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Looking For Volatility

RobotTrader's picture




On a quiet day like today, everyone is screaming and complaining about a collapsing VIX and lack of volatility.  However, look beneath the surface and you will find many battles being waged between Goldman Sachs and their biggest clients who have outsized positions in specific stocks.  With insane volatility.

Here's my favorite for today.

This must be on the Investor's Business Daily Top 100 list.  A classic example of a stock which is both over owned and over shorted at the same time.

Check it out:

Here's one that has held the 50-day non-stop since March.  Therefore, many were pre-conditioned to "buy the dip" each and every time.

Until today...LOL

And why are stocks the most favored investment right now?  Because if you are an institutional investor and sense the slightest whiff of a possible trend change, you can sell instantly with a mouse click.  Try that with mezzanine debt, private equity, or a fractional interest in a real estate partnership.

So when orange juice, natural gas, and crude futures took some hits today, the skittish "portfolio managers" at TIAA-CREF, CalPERs, Harvard Endowment, etc. instantly hit the sell button on many commodity plays.  Why take any chances??

And while these mo-mo stocks are getting shanked, seems like every day there is some company on the verge of bankruptcy which is up 20%+

Or, for more aggressive 5-minute HeatMappers, there are always the low cap garbage stocks getting run...

So anyway, we continue to watch and wait for a "breakout then fakeout" reversal or continuation of some upside.

A quiet day, overall.

But the transports made new highs today, thanks to FDX and UPS:

And some more dogs are beginning to bark.

Note how the underperforming crude tanker stocks are starting to wake up....

While the rest of you guys have been freezing in cold weather, in Los Angeles we have been having 78 degree temps almost every day.

Here are some shots from the AMA Supercross race on Saturday night.

 

Future 19-year old "portfolio trader" getting some air...




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Mon, 01/11/2010 - 16:20 | Link to Comment Anonymous
Mon, 01/11/2010 - 18:16 | Link to Comment Rainman
Rainman's picture

Robo....don't gloat about the fact we're running around LA in shorts and flip-flops in January. It pisses off the geofrozen masses, and they are plenty riled up enough as it is.

Besides, we need bailout money bad !! 

Mon, 01/11/2010 - 16:49 | Link to Comment Anonymous
Mon, 01/11/2010 - 16:52 | Link to Comment Gordon_Gekko
Gordon_Gekko's picture

HAHAHAHA...that "portfolio trader getting some air" pic...ROTFL! Fuckin' hilarious!

Mon, 01/11/2010 - 17:02 | Link to Comment Screwball
Screwball's picture

IOC isn't in the IBD 100, but MED was ranked third this week - down %14.67.  So much for third, and perhaps so much for their stock picking.

Mon, 01/11/2010 - 17:44 | Link to Comment Leo Kolivakis
Leo Kolivakis's picture

Not that quiet in these solars:

http://finance.yahoo.com/q/cq?d=v1&s=ldk,sol,solf,solr,yge

Volume is picking up nicely. We'll see if this is the beginning of a much bigger trend.

Mon, 01/11/2010 - 17:46 | Link to Comment deadhead
deadhead's picture

nice job Alcoa.

nothing like getting sucked in at > 17 per share on a losing company that at best was supposed to hit 6 cents (excluding items, naturally).

man, it's going to be interesting once mr. efficient market makes a return visit.

 

Mon, 01/11/2010 - 19:17 | Link to Comment Rainman
Rainman's picture

Mr. Efficient Market is being waterboarded as we type......hope he survives.  BooYAH Cramer predicted a bottle rocket market on Alcoa earnings.

Mon, 01/11/2010 - 18:51 | Link to Comment RoastingBankers
RoastingBankers's picture

aa 0.01

lmfao

 

couldnt even hit 0.06

Mon, 01/11/2010 - 19:37 | Link to Comment Anonymous
Mon, 01/11/2010 - 19:54 | Link to Comment RobotTrader
RobotTrader's picture

Typical "bear market" action...

LOL....

Mon, 01/11/2010 - 20:12 | Link to Comment Rollerball
Rollerball's picture

+100  

Little nipply here in FL, but I like nipply!  

Mon, 01/11/2010 - 20:32 | Link to Comment Careless Whisper
Careless Whisper's picture

OMG Robo, IOC. OMG i wish i saw that today.

MMR had some very. nice. action. black gold. texas tea. ol' jed's a millionaire.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tkOGM6gHvao

Mon, 01/11/2010 - 20:56 | Link to Comment Anonymous
Mon, 01/11/2010 - 21:32 | Link to Comment Rollerball
Rollerball's picture

 

While the rest of you guys have been freezing in cold weather, in Los Angeles we have been having 78 degree temps almost every day.

Hope you've got a dog.  I was parked on top of a 6.0 in Whittier.                                                                                         http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=8dd_1263244859

 

Mon, 01/11/2010 - 22:36 | Link to Comment Unscarred
Unscarred's picture

Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat!?

Mon, 01/11/2010 - 21:56 | Link to Comment Anonymous
Tue, 01/12/2010 - 15:42 | Link to Comment _Biggs_
_Biggs_'s picture

C'mon Robo...need a HANS chart with those fine Monster girls.

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