Showing posts with label technical indicators. Show all posts
Showing posts with label technical indicators. Show all posts

Monday, May 24, 2010

VIDEO - Fundamental & Technical Analysis of the S&P 500's Daily & Weekly Charts:


http://www.viddler.com/explore/zigzagman/videos/22/

Technical Analysis of the S&P 500's daily and weekly charts, plus a look at the important Economic and Earnings Reports due out next week...

This video is viewed best in Full-Screen Mode...Click the four arrows in the bottom right corner...Press the Escape key on your keyboard to exit back to Normal Mode...

Happy Trading this week...
zigzagman



Saturday, May 15, 2010

VIDEO - Fundamental & Technical Analysis of the S&P 500's Daily & Weekly Charts:


Technical Analysis of the S&P 500's daily and weekly charts, plus a look at the important Economic and Earnings Reports due out next week...

This video is viewed best in Full-Screen Mode...Click the four arrows in the bottom right corner...Press the Escape key on your keyboard to exit back to Normal Mode...

Happy Trading this week...
zigzagman



Sunday, May 2, 2010

VIDEO - Fundamental & Technical Analysis of the S&P 500's Daily & Weekly Charts:


Here is the end of the week Technical Analysis of the S&P 500's daily and weekly charts, plus a look at the important Economic and Earnings Reports due out next week...

Happy Trading...
zigzagman



Wednesday, April 28, 2010

$PWRM - The International Congress of Alzheimer's Disease Accepts Four Scientific Presentations by Power3:


Power3 Presents NuroPro® to ICAD for the 2nd Year in a Row:

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/The-International-Congress-of-bw-3938801446.html?x=0&.v=1

Press Release Source: Power3 Medical Products, Inc. On Wednesday April 28, 2010, 1:06 pm EDT



HOUSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Power3 Medical Products, Inc. (OTCBB: PWRM – News) announced that four abstracts were accepted for presentation to the annual meeting of the International Congress of Alzheimer’s Disease on July 12, 2010 in Honolulu, Hawaii. The presentations will cover results from protein biomarker discovery, drug response, test development, and ongoing clinical validation trials of the NuroPro® AD biomarkers and blood test for Alzheimer’s disease. The four studies to be presented involve a total of 154 Alzheimer’s disease patients and 91 Parkinson’s disease patients, as well as 210 age-matched normal control individuals and 173 disease control individuals.

The NuroPro® AD biomarkers and blood test are intended to help clinicians distinguish patients with Alzheimer’s disease from “normal” individuals, i.e., patients with similar, non-Alzheimer’s neurological disorders. They are also intended to solve the critical challenge facing physicians, clinicians, patients and drug developers, who all need tests for early stage accurate and specific diagnosis of this debilitating disease, as well as more guidance for drug therapy, patient selection for drug clinical trials, and better tools to monitor drug treatment response.

The abstracts report the use of combined results from ongoing clinical validation trials of NuroPro® AD. The trials are being conducted by the Power3 scientific team, led by scientific advisory board member Lourdes R. Bosquez, MD and Chief Scientific Officer, Ira L. Goldknopf, Ph.D. in collaboration with Marwan Sabbagh, MD, director of the Banner Sun Health Research Institute. The team is also utilizing previous studies Power3 conducted with Stanley H. Appel, MD during his tenure as Chairman of Neurology at the Baylor College of Medicine and, currently, as Co-Director of the Methodist Neurological Research Institute. Dr. Appel continues to be chairman of the scientific advisory board of Power3.

“These 4 posters represent the culmination of 7 years of hard scientific effort which we have been blessed to pursue with our distinguished collaborators,” said Dr. Goldknopf. “There will be some surprises for our colleagues at ICAD that we are particularly excited about because they have the potential to guide us towards improvements in treatment for this awful illness.” Dr. Goldknopf will present two of the posters at ICAD, one on NuroPro® AD biomarkers for Alzheimer’s specific diagnosis and the other on NuroPro® AD diagnostic clinical validation trials. Dr. Sabbagh will present a third poster on prospective clinical validation of the use of protein biomarkers from newly drawn patient sera for diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease, and Dr. Bosquez will present a fourth poster on NuroPro® AD protein biomarkers and drug response.

“We are proud that Dr. Goldknopf will be joined this year by two members of our scientific advisory board, Dr. Sabbagh and Dr. Bosquez, in presenting to ICAD 2010,” said Helen R. Park, MS, Chief Executive Officer of Power3. “For us to present four posters at the same time at such a prestigious forum speaks to the depth of our science and our commitment to improving the outcomes for patients with Alzheimer’s disease. This work, in conjunction with the recent filing of our joint patent application with StemTroniX, bodes well for the upcoming acquisition of StemTroniX by Power3.”

Power3 Medical Products:

Power3 Medical Products, Inc. is a leader in bio-medical research and the commercialization of biomarkers, tests, and mechanisms of disease. Power3's patent-pending technologies are being used to develop screening and diagnostic tests for the early detection and prognosis of disease, and to identify protein biomarkers and drug targets, to fulfill critical unmet needs in areas including neurodegenerative disease (NuroPro®) and breast cancer (BC-SeraPro™). Power3 operates a state-of-the-art CLIA certified laboratory in The Woodlands (Houston), Texas and continues to evolve and enhance its IP portfolio, employing sensitive and specific combinations of biomarkers blood-based tests for ALS, Alzheimer's, and Parkinson's diseases, breast cancer, and drug resistance.

For more information, please visit: http://www.power3medical.com

StemTroniX:

StemTroniX, Inc. is a stem cell biotechnology holding and acquisition company that is committed to improving the lives of individuals by using autologous adult stem cell technology to repair tissue damage in patients. Autologous adult stem cell therapy is the process of using an individual's own stem cells for the purpose of repairing and regenerating damaged tissue. StemTroniX also provides a patented system to augment this process in a non-invasive method for in-body monitoring of the stem cells at the site of injury as they are being introduced into the patients.

