Price target for ZAGG raised to $11

According to http://www.americanconsumernews.com/2010/12/northland-securities-analysts-raise-price-target-on-zagg-nasdaq-zagg-shares-to-11-00.html the price target for ZAGG was raised from $10 to $11 by Northland Securities research analysts.  FYI, the Motley Fool is recommending it as well - http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2010/12/30/5-small-caps-to-juice-your-portfolio.aspx .

I currently have a position in ZAGG.  Happy New Year to you!
Disclaimer: Please only use this information with a grain of salt and at your own risk / for educational purposes. I am not an investment advisor so please seek professional help if that's what you're looking for.

401k return for the year through 12/21 is 41.8%

My 401k account return is up to 41.8% for the year so far.  Only a few more days left to eek out more gains.  Just kidding.  I'm thankful for my progress this year and in all seriousness I'm still bullish.  Last year my return was roughly 18%.  So, I'm glad to see improvement.

I've been finding Bloomberg TV interesting for keeping up on current events and for their interviews and analysis as well.  Mid-day Surveillance with Tom Keene is quite good too.

Not to plug Bloomberg too much but they now have an Android app too.

I just want to call out again some great resources if you haven't tried them yet.

• Finviz.com (try their stock screener - http://www.finviz.com/screener.ashx)
• Yahoo Finance (check out the Analyst Opinion section; example - http://finance.yahoo.com/q/ao?s=AAPL+Analyst+Opinion)
• Investors.com (requires a subscription for some sections but is very useful for screening stocks; example - http://www.investors.com/StockResearch/StockCheckup/Nasdaq-Apple-Inc-AAPL.aspx)
• Google Finance (interesting market data & charts, data, charts and news about individual stocks; example - http://www.google.com/finance?q=aapl)

Happy holidays!  Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Disclaimer: Please only use this information with a grain of salt and at your own risk / for educational purposes. I am not an investment advisor so please seek professional help if that's what you're looking for.

The Trader's Edge 12/21

Art Cashin (UBS) shares his view on the current market conditions. Happy holidays!

Disclaimer: Please only use this information with a grain of salt and at your own risk / for educational purposes. I am not an investment advisor so please seek professional help if that's what you're looking for.

Interesting interview with Jason Trennert (managing partner at Strategas Research Partners)

Trennert Says U.S. Job Recovery Is Near: Tom Keene on Demand - http://media.bloomberg.com/bb/avfile/News/Surveillance/vWgO.P2rxl_Q.mp3 .  What do you think?  Cheers.
Disclaimer: Please only use this information with a grain of salt and at your own risk / for educational purposes. I am not an investment advisor so please seek professional help if that's what you're looking for.

Bloomberg TV

http://www.bloomberg.com/tv is a great resource for keeping up on what's happening in the markets as well as for great interviews and analysis.  I really like Bloomberg Surveillance too on Bloomberg Radio.  However, since I'm on the West coast it's on a bit early in the morning.

My 401K return for the year is now up to 40.2%, and I'm thankful for that.  My current positions are AAPL, ZAGG, and CRUS.

Happy holidays and best of luck with your trading / investing!  Cheers.
Disclaimer: Please only use this information with a grain of salt and at your own risk / for educational purposes. I am not an investment advisor so please seek professional help if that's what you're looking for.

Art Cashin's Trader's Edge

I really enjoy the informative, brief discussions that CNBC has with Art Cashin. It's great to hear a seasoned professional's view of what's happening in the market.


By the way, my 401K return is up to 39.8% for the year so far!  I still have a few weeks left so we'll see what happens.  Best of luck with your trading / investing.

I ended up selling my small position in CELG and taking a position in CRUS.  Cheers.
Disclaimer: Please only use this information with a grain of salt and at your own risk / for educational purposes. I am not an investment advisor so please seek professional help if that's what you're looking for.

Thankful

I hope that those of you in America had a great Thanksgiving.  We all have many things to be thankful for.

