Dan Schmeidler

While Citigroup Jumps on John Paulson's Investment, AIG Jumps on Anything

This is nothing more but a bubble formation in equities. And yes, (from a Fed's perspective) this sort of bubble in equities ain't so bad, considering all these other places where inflation could be creeping up. Since the government is backstopping/owning these equities (as opposed to NASDAQ2000) we are likely going to see this process (and this type of action in equities) prolonged. And (as (TraderMark points out) the rise in these equities is signaling that the Feds could potentially manage to keep their stranglehold on the markets for a very long time.

Earnings Season: Fundamentally Flawed

Very revealing article. Also, take into account the feds role in restricting the short selling of 19 financials. In combination with the analysts providing assistance to the financials with their guidance, it is not certain to predict any sort of price action in these stocks. The mechanics in the price action of many of these stocks is beyond repair if you are looking for any kind of consistency for a trade. The only consistent thing that I can see is that the action in the financial stocks looks horrible and broken from being thrown around all over the place. I would have covered my short positions on the first day of the rally on the financials. However, I decided to hold my short positions the moment I found out that the SEC is restricting naked short selling on some of the financials. I was even ready to load up the truck on the short during the next couple days, but my broker did not have alloted shares to short, courtesy of the feds. Guys, this is a no-brainer. If the federal government is stepping in and restricting a certain price action, it probably means that being short puts you on the right side of the trade and that without the restriction you would be in for a hell of a good time. Kinda like driving your car as you please, as if you owned the road. That is what the shorts were to the feds.

'The Worst Is Over for Financials' - Really?

I would hardly call this an article. But rather a short composition of various head-liners. Shame on you, Lazy-Grace (my nickname for you). Please don't ruin my "Seeking Alpha" experience with worthless articles.

What Is Citi Stock Worth?

C trades at a high PE because future financials (specifically income statements) will not reflect huge write-offs similar to the ones in the past few quarters. Even though the write-offs stem from balance sheet items, they needed to run through the income statement as an expense. That is because companies are not allowed to, let's say, capitalize expenses such as the write-offs. Similarly, when a company profits from the sale of an investment, it needs to run the profits through the income statement, whereas it would probably prefer to capitialize the gain on their balance sheet and depreciate it over time. Certain items, or transactions, can be capitalized on the balance sheet, but the accounting "world" has really tried to clamp down on it to provide clarity for the readers of the financil statements. For example, look at JNY, a profitable Retail company, currently trading at around P/E 4, (industry average is easily double that), because of their (very) profitable sale of Barney's New York to the Saudis.

Shorting Citi on Today's Jump

Shorting the financials is still a very good trade, but by no means a way to make money in the long run. Still, like any investment, pick your financials wisely, like focusing on equities with exposure to weak or weakening lending markets. C, like Wamu, has already been through every whiplash (up or down) imaginable. It would be annoying (to say the least) to try trading that kind of garbbage. Instead, focus on other financials that maybe have not hit the news as much. In order to maintain my credibility (yes, tips are for waiters) I will not give any stock tips here, but allow you to do your own research. Anyhow, I do like the above call, even though the $26.25 does sound a bit too perfect.

Jim Cramer's 10 Predictions for 2008

Stop bashing on this Cramer guy. It's pointless and not contributing to any direction on how to treat his stock predictions. If my opnion about him helps, I see him as someone who is simply motivated by his fearlessness of the markets. He survived hell when he was working professionally as a hedge fund manager, and now, he lingers around as a quasi semi-retiree because he feels that this is the kind of enjoyment (for him, at least) that he should have had in the first place when he worked on wall street. He also seems to have some kind of obsession with trading, which he readily would admit to. If you read his book "Confessions of a Street Addict", he will formulate to you $ by $ on how he made his millions. He gives you all the trades (generally by sector, or the maket as a whole), the time, and even the payout $$. This guy had a lot of guts (or the stupidity of a dare devil). He would borrow VERY heavily and cash in on big one or two day payoffs. His timing of the market was everything. Plus the fact that he is probably crazy helps him.