RALLY BEGINS

Fed did cut 50 basis points. Markets rallied 200 points on the news and then believe it or not the Dow actually closed down 37. OPPORTUNITY could not get better than this.

Today they are up again- triple digits on the dow -up 150. Selling on a rally will help to raise cash. In our trading scene- DRYS broke out significantly. In at 50- sold at 74 today. PRGN in at 14- sold at 18.75 today. These are great holds but I will move on to the next beaten down stock. Stay tuned as I look for another winner.

Google reports after the bell. Me thinks if its not bad this one goes higher- from 550. But I dont play with such hi-fliers- ! But watchin its price action will help to determine if the sentiment has changed to positive. AMZN was down big time after earnings last evening -almost to 60- its up to 74 (up 2 and change) today- so those who sold off after earnings- lost big time. It pays to not panic.

Job numbers tomorrow is the only hurdle after which I see DOW 13000, Nasdaq 2450 and S&P 1420 next week. WE shall see. Meanwhile if the markets misbehave- take it as a chance to get in one final time before we begin the steady recovery.

Take a look at homebuilders - up for the month- looks like they hit bottom. What more action do we want to see before we get bullish? Beats me...


Meanwhile

BUY BUY BUY on DIPS

Brace yourselves I shall say as the FED chair braces itself to go ahead and cut rates by 50 basis points this afternoon. If they dont the markets will tank here. And then the world over and rather than not cut now and then cut tomorrow when we see collapses in the markets- he will do as desired by the markets. Its like a spoilt child these days -getting what it wants- or it will CRY. Never mind I am not ruling out a 25 basis instead of a 50 basis cut as BERNY is bold to say the least.

WE made some stellar gains last week. The dry goods sector- DRYS and PRGN are on fire and the bottom seems far. We sold some DRYS from 50 to 68 is good for me. And am holding onto PRGN- at 14- Its 18 today but the downside is not much. These stocks as I mentioned in my blog last week- were too beaten up and even a depression was priced in. We like to watch out when the beating is overdone and take opportunities to enhance our gains.

One more beaten up stock yesterday was VM Ware- the virtualisation play- spun off from EMC. It beat expectations on the earnings front but was shy by 5 million bucks on the revenue side. The stock got slaughtered, mutilated, abused... down to 55- from 85 in a day after having suffered a decline from a high of 125 or so already. I bought some today- at 54. Downside is 50- and its in a growth sector I like. This one I am excited about. AM hoping for the momentum to re-enter this one once technology starts recovering- very soon is my guess.

There is too much negativity- in the markets- if stocks sell off big time after the fed cuts- I am a buyer - there is no catalyst near term for a sell off other than those that are already discounted by the market.

A new stock pick= JEC- an infrastructure play- solid earnings and upped guidance. The stock has drifted down from 100 to about 73-74 today. I will buy some right away at 73.5 today and the rest if it goes down in a big selloff.

SIRF is down to 15- on no news. Maybe they expect a bad quarter- to my mind any bad news is priced into this one. The GPS chip business is to my mind a growing business- GRMN is down due to competition from cellphone makers that are incorporating GPS in their phones. On no news I think this one is a strong screaming buy at 15. We are in at 18 and now at 15! The last time I screamed to buy around 16- it bottomed and turned around to go as high at 30. We made good money along that move- and its time to pull the trigger again.

Thats it for now... get ready for the fed announcement- I shall say lets get them out of the way and rally.

STOCKS HAVE SEEN THE WORST...

Huge selloff on Monday- looks like its way behind us. Cant see that in the rear view mirror as we are on the expressway of a solid recovery in the markets. Buying on that huge crash made us good money. VLO from 49 to 56 in 2 days- I took half off the table. BID from 28 to 33- sold half my position and JWN from 29 to 36- sold all of JWN. Am stayin with VLO (refiners have been unduly crushed... like there s no business) -with a target price of 60. And BID looks like oversold and will still go higher.

BRCM- we are in this one at various levels- from 28 to 22.... They reported good earnings. It was tradin up to 25 this morning but has pulled back to the 23.50 area- I think the worst is in this stock and when the company has reported good earnings- I am a buyer of more. MSFT and IBM have reported great numbers and once people realize these companies are still upbeat the fears of recession takin em down will die.

