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Monday, January 23, 2012

Failed to Track our Rally

I have run some scans, and have some conclusions.

I think the way is up. Still. The Dollar is destined to go down, as the Euro goes up. Why is the Euro going in the up direction? Because people are starting to face the facts. Face it, ladies and gents, the ubra-riche will not let the economy disintegrate, because their fortunes would disintegrate along with the economy. True, they’d still have their real property, and their gold, but you can’t eat marble pillars.

We’ve had a 20-day up-channel in the SPY. Looking at the daily chart, it seems we see a nice W formation with the right side higher, a very bullish formation. Now to continue on with strength, we need to see a pullback. The problem is I don’t see a reason for the pullback, so I’m guessing it will be done by the traders on a technical basis. The psychologicals are up, people are bullish, Greek debt is under control to fail, and we all see the ECB and the Fed stepping in to save the banks. Again. No surprise.

The fundamentals are up. Meeting or beating expectations, whatever that means. I guess it means fundies are up (they are not but the use of “expectations” gives poetic license for me to say the fundies are up)

Structurals are up. Any doubt about capital liquidity flowing into Eurozone and the LIBOR improving?

Technicals are, well, a function of low volume and trader’s sentiment. I can only see in the short term a sentiment change, when everybody says “Overbought!! Overbought!!” and the charts start to turn south.

I ran several screeners and developed a list of stocks that haven’t tracked our rally (yet). I’ve mentioned a few of my favorites that are in my investment account, but these are the ones that may (or may not) have the least to retreat when there is a pullback, and the most to gain. The one piece missing from this chart, which is most important, is the future revenue guidance. For example, TIF is on the chart, but their future revenue guidance is down like 20% from last year. If you take this information, add to it the revenue guidance, I think you’ll have some possibilities.

You can’t use P/E, because as we all know, the E can be adjusted by the accountants, so P/E is almost worthless, it’s included here because some people believe it’s not.

I had to do this with pictures, because I couldn’t get the colums to line up and look like it was meaningful. Sorry. Blame my ignorance, or blame blogger, one of the two is the culprit for sure.


91 comments:

  1. Rock - Everyone for the last week and a half, I have not been able to view the posting section of bloger.

    I was able to get to the home page, but as when I tried to get to the comment page, stupid bloger would not let me.

    I could not read or post any comments, so I could not post to let you know what was going on.

    Anyway I hope everyone is doing well.

    Mangy Mutt

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Don't worry, BS---we're still here. This is probably we have to use a hardened old OS. Mine's working just fine, except my new computer doesn't run the USB ports, and I can't find a driver and can't get our IT to help bring them active.

      Sigh.

      Also I haven't had time to reinstall all my old applications, so occasionally I become a cripple.

      Nothing's ever perfect.

      Delete
  2. Mutt - I think it may have been fixed now - if not, upgrade your version of Firefox or Safari, whatever you use. I think the last update fixed most of the issues.

    ReplyDelete
  3. He's 89.

    But Trader's Digest's #1trader of the year -2011.

    He's Joseph Granville.

    http://www.bloomberg.com/video/84758540

    And Tom DeMark

    http://www.bloomberg.com/video/84650154

    ReplyDelete
  4. I fear our little blog is finally dying. Blogger not helping matters.

    ReplyDelete
  5. At least you dropped the charts off to the right. The browser would never finish loading.

    I read, just don't have the time to POST. New year, new projects.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Strange - I'm not having any problems looking at stuff :-(

    Manny - it's just a slow period . . . . a REAL slow period ;-)

    ReplyDelete
  7. @Ican
    I saw the interview with Joseph on the Bloomie. First, you have to watch out for old people. They smell bad.

    I meant to comment on those interviews realtime, but something came in I had to work on very quickly.

    As I said above, we need a pullback to move upward with strength, but the strength will be limited because the participation in the market is pretty low. I too have been trading smaller, and fewer trades/day. And I was short going into yesterday evening because I thought it might be a turn-around Tuesday.

    Of course I turned the short around this AM and went long for the pop. While I was away, I got stopped out on my trailing stop so I have to look in again with what the market's doing.

    In any case, these guys could be right that this is our pullback. I am trading the short side today, but will be out again tonight (I think) because I don't trust soothsayers, I trust the tape.

