Navivest Stocks and Options Blog

Consol Energy Shares Are A Buy

Mar 30, 2010 Trading Idea

The following is a sample from the Navivest Equity Trader service.

Navivest Equity Trader

03/30/10

Consol Energy (CNX) $42.35

Shares of Consol Energy have been falling for two weeks, from around $54 on March 12, to $42 today. The shares seemed to have bottomed out and could start rebounding.

Buy Consol Energy here between $41.80 and $42.60.

===================================================

Navivest provides subscription-based trading recommendation services. For more info on our services, visit our website at http://www.navivest.com

Tags: consol energy

Trade Of The Day – Commodity Stocks

Mar 30, 2010 Uncategorized

With other major currencies beginning to recover against the U.S Dollar, traders might do well to look at commodity stocks. On Monday, with the news that the European Union had reached an agreement over Greece, the Euro climbed against the dollar and that sent commodity prices rallying, resulting in big one day gains in copper, gold, coal and other commodity stocks. We would look for more of the same today.

If stock market futures are up throughout the morning, the stock market opens to the upside and the dollar is down against the Euro, buy commodity related stocks at the open. Our two favorites right now are Freeport McMoRan (FCX), a gold and copper miner and Bucyrus International (BUCY), which is actually a mining equipment manufacturer.

Both stocks have options on them and for traders looking to maximize profits, buying at the money or in the money calls could be the way to go. We would want to see FCX break above $84, else do not enter into the trade. If the broader markets are doing well, we would also look at Caterpillar (CAT).

Once in, look to take very quick profits. While this slow but steady rally has been very impressive and looks to continue, we are severely overbought and could see a pull back on technicals any day now. There is also the risk that we could get more bad news that sends the markets reeling. So take early profits and trade with caution.

Navivest provides stock and options trading recommendation services. More info on our services can be found here.

Tags: bucyrus international, commodity stocks, freeport mcmoran

37% 1 Day Gain In Freeport McMoRan

Mar 29, 2010 Options, Trading Idea

This morning, with the Dow Jones Industrials opening up about 40 points, which was even higher than pre-market indicators were suggesting, it looked like we would be getting yet another up day in stocks.

With the bullish signal, we sent out an alert at 9:49 AM to subscribers of our Options Capitalist service, with a recommendation to buy the Freeport McMoRan (FCX) Apil 80 calls. We got in at $2.90, when the stock was up $1.75 on the day. We just sent out an exit alert at 2:48 PM, after the calls hit $3.90.

The stock, which is now up $3.73 to $82.90 on the day, a further $0.30 gain from where we exited, is currently the second best performer among S&P 500 stocks, behind Intuitive Surgical (ISRG), which is gaining $5.65 to $347.65.

On a technical basis, we may see a bit more upside, but unless the broader stock market makes some big moves, or there is a huge gain in the dollar, we should see some resistance at $84. So depending on market fundamentals in the next couple days, we may actually try to make this a round trip and buy puts in Freeport McMoRan this week, in a bid to capture more profits on a downside move in the stock.

Tags: dow jones, FCX, freeport mcmoran, intuitive surgical, ISRG

Stock Of The Day – inVentiv Health

Mar 29, 2010 Company News, Mergers & Acquisition

Shares of inVentiv Health (VTIV), which provides services to biotech and phamaceutical companies, rose $2.91 to $20.06 on Friday, on the company’s announcement that it had been approached by financial investors regarding a possible acquisition of the company.

The stock, which trades an average of 204,000 shares, traded 2.3 million shares on Friday.

Tags: inventiv health, merger acquisition

Stock To Watch – Arca Biopharma

Mar 28, 2010 Company News, Stock to watch

Arca Biopharama (ABIO), which develops genetically-targeted therapies for heart failure and other cardiovascular diseases, saw its shares rally an incredible 210% on Friday, on a $5.57 move to $8.22.

The stock should continue the rally this week and provide some nice gains for traders getting into the stock.

The company put out a press release on Friday March 26, saying it had recieved a Notice of Allowance from the United States Patent office for its patent application entitled “Methods for Treatment with Bucindolol Based on Genetic Targeting.”

The Notice of Allowance basically means the patent, which provides coverage for methods of treating heart failure patients with bucindolol based on genetic testing, will be issued.

The company is currently developing a bucindolol hydrochloride based treatment for chronic heart failure under the trade name Gencaro.

Tags: arca biopharma

MF Global Shares Get Boost From Jon Corzine

Mar 24, 2010 Company News

Shares of MF Global (MF), which provides execution and clearing services for exchange-traded and over-the-counter derivative products, got a boost today, after it was announced yesterday evening that former NJ governor Jon Corzine has been appointed the company’s Chairman and CEO.

Corzine used to run Goldman Sachs (GS) from 1994 to 1999 and in 2000, became a U.S Senator from NJ. He then ran for and became the governor of NJ in 2006. He lost that job in November of last year to republican Christopher Christie.