I'm thankful for the progress that I'm making with my trading.  My 401K return for the year so far is 37.6% ("Personal Rate of Return from 01/01/2010 to 11/26/2010 is 37.6%").  The return on my other account is 92% ("Your Personal Rate of Return (%) Year-to-Date (01/01/2010 - 10/31/2010) 

Annualized

+92.00%").  I am hopeful that December will be a good month as well.

My current positions are AAPL, ENTG, and CELG.  Best of luck in your trading / investing.  I'm currently listening to Bloomberg Radio to help keep up on current events.  Cheers.
Disclaimer: Please only use this information with a grain of salt and at your own risk / for educational purposes. I am not an investment advisor so please seek professional help if that's what you're looking for.

Interesting podcasts

Here are a couple interesting podcasts from Bloomberg Surveillance.

• Peroni Sees `Significant' Stock Advance: Tom Keene on Demand

  Nov 11, 2010
  Eugene E. Peroni, senior vice president at Advisors Asset Management Inc., talks with Bloomberg's Ken Prewitt and Tom Keene. For more ``Surveillance'' and ``On the Economy'' podcasts, please visit iAmplify.com. http://media.bloomberg.com/bb/avfile/News/Surveillance/vhnkkzpI30ps.mp3 
  Download

• FitzGerald Calls Irish Debt `Manageable': Tom Keene on Demand

  Nov 10, 2010
  John FitzGerald, research professor at the Economic and Social Research Institute, talks with Bloomberg's Ken Prewitt and Tom Keene. For more ``Surveillance'' and ``On the Economy'' podcasts, please visit iAmplify.com. http://media.bloomberg.com/bb/avfile/News/Surveillance/vAlJgV09McQk.mp3
  Download

I just sold my QTM position today at 3.41 for ~17% gain (in 3 weeks).  The price target is higher but I'm being a bit cautious on this one.  I still have my AAPL position.  Cheers.
Disclaimer: Please only use this information with a grain of salt and at your own risk / for educational purposes. I am not an investment advisor so please seek professional help if that's what you're looking for.

My current positions

Good morning.  My current positions are AAPL, QTM, and CELG.  I'm still bullish on these three equities.

Update: Here's an interesting podcast on Apple -

Gene Munster Calls Apple His Best Buy: Tom Keene on Demand

http://media.bloomberg.com/bb/avfile/News/Surveillance/v84buYW0n_5Y.mp3

There's some interesting discussions going on in the media with QE2, the G20, and recent elections (amongst others of course).

My 401K account return is currently 38% for the year ("Personal Rate of Return from 01/01/2010 to 11/09/2010 is 38.0%").  My other account is currently up about 47% for the year so far (

Your Personal Rate of Return (%)

Year-to-Date
(01/01/2010 - 09/30/2010)

Cumulative

+47.63%).  Cheers.
Disclaimer: Please only use this information with a grain of salt and at your own risk / for educational purposes. I am not an investment advisor so please seek professional help if that's what you're looking for.

Update on 401K return for the year thus far

I checked on my 401K return this morning and it's up above 30% now.  I'm thankful for that.

I'm still holding my position in a fruity tech company and now have a small position in CELG as well.  Best of luck in your investing / trading.  Cheers.
Disclaimer: Please only use this information with a grain of salt and at your own risk / for educational purposes. I am not an investment advisor so please seek professional help if that's what you're looking for.

My 401K account return for 2010 so far

Here's a quick update on my 401K account return.  It's at 27.8%.  "Knock on wood." :)  Best of luck with your trading / investing.  Cheers.
Disclaimer: Please only use this information with a grain of salt and at your own risk / for educational purposes. I am not an investment advisor so please seek professional help if that's what you're looking for.

Sold MAT and bought a different stock

I recently sold MAT since it wasn't yielding the return that I expected as quickly as I had hoped.  I still made a little off the trade.  So, I reinvested it in a "fruity" tech company, if you know what I mean. :)  It's another swing trade that should be profitable.

