Macbeth, Act 4, Scene 1
Triple witching hour refers to the quarterly expiration of index futures, index future options and stock options on the third Friday of March, June, September and December.� This can, and often does, make for some chaotic trading as the large trading houses and hedge funds either close out their inter-related positions or roll them over to the next month. It is less messy than it used to be as the closing out is spread over the entire week and not done all on Friday as in years past. Still, it can make for some violent price swings this week. While not of much concern to the long term investor, the active trader needs to be extra cautious. This is why I recommend that all but the most experienced options traders unwind their positions by Thursday before expiration at the latest.
Combine this with the (soon to be outgoing) Fed chair speaking on Wednesday and the elections in Germany this Sunday and we have all the ingredients for a very volatile market.
Which is why it surprises me that the implied volatility indicator, VIX, is just around 14. That seems low to me given all the uncertainty as the market retests new highs. Hey, in June it was well over 20.
This tells me two things: One, buying a potential move in the stock market (straddles, strangles, etc) is a cheap speculative trade. And, two, if you want to hang on to your stock portfolio even as we're at sky high levels you can buy relatively cheap downside protection in the form of out of the money puts.
Actually, there's a third thing: Being net short option premium at these low levels with the three witches stirring the pot is a bad risk vs reward trade.
�
The following article is from one of our external contributors. It does not represent the opinion of Benzinga and has not been edited.
Best Services Companies To Invest In Right Now: Newport Corporation(NEWP)
Newport Corporation and its subsidiaries provide technology products and systems to scientific research, microelectronics, aerospace and defense/security, life and health sciences, and industrial markets in the United States, Europe, and the Pacific Rim. The company operates in three divisions: Photonics and Precision Technologies (PPT), Lasers, and Ophir. The PPT division provides photonics instruments and systems; vibration isolation systems and subsystems; precision positioning devices, systems, and subsystems; optics and optical hardware; opto-mechanical subassemblies and subsystems; and advanced manufacturing systems. It also offers automated systems for various applications in the manufacture of solar panels, and communications and electronic devices, including microwave, optical, radio frequency, and multi-chip modules. The Lasers division provides laser and laser-based system, such as ultrafast lasers and systems, diode-pumped solid state Q-switched lasers, diode-p umped solid state continuous wave (CW) and quasi-CW lasers, pulsed Nd:YAG and tunable lasers, and gas lasers. The Ophir division offers optics, photonics instruments, and three-dimensional non-contact measurement equipment and sensors. It also provides laser instrumentation, including laser power and energy meters, and laser beam profilers. This division serves the scientific research, microelectronics, aerospace, defense/security, life and health sciences, and industrial markets. The company offers its products under the ILX Lightwave, New Focus, Newport, Ophir, Optimet, Oriel Instruments, Richardson Gratings, Spiricon, and Spectra-Physics names. It sells its products to original equipment manufacturers and end-user customers through direct sales organizations, a network of independent distributors, and sales representatives, as well as through product catalogs and Web sites. Newport Corporation was founded in 1938 and is headquartered in Irvine, California.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Evan Niu, CFA]
What: Shares of Newport (NASDAQ: NEWP ) got crushed today, down by as much as 12% after the company reported earnings that fell short of expectations.
- [By Brian Stoffel]
Rofin-Sinar (NASDAQ: RSTI ) , Coherent (NASDAQ: COHR ) , Newport (NASDAQ: NEWP ) , and JDS Uniphase (NASDAQ: JDSU ) all offer fiber-optic lasers as well.
Top Long Term Companies To Own For 2014: Twin Butte Energy Ltd (TBTEF.PK)
Twin Butte Energy Ltd. (Twin Butte) is a Canada-based junior oil and gas exploration and production company. The Company is engaged in the acquisition of, exploration for and the development and production of petroleum and natural gas properties in Western Canada. During the year ended December 31, 2011, it drilled a total of 125 (80.9 net) wells. Its Frog Lake property is located approximately 75 kilometers northwest of Lloydminster with lands. Its Freemont area is located 60 kilometers southeast of Lloydminster. During 2011, Twin Butte drilled 11 gross wells in Plains region. Production from its west central Alberta region was approximately 1,545 barrels of oil equivalent per day during 2011. Production from its Deep Basin region was approximately 593 barrels of oil equivalent per day during 2011. Effective September 30, 2013, the Company disposed a non-core, west central Alberta, gas asset. In November 2013, the Company acquired Black Shire Energy Inc. Advisors' Opinion:- [By MLP Trader]
Here are the current top five companies in the list:
CompanySymbolEV/BOEPD/NetbackPrice/NAVEV/DACFPinecrest(PNCGF.PK)53564%4.0XLightstream(LSTMF.PK)131753%4.5XNovus(NOVUF.PK)133290%4.1XZargon(ZARFF.PK)138664%5.6XTwin Butte(TBTEF.PK)155885%5.5XOf the larger companies, one that remains obstinately near the top of the list is Lightstream . Lightstream trades at 40% of its book value and a whopping 13.4% yield.