AKAM was a good trade from 26 to 31- I think it goes higher. Some of these stocks in good growing sectors have been pulled down needlessly due to fear. Keep the emotion out and pull the trigger. I have a target of 40 on this one- but will take some off at 33 if we get it.

I think if we stop being too emotional, we can get it right. Just watch the prices- objectively- stock gets hammered too much with no bad news- if the fundamentals are intact, there we have an opportunity to make money. IT is easy once you identify a trading range- for each stock that we are looking at. Being in and out of JWN for instance between 30 and 35- three times in a row -made us good money. Same with FRE- from 30 to 35- we made good money. Watch out for a dip below the trading range and then wait for the stock to settle down and go with the new trading range. In case of FRE- it dipped below 30 last month and then it crashed to 25 before recovering. So having a stop loss below the lower end of the trading range makes sense.

One stock that has done well for us= DRYS- we got in at 50 last week. ITs 60 and I still think its a buy. The Baltic Dry index has been coming down rather ferociously- amid the fear of slowdowns and recessions- but one has to recognize that its overdone and pick up the stocks that fell with it. We are in DRYS at 50 and PRGN at 14. DRYS is at 60 today and PRGN at 16... I think we will make more bucks if we hold on some more.

Next week the fed meets and will cut- how much is tough to say. I will take 25 basis. No cut after an emergency cut- will disappoint the markets. And looks like the Fed does not want to do that.

Retail and finance can be good plays as the momentum is just building. I like JNY (Jones Apparel) at 15.2 and ANN (Ann Taylor) at 21.5- these are trading like no one will ever buy their apparel no more. A speculative play I like is believe it or not- a solar play. YGE is at 24- in the volatile market this week its ran down all the way from 35 to 21. At 24 I am a nibbler. Target at least 30 in a day or two. TSO, a refiner hard hit may be a good idea too at 40. Too many stock ideas bodes a buyer beware- but I think its time to be in and not out of the market. Hold some stock and hold some cash at all times- the cash can be put to lucrative use on days such as Monday when you can get 10-12 per cent moves in a day.

The worst is over, one would think with the remarkable move on the upside - up 800 points from the lows already. Soon they will tell us how low we are from the highs. I will say this- when you hear it cant go down anymore- remember that it can and it takes the money down with it.

So buy only on dips and I will stay with the beaten down stocks that look like emerging from the quicksand that pulled em down. Financials and retail look good for steady upward moves. Morgan Stanley at 49 looks interesting. Anyone with me? Do give me a feedback - would love to know if I am making sense- and if you the reader could give me your version of how the market is doing. ITs only money and theres loads to be made at our madmarket blog right here.

BOTTOM is near

Yesterdays market action was comforting. Off 100+ on the DOW- not bad after the almost 500 point loss at the open. Global markets -Japan and Hong Kong and India were outstanding- 5-7 per cent increases across the board. But European markets slumped at the close as the ECB is still reluctant and uncertain- about lowering rates. Well, thats having an effect today and we have a panic selling again -down to 11775- far from 13000- and 14000 looks too good to be true.

Another catalyst is AAPLE that reported earnings that were more or less in line- a bit below street whispers- and the stock got hammered -down 25points to 130. I was wondering what would be a good entry point to buy Apple- 125 was what I was thinking. I cant believe we are almost there- and now I wonder if I do want to buy this one. Why not buy the cheaper stuff- a SNDK (25) or AKAM (26)- they make get cheaper as the market has no clue how much is enough on the downside. But these are good trades and longer term will be winners. Recessions are painful but they go away as action is taken to ease conditions and sentiments.

Be that as it may, the good part of todays story is that financials and retails seem to have put in a near term bottom. We sold Coach at 30 today- merely got my order filled as thats the high for the day so far. From 25 to 30 was fast. The next leg from 30 to 35 will come too but I dont have the patience. Thats for long term investors. I am buying BID (Sothebys) that has fallen below $30 - (28) believe it or not and no one has noticed. We got one more good round in Freddie Mac. From 27 to 31.5 - is good for me for the time being. FRE should break out to 40 sooner or later but I would wait for their earnings release before I am in it for good.

I have not dabbled in energy- but Valero at 49 looks do-able- so am nibbling some today.We have to capture these opportunities and buy the beaten up stocks as we get closer to a bottom.