For more information, please visit: http://www.stemtronix.com

Tuesday, April 27, 2010

The $SPX Daily Chart had a Major breakdown today...


Today's selloff of the overall market was pretty severe...Today's bad news was about Portugal and Greece getting their credit ratings slashed by Standard and Poors...Plus a GS executive is being grilled by a Senate subcommittee...He's denying all wrong doing...

The $SPX closed below the middle BBand today and took out the previous level of support it had two Fridays ago when the news the SEC was accusing GS of fraud...I see the $SPX heading to the lower BBand at 1168 now...Closing below the intraday low set on the 19th is a breakdown of a double-top chart pattern...

Today it closed below the 15MA for the first time in since mid-February...That's very Bearish IMO...The CCI dropped below zero today, and STO is dropping hard and may blast down thru 50 if we see two more down days in a row...The MACD looks Bearish...Volume was very high on the selloff today...

Tomorrow should be another down day according to the shape of today's candlestick...The $SPX closed only two points above the intraday low...The canldestick is very tall and solid red...Expect a smaller red candle tomorrow, a smaller one the next day, maybe a hammer or a doji the following day...

If this was a stock, that's how it would usually go...Since it is an Index, it's a bit harder to predict what it will do over the next few days because of the massive amount of news it gets every week...There's lots of Earnings and Economic Reports to come out this week...

Overall, this chart just turned very Bearish in only one day...See what bad news can do?...



Friday, April 9, 2010

VLNC - Valence Technology Brings Intelligent Batteries to "Smart Grid Community of the Future":


http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Valence-Technology-Brings-bw-2494091485.html?x=0&.v=1

$13.5 Million DOE Grant to Help Fund a $27.4 Million Regional Demonstration Project: “Technology Solutions for Wind Integration in the Electric Reliability Council of Texas”

Press Release Source: Valence Technology, Inc.
Thursday April 8, 2010, 9:03 am EDT

AUSTIN, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Valence Technology (NASDAQ: VLNC) today announced it has been selected as the preferred residential/community battery technology provider for the “Smart Grid Community of the Future,” the first smart grid solar powered residential development in Texas, the Houston-area master planned community of Discovery at Spring Trails. Utilizing its lithium phosphate battery design, including intelligent Command & Control logic, Valence Technology will supply dynamic energy systems for the individual smart grid residences containing electric vehicle charging stations and smart appliances. Valence Technology’s energy solutions will be used to support a smart-energy practice known as “peak shaving,” whereby smart appliances like dishwashers and washing machines are efficiently utilized during peak demand hours.

This smart grid project will demonstrate how community battery systems can enhance grid stability and decrease overall electricity costs by practicing “peak shaving.” Homeowners can avoid higher peak power costs during evening hours when multiple appliances are typically running after Valence Technology dynamic energy systems kick-in to power the smart appliances.

“Valence Technology is proud to be involved with a project as pioneering as the Discovery at Spring Trails smart grid community,” said Robert L. Kanode, president and CEO, Valence Technology. “By significantly reducing homeowners' energy costs through peak shaving, community storage applications will gain acceptance in the marketplace. Valence Technology is well-positioned to provide proven, field-tested dynamic energy systems that will enable greener, smarter and more efficient energy use.”

As part of the regional demonstration project entitled “Technology Solutions for Wind Integration in the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT),” the “Smart Grid Community of the Future” will serve as a test model for the development of future distributed energy-generation communities utilizing clean technologies. The project includes improved technologies to monitor the ERCOT electric grid and expanded smart portal capability to support demand response in the new development, Discovery at Spring Trails. With $13.5 million in funding from the U.S. Department of Energy, the $27.4 million project is scheduled to break ground this year.

The team for this “Smart Grid” project includes CCET, Valence Technology, Southwest Research Institute, Electric Power Group, EcoEdge, CenterPoint Energy, Oncor, American Electric Power, Sharyland Utilities, Land Tejas Developers, Montgomery County Municipal Utility District 119, Xtreme Power/Energy Xtreme, General Electric, GridPoint, Direct Energy, Drummond Group and Frontier Associates.

Valence Technology stationary energy storage systems are designed for use in frequency regulation, community energy storage, telecommunications back-up power, auxiliary power units and uninterruptible power supply projects around the globe.

About Valence Technology, Inc.

Valence Technology is an international leader in the development of safe, long-life lithium iron magnesium phosphate energy storage solutions and provides the enabling technology behind some of the world’s most innovative and environmentally friendly applications. Founded in 1989, Valence today offers a proven technology and manufacturing infrastructure that delivers ISO-certified products and processes that are protected by an extensive global patent portfolio. Headquartered in Austin, Texas, Valence Technology is strategically aligned by five business segments: Motive, Marine, Stationary, Industrial and Military. In addition to the corporate headquarters in Texas, Valence Technology has its Research & Development Center in Nevada, its Europe/Asia Pacific Sales office in Northern Ireland and global fulfillment centers in North America and Europe. Valence Technology is traded on the NASDAQ Capital Market under the ticker symbol VLNC. For more information, visit www.valence.com.

About CCET

The Center for the Commercialization of Electric Technologies (CCET) recently received the $13.5 million grant from U.S. Department of Energy aimed at better integrating the vast Texas wind energy resources into the state’s electric transmission, distribution and metering system. The project represents a multi-faceted synergistic approach to managing fluctuations in wind power in the large Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) transmission grid through better system monitoring capabilities, enhanced operator visualization and improved load management. CCET is leading a coalition of Texas electricity market participants, including Valence Technology, in carrying out the demonstration project. For more information, visit:

http://www.electrictechnologycenter.com



Saturday, April 3, 2010

Red Flags and Scary Charts:


Posted on 04/03/10 at 2:40pm by John Nyaradi

This week we went to “Red Flag Flying” status, expecting lower prices ahead. Aside from our primary technical indicator shifting to a bearish posture, numerous technical indicators and fundamental elements are flashing red in spite of the euphoria in the general financial press.

