Still in a sideways consolidation as the Dow fell 42 points on average volume.  The advance/declines were negative.  We sold off early again and tried to come back.  That has been the pattern here lately.  No real news out of the ECB meeting today.  There isn't much to trade on.  I'm still going to be a believer in higher prices into the end of next week.  The positive expiration week bias should be in effect.  But anything can and will happen in this game.  GE was up a touch on average volume.  The up trend line from the beginning of the year remains intact.  I'm still waiting for the $23 level for now.  Gold bounced around today and the futures finished the session off $7.  The US dollar had a strong day and has had a very good week.  This doesn't bode well for gold.  The XAU was up 1/4.  ABX and GG were flat on the trading day, while NEM rose 1/4.  Volume was light to average.  My February ABX calls are almost worthless as this trade was a loser from the beginning.  I obviously should have cut the loss earlier.  But mistakes are part of trading.  The ability to move on is a must.  Mentally I'm feeling OK.  I thought the stock indices were on the verge of breaking out of the consolidation but it didn't happen today.  I still feel we are going to break to the upside.  I could be wrong.  Gold remains dead money.  My ABX calls will most likely be total loss.  Fortunately there was not a lot of money in that trade.  We'll keep an eye on things overnight and see how the week finishes up tomorrow. 

The Dow finished the day with a gain of 7 points on average volume.  The advance/declines were positive.  We began the day with a good drop but managed to finish the session in the black.  That is a positive one day reversal.  We'll see if we get any follow through tomorrow.  Declines are being bought and that was the expected near term outlook.  The summation index has started to move sideways.  I'd still be looking for higher prices into the February option expiration.  GE was off a dime on average volume.  Sideways here as well.  I'm believing that it's a consolidation before we move to $23 here.  I could be wrong.  Gold was up $5 on the futures even with a stronger US dollar.  The XAU was up a point.  ABX, GG and NEM all had fractional gains on light volume.  Obviously, there is no interest at the moment in the gold shares.  My February ABX calls are losers and probably need to be sold this week before they expire worthless.  Mentally I'm feeling a bit tired.  I'm looking for another leg up on this extended stock index rally.  We are just about ready to break out higher in my opinion.  We've been moving sideways for about 8 days now.  Gold and the gold shares continue to disappoint.  That story remains the same.  We've got the ECB meeting in Europe tomorrow and that could be the catalyst for the next market move.  We'll keep an eye on that and see where it takes us.   

Back to the upside today as the Dow gained 99 points on average volume.  The advance/declines were about 3 to 1 positive.  I'm guessing this is going to be a sideways range before we once again move higher but that's just a guess as usual.  No technical reason for yesterdays decline or todays advance.  Momentum has stalled to the upside here for now.  New all time highs were set recently in some stock indices, so I'm assuming that the Dow will eventually follow here.  We're only a couple of hundred points away.  Declines should continue to be bought if my hypothesis is correct.  GE was up 1/4 on light volume.  The volume here was lacking and that is a near term concern.  Perhaps we will move sideways here before moving higher as well.  My February GE calls continue to show a profit.  Gold fell a bit today.  The futures were off 3 bucks.  The US dollar didn't do much today.  The XAU was off a touch.  ABX, GG and NEM moved fractionally one way or the other on light volume.  Still no love for the gold shares.  My February ABX calls are still solidly in the red and most likely will be the first losing trade of the year.  Mentally I'm feeling OK.  A volatile start to the week for the stock indexes.  Not a lot of economic data out this week.  There is a meeting in Europe later this week that could influence prices.  The ECB meeting may also affect the price of gold depending on what comes out of it.  I suppose I will wait for that before I sell the ABX calls at a loss.  The earnings for ABX are due out next Thursday but I don't even think a good number there will save this trade.  We'll see what tomorrow brings.

