Print This Post
Pre Market - July 18th 2008
Posted: July 18, 2008 at 9:15 am by Chuck
A battle between Nasdaq and the S&P 500 in the pre market. Nasdaq is under pressure this morning with Google and Microsoft having missed on their earnings and on the other side of the street Citigroup beat the street’s expectations.
Citigroup CEO stated that they expect to see larger losses in the credit card portfolio going forward. But for now the everybody thinks Citigroup is great. Note: we are not part of the ‘everybody’ camp. Short term excitement in the financial sector will be just that in our view.
Options expiration day, watch out for wild swings today.
![[Most Recent Quotes from www.kitco.com]](http://www.kitconet.com/charts/metals/gold/t24_au_en_usoz_2.gif)
![[Most Recent Exchange Rate from www.kitco.com]](http://www.weblinks247.com/exrate/24hr-jpy-small.gif)
![[US Dollar Index]](http://www.weblinks247.com/indexes/idx24_usd_en_2.gif)
Call me crazy, but I am dipping back into SKF. I know BAC is still around the corner but the XLF couldn’t crack 21 to stick a pin through the downtrend of despair, and quite frankly, these financial earnings are a charade. Timing this can be tough.
Just woke up, so I might have missed those that have said C is great. What I have heard so far is that those that were concerned that C would report “armegeddon” are now relieved that the report was just “bad”.
XLF looking a bit tired this morning. Wonder if this bounce will hold into next week??? I’m not ready to get near them at this point.
Getting a little volume pickup on VLO and TSO. I haven’t bought any, but am keeping my eye on accumulation over the next few days. Just on my watch list as a possible next buy after I get rid of DUG.
Steve -
You are aggressive, but not crazy.
The trend is on your side. You are buying on a pullback near the 50 day MA, something that many others do. I have watched the SKF, but it is just too volatile for me. (This is coming from a guy that has been trading DUG for 8 weeks…LOL)
I will continue to hold my boat load of C DEC $10 puts. Citi might not hit $10 but it will go down significantly enough to make good cash on these.
I am very un happy with the on line broker I use and will be making a change. Any suggestions/reccomendations?
Why would FRE go up in light of a possible share sale? YIKES. How about dilution….?
Dave, If I understand the big picture on FRE: The suckers will buy the new shares because they are under the inpression the U.S. Govt. has turned FRE and FNM into a bond market unto themselves, and they have been led to believe FNM and FRE will thrive and prosper as publicly traded companies. Bill Gross over at “PIMPCO” has been successful in creating the illusion. The shares will be bought and the suckers who buy them will end up royally screwed when they implode. The bond holders will get their cash and the equity holders will be left saying “what the…”
Yeah, no question SKF can be a wild ride. I’m watching XLF to get a better measure on the sector. The ceiling at 21 keeps the downtrend in place for now.
I use E*Trade. Like the platform. The banking side of the biz is another matter. Been thinking about moving my acct as well.
Other Steve: What’s wrong with the ETrade banking side? Thanks.
I just have some reservations about the stability of their banking business.
The stock price of BOA, the largest USA bank, jumped 53% in two days.
On Monday the SEC announced that an investigation of short selling of BOA would start on July 21st.
In the next two days, massive puchasing of BOA took place causing the stock price to increase.
This rally was somewhat artificial in nature. I am waiting confirmation to see if the buying broadens and is maintained.