On March 31st, we entered a couple of inverse ETF positions in our Standard Portfolio, one inverse ETF in our leveraged portfolio and bought an S&P put option in a new options trading system that I am sending to Standard and Pro members.

To better understand why we shifted to a “short” posture let’s look at some of the factors going into that decision.

Our primary indicator is a proprietary long/short momentum indicator that went to a “sell” signal this week.

To confirm that indicator, I also look at a number of other technical and fundamental indicators to give us the highest probability of success. Some of these are widely followed indicators and some are exclusive to Wall Street Sector Selector.



Chart courtesy of stockcharts.com

In the S&P chart, we see the RSI at highly overbought levels in the top display, with above 70 becoming overbought and subject to a correction. At some point, these conditions generally will correct themselves with a substantial price decline which you can see occurring recently in November, 2009, and again in January, 2010.

In the bottom display, one of the most reliable indicators I know of, MACD, has just shifted to a “sell” signal, indicating declining momentum and the possibility of a decline ahead, just as previously occurred in November and January.

Also, a glance at the Russell, Wilshire and NASDAQ indexes all present similar pictures and confirm substantial weakening and what very well could be a topping out of the current rally.

We also look at various market breadth indicators and investor sentiment indicators as well as the VIX and find extreme complacency and bullishness on all fronts which supports and adds validity to our primary thesis of lower prices ahead.

And then as a final step, I look at macro conditions and fundamental trends that could confirm or weaken our overall view of market conditions. These include but are not limited to interest rate movements, economic reports, news and corporate earnings as well as oncoming events that are just around the bend but could impact market prices over the next few weeks.

After all that analysis is complete, I look at and choose the particular Exchange Traded funds and now option positions that could offer us the highest likelihood of success and potential profitability.

Looking At My Screens

Regarding fundamentals, two charts are particularly scary. One is from Credit Suisse and is reprinted below.



This chart depicts the monthly mortgage rate resets and you can see how these peaked in 2007-2008 in the red box on the left and set off the sub prime debacle that eventually led to the worldwide financial crisis that still bedevils us.

What’s scary about this is that after a lull in 2009, we see another spike in mortgage resets coming in 2011 and 2012 framed by the red box on the right. This time the culprits are not sub prime loans but Option Adjustable and Alt A loans resetting that could easily trigger another round of foreclosures, bank failures or “too big to fail” actions by the U.S. government.

Judging from the carnage we saw the last time the graphs on this chart were this high, a return to these levels could easily be the catalyst for a double dip recession which would almost be certainly worse than the one we’ve just been through because unemployment is worse, more national debt, etc, etc. Finally, to make matters worse, the Fed terminated their $1.25 Trillion mortgage buying program on April 1st which will create a further drag on this market.

The second scary chart is what’s going on in the U.S. Treasury market as evidenced in the chart of the U.S. 30 Year Treasury Bond below.



Chart courtesy of stockcharts.com

This frankly is a truly terrifying chart because, as you know, Treasury prices move inversely to interest rates and so as interest rates rise, Treasuries drop in price. In late March you can see the huge gap down in Treasury bond prices as interest rates rose sharply and that trend continued this week and even on Friday in response to Friday’s unemployment report.

As you know, rising interest rates usually spell lower stock prices and this sharp reversal in the direction of interest rates is a serious development as this could easily affect the fragile recovery underway, not to mention the real estate market, both commercial and residential, both of which are still in critical condition.

Last week’s Treasury bond auctions were weakly received and started the jump in interest rates. Further problems lie in supply/demand metrics as we’re issuing record amounts of debt this year including more than $40 billion this coming week starting April 5th. With the Fed out of the mortgage market and China scaling back its holdings of U.S. debt for three months straight, interest rates could continue to rise as the “bond vigilantes” look like they’re about to take control of this critical game.

So, adding it all up, these are treacherous times in spite of all the happy talk we get from the general financial media.

The View from 35,000 Feet

This week the news was mixed again as the bulls and bears struggled for domination of the markets. On the upside, the Case/Shiller housing price index showed improvement along with an improving consumer confidence report and the much ballyhooed employment report on Friday indicated that north of 150,000 jobs had been created in March.

On the negative side of the ledger was the fact that nobody mentioned that we need 100,000 plus monthly new jobs just to hold even and so unemployment remained steady at 9.7%, that the jobs created fell far short of consensus estimates and that U6 unemployment, the “full” unemployment reading of unemployed plus underemployed rose to 16.9% or about one in six people not employed or not working as much as they want.

But probably most dismal of all was the fact that long term unemployed ranks swelled to 6.5 million, that is people who are jobless 27 weeks or beyond, and a gain of more than 400,000 for the month or 44% of all unemployed, an all time record.

No matter how you slice it, these are not pretty numbers.

Other negative news focused on the Chicago Purchasing Managers Index declining, factory orders dropping and construction spending declining.

Finally, let’s throw in some dribs and drabs like commercial real estate loan losses kicking in to the tune of a half trillion in 2011, the ongoing Greek tragedy and drama that will return to center stage in mid April when 15 billion worth of Euros will have to be refinanced and a new national health care plan that will be “fully funded.” (When was the last time the Federal government fully funded anything?)

Sadly the litany goes on with greater numbers of Americans filing for bankruptcy protection in March than at any time since October, 2005, when the bankruptcy codes were tightened, a total of more than 158,000 filings in March alone, or nearly 7,000 per day, and states and municipalities edge closer to the brink of default as tax revenues continue to shrivel.

Where is the Easter Bunny when we really need him?

What It All Means

What it all means is that, in my opinion, all the happy talk about “happy days are hear again” (the theme song from the Great Depression) is based on a foundation of skating on very thin ice and that we are traveling through very dangerous days with the very likely possibility of a double dip recession lurking like an iceberg in the path of the U.S. Titanic.

