Monday Mop-Up

Yuch! Another blah day in the markets. Glad I stayed out of it… If you read this column all the time you know I love my Trades of the Day, so when I say cash it is with a heavy heart but without cash, we can’t make tomorrow’s TOTD and today is one of those days I’m glad I did it. 10,800 has become an upside barrier for the Dow but the S&P seems to be holding 1,265 and the Nasdaq seems comfortable above 2,250 even with the Apple disaster. On the very bright side, oil actually closed down today – despite all the “troubles.” This could be the first sign that we will soon be able to cash in on a collapsing market. Big oil companies tended to do poorly while positive news from RIG took the drillers much higher. Oil held $65 for the day but is trading down in the after hours trading. Remember, oil started the day up $1, this reflects international trading while we slept. Today’s headlines should read, “US markets say no thanks to $66 oil, prices quickly decline” but all they will do is call it flat for the day – this is the problem with our US – centric press. Gold stocks performed well even though gold did not hold $575, which is becoming a point of contention but other metals are marching on and I don’t think gold will buck the trend. The dollar firmed up today but any more strength and that in itself will become a story! ===================================== TGB was the big gold winner today, gaining 6.4% while NAK held $6.77 (this is after a 50% run) and my old pals at MRB tacked on 3.3%. Our major players did ok too with ABX adding 2.4% and BVN gaining 1.3% (they are always slow to catch on). SU may have topped out at $81 today, if oil heads down tomorrow we are back on the $80 put for $2.15, following the Valero rule of course. DIS seems like it did very well but the company is so complex it will take until tomorrow to really dig into the numbers. Looks like a 15% beat to me, if guidance is in line we might pick up a buck on this one! Best of all, this will be a Dow lifter in the morning. Obviously, dump the puts if you took the spread… GM is chipping in as well by adding Kirkorean’s pal York to the board. There is still trepidation as to the fate of the dividend but that should be cleared up by morning (I think Uncle Kirk will want his $2!). I actually shorted Apple today but didn’t make as much as I should have. It looked very pathetic at 10am for $70.25 so I bought some but then it shot up so I didn’t fill my position until it settled down at $69 around noon. It continued down all day but I was unhappy I didn’t go with my gut at $70. Of course I got out before the close, I like this stock way too much to hold a bet against it overnight. SIRI seems to have rescheduled earnings or perhaps what I see now is more accurate: Earnings 2/6-2/16. I hate it when companies do that. UNH and HUM were hurt by the Budget today, which will put a bit of a burden on health care providers as the government shirks its repsonsibilities. I think UNH will adapt and survive but not enough to stay with them at this time. People just don’t get YHOO at all. They are suffering from Google’s downdraft even though their model is tried and true and different enough from Google’s to win handily if click fraud becomes a major issue. TXN had a heck of a day, up 1.8% but, as predicted, had a tough time at 30.50. The March $27.50s picked up a full 10%, not bad for a day! Now we will see if it holds $30.50 tomorrow – if it does, just relax and enjoy the ride. BUD is getting good press from its ads so I’m going to give them a little while before I give up. The MOT spread is already working with The Mar $20 puts already up .25 (60%) and the Mar $22.50s only losing .10 (25%). Word is that the new phone is not too exciting so it will be an interesting month.