The only issue that I have with opentable is that restaurants don't really need this service and can design their own online reservation system if they wanted to. The service is great for the small restaurant players, but the bigger players such as the Darden's don't need opentable. In a way opentable is a play on the entire restaurant sector, if you believe restaurants are going to slow down (high gas prices, increasing food costs, etc) opentable should follow the downward trend. In the restaurant industry opentable is promising, but I'd rather stick to the best of breed names McDonalds, Starbucks, Darden's.
AT&T: My 2012 Stock Pick Of The Year (Part 3) [View article]
Joe Dirnfeld,
If the stock didn't make the climb that it did and instead was negative for 2012 then i could see your point, but the opposite has happened. This proves this isn't a big deal as you think it is. I understand your concerns because I wanted to buy on the pullback, but waited till 29 and made my move. I was a little late, but still happy with the gains. With AT&T you have to look at what AT&T is doing for the future and not past events. The dividend was not affected by this paid breakup fee, IPhone sales still continue to help drive sales, expansion of UVerse to compete in areas that are only Charter or Time Warner. In Saint Louis (Where I reside) AT&T is aggressively expanding cable and continueing to focus of other sources of revenue besides mobile. I could go on and on and the facts speak for themselves, but AT&T has proven ( in terms of its share price) that this whole 3billion is not a big deal. AT&T still a great performer in the beginning of 2012 and I'm looking for the momentum to continue throughout 2012.
Trading Options On Smith & Wesson: Still A Force To Be Reckoned With [View article]
One of the things I like about both of these stock is there are high barries to entry in the firearm industry and will most likely be like this for quite sometime. SWHC and RGR still good long term holds, despite SWHC doesn't pay a dividend. SWHC I believe still an undervalued company.
AT&T: My 2012 Stock Pick Of The Year (Part 3) [View article]
agreed- I think with the stock having a nice run you have seen some profit taking the past couple of days, but nothing to make the stock drop more than a 1 percent. I'm sure we all know about the fundamentals, but if AT&T gets closer to the middle bollinger band and RSI (looking at 1 day time frame) gets below 30, I will be looking to pull the trigger once again. April 20th is earnings and still time buy on this pullback before earnings for a short term trade.
AT&T: My 2012 Stock Pick Of The Year (Part 3) [View article]
Most companies that could get bought know that they need protection since this deal is not 100% and i don't believe T-Mobile would agree to any deal without a breakup fee. Breakup fees are common in merger and acquistations. The 3 billion was chump change for (T) and was money they had set aside (this was a smart management move) You sometimes have to take chances/get aggressive with your competitors. AT&T lost this battle over T-Mobile, but sometimes I am glad they didn't merge since this would mean even more money spent and usually big acquistations take a while for the share price to go up. Why should they go unpunished? This was a team effort and not some rogue mgmt team making deals behind everyone's back.
Walt Disney Co: Let The Future Earnings Begin [View article]
The movie flop has been overhyped by the media. The over 200million sounds like a lot, but in reality it isn't. Take a look at when AT&T gave T-Mobile a 3billion breakup fee, AT&T took a hit, news went away- and stock went up. Same thing is happening to Disney. Bad news came out-Stock sold off a little, but is still in an upward bullish channel. The write down of the movie is not important, just a bump in the road that will go away
A Bullish Look At McDonald's Through Cattle Prices [View article]
Thanks for the insight from somebody who has their hands in the operation. Sometimes it can difficult to get a perspective on the cost of cattle prices and the effects they have from somebody who does not own cattle. I like MCD long term, but I am in the XLY as an alternative
Our Take On 'Why I Am Leaving Goldman' [View article]
I could take Mr. Smith's point of view if their was proof of his claims through e-mails or recorded conversations. But, that what GS is in business to do (taking your money to make money) True there are ethical standards that come into play, but lets face it the investment banking business is a tough business. If I was a client I wouldn't care what they called me as long as they made me money, when they stop making money the clients will be the ultimate decision on the future of the company. Casino's take money from people all the time and employees take a lot of flak from customers, you can only imagine how disgruntled employees they have. I think this story is getting blown out of proportion
When it comes to trading options everyone has their own style and while I don't 100% agree with yours, I'm sure their are plenty of people that don't agree with mine. I only have 2 issues with the article since I would not get this advice for beginner traders. The first issue is with Home runs and Grand slams. This seems like the professional poker tournament philosophy. When poker was popular and all over tv, you would often would see the same people always winning. But, what wasn't always said is how many tournaments they lost before they hit that big one. In reality it seems like you don't mind losing on a bunch of trades, before hitting the big trade, which hopefully will wipe out your losses. We all like the occasional home run/grand slam. but not to the point where you over leverage yourself. On rule three "Luck" while it seems appropriate for your style of trading, I just think luck shouldn't be a factor in a trade. I guess, I don't like to make trades based on luck. Eventhough I disagree with some points of your article, you do make some valid points on options trading, but I think in a disclaimer you should put not for newbie traders.