However, no matter what happens or what we read, we will stick with our indicators and go with the flow of the market in whatever direction it takes us. One can never underestimate the madness of crowds and the power of the Federal Reserve.

The Week Ahead

The week brings some important economic reports including:

Monday: March ISM Services, February Pending Home Sales

Tuesday: FOMC Meeting Minutes, February Consumer Credit

Thursday: Initial Unemployment Claims, Continuing Unemployment Claims

Friday: February Wholesale Inventories

Sector Spotlight:

Leaders: Gold Miners, China, Russia

Laggards: Biotech, EAFE (Europe, Asia, Far East)

I was in Germany this week where the soccer playoffs were filling the bars and restaurants with cheering fans and where patience is growing thin with the Euro and European Union and their troublesome friends in the Club Med countries.

Now I’m home for the holiday weekend and wish you peaceful days and happy times with your families and friends. Spring is here (although it snowed in Bend today) and I look forward to continuing our work together through these interesting times.

Wishing you a great weekend wherever you may be,

John

http://www.benzinga.com/205571/red-flags-and-scary-charts

Sunday, March 28, 2010

VIDEO - Fundamental & Technical Analysis of the S&P 500's Daily & Weekly Charts:


Every Sunday evening, I post a video here and on a few other sites that shows the technical analysis of the $SPX daily and weekly charts. I also show the Dow Jones Industrial Average, the Nasdaq Composite, and the Russell 2000 charts, and talk about what kinds of news, earnings reports, and economic reports to pay attention to in the coming week.

Happy Trading next week,
zigzagman



Thursday, March 25, 2010

SLXP - Salix Pharmaceuticals Ltd. Gets FDA Approval For XIFAXAN®


SLXP - Salix Pharmaceuticals Ltd. Gets FDA Approval For XIFAXAN®

RALEIGH, N.C.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Salix Pharmaceuticals, Ltd. (NASDAQ:SLXP) today announced the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted marketing approval for XIFAXAN® (rifaximin) 550 mg tablets for reduction in risk of overt hepatic encephalopathy (HE) recurrence in patients 18 years of age or older.

HE is a serious disorder caused by chronic liver failure, resulting in cognitive, psychiatric and motor impairments. This approval was supported by findings from the largest randomized trial of maintenance therapy in HE conducted to date, which assessed the efficacy and safety of XIFAXAN 550 mg tablets and demonstrated a statistically significant and clinically meaningful reduction in the risk of overt HE recurrence.ii The labeling for XIFAXAN 550 mg tablets includes data on both the risk reduction of overt HE recurrence as well as risk reduction of HE-related hospitalization.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/FDA-Approves-XIFAXAN-550-MG-bw-3571437432.html?x=0&.v=1

This is a live intraday chart:



Here is a quote page that shows the Outstanding Shares, the Float, Average Daily Volume, all of which are very reasonable numbers for the sector this company is in:



Here is a chart showing last night's and this morning's Extended Hours Sessions:



Here is a daily chart that shows SLXP closed at $33.52 and it opened today's regular session at $36.15 with a high of the day at $38.00 even:



Wednesday, March 24, 2010

Radian Group Inc.- RDN is Up Over 17% Today...


Nice day for RDN (NYSE), up over 17%...

I've done my research on this one, and it's fast becoming one of my favorites.

Radian Group Inc. (NYSE: RDN), headquartered in Philadelphia, provides private mortgage insurance and related risk management products and services to mortgage lenders nationwide through its principal operating subsidiary, Radian Guaranty Inc. These services help promote and preserve homeownership opportunities for homebuyers, while protecting lenders from default-related losses on residential first mortgages and facilitating the sale of low-downpayment mortgages in the secondary market.

It's up over two dollars today, and I don't see any news behind this big move.



It's breaking up into Blue Sky territory on much higher than average Volume, and all of the technical indicators are looking very Bullish on this daily chart:

Happy Trading, and keep this one on your radar...
zigzagman



Sunday, March 21, 2010

$SPX - End of the Week Chart & Fundamental Analysis


Here is the video I make every weekend that analyzes the daily and weekly charts of the S&P 500's ($SPX) daily and weekly charts. I also mention Fundamental Analysis items you need to be aware of in the coming week.

Happy Trading next week...
zigzagman



Saturday, March 20, 2010

Stocks to Watch on Monday March 22nd, 2010: ANX - HDY - RNN - GSL - IDT - POL - FORD - GENT


Three AMEX Stocks: ANX - HDY - RNN:

ANX - There may be some news released next week, giving a date for the the face-to-face meeting with the FDA about the Refuse to File Letter on the NDA for their drug ANX-530.



HDY - It closed above the 15 Moving Average on above average Volume on Friday. All of the technical indicators are showing upticks, and look much more Bullish than they have in the past.



RNN - May be starting another run here. Look at what happened the last time the CCI crossed up through the +100 line. Volume picked up on Friday, and most of the technical indicators are showing improvement.



Three NYSE Stocks:

GSL - Has broken above a previous level of Resistance on above average Volume. Most of the technical indicators are showing signs of improvement.



IDT - It may be a bit too late to catch this Runaway Train, but Volume keeps increasing as it rallies, and all of the technical indicators look very Bullish.



POL - Had a HUGE pop up on Friday with over five times average daily Volume. Every one of the technical indicators are very Bullish.



Two NASDAQ Stocks:

FORD - Has broken above all levels of Resistance on above average Volume, and every technical indicator is upticking very sharply and are looking Bullish.



GENT - Also broke above all levels of Resistance on Friday on very high volume. All of the technical indicators are looking Bullish at this time, except the Accumulation/Distribution line (black). That was most likely due to massive profit taking on the huge pop up it did.



Happy Trading next week,
zigzagman

Friday, March 19, 2010

Is The United States Headed For A Commercial Real Estate Crash Of Unprecedented Magnitude?