    ReplyDelete
  8. @Thor:

    from Todd: "At least you dropped the charts off to the right." Um, I don't have any charts, unless he means the jpgs that I posted. Sometimes my IE doesn't load blogger so could you help me understand what he means by "At least you dropped the charts off to the right." Thx.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Rock - he's talking about the charts we used to have on the right bar on the blog itself, not your post ;-)

    ReplyDelete
  10. Oh, we had charts? I guess I should pay more attention to our format.....sorry.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Thor - What ever you did, it seems to be working.

    For what it is worth, I was starting to miss you guys :(

    Mutt

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Rock - Me having poor taste goes without saying :)

      Mutt

      Delete
  12. Yes, depending on the browser , parts of the page would never load. Due to the browser trying to load the chart images that were on the right side.

    I read, just don't post. I really read when the market gets news worthy. Which it hasn't recently.

    I'll echo rock on this, ride the sentiment, but with close stops. I've found all of the recent US decoupling from Europe talk entertaining. It will only be decoupled until the next crisis, then all correlation goes to 1:1.

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  13. Since the pop in the spy that just ended, I went short and have made $9. Whoopee!

    Look out below? Probably not. Pullback? Maybe. Downward pressure:

    1. The dollar may be starting to turn-around it's downward movement and strengthening because we all know the Eurozone won't do anything until the last day for Greek debt (I think we'll see subordinate sovereign debt created, just like we have in bonds).

    2. Remember that almost everytime the president speaks, the market falls like a flying monkey. And he will be speaking tonight to give us more unfulfillable promises. I wish that he would spend less time rich-bashing and more time job-creating. I talked to a guy who thinks Obama is doing a great job regardless of the facts that his popularity is the lowest of any president in recent memory going into an election, that he's turned over every CEO (Secretary) he has except Hillary, who will quit this year (http://usliberals.about.com/b/2011/03/16/hillary-clinton-will-not-be-in-obama-cabinet-after-2012.htm) and increased the cost of regulation by 1T$ (which have to come from company's profits) and increased the cost of healthcare by a lot (I don't have exact numbers on this one).

    3. We are oversold on Daily and Weekly charts (now is not the time to go long in your investment accounts: wait for the stochs to be on the bottom!)

    4. Europe's in a recession.

    5. IMF cut yearly global growth forecasts

    6 A lot of market soothsayers are predicting a pullback

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Us monkies have been to space you know.


      Mutt

      Delete
  14. @MAnnwich:

    Did you see

    http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/2012/01/22/george-soros-on-the-coming-u-s-class-war.html

    Looks like George Soros is in your camp!

    ReplyDelete
  15. Sadly, I think (and fear) that he's dead on right, Rock. Sigh.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Actually, Soros makes me look like an optimist.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Mannwich - you are optimistly, pesimistic

      Mutt

      Delete
  17. @Mannwich: Yep. But Soros thinks bigger than most of us.

    @All: SHLD has had a huge run this year, and is currently putting up a Bird pattern. When I went to short it, TDAmeritrade told me that I wasn't permitted to short it, that shares weren't available.

    They told me the same thing when I tried to short FSLR at 135. (Go see June/E 2011--similar pattern is there).

    I'm just saying.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Daily herds report:

    Best
    $SOX.X SMH SLV TIF 5%
    $DJTINN CUZ 4%
    IGV OIH DIG SLX XRT 3%
    XES $DJTCNS KOL XOP XLF IAK 2%

    Worst:
    SKF -7%
    TAN SMN GDX -4%
    USO IDU IHE XLU $DJTUTS -3%
    $DRG.X XBI $DJTTEL IBB IYZ XLP -2%

    ReplyDelete
  19. Bloomberg just said that Financials are leading us lower. I wonder where they get their information. If you look at SKF, which is the ETF that 3X shorts the banking sector, you will see a pretty steady decrease since around Dec 15th.

    Granted this is a leveraged ETF and all the caveats go with that, but you can see the same thing if you look at $BKX, which has been defining an upchannel since Dec 15.

    That's a missed call for sure.

    ReplyDelete
  20. This SOTU Speech is pretty darn good. Thank you Occupy Movement.

    ReplyDelete
  21. Wow - that was a really good speech, did anyone else watch it?

    ReplyDelete
  22. Say what you will about this President - We haven't heard a president speak like this since Kennedy.

    ReplyDelete
  23. I just caught the very end, Thor. The man can give a speech. Definitely a strength. The GOP looking dour as usual.