MF Global was in the news for all the wrong reasons in 2008. The company’s stock started the year at $31.16, but soon went into a free fall after it was revealed that a rogue trader had lost $141 million making unauthorized trade. The shares shed over 80% of their value and by the end of the year, were trading under $2.

On the Corzine news, the stock gained $0.76 to $8.08 for a 10.38% gain. The shares hit a high of $8.60 intraday.

Tags: jon corzine, mf global

IPO Market Shows Signs Of Life

Mar 24, 2010 IPOs, Stock to watch

Three initial public offerings started trading today and all three turned in a good performance and closed above their offering price.

The first day performance of the new stocks, provided encouragement for some traders who took it as a sign that we will continue to see the upward moves we have been seeing in the overall market.

First Interstate BancSystem (FIBK) of Billings, Montana, is a $7.1 billion financial holding company that owns 72 bank branches in Montana, Wyoming, and South Dakota.

The company was initially looking to sell 8.7 million shares in the $14-$16 range, but with the high demand, priced 10 million shares at $14.50. The stock opened at $16, up $1.50 from the offering price and closed at $15.70.

Calix (CALX), a networking equipment manufacturer, which bills itself as “The Largest Communications Equipment Supplier Focused Solely on Access” priced 6.3 million shares at $13, which was at the higher end of the expected $11-$13 range. The stock opened at $17, but closed of the highs at $15.10.

Semiconductor company Maxlinear (MXL) priced 6.4 million shares at $14, up from an expected range of $11 to $13. The shares ended their first day of trading at $18.78.

Tags: calix, first interstate bank, max linear

Amazon Extends Downward Trend

Mar 24, 2010 Technical Analysis, Trading Idea

On February 26, Amazon (AMZN), which had traded sideways since the first of February, began a sustained upward climb that saw the stock close higher everyday but one through March 11.

On March 11, the stock closed at $133.58. The next day, the stock hit a high of $134.20, but closed at $131.82, a negative signal, considering the recent bull run. During the trading day on March 12, we sent out an alert to subscribers of The Options Capitalist, that they purchase the April 130 puts as we felt the stock had hit a near term top.

Since then, the stock has slowly trended downwards, closing today at $128.04.

We would have liked to see the stock close below $128, which would have been a breakdown of near-term support. If the stock holds above $128 tomorrow, we will be closing out the position.

With a hold above $128, Amazon could rebound a bit although we do advocate caution. The market is still due for a correction and the Greece story keeps getting worse and now Portugal is coming to the forefront with its problems.

Tags: amazon, amzn

The Google Baidu Trade

Mar 24, 2010 Trading Idea

Google (GOOG) shares have pulled back since January 12 of this year, when the company announced that it had been the target of sophisticated hacking attacks in China. After the attacks, Google announced that it could no longer censor its results in China, as was required of it by the Chinese government and speculation arose that the company might exit the China market. The company went into negotiations with China to see if this could be facilitated, to no avail.

On Tuesday, March 23, the company announced that it was now redirecting traffic to its Chinese website google.cn, to its Hong Kong website. One can expect that the Chinese government won’t sit by idly, while Chinese users of Google access uncensored content on the internet. So we can probbably expect that access from mainland China to the google.com.hk site will soon be blocked. There is also the risk that most of Google’s Chinese advertisers will soon stop advertising on google.cn,, so as not to upset their government. Should that happen, we can expect further drops in Google shares.

Google’s Chinese competitor Baidu (BIDU), which was already running circles around Google in the Chinese market, with a 57% market share is poised to immediately reap the benefits if Google no longer operates in China. As such, we might soon see some analyst upgrade of Baidu’s shares.

On January 11, Google closed at $601.11, while Baidu closed at $400.57. Today, Google is at $541.33, while Baidu is at $610.42 and climbing.

The Trade:

Traders could put on a pair trade and short Google shares, while going long Baidu. We will probably see divergent moves in both stocks in the very near term. A pair trade helps to minimize risk and if it works as planned, increases the profit potential. Alternatively, a better trade would be to just buy Baidu shares, since that would cost less upfront. Traders could use margin to either make the trade more affordable, or just to increase the number of shares being purchased.

For more trading ideas, visit the Navivest website at http://www.navivest.com

Tags: baidu, google

Free Trade Recommendation – Sell ATI Calls

Mar 23, 2010 Options, Trading Idea

The following trade is from the latest issue (03/23/10) of Navivest Options Writer.

Navivest Options Writer

03/23/10

Allegheny Technologies (ATI) – $54.03

ATI shares have had a good run since the last week of February. The stock is now seriously overbought and we should see some correction or at the very least, some sideways trading.

Sell the Allegheny Technologies May 2010 60 calls. They are currently asking $1.60. Enter here between $1.50 and $1.70.

Navivest

for mor information on our subscription based services, visit the Navivest website at http://www.navivest.com.

Tags: allegheny technologies, call writer, option writer, sell options