Next week the fed meet and will cut again as is expected and the markets will give us some decent moves on the upside- says my crystal ball. I am certainly hoping the market closes on a better note- though at this point we are seein grief- ! Or we have another global slump and then we re-test todays lows tomorrow, blah blah...blah.

Safe stocks that seem to have little downside may be a place to go- INTC at 18.50 or AA at 27 or even a retail stock that has not surged alongwith the others- say ANN at 20! Those are new picks- good luck and stay in the game. It does not get more volatile than this.

NOT BAD... I SEE ENCOURAGING SIGNS

VIXX= volatility hit 37- that is a sign of bottoming out.
FED cut by 75 basis in between meetings- sign of panic- so sign of bottom.
Financials are at rock bottom levels- bargain hunters come in.
Retail stocks behaving themselves in a market that is down 370 points- KSS is up, LOW is up, HD is up.
SO the sectors that have been hammered are now showing signs of recovering some.
I bought COH at 23.5- JWN at 29- TGT at 48 in retail.
FRE at 27 - and FNM at 31- these are the stocks that should rally when the fed cuts- while the market is still in a dillemma time to pull the trigger. Financials are to feel better when the fed cuts- but are still swooning- so time to buy them- !
INFY at 37 and CTSH at 24 and BRCM at 22 are looking too good to be true.

We have to realize that the global markets crashed because we started it- I should say the fears of recession out here and the fed doing nothing were the catalyst. Now with the fed having taken action, we have to feel better and the globe feels better. With markets in India feeling the pain of 20 per cent down turns in 2-3 days- on no bad news- I see upside rather than panic going into tomorrow- if wall street closes at least above its lows of today.

Brace yourselves for some great money making this week. Put in your buys today and trust me the outcome will be greeen. My trading cap says- we put in a botttom today. Touche.




Until the market rallies some at the close- the worst may not be over. But trading opportunities were never so good.

GLOBAL MELDOWN... hang in there...

If faint of heart today is not the day to watch the action on wall street. The global market collapsed - while we were closed over the long weekend.

FED acted- cut 75 basis points. That was a shock for the market- but I think it was pretty much the least they could do. Though nothing can stop us from going down big time on the open- to my mind DOW goes to 11600- making it a nice hefty 20 per cent down from the highs- and so do the other indices- hit 20 + corrections from the highs. And then this FED cut reminds the market that all is not lost. Market will be at its worst in the morning- and the VIXX will zoom above 30.... capitulation is on its way. BUY if you have cash and the courage to hang in there. SUCH opportunities dont come by everyday.

When every stock looks like its on sale- you got to buy what you like.

More ... as the day progresses.

BEARs are HUNGRY

The bear is hungry. He has gobbled more than his share in the last couple of weeks than he did all year -!

We are in a bear market, they say on wall street. Naming it a bear market does not make it easy. It changes my trading strategy when the market breaks key technical levels like it did this week. Not much, just got to be out sooner at lower highs and get in at lower lows.

What happened? The markets were too resilient in the face of the gloom.
The Philadelphia Fed index slumped to minus 20.9 in January - the lowest reading since October 2001 - from minus 1.6 in December.
The Philly Fed data is significant because this is historically the most reliable signal for the national economy of all the regional surveys. Whenever we have breached the minus 20 level, we have fallen into recession.

So? We all knew we are in a recession. This just confirms it. A plethora of data will follow that confirms recession. Are we going to be down every time data shows up? Then lets expect a full fledged 20 per cent down from highs- that puts DOW at 11500 or so- not to worry - in the environment of volatility we are in- this can take 2 days. And then it gets better.

Well, stay tuned... and lets watch for stocks going up on bad news- those are the safe ones to pick. I do like the DRY bulk sector. DRYS is one (low $50s) and PRGN -($14) a lower priced stock in the same industry. These are pricing in a recession all over the world. Maybe they underestimate the un-stoppable growth in emerging economies- like India and China that account for a good part of the trade. Nibbling today for a quick trade if they turn around. And then we wait for DOW to go below 12000 and see how these stocks perform.

I will not let a rally today misguide me- if I am in the money I take some cash out -so we are ready to buy on weakness (collapses) next week.

