AMGN...

Watch and be patient. Absorb the action in the market. Conserve your wisdom. Align yourself with the sentiment of the market. THE trend is your friend... I strongly believe that. Don't go against the market trend and watch for the changes in trend. Act fast. And be alert. Theres loads of money to made here at monasmadmarket-!

AMGN got the title status for a reason. Three cheers for AMGN- a defensive play I wrote in my blog at 50-51. Its rallied to almost 56 already... I put in my order to sell at 56.5. just half my position. Feel funny to sell my defensive play- all at once. I think I will hold on to the other half of my position till 60 and from there let others make money on this one. There was news on AMGN that the FDA is not going to put new restrictions on anemia drugs... wont go into the details. SO far the news is good and for a battered and hammered stock the reaction can only be a rally. I am happy.

I dont believe in getting too defensive - not when every one is so cautious. The market moves too fast and you end up buying at much higher levels if you dont place your BUY orders when the stocks are cheap.
For instance I liked ebay at 33. If I waited for the market to get rid of its woes like some what 2-3 weeks after the first crash, I would get EBAY at 36.7 today... Though my target price for it is 40 its tough for me to buy it at 37 when I thought it was good at 33. To be able to separate the wheat from the chaff... can help to make the money grow. EBAY had no connection with the sub prime woes... still it got hammered with the general market. SO I screamed in my blog to BUY.

Frankly when everyone (the herd) starts to believe in the rally I get cautious... Its still not happening. But one of these days there will be that triple digit rally and boom boom every stock is flying high... Thats when I will say SELL for now. And watch again.

The rally continues today I think to decent green across the board. NASDAQ should hit 2630 before it decides to go higher or lower from there. Its at 2603 now. And the S & P is 25 points away from the voilahoo level of 1500. DOW is relaxed at 13300... getting no real direction today.

I sold some TSL at 49 yesterday- not waiting for 50- which did not happen- got to 49.99 and then all the way down to 48... That was close. That was the third round of a 40-50 back and forth ride. I think seriously that the next range will be 50-60. But will wait until the market takes it above 50 to pull the trigger once more.
I bought some SIRI at 3.15. It is a good buy prior to the merger approval with XMSR. Low risk- the business is not going away and with or without approval- SIRI is cheap I would say.
I think SNDK at 53 and AKAM at 30 are ready to show some green.... from here- INFY the Indian ADR is still trading around 47...for a while- INDIA is off the radar - these days- thats when its time to pull the trigger- when its paused. Long term looks good for emerging markets- there is no turning back. TTM (TATA Motors) 16 was good at 17 it is a winner and still has scope to run.
DHI is my housing sector pick at 13.6 today... makin new lows but once the dust settles ... no one dares to say it but the BOTTOM is here ...for housing. I can afford to say it as I am no CRAMER and no one is really listening.
On the short side... I am being bold again. AMAZON much as I like the company and the numbers- did it not go too far too fast- so am buying puts on AMAZON... that is an option to sell at 85. ITs at 88 and a high risk as if it breaks out above its 52-week high of 89... then 100 is not far away... I think it makes a double top at 89 and comes rushing down... Shorting is dangerous but buying puts will limit the risk.

Win some, lose some but keep watching. Opportunity missed is history. Look for the next one. Moving on is the name of the game.