Top Long Term Companies To Own For 2014: Apollo Residential Mortgage Inc (AMTG)
Apollo Residential Mortgage, Inc. is a holding company, which conducts its business primarily through ARM Operating, LLC and its other operating subsidiaries. The Company is a residential real estate finance company that invests in residential mortgage assets in the United States. The Company invests in residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS) that are issued or guaranteed as to principal and/or interest by a federally chartered corporation, such as Fannie Mae (Freddie Mac), or an agency of us the United Sates Government, such as Ginnie Mae (collectively, the Agencies, with RMBS being issued or guaranteed by the Agencies being referred to as Agency RMBS), whose underlying collateral includes fixed rate mortgages, adjustable rate mortgages (ARMs) and interest-only and inverse interest-only securities (collectively, Agency Derivatives). The Company also invests in RMBS that are not issued or guaranteed by the United Sates government Agency (non-Agency RMBS) and considers investing in residential mortgage loans and other residential mortgage assets. As of December 31, 2011, the Company held a diversified portfolio. The Company is externally managed and advised by ARM Manager, LLC.
The assets that the Company targets for investment: Agency RMBS, Non-Agency RMBS, residential mortgage loans and other residential mortgage assets. Agency RMBS includes primarily whole pool Agency RMBS, and Agency collateralized mortgage obligations. Non-Agency RMBS includes highly rated, as well as non-investment grade and unrated, tranches backed by Alt-A mortgage loans, subprime mortgage loans and prime mortgage loans. Residential mortgage loans includes prime mortgage loans, jumbo mortgage loans, Alt-A mortgage loans and subprime mortgage loans. Other residential mortgage assets consist of interest-only and principal-only Agency RMBS and non-Agency RMBS, inverse floating rate and floating rate securities, and other Agency and non-Agency RMBS derivative securities, as well as other financial assets, includi! ng common stock, preferred stock and debt of other real estate-related entities.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Tim Melvin]
I sat down this morning and spent some time looking for cheap stocks that might do well regardless of market action in 2014. While bargains are scarce there are still a few to be found. One such bargain is mortgage REIT Apollo Residential Mortgage (AMTG). The stock is trading at less than 80% of quarter-end book value, and management also announced a $50 million share buyback at the same time. There may be some erosion of book value as they look to adopt more credit-sensitive portfolio policies, but I doubt it will be substantial.
- [By Rich Duprey]
Residential mortgage-backed securities REIT�Apollo Residential Mortgage (NYSE: AMTG ) announced yesterday its second-quarter dividend of $0.70 per share, the same rate it's paid for the past three quarters after lowering the payout almost 18% from $0.85 per share.
Top Long Term Companies To Own For 2014: Altisource Residential Corp (RESI)
Altisource Residential Corporation is a development-stage company engaged in the acquisition and ownership of single-family rental assets. The Company�� primary sourcing strategy to acquire these assets includes purchase of sub-performing and non-performing mortgages, as well as single-family homes at or following the foreclosure sale (REO Properties (REO)).
The Company intends to pursue opportunities to acquire its single-family rental assets throughout the United States. The Company is managed by Altisource Asset Management Corporation (AAMC). On December 21, 2012, Altisource Residential Corporation�� spin-off from Altisource Portfolio Solutions S.A. (Altisource) was completed.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Amanda Alix]
For Wall Street types, single-family foreclosures can be bought cheaply and in bulk, then fixed up and rented. Companies like the Blackstone Group (NYSE: BX ) and Colony Financial (NYSE: CLNY ) have been very active in this market, with the former purchasing 16,000 homes just last year, and the latter ramping up its own portfolio to approximately 7,000. This new industry has also spawned fresh entrants from the REIT field, Silver Bay Realty (NYSE: SBY ) and Altisource Residential, (NYSE: RESI ) two trusts that were spun off earlier this year from parent companies Two Harbors Investment (NYSE: TWO ) and Altisource Portfolio Solutions (NASDAQ: ASPS ) , specifically to take advantage of the boom in the foreclosure-to-rental market.