"Mamma" my son is nudging me while I divert my attention from him to my blog. "What is it, dear?"
"Look... at this picture... isnt it adorable?"
"Wha...? OH!" It was a page from the JAN 2008 AAA Car and Travel issue- a picture of a bear in ALASKA waters where one can see "mother bears carry flopping fish to hungry cubs, while the bald eagles perched in surrounding trees."
"I like bears..."said my son looking to me for approval.
They are hungry I shall say this much for now. "Go find a picture of a bull..." I ushered him to read something different.

Hang in there. Opportunity for cash -put it to work. I am bull-bear neutral as you know. More like an elephant- the new animal on wall street who waits and watches and runs faster than bulls and bears when the time is ripe. Lets be stable and patient and above all lets never panic.

FEDspeaks- STOCKS TANK

FED speaks today- and with every phrase however well-phrased- he is breathing trouble for stocks. He gave his economic outlook- pretty grim. Tis good he is downgrading growth for 2008. Everyone knows that including the stock market. We need one big whooosh to the downside so everyone and his uncle agrees that we have hit a short term bottom on the market. And we need a steep hike in the VIXX (remember the volatality index) to the level above 30- it was about 25 yesterday. When that happens everyone who wanted to panic has done so- and sold and then theres no room but for the market to go up. Pretty simple. Until you dont feel like throwing up as you see the stock prices collapse- or throw in the towel- either of the two- the stock market has not bottomed. Thats a pretty ugly way to look at it. But with DOW 12300- ouch- and S&P 1350 - Nasdaq-2375 - another 2 per cent moves on the downside may help to get the bottom in and so the future better off- as we adjust to grimmer prospects.

Why wont the fed chariman just cut rates 2 weeks earlier- than on Jan 30 one thinks as the action will speak louder than the long winded speech-. He is painting a grim growth and things havin worsened scenario- just do the rate cut right away. Blah blah blah... Jim Cramer is right in expressing that the FED is blowin it and I think by comin on live on national TV and talkin about the same crisis over again without givin the rate cuts is a bit frustrating to say the least.

The only positive I can take out of this bear market is that there will be light at the end of the tunnel- a bounce is what I call it. Hang in there-
We had a goood ride in FREDDIE MAC- took my position off yesterday at 35 - and am sure glad I did. ITs 30 today- and am a buyer all over again- as when the fed does ease rates FRE will wake up again!

Its the day the stock market heard it all over again from the FED and crashed -300-400 points on the DOW- I am afraid of predicting- though we are already down 150. And then in the last hour I am hoping for the rebound. Never a dooms day -always opportunity when its this bad. Use the free cash wisely- stocks will give more return than cash- once this turmoil ends- it does end - believe me.

DOWN below 1200

Bull or bear is the debate. It gets weary supporting the bull. But we are not too worried about who rules as long as we are on the right side of the trade.

IBM saves the day, INTC ruins it... earnings season is painful.
Rule of thumb, if you be a trader dont hold stock ahead of the earnings unless its been beaten down too much before and you miss out the bounce on earnings.

In the market no one wants to play bottom or call the bottom.

Financials other than Citi seem to be recovering. JPM and Wells Fargo had earnings out that were not that bad- Citi's $18 billion write down this quarter make the $1- 2 billion writedowns look lovely. Thats why JPM is up 2 bucks and WFC is treading higher. C is at a 52 week low- am tired of saying it does not go lower. It traded under 26- the bounce back will be nice and lucrative so I shall say its worth holding onto- The bottoming process is always painful. Lets give Pandit some respect- he is making bold moves- slashing the dividend was a great idea- makes no sense to dole out cash to investors when they know there are financial issues so grime.

I have one pick among the technology beaten downs - NVDA is down to 24 from almost 30 couple of days ago. It was downgraded and INTC earnings being lackluster did not help. The real growth story is being ignored and at less than 14 times earnings -its time to bottom pick this one.

Markets will be volatile until the fed cuts and if we have to wait till the official meeting on JAN 30, many more will throw in the towel and bring the markets to bear market territory if we are not already there. If you have holding power buy and hold through the crisis - after such horrible downturns markets do emerge higher as action is taken to combat the crises- be they housing, sub prime or recessionary.

