Winning the Battle against your Financial Content Feed

Do you feel crappy financial content overwhelming quality content in your internet feed such as Google Reader leaving you bewildered? If so, you might want to sift through the content on your browser and forward the quality feeds to an ereader such as Kindle. I found that if I forward the good stuff to my Kindle, which I can read while sitting peacefully with the single purpose of reading to gain meaning about money making ideas, I get more from my reading.

The following three applications are designed to make the transfer a breeze.

1. Instapaper, www.instapaper.com
2. ReKindleIT, www.rekindle.it
3. Calibre, www.calibre-ebook.com

I use ReKindleIt extensively.

Helen of Troy (HELE) Call Trade $HELE

HELE dropped from $25 to $23 on 1/6/2010. We tried to buy 1,000 HELE Jan $25 Calls but got only a fraction of this quantity. The stock rallied to $24.40 today. Earnings will be announced on Monday 1/11/2010. We expect (or hope) the stock to finally breakout on the upside. What do think? Any other stocks setting up like HELE?

Larger Image with explanation of the trade: http://bit.ly/75iEKu

These Ugly Crocs Shoes, They are Selling ($crox)

Get over it! Crocs are not a fad. There are true Crocs fans out there and they will continue buying the shoes year in, year out.

Amazon.com Announces "Best of 2009" Lists

“Shoes and Handbags (Amazon.com and Endless.com): Crocs Cayman Sandal”

Amazon.com Announces "Best of 2008" Lists

“Shoes and Handbags (Amazon.com and Endless.com): crocs Cayman sandal”

“Most-Loved Products in Shoes and handbags (Amazon.com and Endless.com): crocs Athens Thong Sandal”

Some of my other Crocs posts:

Misconceptions about Crocs: http://bit.ly/6wQ0qb
Crocs Third Quarter Inventory update: http://bit.ly/7NWNeu
Crocs Pre Bookings Wholesale Spring and Summer 2010: http://bit.ly/8hkP75
Finding Winning Consumer Products and Investments: http://bit.ly/8HfWzk
Getting my Hands Dirty with Crocs (CROX): http://bit.ly/7JNx6c

Source: Amazon.com

The Power of Algos

Bigger image at http://bit.ly/6OI2dQ

Don't trade, code the trade. Focus on the platform, on the proces, on the algo. #trading

Exactly. See previous post.

Build a Trading Algorithm, and Build a Trading Platform

You are a successful trader or an aspiring trader. You should consider expanding your horizons and increasing your profits. Leverage your trading strategy into a trading algorithm and a trading platform.

In 2008, my business partner had a terrific year trading S&P 500 futures against Nasdaq 100 futures. I decided to implement some of his techniques to the single-stock world. The result was a low-volatility strategy ("Strategy 2"). After running Strategy 2 in a trading sandbox and some fine-tuning, Bigger Capital is now making money with it. Our intention now is to start running Strategy 2 in a different trading entity with institutional money in a managed account, accumulate more of a track record, and then launch Strategy 2 in its own partnership vehicle.

The best way to start tinkering with your algorithm is to experiment in a sandbox. See more about this subject right here: http://bit.ly/2dN2C6.

If your broker does not offer a complete suite with application programming interface (API) tools, you might want to open a brokerage account with a different broker. I wrote the following post on how to choose the right online broker for your algorithmic trading business: http://bit.ly/8Qli9Y. Check it out and let me know what you think!

"The Fed's MBS Shell Game"

Great Post from John Dalt: "The Fed's MBS Shell Game" http://bit.ly/70QPsf 

Why I think Long Term Treasuries will Trade at 50 cents on the Dollar

1. My good friend Eric G. led me from a task force composed of major financial institutions to the Treasury Borrowing Advisory Committee. The graph on page 34 shows the Federal Reserve (Fed) buying all the U.S. Net Fixed Income Supply in 2009. The table on page 35 shows that the Fed is supporting the fixed income market with its action in the mortgage-backed security (MBS) market. Printed money is supporting the U.S. fixed income market. As soon as the Fed stops its action, the Treasury market will gap down. Page 35 begs the question: Who is Households? See bullet #3 below.

http://bit.ly/8YChhF

2. China can’t fund our current addiction. Here is what Zhu Min, deputy governor of the People's Bank of China, has to say about the U.S. current account deficit according to the Shanghai Daily: "The US current account deficit is falling as residents' savings increase, so its trade turnover is falling, which means the US is supplying fewer dollars to the rest of the world," he added. "The world does not have so much money to buy more US Treasuries."

http://bit.ly/8sIez4

3. Eric Sprott asks:“Is it all a just a Ponzi scheme?” In this article, he is trying to explain “Households” from bullet #1 above.

http://bit.ly/8pb2Yr

4. Fannie and Freddie: "Treasury removes cap for Fannie and Freddie aid." U.S.A. goes from cocaine junkie to heroin junkie. The addiction continues.

http://bit.ly/7rNq16

5. This leads us to my own chart: we have a very unstable system.

http://bit.ly/5i7GON

Choose the right Online Broker for your Algorithmic Trading Business

My career as a trader dates back to the mid-1980s. In the 1990s, I ran the single-stock derivatives trading business at Citibank N.A. At that time, Citibank’s single-stock derivatives portfolio was one of the largest in the world. In 1998, I moved to D.E. Shaw and ran an identical business.

In 2004, I started Bigger Capital, a hedge fund that uses advanced trading technologies to make money from market discrepancies.

I have been trading extensively on Trader Workstation (TWS) from Interactive Brokers (IB) since the late 1990s. As a testimonial to the superior IB trading experience, Bigger Capital runs entirely on IB’s Hedge Fund Platform.

When choosing an online broker for your algorithmic trading business, you might want to use the guidelines listed below. After you have chosen a broker, it becomes very hard to switch—especially after you have developed software running on a broker's platform. Save yourself some headaches by making the right decision up front.

Here are the attributes you should look for in an online broker:

1. Low trading cost.

2. Powerful and reliable technology. 

3. Comprehensive sandbox for experimenting with your strategy. See more about this subject right here: http://bit.ly/2dN2C6.

4. Extensive and cutting-edge Application Programming Interface (API) technologies. For traders with little or no programming experience, we recommend going with a broker that offers a simple DDE for Excel platform, as Excel offers a familiar and user-friendly interface.

5. Breadth of products in both type (stocks, bonds, futures, commodities, currencies, options, etc.) and geography (global).

6. Powerful algorithms you can use to make money right out of the box.

7. Continuing education via webinars.

8. Strong credit and very well capitalized.

9. Reliable and fast mobile platform.

Am I missing anything else? Let me know.

The Stability of Helen of Troy (HELE) Fair Value

The chart below depicts Helen of Troy's stock price in red over the last five years. The blue and yellow lines indicate the range of fair value for HELE stock over the same period (Bigger Capital Fair Value Model). The range is currently $37 to $40. As you can see, despite a severe recession, the fair value of HELE has remained quite stable. An improving economy could bode very well for HELE especially if the fair value starts growing at a decent rate.

The pdf version of this image can be found at: http://bit.ly/4StaBZ

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          

                                                                                                                  

The pdf version of this image can be found at: http://bit.ly/83hNCr