- [By Mark Holder]
Altisource Residential (NYSE: RESI ) (NYSE: RESI ) (NYSE: RESI ) purchases distressed mortgage loan portfolios with a strategy to work with borrowers to modify and refinance loans to either keep them in their homes or convert the unmodified loans into renovated rental properties.
Top Long Term Companies To Own For 2014: Kona Grill Inc.(KONA)
Kona Grill, Inc. owns and operates upscale casual dining restaurants in the United States. The company operates its restaurants under the Kona Grill name. As of September 22, 2011, it owned and operated 23 upscale casual restaurants in 16 states, including Arizona, Missouri, Nevada, Colorado, Nebraska, Indiana, Texas, Illinois, Michigan, Connecticut, Louisiana, Florida, Virginia, New Jersey, Minnesota, and Maryland. Kona Grill, Inc. was founded in 1994 and is based in Scottsdale, Arizona.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Lisa Levin]
Kona Grill (NASDAQ: KONA) shares rose 2.76% to reach a new 52-week high of $14.95. Kona Grill shares have jumped 66.10% over the past 52 weeks, while the S&P 500 index has gained 26.62% in the same period.
- [By Jon C. Ogg]
The 24/7 Wall St. list of public companies expected to double sales in the next few years includes the following: Kona Grill Inc. (NASDAQ: KONA), LinkedIn Corp. (NYSE: LNKD),�Noodles & Co. (NASDAQ: NDLS),�Onyx Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: ONXX),�Michael Kors Holdings Ltd. (NYSE: KORS),�Questcor Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: QCOR),�Tesla Motors Inc. (NASDAQ: TSLA),�Under Armour Inc. (NYSE: UA),�Workday Inc. (NYSE: WDAY) and Yelp Inc.�(NYSE: YELP). Facebook Inc. (NASDAQ: FB)�might as well be considered a runner-up here, but it was a direct competitor of LinkedIn in the selections.
- [By Quoth the Raven]
My argument here is very similar to my argument I recently made with Kona Grill (KONA). Not only is NGS similar to Kona in the fact that they both have insiders with a huge stake in the game, but they both have the same growth prospects.
Top Long Term Companies To Own For 2014: Wesco Aircraft Holdings Inc (WAIR)
Wesco Aircraft Holdings, Inc., formerly Wesco Holdings, Inc., incorporated on July 21, 2006, a holding company for Wesco Aircraft Hardware Corp. The Company is a distributor and provider of supply chain management services to the global aerospace industry. Its services range from traditional distribution to the management of supplier relationships, quality assurance, kitting, just-in-time (JIT), delivery and point-of-use inventory management. The Company operated principally in three geographic areas, North America, Europe and markets, such as Asia, Pacific Rim and the Middle East. Wesco Aircraft Hardware Corp, its wholly owned, primary domestic operating subsidiary, Wesco Aircraft Europe, Ltd., its primary foreign operating subsidiary, and certain other foreign operating subsidiaries, in connection with the acquisition of 100% of the outstanding stock of Wesco Aircraft Hardware Corp., Wesco Aircraft Israel and the European entities of Flintbrook Ltd., Wesco Aircraft France and Wesco Aircraft Germany by Wesco Aircraft. In July 2012, the Company completed the acquisition of Interfast Inc. In March 2014, Wesco Aircraft Holdings Inc completed the acquisition of Haas Group Inc from certain investment funds affiliated with The Jordan Company, L.P.
Kitting involves the packaging of an entire bill of materials or a complete ship-set of parts, which reduces the amount of time workers spend retrieving parts from storage locations. Kits can be customized in varying configurations and sizes and can contain up to several hundred different parts. JIT supply chain management involves the delivery of parts on an as-needed basis to the point-of-use at a customer's manufacturing line. The Company supplies approximately 450,000 different stock keeping units (SKUs), including hardware, bearings, tools, electronic components and machined parts. During the fiscal year ended September 31, 2010 (fiscal 2010), sales of hardware represented 80% of its net sales, with highly engineered fasteners constituting 83% o! f that amount. The Company serves its customers under three types of arrangements: JIT contracts, which govern outsourced supply chain management services; long term agreements (LTAs), which set prices for specific parts; and ad hoc sales. JIT contracts and LTAs, together consists of approximately 63% of its fiscal 2010 net sales. The Company supplies products to approximately every Western aircraft in production, including the B-787, B-737, B-747, A-320, JSF and V-22.