ONE intersting stock I was watching looks attractive- DRYS a bulk shipper of dry commodities like steel, coal etc. Its down from $130 to $50 today. Panic has set in as it broke all technical levels. And the news apart from the Baltic index having dropped consistently recently, is that the company purchased a stake in OCEAN RIG, an offshore driller -not taken well by the market. To my mind these are blips in an other wise robust global demand. This is a good buy. Would buy some now at 50 and wait for it to settle down or start recovering and then add more. Good for a trade and good for long term as well.

Thats all from me on this gloomy day on wall street. Look for stocks rallying on bad news -that signals a bottom.

Shorting oil stocks was a good idea. SLB and XOM are down big time this week. Selling my puts on them.

BOUNCE- finally

IBM saved the year? IBM announced earnings will be much ahead of estimates. And that was enough to make the markets soar monday morning. To my mind it was way oversold and on Friday we reached the critical technical levels without breaking down further, so a bounce or a rather strong rally commences.

Tomorrow the financials start the confession. Citigroup will report numbers and the street says it will report 24 billion dollars of writedowns- OUCHAHOO. But what is remarkable is even after hearing this number C is trading up .20- .25 cents today. Resilience rules- I think there is less downside. So if they contain their reporting to what the street is saying, C rallies into the 30s. So am bravely holding onto our C position into the earnings. The downside is 25- if they were to report worse numbers.Other financials like JP Morgan that are better off with less subprime issues- should do well- JPM at 41 looks good to me.

COACH was downgraded today when its at 26. The analysts are hopeless and though I have been wrong in pounding for COH at 30 and 28- I dare say at 25.20 I am a buyer - for a quick rebound to 30 as people realize this stock is cheap even after the lowered estimates. Coach has a presence in emerging markets so even while US gals are holding onto their old handbags conserving the money in there... not so overseas. The company announced buybacks when the stock was trading at 32 or so. And the worst retail scene is in the price. My case rests. I shall keep a stop loss at 24.5- if it breaks 25... well we will re-visit this discussion.

About our winners, FRE from 25 to 30.75- I am selling half my position, as I think its got no reason to not run up to 35- ! And still raising the money will help fund my Coach investment.

I found a cheap stock that I was watching some time back. LLNW- in the streaming media business (AKAM is the leader) - the stock has been beaten down from 13 to 6 in the past couple of months. Last week it reported that the revenues are going to be ahead of estimates. See what that did to the markets today when IBM said just that. LLNW is still trading around 6.50- the market behaves itself and this one could be reversing up to 9-10 ...is my opinion- may have to be patient- the bottomline is that its in a hot sector- a new IPO -just hasn't kicked off interest yet. If the numbers are getting better as the company announced- the stock price looks like bottomed.

Not much else. I see no hurdles for a straight up move- and getting in and out of stocks at bottom levels- makes good money for us.

This week will be volatile- earnings reports from financials, INTC and IBM and also the inflation PPI and CPI reports have got to be watched- as strong numbers may prompt the fed to act sooner. Will see.

BUY on pullbacks is my advice. Sell a winners and move onto find the next beaten down potential winner.

SO FAR SO GOOD... VOLATILITY rules...!

We ended up in the green alright last evening as investors realized rate cuts are coming and the economy will be saved if its in danger. A catalyst to drive the market higher was the BANK of AMERICA takeover of COUNTRYWIDE FINANCIAL. That was a boost for the sentiment - that ailing financial companies will be bought out. Makes sense. I bought some WM at 13.5 on hearing the Countrywide bailout. It was the immediate next in line if at all. Its trading at 15 today- as this morning brought talks of JP Morgan showing interest in WM.

All in all the DOW is down 180 points and NASDAQ down 30 points... etc. CANNOT emphasize it enough. Such days are a traders paradise.
When a sigh of relief is to be breathed and the market just plunges, we got to buy. Sooner or later bulls and investors will put in their money in US stocks- who dont want to miss the boat for the year.

We hold CITI and FRE both going higher. Am adding technology stocks- BRCM at 24, SNDK at 28.3 and CTSH at 27.5- this ones like a falling knife today.