Will commercial real estate be the next shoe to drop in the ongoing U.S. financial crisis? While most eyes are on the continuing residential real estate disaster, the reality is that the state of the commercial real estate market in America could soon be even worse. Very few financial pundits are talking about this looming disaster but they should be. The truth is that U.S. commercial property values are down approximately 40 percent since the peak in 2007 and currently approximately 18 percent of all office space in the United States is now sitting vacant. That qualifies as a complete and total mess, but the reality is that the commercial real estate crisis is just starting.

In fact, the commercial real estate market is likely to get a whole lot worse. It is being projected that the largest commercial real estate loan losses will be experienced in 2011 and the years following. Some analysts are estimating that losses from commercial real estate at U.S. banks alone could reach as high as 200 to 300 billion dollars. To get an idea of how rapidly the commercial real estate market is unraveling, just check out the chart below....



Does that look like things are getting better to you?

And unfortunately, all indications are that the commercial real estate market is going to get much worse.

According to Real Capital Analytics, the default rate for commercial property mortgages held by all U.S. banks more than doubled in the fourth quarter of 2009 and may reach a peak of 5.4 percent by the end of 2011.

But even that estimate may be way too conservative as we shall see in a moment.

According to a recent report by the Congressional Oversight Panel, approximately 3,000 U.S. banks are currently classified as having a risky concentration of commercial real estate loans. All of them are small to mid-size banks which have been already severely weakened by the recent financial crisis.

So could the crisis in the commercial real estate market lead to a massive wave of failures among small and mid-size banks?

Count on it.

In fact, the FDIC has acknowledged that the number of banks on its "problem" list climbed to 702 at the end of 2009. To get an idea of just how bad that is, keep in mind that only 552 banks that were on the problem list at the end of September 2009, and only 252 banks that were on the problem list at the end of 2008.

Are you starting to get the picture?

So how are banks responding to this commercial real estate quagmire?

They are rapidly raising loan standards and they are dramatically reducing the number of loans they are making.

Just a few years ago, the number of commercial real estate loans was exploding, but now the bubble has burst, and as the chart below reveals, commercial real estate lending has absolutely fallen off the map....



What is making things even worse is that owners of commercial real estate are starting to walk away from properties that are heavily "underwater" just as many residential homeowners have been doing. This has caused default rates to start shooting through the roof.

One of the latest and most high profile commercial property owners to do this is Vornado Realty Trust. Earlier this month Vornado indicated that it would walk away from two heavily underwater loans totaling $235 million.

In the past commercial property owners would be very hesitant to do such a thing, but the reality is that the stigma has faded for these kind of "strategic defaults". Just as with residential real estate, these kinds of defaults have almost become accepted practice now.

The number of defaults is likely to skyrocket even further with so many commercial real estate loans scheduled to rollover in the next few years.

You see, commercial real estate properties typically carry mortgages with lives of 5 to 10 years. A vast array of commercial real estate loans made between 2000 and 2005 are coming up for a rollover, but because credit standards have tightened, borrowers may find that they simply do not qualify for refinancing.

In fact, a report entitled "Commercial Real Estate at the Precipice" estimates that even under lenient lending standards, approximately 57 percent of existing commercial real estate mortgages will not qualify for refinancing.

That is a nightmare.

But if you apply more conservative lending standards, it is estimated that almost two-thirds of all commercial real estate borrowers will not qualify for a rollover.

So what is going to happen to the U.S. commercial real estate market when large numbers of borrowers start walking away from their "underwater" loans and about half of those who want to rollover their loans don't qualify for refinancing?

What do you think that is going to do to commercial real estate prices?

Somebody better do something, because both the commercial and the residential real estate markets in the U.S. face a crisis of unprecedented magnitude.

But most Americans still have no idea that the great economic machine that their forefathers built is falling to pieces all around them. They would rather numb the pain by watching the latest episode of American Idol or by catching up on the latest round of celebrity gossip.

But that is not going to stop what is about to happen.

http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/archives/is-the-united-states-headed-for-a-commercial-real-estate-crash-of-unprecedented-magnitude

Tuesday, March 16, 2010

A Stock to Watch: DRWI - DragonWave Inc. Moves to Support Its Stock Price:


DragonWave Inc. Moves to Support Its Stock Price:

It appears that DragonWave (DRWI) is fighting back against whatever forces were causing the free fall in its stock. The company announced a normal course issuer bid of "up to 10%" of the float this morning. It is always hard to know if companies will follow through on such promises, because we often see announcements like this of potential stock buybacks (i.e. X amount of authorized shares we "could" buy), but in reality they are just announcements and companies many times only buy a fraction of the shares authorized. But from a strategic point of view, it's an interesting move even if they don't follow through all the way since it shows the company has the willpower to support the stock price.

Either way it's a nice comfort to shareholders to see an engaged management. Most of the time you see executives more than happy to line their own pockets with extra cash rather than defend shareholders. Those darn socialist Canadians, thinking so different than Americans...

Via the company press release:

The Board of Directors of DragonWave Inc. announced today that it has authorized the purchase of common shares of the company equal to up to 10% of the public float by way of a normal course issuer bid on the Toronto Stock Exchange and/or the NASDAQ Global Market.

The normal course issuer bid is subject to acceptance by the TSX. If approved by the TSX, purchases pursuant to the normal course issuer bid will be made through the facilities of the TSX and/or the NASDAQ Global Market. The normal course issuer bid will be subject to the rules of the TSX and applicable securities laws, including the rules pertaining to the maximum number of shares that may be purchased in any one day.

DragonWave will pay the market price at the time of acquisition of common shares purchased through the facilities of the NASDAQ Global Market and/or the TSX. All common shares acquired by DragonWave under the normal course issuer bid will be canceled.

DragonWave is initiating the normal course issuer bid because it believes that, at certain times, the market price of its common shares may not reflect the underlying value of its business and its future prospects.

The objective of the normal course issuer bid is to provide capital appreciation and market stability for the benefit of DragonWave's shareholders. DragonWave has not previously engaged in a normal course issuer bid.

