vmyev's Comments RSS Syndication from SeekingAlpha.com http://seekingalpha.com/user/986278/comments http://seekingalpha.com/article/1456701/comments?source=feed#comment-19201371 19201371 - my average monthly electricity bill will fall from $150 to $98
- the system has a full 20 year warranty
- no upfront cash outlay
- constant remote monitoring of the system

As a consumer, I agree with Mr. Rive's statement - I don't care whose panels they are or what the technology is as long as they keep working as advertised. Although I think SCTY has gotten a bit ahead of itself, I believe this is the solar stock to own in the long term because of their business philosophy and Elon Musk's leadership. Now I'm just waiting for Mr. Musk to come up with an affordable EV. If the lease terms are similar to my solar system - free transportation!]]> Fri, 24 May 2013 09:08:58 -0400 - my average monthly electricity bill will fall from $150 to $98
- the system has a full 20 year warranty
- no upfront cash outlay
- constant remote monitoring of the system

As a consumer, I agree with Mr. Rive's statement - I don't care whose panels they are or what the technology is as long as they keep working as advertised. Although I think SCTY has gotten a bit ahead of itself, I believe this is the solar stock to own in the long term because of their business philosophy and Elon Musk's leadership. Now I'm just waiting for Mr. Musk to come up with an affordable EV. If the lease terms are similar to my solar system - free transportation!]]> http://seekingalpha.com/article/892561/comments?source=feed#comment-9955231 9955231 Google some more so that searches always present Walmart ahead of Amazon, clean up the website a bit, email weekly promotions, focus on local service and support for big-ticket items, etc. - wouldn't take much to get everyone's attention.]]> Fri, 28 Sep 2012 02:41:36 -0400 Google some more so that searches always present Walmart ahead of Amazon, clean up the website a bit, email weekly promotions, focus on local service and support for big-ticket items, etc. - wouldn't take much to get everyone's attention.]]> http://seekingalpha.com/article/882171/comments?source=feed#comment-9759521 9759521
The military/DOD said that there is no logical, reasonable way to do this - over 9600 contracts, including some multi-billion dollar ones, would have to be re-negotiated, affecting almost every corner of our economy.

The House committee members replied that it's not their fault - the House is doing its job in trying to find a solution, but the Senate and Administration are the culprits! ... and it's too late to do anything before the elections anyway because we go on recess tomorrow!!!

There you have it! ]]> Sun, 23 Sep 2012 09:17:34 -0400
The military/DOD said that there is no logical, reasonable way to do this - over 9600 contracts, including some multi-billion dollar ones, would have to be re-negotiated, affecting almost every corner of our economy.

The House committee members replied that it's not their fault - the House is doing its job in trying to find a solution, but the Senate and Administration are the culprits! ... and it's too late to do anything before the elections anyway because we go on recess tomorrow!!!

There you have it! ]]> http://seekingalpha.com/article/866291/comments?source=feed#comment-9437141 9437141
For AMZN to drop seriously, there has to be a crack in the dike. Bad earnings or rising PE obviously won't do it - when they announced lower Q2 earnings and forecast a loss for Q3, the price shot up and stayed up. I'm afraid that if they post a Q3 loss but beat reduced expectations, the price will once again take off!

Perhaps the "crack" is Goldman's removal of AMZN from its basket of preferred stocks, which is essentially a downgrade. If other analysts follow with downgrades on valuation, I think the "hedge-herd" will quickly head for the exits. But unless this happens within the next week or so, fund window-dressing will probably push the price up even further.

I'm short AMZN via puts (probably way to many!)]]> Fri, 14 Sep 2012 03:04:03 -0400
For AMZN to drop seriously, there has to be a crack in the dike. Bad earnings or rising PE obviously won't do it - when they announced lower Q2 earnings and forecast a loss for Q3, the price shot up and stayed up. I'm afraid that if they post a Q3 loss but beat reduced expectations, the price will once again take off!

Perhaps the "crack" is Goldman's removal of AMZN from its basket of preferred stocks, which is essentially a downgrade. If other analysts follow with downgrades on valuation, I think the "hedge-herd" will quickly head for the exits. But unless this happens within the next week or so, fund window-dressing will probably push the price up even further.

I'm short AMZN via puts (probably way to many!)]]> http://seekingalpha.com/article/856031/comments?source=feed#comment-9265141 9265141 AAPL) and market (AMZN). Marketing is getting you to buy something you didn't know you needed, and this is done through advertising. But we're bombarded with so many ads, we subconsciously turn them off - UNLESS they are relevant to us. Who would have thought Google could make money off of advertising, but they made the ads relevant to their users. A couple of years ago I noticed that when I sent or read emails in my gmail account, ads appeared which were related to keywords in my text! So, an adbot in real time sends me what I am more likely to pay attention to.

Amazon has also been using Google Search to promote itself. Try googling something you want to buy. The search may come back with 23 million hits, but Amazon will always be on the first page. Whatever Amazon pays for that service is worth it - most of us don't go past the first couple of pages.

