With the CEO now out of the picture time to get back to work and stop this drilling insanity. Hmm maybe not thanks to a federal judge who has overturned the Obama administration’s 6-month moratorium on new deepwater offshore drilling projects. What's the reason for overturning the decision?
The Interior Department said it needed time to study the risks of deepwater drilling but U.S. District Judge Martin Feldman said in his ruling the Interior Department assumed that because one rig failed, all companies and rigs doing deepwater drilling pose an imminent danger.

Come on there has to be more to this story and thankfully there is. Like many judges presiding in the Gulf region, Feldman owns lots of energy stocks, including Transocean, Halliburton, and two of BP’s largest U.S. private shareholders — BlackRock (7.1%) and JP Morgan Chase (28.3%). Here’s a list of Feldman’s income in 2008.  How can he stop drilling when his heart is fully soaked in oil? He can't because Industry ties among federal judges are so widespread that they are beginning to endanger the courts’ ability to conduct routine business.

More great news!  We don't need to head to Italy to see the amazing Leaning Tower of Pisa because BP pipe is tilting more.
The Deepwater Horizon riser package that sits on the seabed a mile below the ocean surface weighs over 450 tons, including the 48-foot-tall failed blowout preventer. National Incident Commander Thad Allen announced that the riser package is tilting “10 or 12 degrees off perpendicular (On June 10 it was only tilting by about 2 or 3 degrees). Engineers and geologists fear the stack atop the well could tip over if the well integrity further degrades, leading to the “unlikely, but not implausible” scenario of “oil gushing through the sea floor.”

Hey you say, its unlikely and worst case scenario and BP will get things rolling before something worse happens. What else coulg go wrong? everything is already factored for the worse.
Oh wait! More Great news just arrived! Tropical Storm Alex comes to the rescue (or not) of BP.  The ECMWF model is the most aggressive in developing this system, taking it into the Gulf of Mexico as a hurricane next week. The NOGAPS model keeps the storm weak and farther south, predicting that 93L will bring heavy rains to northern Honduras as a tropical disturbance or tropical depression on Friday and Saturday. But either way this will be fun to watch.

Here is the graph of Invest93 (Tropical Storm Alex)

Check out some previous BP Posts:
BP Cares about the small people June 17
BP now stands for Bad Publicity June 14

Thats all Folks,
-K

I will be introducing a new Feature this week. A chart to accompany each call. The charts are 3 months and they show all signals that might have occurred during that time-frame.
Red Dots means SELL and Green dots signal BUY.  Simple enough? Great Let's get started.

Here's a look at SPY SPDR S&P 500 ETF Chart
(Click to Enlarge, Same goes for the rest of the charts)

Upgrades

IYR  iShares Dow Jones US Real Estate (ETF)
Upgraded to BUY on Apr 21 at $52.23

XLF  Financial Select Sector SPDR (ETF)
Upgraded to BUY on Apr 21 at $16.74

Downgrades

DRYS DryShips Inc.
downgraded to SELL on Apr 19 at $6.20

SRS ProShares UltraShort Real Estate (ETF)
downgraded to SELL on Apr 21 at $26.98

SKF ProShares UltraShort Financials (ETF)
downgraded to SELL on Apr 20 at $17.32

SMN ProShares UltraShort Basic Materls (ETF)
downgraded to SELL on Apr 23 at $32.37

VXX iPath S&P 500 VIX Short Term F
downgraded to SELL on Apr 20 at $18.27

Disclaimer:
I am only giving the latest signal for the stock mentioned. Use at your own risk and make sure to take the date into consideration. If you have been trading for a while you should have realized that relying solely on the strategies of others (think Analyst Opinions) will lead to failure so please only take the signals I provide just as another indicator in making your informed BUY or SELL decision. Now go Make some MONEY!

-K

I shorted State Street Corporation on April 13 because of gut feeling (always follow gut)  and sold April 20 via writing of May 49 strike calls.

Here is the chart with the entry and exit points. Here is the link to the option if you were wondering finance.yahoo.com/q?s=SPJ100522C00049000

I don't have time for the nightly recaps but I will leave you with an updated chart that you will like. (Click To Enlarge)

1 Week play = 80% Profit.  I took profits because you can never be too greedy especially when there's only $25 left on the plate.

Have a good night and make some money!