My position in EXPE is still doing well too.  My 401K account is up to 16.2% for the year ("Personal Rate of Return from 01/01/2010 to 09/10/2010 is 16.2%").  Have a good one and good luck with your investing / trading.
Disclaimer: Please only use this information with a grain of salt and at your own risk / for educational purposes. I am not an investment advisor so please seek professional help if that's what you're looking for.

My return through 9/8

I hope that your investing / trading is going well.  I'm pretty happy with my results so far this year.

Here's my individual account return: 20.54%.

My 401K account is doing okay but I'm hopeful that I can do better.  It's return is 13.9%.

Best of luck to you!  Cheers.
Disclaimer: Please only use this information with a grain of salt and at your own risk / for educational purposes. I am not an investment advisor so please seek professional help if that's what you're looking for.

Portfolio Theory and Capital Markets

So, I'm still working my way through Portfolio Theory and Capital Markets by William Sharpe.  It's an excellent book although a bit dry in places.  The dryness might be unavoidable though with all the math involved.  I highly recommend the book as long as you don't have an aversion to math.  As a guest on Bloomberg radio once said, "Math waits for no man".  Have a good one and good luck with your trading.  Cheers.

Disclaimer: Please only use this information with a grain of salt and at your own risk / for educational purposes. I am not an investment advisor so please seek professional help if that's what you're looking for.

My rate of return for the year through 6/24

I just check my rate of return for the year so far and my account says, "Personal Rate of Return from 01/01/2010 to 06/24/2010 is 17.4%".  That's not too bad since the market has been a bit wonky lately.  I'm still working on improving my market view and considering other strategies as well.  Have a good weekend.  Cheers.
Disclaimer: Please only use this information with a grain of salt and at your own risk / for educational purposes. I am not an investment advisor so please seek professional help if that's what you're looking for.

Radio and book resources

Here are a couple radio and book resources that you might enjoy.  http://www.bloomberg.com/radio/ has a great show called Bloomberg Surveillance with Tom Keene.  It's an interesting way to keep up on what's going on in the market.


Portfolio Theory and Capital Markets by William F. Sharpe is a very interesting book.  It gives one methods to quantify expected returns, probabilities, and much more.



I'm still holding MAT and EXPE for now and they're doing well. Best of luck with your trading / investing. Cheers.
Disclaimer: Please only use this information with a grain of salt and at your own risk / for educational purposes. I am not an investment advisor so please seek professional help if that's what you're looking for.

Recovery Steady, But Job Market Could Suffer For Years: Bernanke - CNBC

Bernanke had some interesting comments on the current economic conditions. Here's a good summary: 
Recovery Steady, But Job Market Could Suffer For Years: Bernanke - CNBC .  Cheers.


Disclaimer: Please only use this information with a grain of salt and at your own risk / for educational purposes. I am not an investment advisor so please seek professional help if that's what you're looking for.

IBD reports that the market is in a confirmed uptrend

IBD reports today that the market is in a confirmed uptrend - http://www.investors.com/NewsAndAnalysis/Article.aspx?sec=Investing&col=BigPicture . I'm taking positions in MAT and EXPE based on my prior screening of the stocks and current conditions. Good luck with your trading / investing. Cheers.
Disclaimer: Please only use this information with a grain of salt and at your own risk / for educational purposes. I am not an investment advisor so please seek professional help if that's what you're looking for.

Interesting comments on "flash" event and current market conditions

Here's a brief video from CNBC where they're interviewing Art Cashin, from UBS, and regarding his take on the "flash" event and the current market conditions. Cheers.

Disclaimer: Please only use this information with a grain of salt and at your own risk / for educational purposes. I am not an investment advisor so please seek professional help if that's what you're looking for.

The 1000 point drop in the Dow

So, unfortunately I was stopped out of my positions in Expedia and Mattel when the Dow mysteriously dropped 9% and then jumped back up in the span of 20 minutes last Thursday.  Here's the USA Today's take on that event - http://www.usatoday.com/money/markets/2010-05-10-mart10_ST_N.htm .