For reference, DRWI has 36.25M shares, almost all of which are floating (34.2M). 10% of the float would be roughly 3.4M shares - at today's prices this would be around $33M if they bought all 10%. A quick look at Yahoo Finance shows just over $100M in cash on the balance sheet.

http://seekingalpha.com/article/193707-dragonwave-moves-to-support-its-stock-price?source=yahoo

Here is an additional news release from March 15th that is very good news for this company:

Cosmoline has selected DragonWave as its exclusive backhaul provider for a national 4G mobile WiMAX network across Greece:

For more information, visit their website at www.cosmoline.com

http://www.dragonwaveinc.com/main.asp?id=news&page=releases&newsid=182

Here is a one month-daily chart for DRWI, and it looks to me like it's bottoming after a hard fall. That's when I usually like to enter a Swing Trade on the Long side. Here's my read of this chart, and why I think it's turning Bullish:

5MA - The share price closed above the 5 Moving Average, and closed at the high of the day.

CMF - Chaikin Money Flow (solid green), On Balance Volume (red) and Accumulation/Distribution (black), which are my three Money indicators are all upticking.

CCI - The Commodity Channel Index (dark blue) just gave my primary Buy Signal by crossing up through the -100 line.

STO - Stochastics (purple) was very Oversold below the 20 line, and is now upticking through it.

MACD - Moving Average Convergence Divergence - The MACD Histogram (light blue bars) is upticking, and so is the slow line of the MACD (red).

ADX - The DI's of the Average Directional Index (red and green) have started to pinch together again.

RSI - The Relative Strength Index (green at the bottom) is upticking sharply.

Volume will need to increase more if this stock is going to continue to move up.

I like what I see about this company's recent news and the way it's chart looks. I will be following this stock closely for a while to see how this plays out.

Happy Trading,
zigzagman



Sunday, March 14, 2010

Thursday, March 4, 2010

ZANE - Zanett Inc. Releases A Press Release Today And Was UP 582%!...




About Zanett, Inc.

Zanett is a leading business process outsourcing (BPO), IT enabled services (ITES), and information technology (IT) consulting firm serving Fortune 500 corporations and mid-market organizations in Healthcare, Life Sciences, Manufacturing & Distribution, Retail, Gaming & Hospitality, and State & Local Government.

Zanett helps organizations align business objectives with outsourced technology-enabled services to create Real Enterprise Value. We serve the Fortune 500 and mid-market organizations in Health care, Life Sciences, Manufacturing & Distribution, Retail, Gaming & Hospitality, and State & Local Government with solutions ranging from business consulting as well as custom business solutions that integrate and implement Oracle's full suite of product offerings Oracle, JD Edwards, PeopleSoft, Seibel, including infrastructure technology and managed services together with associated Oracle Fusion technologies. Zanett employs over 225 professionals in North America and Asia with offices in Atlanta, Boston, Cincinnati, Indianapolis, Jacksonville, New York City, North Palm Beach, and Manila. For more information please visit http://www.zanett.com/ or http://healthcare.zanett.com.

Here is the Press Release they put out today, and was the reason for the massive move up of the share price of their stock:

http://zanett.investorroom.com/index.php?s=43&item=74

Record Contracts Signed in Jan + Feb for Zanett:

Over $12 million Among 42 Customers - Healthcare Focus on Target:

NEW YORK, March 4 /PRNewswire/ -- Zanett, Inc. today announced that it has set an in-house corporate record for contracts closed in the months of January and February 2010. Between the two months, over $12 million dollars in new business has been closed. This amount of revenue is comprised of 42 different customers, with the largest customer being responsible for a $4 million mandate.

HEALTHCARE FOCUS – SOFTWARE PACKAGE

Healthcare was by far the biggest segment of contracts signed for the past 2 months. Zanett recently announced that is has jointly developed a CODS software package (Clinical Online Delivery System) to support standardized, evidence-based order sets at the point of care, arming doctors and clinicians with critical information to improve medication safety and patient care. With this solution, physicians and nurses will be able to spend more time with patients and less time on the charting required of them in creating paper records.

BUSINESS IS BOOMING – U.S. CAPITAL SPENDING UP

Dennis Harkins, President of Zanett, said, "All I can say is... Business is booming...! Throughout the US, corporations are currently hesitant about hiring individuals, due to unknown and unfunded mandates from Washington DC, so they are spending their money on increased capital expenditures. For any corporation out there, Oracle ERP and other IT spending are a natural beneficiary of a reduction in labor force. Here at Zanett, we have 21 great people in our national salesforce, and we are currently accelerating full speed ahead, firing on all 12 cylinders."

IN-HOUSE RECORD CLOSINGS – OLD RECORD TO BE BEAT

Last quarter (Q4 2009) was a record quarter at Zanett as far as contracts closed, with over $13.7 million signed. Zanett management believes that, at this rate, this quarter (Q1 2010) will easily overtake last quarter and be a new in-house quarterly record.

One reason it moved up so much today is the fact that it's O/S (Outstanding Shares) and it's Float are very small. It's O/S is only 8.74 million shares, and it's Float is an amazingly low 3.67 million shares. Today, it traded more than twice it's Float! And it's average daily volume is only 16.2 thousand. Today it traded 8.1 million shares! That's a huge difference between 16.7 thousand, and 8.1 million shares traded per day.



Here is a screen shot of the fifteen-minute chart of ZANE for today, that shows it was running with huge volume behind it.



And here is a six month-daily chart that shows it ran flat the entire period until today's news sent it into orbit. If you expand this chart out to a one year period, it looks very much the same. It ran totally flat for over a year until today:



If we zoom in to a one month-daily chart, you'll see the huge volume spike from today, and all of the technical indicators are shooting straight up:



Congratulations! to all of the shareholders of this company. I've never heard of ZANE before today, but it is most certainly on my radar now!

The BIG Question now is: What will it do next? While it was a wonderful day for shareholders of this company that owned this stock, entering at this time can be a tricky proposition IMO.