Hardware
Sales of C class aerospace hardware represented approximately 80% of its fiscal 2010 product sales. Fasteners are its product category, consisting of approximately 83% of its hardware sales in fiscal 2010. Fasteners include a range of engineered aerospace parts that are designed to hold together two or more components, such as rivets (both blind and solid), bolts (including blind bolts), screws, nuts and washers. Many of these fasteners are designed for use in specific aircraft platforms and others can be used across multiple platforms.
Bearings
The Company offers aerospace bearings. Its product offering includes a variety of standard anti-friction products designed to both commercial and military aircraft specifications, such as airframe control bearings, rod ends, spherical bearings, ball bearing rod ends, roller bearings and bushings.
Electronic Components
The Company offers interconnect and electro-mechanical products, including connectors, relays, switches, circuit breakers and lighted products. The Company also offers value-added assembled products, including mil-circular and rack and panel connectors and illuminated push button switches. The Company maintains connector components in inventory, which allows the Company to respond to customer orders. In addition, its lighted switch assembly operation affords customers same day service, including engraving capabilities in multiple languages.
Machined Parts and Other
Machined par! ts are de! signed for a specific customer and are assigned original product manufacturers (OEM)-specific SKUs. The machined parts, the Company distributes include laser cut or stamped brackets, milled parts, shims, stampings, turned parts and welded assemblies made of materials ranging from high-grade steel or titanium to nickel based alloys. The Company stock a range of tools needed for the installation of its products, including air and hydraulic tools, as well as drill motors, and the Company also offers factory authorized maintenance and repair services for these tools. In addition to selling these tools, the Company also rents or leases these tools to its customers.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Ben Levisohn]
Stallard sees KEYW Holding (KEYW) and Textron (TXT) potentially missing earnings, while Honeywell (HON),� Alliant Techsystems (ATK),�Lockheed Martin (LMT),�Raytheon (RTN) and�Wesco Aircraft (WAIR) could beat.
- [By Vera Yuan]
Dear Fellow Shareholder: The U.S. economy continues to gradually expand, building on the 5+ year recovery from the Great Recession. Employment levels are improving, though progress has been slower than expected. Inflation, for now, remains subdued. As signaled and on cue, the Fed has been weaning the economy (and investors) off of the extraordinary ��uantitative easing��stimulus. Investors have generally shrugged off world events that might otherwise cause high anxiety (ISIS and the Middle East, Russia and Ukraine, etc.). As attention now turns to when the Fed will raise short-term interest rates, it seems plausible that volatility may intensify as the stimulus security blanket is removed. In the meantime, companies are taking advantage of the artificially low interest rate environment and sanguine investor sentiment. Merger activity remains robust, fueled by cheap and readily available credit. The IPO market has been very active, headlined by the successful Alibaba offering in September. Corporate treasurers continue to issue loads of debt on attractive terms, locking in generationally low interest rates for long terms. While these conditions will not last forever, they have helped opportunistic managers accelerate equity value growth at many companies.Investment Commentary and Outlook After three years of seemingly non-stop gains, the stock market took a pause in the third quarter. While most large cap indices eked out modest positive returns, the broader investing waters were far less placid. Small cap stocks sold off as the Russell 2000 declined more than 7% during the quarter. Energy stocks, both large and small, fell materially as investors worried about too much oil and gas supply coming online in North America (what a difference a decade makes). High yield bonds wobbled briefly in July, then again in September. Increasingly, investors are not treating all securities the same, and as stock pickers we welcome this development. Our equity funds��resu
- [By alicet236]
Wesco Aircraft Holdings Inc. (WAIR): Chairman, President and CEO Randy J. Snyder Sold 70,000 Shares
Chairman, President and CEO of Wesco Aircraft Holdings Inc. (WAIR) Randy J. Snyder sold 70,000 shares during the past week at an average price of $19.77. Wesco Aircraft Holdings Inc. has a market cap of $1.86 billion; its shares were traded at around $19.71 with a P/E ratio of 18.50 and P/S ratio of 2.10.