BRCM is hovering around the 52 week low- just capitulating -is it called or consolidating. Whatever that may be, it looks good for a trade and for long term at 23.75. SNDK also fell out of bed last week- flirting with its 52 week low. I am in at 28.25 today. Sandisk has been beaten profusely- thats what I like- beaten down stocks that still have a life- at the Consumer Electronic show- the plethora of new products bodes well for the likes of SNDK- its flash memory is used across the board- in the stuff that works today- mobile, digital cameras, gaming consoles etc. The stock is down from 60.

CTSH is an - Indian offshore provider based in NJ. Its in IT consulting and CRM solutions- a hot sector. The stock has run down from 48 to 30. Today down 2 bucks- as an analyst started coverage with NEUTRAL. I say BUY. This and the likes of INFY will have positive momentum as rupee appreciation may be contained in 2008 (~5%) and U.S economic slowdown pushes more offshoring to India and China.
Well, we are in and wait for green at the end of the day- or next week brings us toward rally mode again.

Mind you a lot of the bad news about US slowdown is in the market prices. These volatile days give us a chance to make money. In and out is the only way in this market. BUY and HOLD can be painful to say the least. Trading is the way to go. You could trade in and out of stocks like TGT or COH- on the retail side or C or LEH on the financial side, good fundamentally yet very volatile... ! The way we are doing it is observing the trading range - buy on the lower end and sell at the higher end.
It gets easier if you are on the right side. We avoid the high-fliers- like GOOG and AAPL as any plunge in the market sentiment can take them down too fast. The ones that are beaten down tend to settle down at the bottom- where we pick em up for trades at monas mad market. I hope you are reading and benefitting.

SUBSTANTIVE RATE CUTS COMING UP...

The minute the statement was out from Fedspeaking Mr. Berny... the Dow rallied up 120 points- it read that they stand ready to take substantive additional action -that is more rate cuts- obviously that was what the market was looking for.

Once he started speaking - he made a nice sober longwinded speech about the subprime mess- explained it well for all of us to understand the crisis, the markets gave up all the gains and was down again. Dumb?

All I can say is the fed is ready and if it says `substantive' it means they are going to cut for several meetings if not in between meetings. So tis a positive for the markets. As usual the market takes its time to digest the details. We are holding onto our positions accumulated yesterday in addition to earlier weeks- and we shall await a rally- the market sometimes is toooo tired to keep going down - its called an OVERSOLD condition- and thats when we find the best trades out there.

Soon the bargain hunters will realize that theres more reason to be in the market than out. The stock market is the best alternative if nothing else- right now-! The S&P is at historically low p-e ratio of less than 14.

Other than the Fed speak- there were the bad retail numbers that were lower than the lowered estimates- but most retail stocks are holding up well. A lot of bad news is priced in surprizingly so. KSS was down 10 bucks to 40 ahead of the numbers- now they come out and lower the earnings estimate by 10-12 cents- thats the time to buy. It bottomed at 38 yesterday. TGT seems to have bottomed at 48- its 51 already. Not that the numbers were good.

Once more companies come out with lowered earnings estimates the stocks start bottoming out- as the collapse occurs pretty much before the announcement. Wonder how the market knows but it does.

Last but not the least the Fed does not think we are going into a recession- so thats as far as the R word goes - ! To my mind the fed will not declare it- we are already in a recession- and once its announced we will be on our way to recovery as the stimulus packages start working...
So theres no need to swoon at this point. Lets wait and watch...

Am aiming for some green today and a big rally tomorrow. Hope that sounds good enough for now...

NASDAQ _POSITIVE -LETS DO IT!

AM calling for a positive move on the NASDAQ after 8 consecutive sessions in the red. Its 3 pm and we have an hour wherein these days we get collapses. Today seems the day we break the trend. Collectively we shall breathe- a sigh of relief.

Not much can be said yet. Positive close today will still be heading into earnings releases being triggered off by Alcoa. I would go ahead and buy AA ahead of the earnings at 30.20 - any bad news is priced in and if its really bad the downside is 28 to my mind. Lets see... wait watch and buy as we see the opportunities.

BUY or REPENT later...