    ReplyDelete
  24. state of the union on youtube. In case you missed it like me. Actually paused on DVR, just can't watch it til later.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ZdEmjtF6HEv

    ReplyDelete
  25. Manny - I mean, it was a speech, but I think he laid out his campaign for re-election tonight. I think maybe he's finally figured out that the GOP is never going to work with him, so now hopefully he'll keep pushing back, and throwing the "do nothing" congresses inactivity in it's face. America is in a populist mood, he'd be smart to tap into that, the most unpopular group in America today is the GOP (again!), so have at it O!

    Of course, then he'll actually have to do something. I liked the plan to open up some public land to clean energy, we've done a lot of that here in CA.

    ReplyDelete
  26. OOh, which reminds me! I'm going on another road trip, not sure if I mentioned that or not. Going up to Vegas to see the in-laws on the 14th and then I'm planning on cutting north and hopefully driving someplace and hunkering down for a blizzard if I can find one :-P. For all you cold people - is it still winter then? :-) We're already starting to get into spring here. . . .

    ReplyDelete
  27. @Thor
    Re your 8:38:

    Why should the GOP be any different? I mean, he can't even get his cabinet members to work with him.

    A nice little pop for my AAPL, eh? Setting stops close, I expect a pullback and will re-enter. My (very happy) ex-mother-in-law has asked me to come to her Chinese Lunar Year birthday on July 4. I wonder how I can get out of this one.

    ReplyDelete
  28. Glad I held onto my little AAPL position now.

    ReplyDelete
  29. Funny, but I thought the very same thing when Daniels brought up Steve Jobs and Apple last night:

    http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/01/25/mitch-daniels-doesnt-read-the-new-york-times/

    Not the greatest example if he wanted to the make his case for US jobs.

    ReplyDelete
  30. Replies
    1. Hmmmm now where is my coffee...

      Morning Thor - I hope all is going well with your vacation.

      Mutt

      Delete
  31. @Thor:

    What do people do when they go on vacation? My experience is that the "vacation" is simply working on something I didn't work on before.

    Anyway....

    Looks like the Buck has broken or is breaking out of it's downchannel, so we may be starting our pullback. It would be nice to see us get down to 1272, but I think there will be a lot of resistance to get below the psychological 1300, even though I don't see much volume commitment there, and only a tiny bit more at 1272.

    So, "will see".

    From my Relative strength, today's best performers are:
    SLV 7%
    TIF DJTATO 4% (BTW, Bloomie says if you want to trade autos, you might consider Borg Warner or Magna (MGA, BWA)
    $DJTINN KCE CUZ IGV 3%
    IHI SMH $DJTCNS ICF BBH $SOX.X $DJULTC DBA SLX 2%

    and today's worst performers:
    TAN -8%
    SKF GDX -3% (banks are still going up, but looking at the miners, this may have room to run)
    USO $DRG.X IHE XLU IDU IYZ ITB IXJ -2%

    It's interesting to compare today's with yesterday's. TAN surely isn't doing good. I expected a pop in it today after yesterday's SOTU speech, I expected more emphasis on green energy than I heard. Oh well, I'll stay short FSLR.

    ReplyDelete
  32. Looking For A Pull BackJanuary 25, 2012 at 12:57 PM

    Rock - as you know I have been sitting on the sidelines for a while now, but still looking for patterns that make sence to me.

    Well I may have found one - CLWR, looks like it may be it, I was expecting a bigger pull back today and NO melt up...But this is the way the market has been working lately.

    Mutt

    ReplyDelete
  33. boy was that mention on GDX timely or what? But going back, I've mentioned GDX and the divergence between Gold and The Miners. I still think GDX has room to run.

    ReplyDelete
  34. @Mutt:

    I looked up CLWR. (I won't trade it because it's at 1.82 and I believe anybody with a Billion or so to invest could move that stock wherever they want).

    You know it's on a going out of business curve, and since it has more cash than it's market cap, somebody with 470M could buy it, shut it down, and make 200M?

    If you're hoping for a buyout, you may see a private equity firm come in to get the cash, but I sure would not make an investment in this puppy.

    Usually, I use fundamentals to tell me what to trade, then use the charts to tell me when to trade it. I do an analysis like in the top post, looking at margins, free and levered cash flow, news, rumors. CLWR is losing way more money than they're making. I wonder where they got all that cash.....Maybe bondholders. Anyway I'd be careful with that one, if I were you.