I'm not going to let this keep me from trading though.  I'll wait for another confirmed uptrend and get back in the game.  Have a good one and good luck.
Disclaimer: Please only use this information with a grain of salt and at your own risk / for educational purposes. I am not an investment advisor so please seek professional help if that's what you're looking for.

The current rally and my new positions

The current rally seems to continuing nicely after the "bumps in the road" of the downgrades for Greece, Portugal, and Spain.  Those countries' situations were already more or less priced into the market in my opinion.


My new positions are in MAT, Mattel, and EXPE, Expedia.  Best of luck with your investing / trading.  Cheers.
Disclaimer: Please only use this information with a grain of salt and at your own risk / for educational purposes. I am not an investment advisor so please seek professional help if that's what you're looking for.

Updated watchlist for the rest of April and shortly after

Here is my updated watchlist.  Use at your own risk.  Cheers.
Disclaimer: Please only use this information with a grain of salt and at your own risk / for educational purposes. I am not an investment advisor so please seek professional help if that's what you're looking for.

FinViz.com tools

A friend recently told me about FinViz.com.  What I was initially impressed by was the heat map type graphs that they have of different indexes like the S&P500.  However, they also have an excellent stock screener too.  Cheers.
Disclaimer: Please only use this information with a grain of salt and at your own risk / for educational purposes. I am not an investment advisor so please seek professional help if that's what you're looking for.

My rate of return for the year through 4/20

I'm thankful to report that my "Personal Rate of Return from 01/01/2010 to 04/20/2010 is 23.5%"!  


When I have time I'll screen some more stocks and share my watchlist.  Have a good one.
Disclaimer: Please only use this information with a grain of salt and at your own risk / for educational purposes. I am not an investment advisor so please seek professional help if that's what you're looking for.

I Sold INTC for a 10.5% gain

Early this afternoon, I Sold INTC for a 10.5% gain.  So, I'm thankful for that.


I'll keep you posted on my upcoming watch list.  Cheers.
Disclaimer: Please only use this information with a grain of salt and at your own risk / for educational purposes. I am not an investment advisor so please seek professional help if that's what you're looking for.

Intel had a great quarter

You've probably heard by now that Intel, INTC, had a great quarter.  They also have good, future, guidance estimates.  Yesterday, a couple analysts increased their price targets as well.


I'm still holding INTC for now.  Cheers.
Disclaimer: Please only use this information with a grain of salt and at your own risk / for educational purposes. I am not an investment advisor so please seek professional help if that's what you're looking for.

What happened to Greece?

What happened to Greece?  It's still a beautiful country of course.  However, it was once a thriving place that was full of philosophy and knowledge.  Now it's on the verge of bankruptcy.  If one does a news search on Greece there's all sorts of "badness" that is returned.

It makes one wonder, how does a successful nation end up in such a state?  This MarketWatch article describes some of the pitfalls that hopefully the USA will avoid.  Cheers.  [image source - Wikipedia.org]
Disclaimer: Please only use this information with a grain of salt and at your own risk / for educational purposes. I am not an investment advisor so please seek professional help if that's what you're looking for.

My rate of return for the 1st quarter of 2010

So, I checked my self-managed 401K account today and according to the powers that be my return is "Personal Rate of Return from 01/01/2010 to 03/30/2010 is 14.7%".  I'm pretty pleased with my progress so far.  I'm aware that the market could humble me at any time so I'm cautiously optimistic for the rest of the year.

I'm still holding my INTC, Intel, position for now.  Cheers.

Disclaimer: Please only use this information with a grain of salt and at your own risk / for educational purposes. I am not an investment advisor so please seek professional help if that's what you're looking for.

Watch list through mid-April

Here's my initial watch list for April.  I'll work on the rest of April later.  I currently have a position in INTC.  Cheers.

Disclaimer: Please only use this information with a grain of salt and at your own risk / for educational purposes. I am not an investment advisor so please seek professional help if that's what you're looking for.

