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Chasing Value: Time to Sell E*Trade?

E*Trade (ETFC) logoTwo weeks ago I decided to sell my shares of E*Trade (ETFC) after concluding it did not fit my investment criteria. It was one of my successful picks for 2010 and I made money having sold puts establishing a base price of $13.50. It closed Friday February 25 at $15.89.

I might not have chosen to post about this except for news that Ken Griffin's hedge fund Citadel Investment Group plans to sell much of its stake in E*Trade Financial. The largest shareholder selling out is news. Citadel will still hold valuable warrants, giving it the option of taking a very large position again, but for now there seems to be a change of heart for them as well.

Continue reading Chasing Value: Time to Sell E*Trade?

Who Will Win the Super Bowl Ad Game This Year?

BudweiserTeams have been preparing their game plans and it's time to see which of the 60 teams will win. No, not the Packers or Steelers -- Go Pack! -- but PepsiCo (PEP), Anheuser-Busch (BUD), General Motors (GM) and all the other companies competing for the best spots in one of TV's most expensive marketing moments, costing an estimated $3 million dollars per 30 second spot.

For those not into football, the ads in the Super Bowl game can be more amusing than the game itself as advertising teams compete for attention, show their best efforts and even get rated by numerous online sites. Last year, Doritos (owned by PepsiCo), and E-Trade (ETFC) did well, and Anheuser-Busch seems to always have a Clydesdale horse in the running.

Continue reading Who Will Win the Super Bowl Ad Game This Year?

E*TRADE Cuts Loan-Loss Provisions in Half

ETFC logoE*Trade (ETFC - option chain) shares are rising today despite the company announcing Q4 earnings last night and posting a loss of $24.11 million, or 11 cents per share, on revenue of $517.95 million. Analysts had forecast a loss of 4 cents per share on revenue of 321.77 million.

ETFC also said it cut its loan-loss provision to $194 million from $292 million in the year-ago quarter, suggesting that it expects much lower future losses on bad loans. This stock is one that has been hit so hard by bad news that even though the overall earnings news was rough it is on the rise today. ETFC missed estimates and posted a loss after finally having two quarterly profits in a row, this small bit of optimistic news has energized investors. If you think that the stock won't fall by too much in the coming months, then now could be a good time to look at a bullish hedged trade on ETFC.

Continue reading E*TRADE Cuts Loan-Loss Provisions in Half

Analyst Calls: AFL, DE, DOX, GD, GS, HSY, ITT, MS, NYX, TXN, UBS, WYNN ...

Analyst Upgrades

  • NYSE Euronex (NYX) to conviction buy from neutral at Goldman.
  • General Dynamics (GD) to buy from hold at Citigroup.
  • Deere (DE), Parker-Hannifin (PH) and ExlService (EXLS) to overweight from neutral at JPMorgan.
  • Aflac (AFL) to outperform from market perform at FBR Capital.
  • Wynn Resorts (WYNN) to buy from neutral at Janney Capital.
  • Amdocs (DOX) to buy from neutral at UBS.
  • Juniper (JNPR) to buy from hold at ThinkEquity.
  • Rudolph Tech (RTEC) and KLA-Tencor (KLAC) to perform from underperform at Oppenheimer.
  • Hershey (HSY) and Pinnacle Entertainment (PNK) to outperform from market perform at Wells Fargo.
  • Spirit AeroSystems (SPR) to equal weight from underweight at Morgan Stanley.
  • Micron (MU) to outperform from neutral at RW Baird.

Continue reading Analyst Calls: AFL, DE, DOX, GD, GS, HSY, ITT, MS, NYX, TXN, UBS, WYNN ...

Chasing Value: 2011 Stock Picks -- 5 of 11

General Electric (GE) logoThis is the fifth year that I am posting my stock picks for the year. There is a lot of foolishness in doing so because each year that I have made such suggestions, including 2009 when I owned all of the picks, it is assumed that I would hold all of the positions without responding to market conditions, or changes in the specific company. No adding to, or cutting a position. This is not the real world.

It is not possible for everything to remain static. For example, you might find that you hold a stock that made a great run through three quarters, beyond your wildest expectations, and decide it has passed a point where the metrics cannot support anything close to the price. Under normal circumstances you might sell it, except you cannot. By the end of the year the profit you might have realized fades away and you end up reporting on something that is not a true measure of your objective strategy. Nevertheless, once again I will stick with this approach because this seems to be how its done in every publication's annual picks. This year there are eleven.

Continue reading Chasing Value: 2011 Stock Picks -- 5 of 11

Chasing Value: 2010 Final Review -- Winners and Losers

EZCorp logoThe year 2010 has come and gone and my results are in. This is my fourth annual stock results to be reported on BlogginStocks, so something of a track record is starting to form. This past year ended with a modest improvement over the unmanaged Standard & Poors 500 index

The original story, Chasing Value: 10 Stock Picks for 2010, took readers through a review of many candidates, concluding with the ten picks, using prices from Dec. 28, 2009.

Continue reading Chasing Value: 2010 Final Review -- Winners and Losers

E*TRADE Drops on Declining Accounts

ETFCE*TRADE Financial (ETFC - option chain) stock is trading lower today after the company released its Monthly Activity Report for November. In November, new accounts fell 1.6% year-over-year, while total accounts dropped 4.1%. If you think this stock won't be rising too far in the coming months, then it could be a good time to look at a bearish hedged play on ETFC.

This morning, ETFC opened at $15.52. So far today the stock has hit a high of $15.52 and a low of $14.88. As of 12:10, ETFC is trading at $15.26, down 35 cents (-2.2%). The chart for ETFC looks neutral and S&P gives ETFC a neutral 3 STARS (out of 5) hold ranking.