    ReplyDelete
  35. Rock - I saw the cash on hand too and looked at it from a "Hey they got cash on hand" point of view, I did not concider it from a take over point of view.

    Another reason I liked it was because it was trading at (What I concider) lower than it's book value, but there again that is not necissarily a good thing.

    Well like you have said - Oppertunities are like girlfriends....


    Time to start looking for a new girlfriend Just don't tell my wife :)

    Mutt

    ReplyDelete
  36. Poor Tyler Durden at ZH. His head may explode before this thing finally falls apart again.

    ReplyDelete
  37. Manny - oooh, why? There's a part of me that's shocked that web site is actually still around. Of course, one must never underestimate people's need for constant fear, gloom, and doom.

    Has he been right on even one of his calls? Nothing the guy has ever predicted has ever come to pass. Remember all his hyperventilating about the "Sanctity of Contracts" during the whole GM/Chrysler bankruptcy and how it wold bring down the union?

    ReplyDelete
  38. I should be around more hopefully in a few weeks, I'm working my way through the yards portion of my "to do" list.

    In other news, I've "officially" been away from LA for about three weeks now, man you don't really feel how much a place has affected you until you get away from it. Manny, did you find that to be true when you left NYC?

    ReplyDelete
  39. Hey look, Timmay has promised to only serve one term!

    Just one term for Tim Geithner
    Treasury secretary says he does not plan to serve if President Obama wins a second term.

    ReplyDelete
  40. 24-hr. printing!

    Economy still in dumpster!

    I thought the printing was just temp.

    ReplyDelete
  41. The dark side of the Apple success story:

    http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/26/business/ieconomy-apples-ipad-and-the-human-costs-for-workers-in-china.html

    ReplyDelete
  42. Hey all. Sorry not around these days. New job, not much energy left for trading or blogging.

    My 2 cents on the SP500: I believe we may see a pull back here around 1325, as we've got decent resistance stacking up with long time downtrend line (see weekly chart).

    Have fun.:)

    ReplyDelete
  43. I believe WolfStreet. I'm playing the tape to the upside and will keep my stops close.

    On a tear right now: (no analysis, just wow look at the movement)(similar to playing volatility)

    DMND WAT LPS UHS ALB BAS

    Maybe early on DMND and BAS.

    ReplyDelete
  44. DXY below 80. Funding currency.

    ReplyDelete
  45. The idea or collective BELIEF that QE3 is coming (and then 4, 5, 6, 7.....) is really what's driving things, isn't it?

    The Benny Put will not allow this market to fall. That dovetail's with Rock's point in his post that the elites who control things have way too much at stake to allow it to totally fall apart without doing EVERYTHING in their power first to prevent it. Or at least try to. It's kicking the can maximus. Buy time. Stall, buy time. Isn't that mostly what human beings do anyway in our lives?

    ReplyDelete
  46. @Mannwich:

    That's exactly what Bernank said in his press conference. The fed will support the market.

    I'm in, with tight stops because I believe WolfStreet.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. And that's clearly how the market is taking it. They are ALL-in. What part about that do the uber-bears like Tyler Durden not understand?

      Delete
    2. I have to remember to keep checking these. I'm not usually very good with change! :-P

      Delete
  47. Actually, we might be setting up for a H&S on the spy, with the shoulder around 132, and the head around 133.40. The volume (albeit light) is looking like the pattern has.

    My stops are set to trigger at SPY 132.22.

    If we do get the pattern to complete, I think we will see a 131.50 or so.

    ReplyDelete
  48. You can see the pattern real clear on the QLD, which kind of magnifies the SPY moves.

    ReplyDelete
  49. Agree with Rock, we know what the reality should be, we know what it's been for the last three years, and we know that the government will do everything in it's power to support the market . . . sooooo, trade it! With tight stops of course. At some point the market could very well just say "screw you all, I'm done!"

    ReplyDelete
  50. And to those who STILL don't think the Fed has any power to move the markets, my question to them is "do you REALLY STILL think this? If so, good luck to you.

    ReplyDelete
  51. I'm with you, Mannwich. Buy the dips and sell the blips has been working pretty well for me.

    ReplyDelete
  52. Manny - that's the tragic part isn't it? I haven't seen as many people trying to argue a case that the Fed can't (or hasn't) moving markets, but I remember those people well. If that's not a shining example of seeing what a person want's to see!

    I'm also wondering how we're going to be able to keep slightly improving while Europe tanks this year. Let's also not forget that WE will be experiencing our own form of Austerity this year as well.

