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

IWM upgraded to BUY on Apr 01 at $68.43     (SELL Mar 19 at $67.41)
DRYS  upgraded to BUY on Mar 29th at $5.88  (SELL Mar 25 at $5.66)
SRS upgraded to BUY on Mar 31st at $6.04        (SELL Feb 16 at $7.83)
REW upgraded to BUY on Apr 1st at $21.06      (SELL Feb 26 at $23.86)
DIG upgraded to BUY on Mar 30th at $34.27    (SELL Mar 19 at $33.97)

URE   downgraded to SELL on Mar 31st at $8.14    (BUY Feb 16 at $6.38)
JNK   downgraded to SELL on Apr 1st at $39.51     (BUY Feb 17 at $37.97)
HYG   downgraded to SELL on Mar 31st at $87.50     (BUY Feb 17 at $85.38)
DUG   downgraded to SELL on Mar 30th at $12.36     (BUY Mar 19 at $12.40)
SMN  downgraded to SELL on Mar 29th at $6.99     (BUY Mar 19 at $7.37)

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:

Seasonality Map for April, 2010(MarketSci Blog)
On the link above is a map of expected strong/weak days for the U.S. market for April, 2010 based on historical seasonality patterns. "I want to make clear that I do NOT think that seasonality alone is sufficient to justify a trade; however, all of the seasonality plays included in this report have been powerful enough and consistent enough that I do think they should be one of many tools in the trader’s toolbox."

Have commodities outpaced fundamentals?(Investment Postcards)
Have metal prices and the prices of other commodities such as oil outrun the underlying fundamentals? The significant strength of the US dollar since December last year has capped rises in commodity prices. However, metal prices continue to be driven largely by Chinese demand, with China’s manufacturing PMI for new export orders and total new orders leading metal prices. The risks of investing in commodities are increasing as we move forward. The metal markets currently smack of speculation and manipulation. Metal stocks on the London Metal Exchange are currently at levels similar to those at the height of the global liquidity crisis

World Economy:

Euro Trashed (New York Times)
Germany and other “euro-optimists” hoped that the introduction of a common currency and the global economic competitiveness it spurred would quickly lead to sweeping economic and societal modernization across the union. But the opposite has occurred. Rather than pulling the lagging countries forward, the low interest rates of the European Central Bank have lured governments and households, especially in the southern part of the euro zone, into frivolous budgetary policies and excessive consumption. In short, the euro is headed toward collapse.

Greek CDS's Exploding After Horrible Debt Auction, Greeks Blame Weak Demand on Easter(Zero Hedge)
Greek CDS are moving 10 bps wider from 293 to 303 bps as demand for the bailed out country's bonds was much weaker than expected. Greek weakness is spreading to other European countries: The cost of protecting other euro zone government bonds from default were also mostly higher. The German 5-year credit default swap rose to 30.1 bps from 28.9 bps. In the meantime, and in keeping with the Greek tradition of scapegoating, the very weak demand for the new 7 Year issue was blamed on... Easter. About 175 institutions bid for a slice, sources at the lead managers said, compared to 400 investors for the 10-year issue.
"It is Easter week in Greece and Europe and this explains why demand may seem a bit softer, with the book growing at a slower pace compared to the previous 10-year bond issue," said a source at one of the five banks leading the issue.

Japanese Production Takes a Breather(Econompic)
Japan’s industrial production retreated in February, snapping an 11-month winning streak that helped to secure a recovery from the country’s worst postwar recession.
Factory output declined 0.9 percent from January, when it rose 2.7 percent, the most in eight months, the Trade Ministry said today in Tokyo. The median estimate of 24 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News was for a 0.5 percent drop.
The slide is unlikely to last as Asian demand for the country’s electronics and machinery continues to fuel exports, Junko Nishioka, chief economist at RBS Securities Japan Ltd. in Tokyo, said before the report was published. Factory output and exports have yet to return to their peak set two years ago, and the recovery remains plagued by deflation.

Have a Good Night

-K