Easy for me to say BUY all the time. OVERSOLD is one reason to buy. Recession coming up- finally more people acknowledging the prognosis- thats when the worst is in the stocks- give or take 500 points =OUCH. To my mind stocks are in a recession- already- 50-80 per cent down in financials, retail and housing. So thats another reason to buy now.
No alternative looks more attractive- the risk-reward is better in stocks. Would you rather take a 2-3 % in treasuries- or bank cds that convert into negative value if you figure inflation. CASH is dead if not put into stocks- a trading opportunity and a long term horizon if we tread lower- is here. Nibble if you havent already bought - if you are fully invested hold on and do not look at the daily gyrations because that may set off a panic selling. Thats the last action I would advocate- patience is rewarded.

We took a hit in financials and retail- Citigroup, Freddie Mac and the likes of Coach- but am a buyer of all three today - Citi at 26.5 and FRE at 25.25 -wow and Coach at 26.25 will be good trades while I hold onto the earlier positions for a longer term.

If we close in the green tonite we are off to a good start- its after all a lot to do with sentiment- between 3 and 4 pm we lost it all. Today we may rise instead and thats what I am hoping for. As the month progresses we get closer to the Fed meeting- a cut is imminent- 50 basis will set us into rally mode again.

I am adding some more positions in technology. SIRF, remember the chip-maker for GPS devices- is down all the way to 19- unbelievable price action on no news- this one had a good time from 17 to 30 and is down to 19 again. Global positioning is going global and just about picking up. Also innovative uses for gps may provide a surge for the chips.

GRMN is down big time down 10 bucks today on some analysts negative remarks. I would pull the trigger on GRMN too under $70 looks good- maybe just half my potential position sometime today and the rest if it takes another dive soon. The fears of pricing pressures are KNOWN and competition from NOKIA incorporating gps in its phones- is a KNOWN too- so this late downward reaction by the market on GRMNs price is a good opportunity.

If we do happen to collapse into the closing hour- that will be one of the last opportunities for some time so I would not put all my cash in right away. Maybe waiting and watching todays price action will bode well. Major down drift will give us a case of fools rushing out while we at monasmadmarket quietly dare to tread in and hold on for a day soon when all will be green.

Thanks for reading. Do interact- I would love to hear from readers- what they think is important to me as sentiment rules more than anything else.

BUY signal from me...

Happy New Year to my readers, albeit a bit late. Needless to say it aint been happy at wall street. I have been away- to India - if I may admit. That country is booming- I see money pouring into consumption - be it retail or be it real estate. The boom seems to have just begun- does not look like any slow down out there. Credit and consumption mania has reached the mass market. And the upper middle class is basking in the newly found wealth- of the stock market gains- investing it in real estate like theres no tomorrow- pardon the cliches. Making a long story short- global growth is on.

Psst. wall street seems to have swoooned pretty badly this year - down 4 to 6 % on the Dow and Nasdaq already. Would not look too bad were it not for the year being just 6-7 days old. Down a per cent a day is cruel. Today we shall see the turnaround. The selling sometimes just is way overdone. And in my theory there still is no NEW bad news- its all just getting way over discounted. So my sense is to buy on these massive pull backs. Technology and retail and financials all look good for a trade. So am putting more money into Citigroup at 28.15 today and Freddie Mac at 28.70 looks like a steal all over again.
A new pick for myself and my audience is NTRI- Nutrisystems- at 27... the financials are compelling- the hi-flier has been beaten down too fast. If you notice once a stock gets out of favor it goes way down to its lows- so thats the time to buy. Once it comes into favor- to my mind the fundamentals of the stock can be a catalyst- the upswing can be good.
I am also adding a new stock- ASYS- at 11.25- its in the solar sector- on the technology side- more on this one - soon.
For now am announcing a rally- relief or recovery or call it what you want- any thing the Fed says or the President for that matter- is discounted. Lets look for a rally- as bargain hunters put their money where it belongs- US market on pullbacks.
We sold JWN at 37 and INFY at 46- am buying both today at 32 and 42 respectively. KSS - at 41 and LOW at 21 look okay- for a few bucks.

More positive sentiment coming up at monas mad market- once she settles down to gettin up in the morning instead of the night- as jet lag holds her tight! Gnite- yawn- see you at more respectable levels tomorrow- DOW 13000 and NASDAQ 2550- at least. S&P had a long run down from 1490 to 1410- well- cant see nothin but some recovery. Whew.
Apologies for the erratic blogs- now will be more accurate and regular. Happy New Year, all!