Now, suppose the Kindle becomes your favorite device, with all your movies, books, music, etc. on it. Although it sounds like a conspiracy theory, I would guess that Amazon Marketing would have access to all the information it can derive from knowing what's on your Kindle, and can customize the "Special Offers" for you. They've gotten you to pay for a device which gives them a conduit to your brain, and probably charge their advertisers a premium for such directed ads! Brilliant!]]> Mon, 10 Sep 2012 04:55:25 -0400 AAPL) and market (AMZN). Marketing is getting you to buy something you didn't know you needed, and this is done through advertising. But we're bombarded with so many ads, we subconsciously turn them off - UNLESS they are relevant to us. Who would have thought Google could make money off of advertising, but they made the ads relevant to their users. A couple of years ago I noticed that when I sent or read emails in my gmail account, ads appeared which were related to keywords in my text! So, an adbot in real time sends me what I am more likely to pay attention to.

Amazon has also been using Google Search to promote itself. Try googling something you want to buy. The search may come back with 23 million hits, but Amazon will always be on the first page. Whatever Amazon pays for that service is worth it - most of us don't go past the first couple of pages.

Now, suppose the Kindle becomes your favorite device, with all your movies, books, music, etc. on it. Although it sounds like a conspiracy theory, I would guess that Amazon Marketing would have access to all the information it can derive from knowing what's on your Kindle, and can customize the "Special Offers" for you. They've gotten you to pay for a device which gives them a conduit to your brain, and probably charge their advertisers a premium for such directed ads! Brilliant!]]> http://seekingalpha.com/article/822421/comments?source=feed#comment-8760541 8760541
Thoughts?]]> Sat, 25 Aug 2012 03:42:56 -0400
Thoughts?]]> http://seekingalpha.com/article/769151/comments?source=feed#comment-8011191 8011191
As for AMRN insiders selling stock, there are obviously lots of reasons for execs to sell, most of them having nothing to do with company prospects. Here's a note from yesterday's http://bit.ly/MSp6gL

"Amarin (AMRN): An investor bought 13,150 January 18 calls for $1.55 and sold a matching number of January 25 calls for $0.40. Known as a bullish call spread, the trade cost $1.15 and will earn a maximum profit of about 500 percent if the stock rallies to $25 by expiration. AMRN fell 9.12 percent to $11.53."

Suppose an exec sold 100,000 shares for about $1.2 million and entered this trade. That would be a tremendous sign of confidence in the company's future, but something we retail investors would never see. All we see is the insider sale of 100,000 shares!]]> Thu, 02 Aug 2012 00:30:20 -0400
As for AMRN insiders selling stock, there are obviously lots of reasons for execs to sell, most of them having nothing to do with company prospects. Here's a note from yesterday's http://bit.ly/MSp6gL

"Amarin (AMRN): An investor bought 13,150 January 18 calls for $1.55 and sold a matching number of January 25 calls for $0.40. Known as a bullish call spread, the trade cost $1.15 and will earn a maximum profit of about 500 percent if the stock rallies to $25 by expiration. AMRN fell 9.12 percent to $11.53."

Suppose an exec sold 100,000 shares for about $1.2 million and entered this trade. That would be a tremendous sign of confidence in the company's future, but something we retail investors would never see. All we see is the insider sale of 100,000 shares!]]> http://seekingalpha.com/article/687981/comments?source=feed#comment-6873731 6873731
As for making money on the stock, I have to admit I got really lucky Wednesday morning. I am a long-time options trader and was amazed when I looked at the IVs on the June 29 puts and calls - 600-700, higher than I have seen anywhere anytime! With ARNA trading just below 9 at the time, I guessed that it might move 50% up or down and sold puts at 3, 4, and 5 strikes and calls at 13, 14, and 15 strikes. Admittedly a big risk if ARNA took off like some thought it might, but it now looks like all my options will expire worthless.]]> Thu, 28 Jun 2012 08:01:45 -0400
As for making money on the stock, I have to admit I got really lucky Wednesday morning. I am a long-time options trader and was amazed when I looked at the IVs on the June 29 puts and calls - 600-700, higher than I have seen anywhere anytime! With ARNA trading just below 9 at the time, I guessed that it might move 50% up or down and sold puts at 3, 4, and 5 strikes and calls at 13, 14, and 15 strikes. Admittedly a big risk if ARNA took off like some thought it might, but it now looks like all my options will expire worthless.]]> http://seekingalpha.com/currents/post/382661?source=feed#comment-6737631 6737631 Sun, 24 Jun 2012 08:02:35 -0400 http://seekingalpha.com/article/635241/comments?source=feed#comment-6115441 6115441
Amazon's future growth is totally dependent on the on-line consumer, a really fickle and non-loyal SOB, like me! For stuff I buy regularly, I stick with brands I can trust and with a few clicks can get the best price. For instance, I just bought some creatine from Amazon for 2/3 of what WalMart charges. I don't think this bothers the WalMarts and Targets of the world, but as Amazon gets into physically larger items, things change. Sure, I can get free shipping and maybe no sales tax on a queen-size mattress or washing machine, but what happens if it breaks? Do I need to keep the shipping crate in my garage in case I have to send it back? What does a "20-year guarantee" on a mattress really mean, especially if you are ordering from a third-party supplier that you've never heard of? Thanks for the offer Amazon, but those kinds of things I will continue to buy locally.]]> Tue, 05 Jun 2012 01:36:52 -0400
Amazon's future growth is totally dependent on the on-line consumer, a really fickle and non-loyal SOB, like me! For stuff I buy regularly, I stick with brands I can trust and with a few clicks can get the best price. For instance, I just bought some creatine from Amazon for 2/3 of what WalMart charges. I don't think this bothers the WalMarts and Targets of the world, but as Amazon gets into physically larger items, things change. Sure, I can get free shipping and maybe no sales tax on a queen-size mattress or washing machine, but what happens if it breaks? Do I need to keep the shipping crate in my garage in case I have to send it back? What does a "20-year guarantee" on a mattress really mean, especially if you are ordering from a third-party supplier that you've never heard of? Thanks for the offer Amazon, but those kinds of things I will continue to buy locally.]]> http://seekingalpha.com/article/603331/comments?source=feed#comment-5627061 5627061
Yup, I believe that's the way it works. You can replace "Amazon" with CMG, PCLN, CRM or several other unique names. "Wall Street" consists of large trading houses, hedge funds, banks and their mouthpieces, the analysts, all of whom gain from higher prices. The more unique a company's business model is, the easier it is to invent some novel way of pumping up its share price. And we sheep go, yeah, sure, that makes sense - I'd better buy another 100. I wish I could remember some of the ridiculous metrics Wall Street came up with during the dotcom bubble to justify soaring prices of companies that had nothing more than an untested, unproven idea!

