BRK-B), and get his investing advice. You now have the opportunity to bid on the lunch through eBay (EBAY). In the past, these auctions have had bidding in excess of a million dollars.
The auction will run from June 3 through June 8, closing at 7:30pm. Proceeds go towards the GLIDE Foundation in San Francisco. The starting bid will be $25,000 and you must pre-qualify for the auction.
For a free list of Warren Buffett stocks, go to WallStreetNewsNetwork.com

Well, I could not have been more wrong.  I felt that the level of bearishness was just too high and that stock prices would at least stabilize if not move higher.  I thought that the time had already passed for a market collapse.  That certainly isn't happening.  The Dow fell 275 points today after a weaker than expected jobs report.  The advance/declines were 6 to 1 negative and volume was good.  Expect some follow through to the downside on Monday.  We might get a McClellan oscillator divergence by then but it may not mean anything.  Today did not have the climatic feel of a bottom but my take on things lately has been off anyway.  European problems weren't highlighted today and they haven't gone away.  I suppose the only plus for me here is that at least I'm not in any losing trades.  GE was off 1/2 on good volume.  I'm not so sure about the July calls here now.  I may go down a strike price but I will probably just sit things out for now.  Gold was the upside star of the day.  The futures gained almost $60 today.  The US dollar lost a bit of ground but not much considering the jobs number.  The flight to safety trade is on in a big way.  The XAU gained 8 7/8.  ABX up 2 7/8, GG and NEM  rose 3 1/8.  Volume was extremely heavy.  The gold shares are the place to be.  My order for ABX June calls was never filled and I have once again missed a major move.  I built a position in the May gold share calls when it should have been June.  But what can you do?  I may try the GG June calls because GG has lagged here and may play catch up.  Mentally I'm feeling pretty frustrated over missing out on the gold share calls.  Not to mention my read of the stock indexes here has been completely wrong.  I'm in a bad trading rut.  I am going to have to try and regroup over the weekend.  I'll be checking the charts and trying to come up with something for next week.  Money is moving into gold in a big way and that is now obvious.  Any pullbacks can be purchased.  The stock indices have broken down badly and we could be in the catch a falling knife phase.  Plenty to ponder in the next 2 days.  For now it's Friday afternoon and time for a break.

Latest Warren Buffett News for First Week of June

The latest news about Warren Buffett, head of Berkshire Hathaway (BRK-A) (BRK-B):

Why did Warren Buffett buy 63 newspapers?

5 Stocks to Buy to Be Like Buffett

Is Buffett Buying Back Shares Of Berkshire Hathaway?

David Einhorn Slams Ice Cream Cone In Warren Buffett’s Face

Stocks Warren Buffett and Prem Watsa Have in Common in 2012

For a Free list of Warren Buffett Berkshire Hathaway stocks, go to WallStreetNewsNetwork.com

Stocks Going Ex Dividend the Second Week of June 2012

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 market capitalization, the ex-dividend date and the yield.

Avery Dennison Corporation	AVY	$3.1B	6/4/2012	3.7%
Banco Bradesco SA (ADR)	BBD	$27.4B	6/4/2012	4.1%
STMicroelectronics N.V. (ADR)	STM	$4.5B	6/4/2012	7.9%
Cinemark Holdings, Inc.	CNK	$2.7B	6/4/2012	3.6%
BlackRock, Inc.	BLK	$30.8B	6/5/2012	3.5%

Gannett Co., Inc.	GCI	$3.0B	6/6/2012	6.2%
Genuine Parts Company	GPC	$9.7B	6/6/2012	3.2%
Kimberly Clark Corp	KMB	$31.2B	6/6/2012	3.7%
Potlatch Corporation	PCH	$1.2B	6/6/2012	4.3%
Public Service Enterprise Grou	PEG	$15.4B	6/6/2012	4.7%
PPL Corporation	PPL	$16.0B	6/6/2012	5.2%

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