-K

Upgrades

SRS ProShares UltraShort Real Estate (ETF)
upgraded to BUY on Apr 16 at $29.18     (SELL Apr 05 at $28.60)

SKF ProShares UltraShort Financials (ETF)
upgraded to BUY on Apr 16 at $18.11   (SELL Feb 16 at $24.17)

SMN ProShares UltraShort Basic Materls (ETF)
upgraded to BUY on Apr 16 at $34.01  (SELL Mar 29 at $34.95)

VXX iPath S&P 500 VIX Short Term F
upgraded to BUY on Apr 16 at $19.97     (SELL Feb 11 at $31.40)

Downgrades

IYR  iShares Dow Jones US Real Estate (ETF)
downgraded to SELL on Apr 16 at $50.24    (BUY Apr 05 at $51.05)

XLF  Financial Select Sector SPDR (ETF)
downgraded to SELL on Apr 16 at $16.36     (BUY Feb 16 at $14.34)

Notes:
URE and UYG are off my list after the splits because of charting issues.

Disclaimer:
I am only giving the latest signal for the stock mentioned. Use at your own risk and make sure to take the date into consideration. If you have been trading for a while you should have realized that relying solely on the strategies of others (think Analyst Opinions) will lead to failure so please only take the signals I provide just as another indicator in making your informed BUY or SELL decision. Now go Make some MONEY!

Have a good weekend.

-K

I don't have time for the nightly recaps but I will leave you with an updated chart that you will like. (Click To Enlarge)

Have a good night and make some money!

-K

·         Credit card companies will release their mastertrust #s on Thurs and the latest short interest stats hit on Mon after the bell.

·         Congress comes back into session on Mon, w/the focus being on Dodd’s financial regulatory reform bill.

·         China’s president is traveling to the US on Mon for a nuclear summit in Washington (a meeting w/Obama is scheduled for Mon).  There could be more headlines on Iranian sanctions coming out of this Washington summit.      For the rest read Business Insider.

NBER: "Premature" to Call end of Recession
The Business Cycle Dating Committee of the National Bureau of Economic Research met at the organization’s headquarters in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on April 8, 2010. The committee reviewed the most recent data for all indicators relevant to the determination of a possible date of the trough in economic activity marking the end of the recession that began in December 2007. The trough date would identify the end of contraction and the beginning of expansion. Although most indicators have turned up, the committee decided that the determination of the trough date on the basis of current data would be premature. Many indicators are quite preliminary at this time and will be revised in coming months.   Read More at Calculated Risk

VIX plumbs new low as other indicators edge closer to extremes
The volatility index ($VIX) dropped to another new low on its series of waves down since late 2008/early 2009, meaning that investors shed yet more fear to place yet less value on premium protecting against volatility. This places it at risk of a snapback along with a stock market pullback. At the same time, other indicators (shown lower down) also tell the story of the market at the edge of cresting. For Charts go to ChartLines

Feature: Check out our new Live Chat.
We have added another tab to the top of the page and for now it includes a chat where even guests can join and have discussions. Chat will have at least a few people during market hours and the more the merrier as it catches on.  Lets have some lively conversations and stock sharing through it.  Check out our Live Chat.

Have a good night,

-K

Here is the 1.5Year chart showing a different story.
You see... Greece  did hit bottom at the same time as the entire market did as well back in March of 2009 BUT Greece topped out in October of 2009 and started its next leg down.

From March-October 2009 the index rose from 124.17 to 267.40!
Thats 143.23 point gain or 115% Gain in 8 months... and here we are complaining that our market has gone up 75% and is overdue for a correction.
Now as we can see from the chart below Greece then took a turn from 267.40 to 150.84 in February of 2010  (and it might be making a lower low coming up if the bailout saga isn't fully discounted yet) the 116.56 point drop from the October 2009 peak to the temporary February 2010 bottom is a 43.5% correction!

Back to my original question... now do you see why I said no to shorting the Greeks?  44% Correction has already occurred and even if there is another 150 points to the downside (another 50% or so) the risk reward is no longer there. I might be looking to buy up some Greek Gyros or Banks soon to play.  One such play is National Bank of Greece (NBG)
Here is the chart for NBG to compare to the entire index. Also Notice the Recent Volume (Click to Enlarge)

Thats all for tonight folks. Have a good night and a good trading day tomorrow.