Top Long Term Companies To Own For 2014: Organovo Holdings Inc (ONVO)
Organovo Holdings, Inc. (Organovo), formerly Real Estate Restoration & Rental, Inc., incorporated in 2007, is a development-stage company. The Company has developed and is commercializing a platform technology for the generation of three-dimensional (3D) human tissues that can be employed in drug discovery and development, biological research, and as therapeutic implants for the treatment of damaged or degenerating tissues and organs. On December 28, 2011, Real Estate Restoration and Rental, Inc.�� (RERR) entered into an Agreement and Plan of Merger, pursuant to which RERR merged with its, wholly owned subsidiary, Organovo (Merger Sub). On February 8, 2012, the Company merged with and into Organovo Acquisition Corp. (Acquisition Corp.), a wholly owned subsidiary of Organovo, with the Company surviving the merger as a wholly owned subsidiary of Organovo Holdings (the Merger). As a result of the Merger, Organovo acquired the business of Organovo, Inc.
The Company has collaborative research agreements with Pfizer, Inc. (Pfizer) and United Therapeutic Corporation (Unither). As of March 31, 2012, it has five federal grants, including Small Business Innovation Research grants and developed the NovoGen MMX Bioprinter (its first-generation 3D bioprinter). The Company is engaged in the development of specific 3D human tissues to aid Pfizer in discovery of therapies in two areas of interest. In addition, in October 2011, it entered into a research agreement with Unither to establish and conduct a research program to discover treatments for pulmonary hypertension using its NovoGen MMX Bioprinter technology. Additionally, under the research agreement with Unither, the Company granted Unither an option to acquire from the Company a worldwide, royalty-bearing license in certain intellectual property created under the research agreement solely for use in the treatment or prevention of pulmonary hypertension and all other lung diseases.
The Company�� NovoGen MMX Bioprinter is an automate! d device that enables the fabrication of three-dimensional (3D) living tissues comprised of mammalian cells. A custom graphic user interface (GUI) facilitates the 3D design and execution of scripts that direct precision movement of the dispensing heads to deposit cellular building blocks (bio-ink) or supporting hydrogel. The Company is using a third party manufacturer, Invetech Pty., of Melbourne, Australia, to manufacture its NovoGen MMX Bioprinter. Its bioprinting technology and surrounding intellectual property and commercial rights serve as a platform for product generation across multiple markets that employ cell- and tissue-based products and services.
The Company competes with Organogenesis, Advanced BioHealing, Tengion, Genzyme, HumaCyte and Cytograft Tissue Engineering.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Rick Munarriz]
Organovo Holdings (NYSEMKT: ONVO ) was one of last week's biggest winners, soaring 55% after making the leap to the more prolific NYSE MKT exchange.
- [By Keith Fitz-Gerald]
In the 4D medical world, Organovo Holdings Inc. (NYSE MKT: ONVO) appears to be off to a good start. They've got a number of bioprinting projects centered around functional human tissue, including a liver product that's planned for 2014. I believe the company will quickly branch into tumor modeling, transplantation, and pharma research.
- [By Roberto Pedone]
Organovo (ONVO) develops 3D bioprinting technology for creating functional human tissues on demand for research and medical applications. This stock closed up 2.5% to $5.98 in Tuesday's trading session.
Tuesday's Range: $5.70-$6.07
52-Week Range: $1.80-$8.50
Thursday's Volume: 2.03 million
Three-Month Average Volume: 2.82 millionFrom a technical perspective, ONVO jumped higher here right off its 50-day moving average of $5.79 with decent upside volume. This move is starting to push shares of ONVO within range of triggering a near-term breakout trade. That trade will hit if ONVO manages to take out some near-term overhead resistance levels at $6.20 to $6.39 with high volume.
Traders should now look for long-biased trades in ONVO as long as it's trending above some near-term support levels at $5.50 or at $5 and then once it sustains a move or close above those breakout levels with volume that hits near or above 2.82 million shares. If that breakout triggers soon, then ONVO will set up to re-test or possibly take out its next major overhead resistance levels at $7.50 to its 52-week high at $8.50. Any high-volume move above $8.50 will then put its all-time high at $10.90 within range for shares of ONVO.
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