Short City Update: Panera Bread, Cal-Maine Foods - cover each short

Posted Sep 23rd 2009 3:30PM by Joseph Lazzaro
Filed under: Short Stories

An update: a decision to close two short positions - due to the probability of higher-than-expected U.S. GDP growth in Q3/Q4, and the impact that better economic recovery would have on consumer spending.

The two closed positions: Panera Bread (NASDAQ: PNRA), recommended on May 29, 2009 at a price of $52.65, and Cal-Maine Foods (NYSE: CALM), recommended on the same day at a price of $23.21.

Panera Bread is still in the Don't Buy category, but it has found support at $50, a key psychological level. The failure to break through that key support, and the potential for upside stock moves on better-than-expected same store sales, changes the risk/return, hence the recommendation is to close the position and take the $4 loss.

Cal-Maine's chart, meanwhile had exhibited a bear hug - a bearish trend - but the stock decisively broke out of the pattern, to the upside this summer, and came within 50 cents or so of the $32 Buy/Stop Loss. The stock has since retreated to about $28, but given the end of the bear hug pattern, it's best to take the roughly $5 loss.

Disclosure: Lazzaro has no positions in stocks, but does own shares in two Pimco Bond Funds: PHDAX and PYMAX.

Tags: Cal-Maine Foods, CALM, Panera Bread, PNRA