I can't wait to see what Wall Street will come up with to pump up Facebook over the next couple of months - after all, FB's PE is only half of AMZN's!]]> Sun, 20 May 2012 12:22:15 -0400
Yup, I believe that's the way it works. You can replace "Amazon" with CMG, PCLN, CRM or several other unique names. "Wall Street" consists of large trading houses, hedge funds, banks and their mouthpieces, the analysts, all of whom gain from higher prices. The more unique a company's business model is, the easier it is to invent some novel way of pumping up its share price. And we sheep go, yeah, sure, that makes sense - I'd better buy another 100. I wish I could remember some of the ridiculous metrics Wall Street came up with during the dotcom bubble to justify soaring prices of companies that had nothing more than an untested, unproven idea!

I can't wait to see what Wall Street will come up with to pump up Facebook over the next couple of months - after all, FB's PE is only half of AMZN's!]]> http://seekingalpha.com/article/544591/comments?source=feed#comment-4962361 4962361
Wtf! Any idea what's going on here? Obviously a lot of people think this is going to the moon!]]> Tue, 01 May 2012 03:33:48 -0400
Wtf! Any idea what's going on here? Obviously a lot of people think this is going to the moon!]]> http://seekingalpha.com/article/537901/comments?source=feed#comment-4891151 4891151
For fanboys and bashers who quote endless streams of numbers justifying their positions, I recommend three books that have helped my investing immensely:

The Black Swan by Nassim Taleb
The Crowd by Gustave Le Bon
Cognitive Behavior Therapy for Dummies by Wilson and Branch

... all available as e-books from Amazon.

CBT helps you look inside your head to better understand your behavior and belief systems. Since I have always had problems with "authority figures," I came to realize that Mr. Market was just another authority figure that I had to deal with. CBT has helped me stop over trading my account based on what I'm sure a stock "has" to do.

I enjoy your articles a bunch!]]> Sat, 28 Apr 2012 14:40:44 -0400
For fanboys and bashers who quote endless streams of numbers justifying their positions, I recommend three books that have helped my investing immensely:

The Black Swan by Nassim Taleb
The Crowd by Gustave Le Bon
Cognitive Behavior Therapy for Dummies by Wilson and Branch

... all available as e-books from Amazon.

CBT helps you look inside your head to better understand your behavior and belief systems. Since I have always had problems with "authority figures," I came to realize that Mr. Market was just another authority figure that I had to deal with. CBT has helped me stop over trading my account based on what I'm sure a stock "has" to do.

I enjoy your articles a bunch!]]> http://seekingalpha.com/article/482321/comments?source=feed#comment-4198731 4198731 Fri, 06 Apr 2012 05:01:34 -0400 http://seekingalpha.com/article/365361/comments?source=feed#comment-2654011 2654011 Wed, 15 Feb 2012 06:26:02 -0500 http://seekingalpha.com/article/316922/comments?source=feed#comment-2142536 2142536 Mon, 02 Jan 2012 05:04:13 -0500 http://seekingalpha.com/article/283673/comments?source=feed#comment-1802321 1802321 Tue, 02 Aug 2011 08:23:20 -0400