    ReplyDelete
  53. And when I say "move markets", I don't necessarily mean they are literally buying stocks themselves (although they might be, wouldn't surprise me at all), but I do mean their policy expectations by the "market" pushes said players in that "market" to behave the way the want them to. This seems pretty obvious to me by now.

    ReplyDelete
  54. 17 year-old girl, on an-all McD's Chicken McNugget diet since age 2, collapses. Folks, the idiocracy is upon us.

    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2092071/Stacey-Irvine-17-collapses-eating-McDonalds-chicken-nuggets-age-2.html

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. My son had a similar issue: carbs. I too tried to starve him, giving him a balanced diet, but he outlasted the starvation and the doctor told me to "make a good example and he will grow out of it".

      He did not grow out of it.

      Delete
    2. That's sad, Rock. People are literally killing themselves with their food addictions. It's no better than any other addiction to drugs, cigarettes or alcohol. A symptom of a bigger problem, if you ask me.

      Delete
  55. Hah, what's with the R's insistence on trying to run on the "Things are worse than Obama is telling you" theme? Who do they think they are? Us? :-P

    Seriously though, I don't think that's going to be a winning position for them, whether it's true or not, people are sick of bad news and pessimism all the time.

    ReplyDelete
  56. We're down to the neckline on the SPY at the open today. Day trading to the upside is the only thing to do, I guess.

    ReplyDelete
  57. Weaker than expected GDP numbers. So the dollar went down a little, and the SPY went up a little. Makes sense.

    My observation on the economy today: we get a monthly envelope filled with little advertisement tickets with discounts for businesses. There's usually about 40-50, with a lot of restaurants, windows, cleaning companies, etc. This week there were 12. The only one I usually use is for a local Pizza place, Mountain Mike's, who has a coupon for a large Pepperoni pizza for 7.95. This week the coupon is for 9.95. That 25% increase will prevent me from going to Mountain Mikes, and I will add stuff to the Costco brand frozen pizza (which is pretty good, BTW).

    Bloomberg said that people's savings are down last quarter. I guess the lack of spending has caused stuff to wear out, and the stuff just has to be replaced. Like I bought a new pair of jeans. Bloomie also said that the average age of a registered car is now at 10 years old, so cars will have to be replaced.

    With nothing new being invented, and cash being hoarded especially overseas, the systemic unemployment won't be fixed with a replacement economy and commodity prices on the rise. This earnings season's numbers have been adjusted lower, and there's only a 68% beat on the announcements; it's been running upwards of 75% previous quarters with few adjustments.

    We are facing truly difficult times. Sorry to be so gloom and doom. The Fed is likely to keep the market up where we are now, and I'm thinking that as the quarter goes on, we are likely to see consumer sentiment fall, spending curtail (we will run out of savings) and earnings fall. P&G reported lower numbers and lowered guidance. And they aren't the only ones. And Austerity in Eurozone hasn't worked, so as our government curtails spending, well, I expect ungood things to happen.

    I think because of the Fed's actions, the market has ceased to be the forward looking element it used to be. I hope their actions will keep it here and going up a little for the future. But I'm not looking for big moves in my investment account for the next several years.

    ReplyDelete
  58. @Rock(7:37)

    You've moved to the dark side!

    What you wrote is prob. true and sad.

    So Gary Shilling(sp?) is right.

    ICan

    ReplyDelete
  59. I think, for the most part, you're preaching to the choir here, Rock. It's going to likely be a long, tough slog with many twists and turns along the way. Consequently, I'm in the "return OF my principle" mode more than at any time in my life.

    ReplyDelete
  60. Agree with Manny and Ican, Although Rock, 9.95 is still not a bad price for a large pizza from Mountain Mikes ;-)

    I'm still on the "muddle through" side. What does strike me though, are the statistics . . . we're going to have another recession at SOME point in the future, if we're already starting out at such a low point in the economic cycle, how bad will the next one be? Or will we be like Japan and have a series of short, shallow recessions as we bounce along the bottom?

    ReplyDelete
  61. @ICan:

    No, I'm still a happy boy.

    Watch this:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LEZtII8rt_Y

    ReplyDelete
  62. I'm betting on the latter, Thor. Unless they somehow lose control of the situation in Europe, which is entirely possible, but expect ongoing stealth bailouts by the Fed of them too. The Fed is the world's lender of last resort now.