Will it keep running? Will it pull back and give up half, three quarters, or almost all of today's gains? I'm sure we'll find that out tomorrow and next week.

This stock is traded on the Nasdaq exchange, but since it's under five dollars per share, it can't be Shorted using most U.S. online brokers. And to be honest, Shorting this stock doesn't seem like it would be a very good idea after the great news it put out today, and the stellar rise in the stock's share price.

If it breaks above today's intraday high of $2.50 tomorrow or early next week on high volume, this one may still have a very good chance of going higher. If the body of tomorrow's daily candlestick closes more than halfway down of the body of today's candlestick, that is usually considered to be Bearish.

When a stock runs flat with hardly any volume for over a year and then something happens like we saw today's PR and huge volume spike, that is usually a very Bullish occurrence. It makes a lot of traders and institutions sit up and take notice.

The next few trading sessions should be very interesting, and I will be keeping a very close eye on this company from now on.

Here are some of the other news articles from other stock market news sites that are talking about Zanett's impressive move up today:

The Strange Case Of Zanett Inc.

http://blogs.barrons.com/techtraderdaily/2010/03/04/the-strange-case-of-zanett-inc/?mod=yahoobarrons

Zanett Volume Spikes on Contract Bookings

http://www.thestreet.com/_yahoo/story/10695831/1/zanett-volume-spikes-on-contract-bookings.html?cm_ven=YAHOO&cm_cat=FREE&cm_ite=NA

Record Contracts Signed in Jan + Feb for Zanett; Over $12 million Among 42 Customers; Healthcare Focus on Target

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Record-Contracts-Signed-in-prnews-1972871742.html?x=0&.v=1

I'm sure there will be a lot more chatter about this company tonight. I just added a Google Alert for this stock, and I will add any more news about this as I see it.

But one thing to think about is this news release put out yesterday, that states ZANE is about to receive a de-listing notice from the Nasdaq exchange for not meeting it's minimum share price of one dollar per share for more than 30 days.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Zanett-Inc-Expects-to-Receive-prnews-3282971503.html?x=0&.v=1

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

On September 17, 2009, Zanett, Inc. (the "Company") received a letter from Nasdaq notifying it that the bid price per share for the Company's common stock has closed below the $1.00 minimum bid price requirement for 30 consecutive trading days and that, as a result, the Company no longer meets minimum bid price requirement for continued listing set forth in Nasdaq Listing Rule 5550(a)(2). No breach of any other listing requirement was listed in the letter.

Pursuant to Listing Rule 5810(c)(3)(A), the Company had 180 calendar days, or until March 15, 2010, to regain compliance with the minimum bid price requirement. To regain compliance, the closing bid price of the Company's common stock must close above $1.00 for a minimum of ten consecutive trading days. However, Nasdaq may, in its discretion, require the Company to maintain a minimum closing bid price of $1.00 per share for a period in excess of ten consecutive trading days (but generally no longer than 20 consecutive business days) before determining that the Company has demonstrated an ability to maintain long-term compliance with the rule.

Whatever happened today to make the share price rise above the one dollar minimum worked, but now they have to keep it there for thirty days to avoid de-listing from the Nasdaq exchange. This is so interesting in light of this last news release, I feel that more investigation seems appropriate.

Happy Trading,
zigzagman

Wednesday, March 3, 2010

JASO - Fundamental & Technical Analysis of JA Solar Holdings Co. Inc.


Someone requested that I do an analysis of the stock JASO.

This short ten minute video shows how I do Fundamental Analysis and Technical Analysis of the daily and weekly charts of JA Solar Holdings, which is a company based in Shanghai China and trades in the U.S. on the Nasdaq exchange under the ticker symbol JASO.

About JA Solar Holdings:

JA Solar Holdings Co. Ltd. through its subsidiaries, engages in the design, manufacture, and marketing of high-performance solar cells. It offers monocrystalline and multicrystalline solar cells. The company sells its products to solar module manufacturers who assemble and integrate solar cells into modules and systems that convert sunlight into electricity for power generation. JA Solar Holdings Co., Ltd. has operations in the People’s Republic of China, Spain, and rest of the world. The company was founded in 2005 and is based in Shanghai, the People’s Republic of China.

Disclaimer: I am not a licensed broker, and everything I say in this video is for educational purposes only. In no way am I making a recommendation to Buy, Hold, or Sell this stock.



Sunday, February 28, 2010

ANX - ADVENTRX Pharmaceuticals Is Expecting FDA News This Week:


ANX submitted a NDA (new drug application) to the FDA during the last week of December 2009, and the FDA has sixty days to give the company it's decision if it will accept the application or issue a RTF Letter (refusal to file letter). That means that the company most likely has already received the FDA's decision, and they have 72 hours after receiving the decision to issue a Press Release about the decision. There should be a PR about this released during the week of March 1st to March 5th 2010.

There has been a lot of talk this weekend if the FDA accepts the NDA for ANX-530 will it be eligible for either Fast Track or Priority Status, which would reduce the number of months until it's PDUFA date. A normal time frame for a PDUFD date to be set is ten months from the date the NDA was submitted. Since the NDA was submitted during the last week of December 2009, the Normal Review PDUFA date would be set for the last week of October 2010. Receiving an accelerated review with either a Fast Track or Priority Review Status would reduce the PDUFA date by a number of months depending on which accelerated status it receives.

In order for a NDA to be classified with an accelerated status the company must request it when they submit the NDA. We have no idea if ANX requested a Fast Track or a Priority Review when they submitted the NDA application.

There are a lot of traders on the many message boards I am a member of, and blogs that I read that think the share price of ANX will skyrocket up once we get the PR that the FDA has accepted the NDA for ANX-530. In all of the years I've been following FDA plays, I've rarely seen a huge move up on just the news that a NDA was accepted.

There may be a nice move up on the day the FDA news is PR'd due to retail buying and maybe a little bit of Short Covering. But as soon as buying volume drys up I have a feeling the Shorts will be adding to their positions again in an attempt to hold this stock down like they've been able to do most of this year.

