Divot's Market Debrief

I received an interesting piece of mail this week. If you invest/trade the markets long enough, you’ll get these sort of mailings fairly regularly.

It was an invitation to participate in a class action lawsuit over something Apple did between 2001 and 2005. I don’t really know or care what they were sued over, but Apple settled – and the cash is now available to be claimed. Essentially, if you bought shares of Apple during that time you might be entitled to some portion of ...

I've been quiet on my blog for a good week or so now, just watching the markets. I don't feel the need to post every day if the action doesn't warrant extended commentary. To be quite honest, I've been preparing to write a big "Repent Bulls, for the end is nigh" post... but it's not time for that yet. Not to say that we're not getting closer. ...

The UK rag The Daily Mail broke a story yesterday that Royal Dutch Shell may be quite serious about a buyout of British Petroleum. This rumor has been quite profitable for my position in BP (follow that and the rest of my portfolio here) - but I think the chart says that more strength is ahead.

My chart notes (click the ...

UAL looks good to me right now, and I’ve initiated a position with a bit of a different strategy here. I thought taking a minute to explain the technicals and the mechanics of the option position would be helpful. First off, here’s the big picture point and figure chart:
My chart notes should say it all, but ...

I have two charts for your perusal tonight, dear readers - focused on the broader indexes. Tonight my thoughts go to my TSP allocation, specifically: my over weighting of the international index (the EFA). This international index will tend to have a bit more volatility than the S&P 500, similar to the Wilshire 4500 (EMW) - but decorrelated at times. Lately, the EFA and EMW have been rather decorrelated. Much of this is due to the economic worries in Europe, as the PIIGS national economies ...