The first triple digit down day of 2013 today as the Dow fell 129 points on light volume.  The advance/declines were about 4 to 1 negative.  This should turn the summation index back down.  Sideways to lower should be in the near future for the stock indices.  I don't think this is the start of any type of protracted move down but I certainly don't know for sure.  I would expect buyers to show up at some point before long.  The multi-week up trend line from November is still intact.  GE was off 1/3 on average volume.  My GE February calls are still showing a profit.  GE is moving sideways and as long as it holds above $22.20, I think those calls will be OK.  But I could be wrong and often am.  Gold found some buyers today on the overall stock market decline.  The precious metal futures rose 5 bucks despite strength in the US dollar.  The XAU was up 1/8.  ABX, GG and NEM all had fractional gains.  The volume was average with the exception of ABX where it was heavy.  My February ABX calls are still solidly in the red with virtually no chance for success.  I really should dump them this week, since this trade is a loser and has only 9 days left to go.  Mentally I'm feeling OK.  The daily S&P 500 candlestick chart looks pretty bearish after todays action.  We'll have to see if there is any follow through to the downside tomorrow.  The market is long overdue to take a breather.  However is usually takes a bit of time to build some sort of top and we haven't seen that yet.  Gold is still dead money but it hasn't broken down through the 200 day moving average yet.  It also hasn't been able to get through the 50 day moving average to the upside yet either.  Perhaps which one breaks first will give us a clue as to the near term direction there.  The gold stocks remain lackluster.  We'll keep an eye on the overseas market action tonight and take it from there. 

Stocks Going Ex Dividend the Third 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.

H&R Real Estate Investment Trust (HRUFF) 2/11/2013 5.68% $4.7B

The Gabelli Dividend & Income Trust (GDV) 2/11/2013 5.50% $1.5B

Corus Entertainment Inc. (CJREF) 2/12/2013 4.07% $2.0B

Wisconsin Energy Corporation (WEC) 2/12/2013 3.53% $8.9B

ALLETE Inc (ALE) 2/13/2013 4.24% $1.7B

E I Du Pont De Nemours And Co (DD) 2/13/2013 3.58% $45.1B

Duke Energy Corp (DUK) 2/13/2013 4.51% $47.8B

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

3D Printing of Buildings on the Moon with Moondirt

It seems like every week, another new innovative report comes out about how 3D printer can be used. For example, 3D printers can be used to print human cartilage, automobiles, and even houses. Now the latest news. An architectural firm, Foster + Partners, has developed a process to print buildings on the moon with a 3D printer, using the earth that already exists on the moon.

3D stocks have been on a tear over the last twelve months. 3D Systems Corporation (DDD) was about 19 a share a year ago, eventually shooting above 70 recently, now dropping back to the mid 50's. Stratasys (SSYS) had a similar move.

For a free list of these and other companies involved in 3D printing, which can be downloaded, sorted, and updated, go to WallStreetNewsNetwork.com.

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

By Stockerblog.com

The momentum run continues as the Dow soared 149 points on good volume.  The advance/declines were 3 to 1 positive.  The employment report was the catalyst but the numbers were really nothing special.  It was an excuse to move things higher in my opinion.  But it doesn't matter what I think.  The market goes where it wants and there is nothing to stop this rally here.  The summation index should be back to the upside with todays action.  If what we saw in the stock indices was a pause this week, it certainly wasn't much of one.  So we'll see how much higher we can go.  GE was up 1/3 on average volume.  I'm still holding my February GE calls.  Perhaps I will wait for GE to reach $23.  Something to think about this weekend.  Even gold went up today.  The futures were higher by $8 as the US dollar lost some ground but the dollar finished well off of the lows for the day.  The XAU gained 2 1/4.  ABX, GG and NEM all had fractional gains on good to average volume.  My February ABX calls remain mired in the red.  2 weeks left there and it would take a minor miracle for this trade to turn positive.  Mentally I'm feeling a bit tired, did not sleep well.  The employment report has come and gone.  It is still up, up and away for the stock indexes as money continues to flow into equities.  The trend is higher until we get some kind of turnaround.  You cannot fight price.  The market can stay overbought for quite a while when we get this type of run.  I'm still thinking that we'll remain up into the February option expiration.  Gold remains the a laggard here.  As I've said before, even good news can't get a rally going there.  Eventually there will be a move higher but I've been looking for that for months.  Dead money.  I'll be checking the charts over the weekend to come up with a game plan for next week.  For now it's Friday afternoon and time for a rest.