    ReplyDelete
  63. You know one thing we haven't really considered much, is that we'll have years of Austerity in the EU followed by eventual growth . . . . wishful thinking?

    ReplyDelete
  64. I think Michael Hudson nails the issue (again) with the banks and their pernicious effect on everything now, including real economic recovery. Too much valuable capital being thrown into that black hole instead of being used for more productive things to spur the real economy.

    http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2012/01/michael-hudson-banks-weren%E2%80%99t-meant-to-be-like-this.html

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It's like the weather. Everybody talks about it but nobody can do anything about it at all. At least my hopes are raised when the liar Obama said in the SOTU that the banks wouldn't be bailed out again.

      Of course they will. Remember what happened to JFK when he started to make a stand.

      Delete
    2. Exactly Rock! You can't fuck with the money mafia. They always have the final say. Of course we'll bail them out again. And again, and again, but someday if there's no accountability that comes with it, the shit is going to blow in earnest. Could take a really long time to reach that point though.

      Delete
  65. We are opening this AM right at the bottom of the neckline of the 60-min or even daily H&S. I'm looking for the market to pop up from here and will anticipate a close somewhere around 1315.

    Of course I've been wrong before, but I'll be playing strong stocks to the upside which have pulled back this AM. Like JCP DMND KBC

    ReplyDelete
  66. Watch out for GDX now, if you played it on it's divergence from GLD. It's getting caught up with GLD after the last couple of days run. I'm taking some profits off the table early this week. Probably not this AM because I'm looking for a move upwards today, possibly to lead to a turn-around tuesday.

    ReplyDelete
  67. Freddie Mac bets against homeowners. The madness continues....

    http://www.propublica.org/article/freddy-mac-mortgage-eisinger-arnold

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. This comment has been removed by the author.

      Delete
    2. There's a lot of inaccuracies in that article.

      "First, if borrowers default, Freddie pays the entire value of the mortgages underpinning the securities, because it insures the loans.".

      That's not at all what happens. I just finished another round of re-fi because now I'm back in an owner-occupied place instead of a rental (almonst 1% difference in rate) and was considering buying another place, a foreclosure, and my banker at Wells told me what happens and how it happens. I think the authors didn't do their homework well.

      Delete
  68. "No poach" emails between Google, Apple and Adobe revealed...

    http://r.smartbrief.com/resp/dtefBYBgAKCchudPCidazCCicNwPeN?format=standard

    But, hey, these executives claim to LOVE the so called "free market". Yeah, right. What rubbish. They only like anything that benefits them over everyone else.

    ReplyDelete
  69. Whoops, wrong link! Here it is...

    http://www.theverge.com/2012/1/20/2720806/apple-adobe-pixar-no-poach-emails-revealed

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You really gotta be careful how you read this stuff.

      The referred article says "reportedly telling him that: "Your proposal that we agree that neither company will hire the other's employees, regardless of the individual's desires, is not only wrong, it is likely illegal.""

      Your link above turns this "reportedly" into fact with the statement: "As previously reported, Palm's Ed Colligan kept his head high through all this, telling Mr. Jobs in 2007 "your proposal that we agree ....."

      Kind of like the whisper the words in your neighbor's ear and "pass it on...."

      Delete
    2. True but this kind of collusion goes on all the time. If the so-called "free market" proponents really loved "free markets", then there wouldn't be any non-compete agreements at all whatsoever.

      My wife had to sign one that I think is way too narrowly drawn given the limitations it would put on her mobility and options.

      Delete
    3. I think what the meaning is, is that there's an agreement not to pirate people from another company. I think that's fine. However, if an employee freely solicits a job, then it's his (her) choice, and not an issue of piracy. I was sued over an employment agreement, and the judge threw it out of court with the judgement that it limited my right to work. Back in the day, that was illegal, I don't know about now. But reaching in to a company is kind of tacky.

      So what we used to do was establish a relationship with a recruiting company, give them a set of names, phone numbers with extensions, and let them solicit the resumes and forward them to my attention.

      Works real good, that way. Also you can negotiate a lower price with the recruiter if we landed one of our names.

      Delete
  70. How bullish is the golden cross?

    http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/2012/01/how-bullish-is-the-golden-cross/

    ReplyDelete
  71. @Rock: your 6:08
    Well, it got back to 1320 all right, but it's looking tired. I think your 1315 close will be a little high, it looks to me like a 1308 close.

    "will see".

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