Continue reading E*TRADE Drops on Declining Accounts

Chasing Value: E*Trade Schwab Buyout Rumors

ETFC logoRumor has it -- again -- that dot.bomb era survivor E*Trade (ETFC) may be acquired by none other than Charles Schwab Corp. (SCHW) for an initial offer of $24 a share. This chatter moved the stock price marginally Friday up 72 cents to $15.27. Although as of Monday morning the rumors are unsubstantiated, trading in stock options has heated up on the call side.

Bantering about the inevitable acquisition of E*Trade has been an annual pastime on and off for the past 10 years, but they resurfaced again in earnest after the financial crisis creamed most companies and institutions. E*Trade is currently capitalized at $3.37 billion. If the rumors bear fruit, the Schwab offer represents approximately a 60% premium to the current price.

Continue reading Chasing Value: E*Trade Schwab Buyout Rumors

TD Ameritrade: How Does the Stock Look?

TD Ameritrade stockTD Ameritrade (AMTD), a broker whose competitors include Charles Schwab (SCHW) and E*Trade (ETFC), closed Wednesday's session higher by 2%. The final quote came in at $14.93. That's not too far from the 52-week low of $14.53. The twelve-month range is a narrow one, as the 52-week high is $21.30.

Is the stock a trade? An investment? Indeed, you may be thinking that it's time to buy. Some things worry me, however. The one-year chart isn't attractive at all. Well, in one sense it is, because a trader/investor would be buying low at this point.

Continue reading TD Ameritrade: How Does the Stock Look?

Chasing Value: E-Trade Is Adrift

E-Trade logoOne of my 2010 stock picks seems to be adrift closer to its 52-week low ($11.52 July 8, 2009) on a long slow downtrend. On June 2, 2010 E-Trade (ETFC) did a reverse 10 for 1 stock split and is now trading back in the teens, having closed last Friday at $14.06. For the time being, it is trading under the symbol ETFCD.

This allows many pension funds and other institutions to hold positions in the stock that they could not before when it was under $5.00 per share (significantly) due to restrictive investment guidelines.

E-Trade management may have been counting on this to inject some life in the stock or at a minimum some additional support. This has not been the case as the stock continues to erode with the other financial stocks.

Continue reading Chasing Value: E-Trade Is Adrift

E*TRADE, Amgen and Others Heating Up in Google Searches

It appears that financial institutions, drug makers and oil companies have caught the attention of traders today -- at least, that's what they're searching for.

If you want to know what stocks traders are interested in right now at this very second, you need look no further than what's hot in Google.

Here's what's hot today.

Continue reading E*TRADE, Amgen and Others Heating Up in Google Searches

Great, Germans Halt Naked Short Selling

The financial stocks and the overall market continued to get pounded by news out of Europe. This time it was Germany halting naked short selling. Chancellor Merkel's coalition wants to stop traders from buying credit insurance on government bonds they don't own ("naked swaps").

While there has been little support for this measure outside of Germany by governments or financial institutions, I think it is long over due. Many are crying foul, stating that it will increase interest rates, dry up liquidity, and prevent institutions from hedging their risks. I'm not so sure these would be bad things. I can think of good reasons to ban naked swaps.

I do not take this stance without due consideration because I have significant stakes in the financial sector, including positions in Bank of America Corporation (BAC), Citigroup, Inc. (C), E-Trade Financial Corporation (ETFC), General Electric Company (GE), Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (GS) and Wells Fargo & Company (WFC).

Continue reading Great, Germans Halt Naked Short Selling

Earnings Highlights: Amazon, Apple, Coca-Cola, Goldman Sachs, Hershey, IBM ...

Here are some highlights from this past week's earnings coverage on BloggingStocks:

  • Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN) strong Q1 results beat earnings expectations, and yet shares sold off.
  • American Express Co. (AXP) reported better-than-expected Q1 earnings, which lifted shares.
  • Apple Inc. (AAPL) shares rose to a new all-time high after it said earnings surged 90% in its Q2.
  • Coca-Cola Co. (KO) beat Q1 earnings estimates but weaker-than-expected revenue sent shares lower.
  • eBay Inc. (EBAY) shares sold off after Q1 earnings were in line with expectations and guidance was weak.

Continue reading Earnings Highlights: Amazon, Apple, Coca-Cola, Goldman Sachs, Hershey, IBM ...

E-Trade Still Speculative After Q1

E-Trade earningsE*Trade (ETFC), an online broker whose colleagues include Charles Schwab (SCHW) and TD Ameritrade (AMTD), is a low-priced stock. It closed on Wednesday at $1.82, representing a rise of 2.8%; the move was backed by strong volume. The company reported first-quarter earnings yesterday after the bell. What should we make of the results?

According to MarketWatch, things seem to be improving. A loss of 2 cents per share compared very favorably to the loss of 41 cents per share booked in the year-ago period. As for estimates, the analysts were thinking that a loss of 3 cents per share was in the offing.

Continue reading E-Trade Still Speculative After Q1

Chasing Value: 2010 Picks Triple Market Returns

The first quarter of 2010 is closed and the results are in. My picks surpassed the primary indices by a large margin. The original story, Chasing Value: 10 Stock Picks for 2010 , was the culmination of a process presented to our readers and finally narrowed down to the select group using final prices from Monday, December 28, 2009.

For comparison I tracked the Standard & Poor's 500 Index, the Dow Jones Industrial Average, and the NASDAQ. Each of these produced positive results for the quarter.

Continue reading Chasing Value: 2010 Picks Triple Market Returns

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Symbol Lookup
IndexesChangePrice
DJIA-89.2312,801.23
NASDAQ-23.352,903.88
S&P 500-9.311,342.64

Last updated: February 11, 2012: 12:09 AM

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