Icahn’s Influence
Carl Icahn is affecting the stock market in ways he might not realize. Let me explain. Icahn is an activist investor. The basic premise behind activist investing is that the shareholder takes an equity stake in a company and uses it to put pressure on its management. The objective is to get management to increase shareholder value through many possible ways (stock buybacks, increasing dividends, restructuring, cost cutting, spinoffs, etc.). Here is the part I [...]
Trade Idea of the Week: Tesla Motors
I continue to like $TSLA for the following reasons: 1) Fundamentals - The company has strong sales growth and its earnings are projected to grow +53% in 2014 and +166% in 2015. I wouldn't be surprised to see these estimates raised as they continue to expand internationally and add new models. 2) Technicals - The chart is showing VERY strong technicals on multiple timeframes, with many key areas of institutional support. Also, it looks like [...]
The Market Tends To Fool The Majority
In early May, the monthly Jobs report came out strong. Paul Tudor Jones said you had all the data you wanted for fixed income to get killed. In other words, a strong jobs report means the economy is improving, thus higher rates down the road. Instead, the opposite happened! Bonds closed up that day and rates fell. Jones astonishingly said: How can anyone predict/think that bonds would close up that day??? PIMCO's Tony Crescenzi was [...]
Notes From David Tepper’s SALT Conference Interview
Last week, I had the pleasure of attending the 6th Annual SALT Conference. Thanks to the leadership and vision of Anthony Scaramucci, this event has evolved "from a financial conference to one of the world's leading thought leadership forums." There were many phenomenal speakers who presented during the week, but as a trader, I was most interested in David Tepper's one-on-one interview with Anthony Scaramucci. It is pretty powerful when someone introduces you by saying "$1 [...]
One Common Theme: Frustration
I got a text today from a trader friend who is short the market saying: "This market is NEVER going down!" About 10 minutes later, I got a text from a different friend who is long the market saying: "I HATE this market!" It got me thinking about a few things. Many traders and professional money managers have recently voiced their opinions about the current market and when you read between the lines, you can [...]
Trading For Yourself vs. Trading For Others
About 5 years ago, I had the pleasure of sitting down with one of the top 10 traders in the country. Any time I have the chance to learn from success, I jump on the opportunity. (Out of respect for his request, this portfolio manager asked to remain anonymous because he is a very private person). From 2000-2009, his hedge fund had an average return of +14% per year. That performance is phenomenal, especially considering [...]