Volatility
August 16, 2022 | Daily JAM, Jubak Picks, Volatility |
If the return of the Bear Market is very likely, WHEN will it return? That’s important because the timing of the return of the Bear determines what strategy we should adopt. If the Bear will go back on the prowl very soon, say somewhere around August 24 (the date of Nvidia’s (NVDA) very important (for the tech sector and more) earnings report) and August 26 through 28, the dates of the Federal Reserve’s annual Jackson Hole confab, then you should be battening down the hatches now and selling everything you don’t want to hold through another down leg from the Bear. On the other hand, the return of the Bear could be delayed until early 2023 when it becomes clear to all the interest rate optimists on Wall Street that the Federal Reserve isn’t about to start cutting rates soon. So what do you do?
August 12, 2022 | Daily JAM, LNG, Morning Briefing, TELL, UNG, Volatility |
Yesterday, August 11, U.S. liquefied natural gas (LNG) exported Freeport LNG said it was still pulling in small amounts of natural gas from pipelines at its shuttered LNG export plant in Texas to fuel a power plant. And, this is the important part, it still expects the liquefaction plant, which shut due to a fire on June 8, to return to at least partial service in early October. Thursday, U.S. gas futures jumped about 8% on talk of increased gas flows to the Freeport LNG plant, a drop in gas output, and forecasts for more demand for the fuel over the next two weeks than previously expected. The U.S. Natural Gas Fund (UNG) gained 6.06%.
August 11, 2022 | Daily JAM, RUN, SGMO, Volatility |
Yesterday’s bounce on the better-than-expected July CPI inflation numbers–the annual rate dropped to 8.5% from 9.1% in June while economists surveyed by Bloomberg were expecting a drop to an 8.7% rate–looks to be fading today, August 11, but I’m going to squeeze in two more sells, Sangamo Therapeutics (SGMO) and Sunrun (RUN) for tomorrow to take advantage of this Bear Market rally. Both sells are out of my Volatility Portfolio. The high potential upside of these two picks has driven them to big gains in the Bear Market rally that began in July. That same volatility, on the downside, makes them stocks I don’t want to hold in any return of the Bear Market.
August 10, 2022 | Daily JAM, TSLA, Volatility |
The long-term case for buying Tesla (TSLA) is easy to make (or easy to argue.) The company has created electric vehicle technology that delivers faster speeds, longer range, and greater efficiency than any of its emerging competitors. The company has done a superlative job of building out its global supply chain so that it has suffered less disruption due to raw material glitches or chip shortages than any of its competitors. The big long-term questions for Tesla are Can it drive costs out of its production system? and How long will it take for competitors to catch up with Tesla’s technology advantage? (Just for the record I come down on the “buy” Tesla side on these questions.) In the short term the buy/sell/hold case for Tesla is more complicated.
August 9, 2022 | Daily JAM, NVDA, Volatility |
It’s hard making a profit on volatility trades in a market that’s as volatile as this one.
You’ve got to get the direction right, the timing, and the price. Miss one and get the other two and you can still wind up in the red. Which is where I find myself on the Nvidia Put Options (NVDA220819P00165000) I bought in my Volatility Portfolio on July 22 with a strike of $165 and an expiration date of August 19.
August 8, 2022 | CHPT, Daily JAM, Volatility |
As I referenced in my post “What to sell and when in this Bear Market Rally,” I’m applying the old Wall Street advice of buy on the rumor and sell on the news to electric vehicle charging stocks. Specifically to ChargePoint Holdings (CHPT)Like just about any stock associated with controlling global climate change, ChargePoint soared ahead on the surprise deal that revived “green spending” in the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022. There’s money in that bill for promoting electric vehicles and for solar and wind power. (And let’s not forget big bucks for hydrogen power, too.) That bill has now passed the Senate (amazingly) and looks almost certain to pass the House of Representatives, where Speak Nancy Pelosi can, I think, be counted on to hold her slim majority together. Which means all that potential spending good news for stocks in this sector is now out there.
August 8, 2022 | Daily JAM, TSLA, Volatility |
Finally, on Friday, August 5, in documents filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission Tesla put dates to the split its 3/1 split
August 8, 2022 | Daily JAM, Friday Trick or Trend, Morning Briefing, UUP, Volatility |
In the last week, as odds have climbed of a 75-basis-point interest rate increase from the Federal Reserve at its September 22 meeting, the U.S. dollar has reversed its slide during the last two weeks of July.
Stands to reason. Higher U.S. interest rates make dollar-denominated assets, such as Treasuries, more attractive. More dollar buying, stronger dollar.
July 28, 2022 | AG, Daily JAM, Volatility |
My one-hundred-and-sixty-first YouTube video “Quick Pick First Majestic Silver” went up today. This hasn’t been a great year for precious metals hedges. However, allow me to make the case for First Majestic Silver (AG), given the coming recession and my expectations for the Fed’s schedule of rate increases. A hedge for 2023? At the current price, it’s an attractive bit of insurance against a big surge in risk.
July 26, 2022 | CORN, Daily JAM, Jubak Picks, UNG, Volatility |
At the close today, July 26, the Teucrium Corn Fund (CORN) was up 2.55% and the Teucrium Wheat Fund (WEAT) was ahead 4.11%. Both of those commodity plays outgained the U.S. Natural Gas Fund (UNG) with its 1.38% move higher. But for consistent gains–and the potential for more–I’d have to say that natural gas is my favorite commodity.
July 22, 2022 | AMD, Daily JAM, NVDA, Top 50 Stocks, Volatility |
We’ve had a great one-week rally/bounce/whatever in chip stocks. Nvidia, for example, was up 17.42% for the week that ended on Thursday, July 21. Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) was up 8.71% in that same period. But I think there are good reasons for thinking that this move was just a very short-term gain in a long-term Bear Market that remains in place. So today, I’m taking some chip money off the table.
July 21, 2022 | Daily JAM, Morning Briefing, Top 50 Stocks, Volatility |
In the last week Technology stocks, and chip stocks in particular, have staged a very impressive rally off of a really low base. Nvidia (NVDA), for example, is up 17.43% in the week that ended on July 21. That still leaves the stock down 39.43% for the year. Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) is up 15.36% in the last week. And it’s still down 37.85% for 2022. Qualcomm (QCOM) is up 1.85% for the week. And down 16.26% for the year. Impressive. But I’d be more inclined to see this as a sustainable rally if stocks were rising across the board–with tech and chips leading the way, perhaps.
Instead what I’m seeing is a rotation from safe and less risky stocks