-K

IYR upgraded to BUY on Apr 05 at $51.05     (SELL Mar 26 at $50.10)
URE upgraded to BUY on Apr 05 at $8.55   (SELL Mar 31 at $8.14)
JNK upgraded to BUY on Apr 08 at $39.61   (SELL Apr 1 at $39.51)
HYG upgraded to BUY on Apr 08 at $88.31      (SELL Mar 31 at $87.50)

SRS downgraded to SELL on Apr 05 at $5.72    (BUY Mar 31st at $6.04)
REW   downgraded to SELL on Apr 05 at $20.54     (BUY Apr 1st at $21.06)

If you've been following the current picks you might notice above that these are reversed calls from last week. you have to understand that there are fake-outs but I only update the page once a week.  On the works is a subscription plan where i would update it for members every 1-2 days if signals changed. For now let's enjoy some recent highlights.

Recent Highlights:

AAPL from 224.75 on March 22nd to 241.79 of close Friday.
DRYS from 5.88 on March 29th to 6.56 of close Friday.
DIG from 34.27 on March 30th to 37.07 of close Friday.

Disclaimer:
I am only giving the latest signal for the stock mentioned. Use at your own risk and make sure to take the date into consideration. If you have been trading for a while you should have realized that relying solely on the strategies of others (think Analyst Opinions) will lead to failure so please only take the signals I provide just as another indicator in making your informed BUY or SELL decision. Now go Make some MONEY!

Have a good weekend.

-K

Nightly News Links

US Economy:

Bank Failures and Puerto Rico (Calculated Risk)
It appears the FDIC is getting closer to taking action in Puerto Rico. Three banks on the island holding more than $20 billion of assets are in trouble ... It appears the remaining healthy banks in Puerto Rico don't have the capacity to acquire these troubled banks - and most banks not in Puerto Rico just aren't interested.

Crazy Expensive Stuff That's Helping Push Sotheby's Back Towards Nosebleed Heights (BID) (Business Insider)
Sotheby's (BID) is back and the sales are as hot as ever. The auction house, a viable predictor of major market turns, is officially telling us its back to pre-Lehman levels.
Many million dollar pieces are even fetching bids twice the amount predicted, as wealthy buyers appear more than ready to spend again.
Back on March 14th I wrote an article about (BID) as a Market Leading Indicator. Click here to check it out.

World Economy:

U.K. Produce Prices Soar in March (Econompic)
Oil prices rose above $86 a barrel Friday on a weaker dollar and after robust U.S. retail sales in March pointed to growing consumer demand in the world's biggest energy market. As can be seen, this jump is almost entirely due to the cost of energy (it has not yet fed into other goods / services) and elevated producer prices will be difficult for businesses to pass through to end consumers.

More Links on the Greece Fiasco:
1.Greek Short term debt spikes to 21%
2.Fitch Downgrades Greece To BBB-

Interesting Links:

10 Psychological, Valuation, Adapative Investing Rules (The Big Picture)
Everything cycles: Recessions turn into recoveries; bull markets give rise to bear markets. Every rally that there ever was or there ever will be eventually ends. Adapt to this truism or lose your money. - After a collapse (i.e., a 55% market sell off), most of the terrible structural news that existed before the collapse is reflected in prices. Let it go. (Plenty more good ones at the link above)

Southpark: Cartman as Jim Cramer of Facebook
Kudos to Matt Trivisonno for finding this video and finally some straight talk about China.
China is dependent on us, we're working in order to keep Chinese people working. The Chinese think that we are suckers and are laughing at us.
Check the video below for 4 well spent minutes.

Have a Good Night

-K

Nightly News Links

US Economy:

Consumers Climb Out of Their Bunkers... (TheBigPicture)
As we have previously exhorted, the consumer is “not quite dead, yet.” Indeed, the data suggests that after falling into a state of frozen panic during the credit crisis, there are signs of pent up demand being satisfied slowly but surely. I will be the first to admit that the year over year comparisons are against absurdly low levels, but it is improvements nonetheless. A slow, painful recovery still awaits us...