Bought INTC this morning

I bought a long position in INTC this morning.  I'm not much for giving advice but you might consider staying away from health care industry stocks until this "Obama-care" fiasco is resolved.  Cheers.
Disclaimer: Please only use this information with a grain of salt and at your own risk / for educational purposes. I am not an investment advisor so please seek professional help if that's what you're looking for.

Sold GYMB

I ended up selling GYMB on Thursday, after their earnings announcement, for a 13% gain.

Now I need to determine what are my next position(s).  I'll keep you up to date.  Have a good Sunday.  Cheers.
Disclaimer: Please only use this information with a grain of salt and at your own risk / for educational purposes. I am not an investment advisor so please seek professional help if that's what you're looking for.

The correction seems to be over

The correction seems to be over.  Investors.com's Big Picture column concurs as do folks that CNBC talks too (see their Word on the Street video from today).

I'm long GYMB at the moment.  What sort of position(s) are you taking or are you all cash?  Cheers.
Disclaimer: Please only use this information with a grain of salt and at your own risk / for educational purposes. I am not an investment advisor so please seek professional help if that's what you're looking for.

End of the correction?

Have we hit the end of this correction?  One of the folks from CNBC seems to think so as does an analyst that he was talking to:  Big Board Buzz - CNBC.com .  Investors.com has not made the same call yet though.  Cheers.
Disclaimer: Please only use this information with a grain of salt and at your own risk / for educational purposes. I am not an investment advisor so please seek professional help if that's what you're looking for.

Stocks to watch in March

Here are some stocks that I'm going to watch. Hopefully, the market will pull out of this correction and the watch list in the attached image will be useful.  Cheers.
Disclaimer: Please only use this information with a grain of salt and at your own risk / for educational purposes. I am not an investment advisor so please seek professional help if that's what you're looking for.

This is a good time to create or update your watch list

Now is a good time to create or update the list of stocks that you're watching. That way you'll be ready for the next rally.

I've been doing some reading about ETFs lately. The book "Create Your Own ETF Hedge Fund" by David Fry seems quite good. I'm about half way through it so far. Have a good one and good luck with your trading. Cheers.
Disclaimer: Please only use this information with a grain of salt and at your own risk / for educational purposes. I am not an investment advisor so please seek professional help if that's what you're looking for.

"The Big Picture"

It's nice to have an idea of how the overall market is doing.  Investors.com's Big Picture column helps you do exactly that.  This week so far we've had two days were the market has been up so hopefully we're headed back for a "confirmed uptrend" prognosis soon.  Cheers.
Disclaimer: Please only use this information with a grain of salt and at your own risk / for educational purposes. I am not an investment advisor so please seek professional help if that's what you're looking for.

Stopped out of GOOG

Unfortunately, I was stopped out of GOOG.  Frankly, I shouldn't have made the trade.  It was a bit impulsive on my part and I didn't follow my strategy on this one...

On another note, Ben Bernanke is coming up for confirmation. Please email your senate and house representatives to urge them to reconfirm him. He's doing a great job and the markets don't need the uncertainty of a new appointee. Cheers.
Disclaimer: Please only use this information with a grain of salt and at your own risk / for educational purposes. I am not an investment advisor so please seek professional help if that's what you're looking for.

Google

Made 10% on HAL. Have a position in GOOG now. Not sure why the small drop after earnings but it should be good "long" term.
Disclaimer: Please only use this information with a grain of salt and at your own risk / for educational purposes. I am not an investment advisor so please seek professional help if that's what you're looking for.

My Halliburton position

My Halliburton position is doing well so far. Their earnings are coming up on the 25th of January. You can learn more about the price targets for HAL here - http://finance.yahoo.com/q/ao?s=HAL. Cheers.

Update (1/20/10): Today's pull-back seems like a good buying opportunity for those looking to capitalize before HAL's earnings announcement on 1/25. Cheers.

Disclaimer: Please only use this information with a grain of salt and at your own risk / for educational purposes. I am not an investment advisor so please seek professional help if that's what you're looking for.