The only times I've seen a large and sustainable increase in the share price is if the FDA assigns either Fast Track or Priority Status. When that happens, the market really takes notice and the share price soon reflects it.

If the FDA accepts the application that would be very good news for this company because the FDA is not only ruling if the drug ANX-530 is worthy of further review, but more importantly that their proprietary emulsion process also has merit. Every new drug this company has in it's pipeline and plans to submit to the FDA for approval is based on this unique and patentable emulsion technology.

During the past two months, there has been a lot of talk about a buyout, takeover, or partnership of ANX by either GlaxoSmithKline (NYSE-GSK) or Sanofi-Aventis (NYSE-SNY). The reason one or both of these huge drug manufacturing companies would be interested in in taking ANX over is because they both stand to lose a lot of potential market share if ANX's drugs go to market in competition with their existing drugs.

ANX-530 would be in direct competition with GSK's drug Vinorelbine, which has a worldwide annual market estimated at around $200 million. ANX-514 would be in direct competition with SNY's drug Taxotere, which has a worldwide annual market share estimated at around $3 BILLION! Not only would they be removing competition from their existing drugs, but they would also become owners of the proprietary emulsion technology that could be applied to many other existing drugs to make them safer and more effective.

Usually, when a buyout offer is tendered, the offer price is between 300-500% above the current share price. ANX is currently trading at around $0.30 per share so a 300% increase would put the buyout offer at $0.90 and a 500% increase would put the buyout offer at $1.50 The traders that are calling for a buyout offer between $3.00 to $4.00 are dreaming in my opinion.

There are many traders that entered Long positions hoping for buyout to happen, because they have done their research on this company and know it is a definite possibility. If they hold a sizeable position between $0.15 to $0.50 they stand to make a nice profit if a buyout offer is tendered.

I am one of those traders, but I didn't enter my position just because of the possibility of a buyout. I have looked into this company's history, and there has been a lot of good changes made since the previous CEO ran the company. But the bottom line is I think that their technology is fantastic, and it will be able to make many existing drugs much more effective and safer.

Here is a three month/daily chart of ANX. It ran from below $0.10 to $0.52 in the past few months, and it has held half of it's gains which shows a lot of strength and is considered Bullish. Keep this stock on your radar next week, because if the PR comes out saying that the NDA for ANX-530 has been accepted there should be a nice move to the upside. If the FDA assigns an accelerated review process designation, there may be a very large and sustainable move of the share price to the upside. In My Honest Opinion.

Happy Trading,
zigzagman

Saturday, February 27, 2010

NASDAQ Stocks to Watch on Monday March 1st, 2010: NUVA - YRCW - RJET


NUVA [NASD] - NuVasive, Inc. - Healthcare - Medical Instruments & Supplies

+$10.31
+34.73%
Volume: 12,541,204
Avg Volume (3month): 1,212,240

NuVasive Reports Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2009 Financial Results:

- Full year 2009 total revenue of $370.3 million; up 48.1% from the full year 2008
- Fourth quarter total revenue of $106.9 million; up 43.4% from fourth quarter 2008 and up 12.7% from third quarter 2009
- GAAP earnings of $2.3 million, or $0.06 per share, for the fourth quarter and $5.8 million, or $0.15 per share, for the full year
- Earnings, excluding certain adjustments, of $4.2 million, or $0.11 per share, for the fourth quarter and $12.3 million, or $0.32 per share, for the full year
- Operating cash flow of $46.4 million for the full year; up from ($5.0) million for the full year 2008

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/NuVasive-Reports-Fourth-prnews-2077312398.html?x=0&.v=1

NUVA had 10X it's average daily volume on Friday, and the biggest volume day in the three months this chart shows after they released end of the year and end of the quarter financial results. It's obvious that the market really liked their report. This stock may continue up on Monday, it may run sideways for a while, or it could pull back drastically. There may be some good scalping opportunities on this stock next week.



YRCW [NASD] - YRC Worldwide Inc. - Services - Trucking

+$.0596
+14.84%
Volume: 106,542,745
Avg Volume (3month): 22,265,200

Trucking companies haul in a freight rebound in January:

http://kansascity.bizjournals.com/kansascity/stories/2010/02/22/daily29.html?ana=yfcpc

YRCW got over five times it's average daily volume on Friday, and had the biggest volume day on this three month chart. All of the technical indicators are upticking sharply, and it appears to me that this one has bottomed. This might be a good time to enter a Swing Trade on this stock, and may also be a good one for Day Trading.



RJET [NASD] - Republic Airways Holdings Inc. - Services - Regional Airlines

+$0.77
+14.47%
Volume: 2,937,103
Avg Volume (3month): 708,386

Republic Airways to buy as many as 80 new jets:

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Republic-Airways-to-buy-as-apf-1632752983.html?x=0&.v=2

Republic Airways Q4 profit little changed with Frontier Airlines Buy:

http://denver.bizjournals.com/denver/stories/2010/02/22/daily53.html?ana=yfcpc

RJET had over four times it's average daily volume on Friday, and also had it's biggest volume day in the past three months. It has broken above the resistance level at $5.50 and now has little resistance all the way up to the $7.00 area, and all of the technical indicators are upticking. This may be a good time to enter a Swing Trade position on this stock, and there may be some good Day Trading to be done on this one too...



Happy Trading,
Tom

Thursday, February 25, 2010

Stocks to Watch for Feb. 26, 2010 - LEHMQ - WAMUQ - LTXC - SMSI - TRLG - CCE:


All of these stocks had unusually high volume, broke out to new highs, or got really interesting news out today:

LEHMQ - Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc.



WAMUQ - Washington Mutual Inc.



LTXC -LTX-Credence Corporation



SMSI - Smith Micro Software Inc.



TRLG - True Religion Apparel Inc.



CCE - Coca-Cola Enterprises Inc.