Consumer Credit Contracts from January Bounce (Back to June 2007 Levels) (Econompic)
Consumer borrowing dropped in February, after increasing for the first time in a year during the previous month, according to a government report released Wednesday.
Total consumer credit fell a seasonally adjusted $11.5 billion in February,Economists predicted a decline in total borrowing of $0.7 billion in February. "February's decline reflects on the still dire state of the economy," said Yasmine Kamaruddin, an economic analyst at Wells Fargo.
"Even if we have seen retail sales and personal expenditure increase in past months, we haven't seen these gains translate into the use of credit because consumers faced with unemployment and slow wage and salary growth are still shying away from taking on credit," she added.

Strip Mall Vacancy Rate hits 10.8% Highest since 1991 (Calculated Risk)
Vacancies at shopping centers in the top 77 U.S. markets increased to 10.8% in the first quarter ... according to Reis.It is the highest vacancy rate since 1991, when vacancies reached 11%. Retail landlords continued to lower lease rates to attract tenants during the first quarter, revealing that optimism about a recovery in retail sales has yet to translate into gains for shopping-center owners.

AIG Goes Parabolic As Repo Desks And Prime Brokers Pull Borrow And Force Short Covering (ZeroHedge)
The "Same Manipulation Different Day" continues, as the powers that be run out of tricks to drive the market higher. Today: a well known and much abused trick to prevent market drops in desperate situations: forced covering in fins. This has culminated with a ridiculous move in AIG in the last 30 minutes of trading. And there you have it. From the administration to State Street, from there to the Prime Brokers and various Repo Desks, and from there straight to the market which jumps on a forced cover, which is supposed to indicate that the economy is hot, hot, hot.

BofA to increase Foreclosures significantly in 2010 (Calculated Risk)
Bank of America, which currently forecloses on 7,500 homes a month nationally, will increase that number to 45,000 homes per month by December of 2010. Bank of America is projecting a 600% increase in its already large number of monthly foreclosures. This isn't unsubstantiated rumor; this comes straight from one of the most powerful men in Bank of America's OREO department. It appears they have too many properties already.

Could Larry Summers Be Leaving?(Fund My Mutual Fund)
"I found the reason for the selloff - it appears Larry Summers is throwing a temper tantrum and took his finger off the "buy SPY futures" button at any sign of weakness.
Tim Geithner, not Summers, has emerged as Obama's key adviser on financial matters, and that Summers isn't happy about it. I think Summers is going to leave sooner rather than later, possibly before the mid-term elections, and if not then, soon afterward. Why? Because Summers is frustrated by his role, and his colleagues are clearly frustrated with him. Some of Summers's frustration no doubt stems from his wanting to be Treasury secretary. When that plum went to Geithner, Summers cast his eye on the Fed chairmanship and agreed to bide his time until Ben Bernanke's term ended. But Summers didn't get the Fed job either. Apparently that didn't sit well.... for more click on link above and it appears that Larry has left a comment as well (if thats the real Summers)

World Economy:

Greek Debt Hits New Fresh Record Of 410 Bps, National Bank Of Greece Tumbles As Greece Now Seeks Arab Money(Zero Hedge)
The whole world is fully aware that Greece is done, and now even the traditional long-term holders have thrown in the towel: the entire Greek curve has melted up more than our own S&P - Bloomberg now notes that even US accounts whose risk memory is non-existent, may not be willing buyers of Greek debt. Of course Greece can join the SEC in blaming the shorts, but that's an old tune. And the biggest and most supreme irony, bankingnews.gr reports that Greece is now seeking emergency capital from Abu Dhabi and other Arabic sources... As if they didn't have a Dubai of their own.

Vietnam Begins to Lure Business Away from China(Fund My Mutual Fund)
The communist nation drew 13.5 percent of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations’ foreign direct investment pool in 2008, up from 4.4 percent two years earlier, according to the 10-member group. And its allure may be rising, judging from a December survey by the American Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai. Vietnam is a preferred destination for businesses looking to relocate from China, Asia’s biggest investment recipient, the report said. Intel, the world’s biggest chipmaker, is scheduled to open a $1 billion testing facility in Ho Chi Minh City this year that will employ about 4,000 people. Samsung Electronics Co., the world’s second-biggest maker of mobile phones, opened a $1 billion factory in Vietnam six months ago. The number of foreign companies in China with plans to relocate plants inland or outside the country because of rising costs doubled last year.

Nightly Recap for April 6 doesn't exist because i only found 2 articles that struck me as important.
Have a Good Night

-K