Why CNBC's 'Fast Money' Earnings Plays Might Be Bad Advice [View article]
Kim,
I agree with your article. Lately the fast Money traders haven't been mentioning straddles or strangles and their trades have been one sided based on earnings or some other big event. Fast Money's short term plays have been so-so and they generally do better on longer term option plays. I enjoy their commentary on stocks and options, but if you're going to play options on earnings you (Kim) have shown over a period of time ( in performance) there are better ways to play earnings than just buying a call or put. As always thank you for the trade ideas.
OpenTable: Ready For A Big Gain [View article]
Intel: To Stay Long Or Not To Stay Long? [View article]
Why didn't you just turn your comment into a article?
AT&T: My 2012 Stock Pick Of The Year (Part 3) [View article]
If the stock didn't make the climb that it did and instead was negative for 2012 then i could see your point, but the opposite has happened. This proves this isn't a big deal as you think it is. I understand your concerns because I wanted to buy on the pullback, but waited till 29 and made my move. I was a little late, but still happy with the gains. With AT&T you have to look at what AT&T is doing for the future and not past events. The dividend was not affected by this paid breakup fee, IPhone sales still continue to help drive sales, expansion of UVerse to compete in areas that are only Charter or Time Warner. In Saint Louis (Where I reside) AT&T is aggressively expanding cable and continueing to focus of other sources of revenue besides mobile. I could go on and on and the facts speak for themselves, but AT&T has proven ( in terms of its share price) that this whole 3billion is not a big deal. AT&T still a great performer in the beginning of 2012 and I'm looking for the momentum to continue throughout 2012.
Trading Options On Smith & Wesson: Still A Force To Be Reckoned With [View article]
AT&T: My 2012 Stock Pick Of The Year (Part 3) [View article]
AT&T: My 2012 Stock Pick Of The Year (Part 3) [View article]
Trading Options On Smith & Wesson: Still A Force To Be Reckoned With [View article]
Walt Disney Co: Let The Future Earnings Begin [View article]
4 IPOs With Explosive Growth Ready To Run [View article]
A Bullish Look At McDonald's Through Cattle Prices [View article]
Investment Madness: Bank Of America Advances While RIM Appears To Have Given Up [View article]
Our Take On 'Why I Am Leaving Goldman' [View article]
Little Near-Term Upside For The U.S. Natural Gas Fund [View article]
My 3 Rules For Options [View article]
Why CNBC's 'Fast Money' Earnings Plays Might Be Bad Advice [View article]
I agree with your article. Lately the fast Money traders haven't been mentioning straddles or strangles and their trades have been one sided based on earnings or some other big event. Fast Money's short term plays have been so-so and they generally do better on longer term option plays. I enjoy their commentary on stocks and options, but if you're going to play options on earnings you (Kim) have shown over a period of time ( in performance) there are better ways to play earnings than just buying a call or put. As always thank you for the trade ideas.