Options expert and stock trader Bernie Schaeffer combines fundamental, technical and sentiment-based metrics to select his specific trades.

In his latest The Options Advisor, he looks at a trio of diverse trades: wireless semiconductor play, Broadcom (NASDAQ: BRCM); homebuilder, Ryland Group (NYSE: RYL); and miner, Southern Copper (NYSE: PCU).

"Broadcom has rocketed up the charts in 2009, racking up a year-to-date gain of about 74%. The stock has stair-stepped consistently higher since January, capitalizing on support at its 10-week and 20-week moving averages.

"BRCM's relentless upward momentum has forced many short sellers out of their bearish positions, as short interest on the equity dropped by nearly 20% during the past month.

Continue reading Bernie's bets: A trio of trades from Schaeffer

Bernie's bets: A trio of trades from Schaeffer originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 26 Oct 2009 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

News flash! Citigroup (finally) downgrades housing stocks originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 02 Jul 2007 13:56:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Expect another tough day for home builders

Expect another tough day for home builders originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 27 Mar 2007 09:11:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

MAJOR PAPERS:

• The Wall Street Journal (subscription required) speculated that Carl Icahn's bid for WCI Communities Inc (NYSE: WCI) may be the start of home-builder buyouts. Other possible LBO targets, according to some Wall Street firms, include Toll Brothers Inc (NYSE: TOL), Ryland Group Inc (NYSE: RYL), Beazer Homes USA Inc (NYSE: BZH) and KB Home (NYSE: KBH).
• The Wall Street Journal also reported that Goldman Sachs Group Inc (NYSE: GS) is looking to push deeper into the subprime lending business at a time when the subprime mortgage market is suffering a "meltdown."
• The Financial Times (subscription required) reported that Cerberus Capital Management, one of the leaders in the bid to buy DaimlerChrysler AG's (NYSE: DCX) Chrysler unit, has signed Wolfgang Bernhard to an advisory contract. Bernhard helped restructure Chrysler five years ago.

• The U.K. Times reported that a CVC-led private equity group is planning to bid above GBP9.5B for Sainsbury's plc ADR (OTC: JSAIY).
• The U.K. Times also reported that Cadbury Schweppes ADS (NYSE: CSG) is considering spinning off and selling its profitable drinks business, which includes Dr. Pepper and 7-Up, as a way to defend against a takeover bid for the entire group.

Newspaper wrap-up 3-14-07: Goldman Sachs to push deeper into subprime lending originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 14 Mar 2007 09:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Each year Steven Halpern, editor of TheStockAdvisors.com, surveys the leading financial newsletter advisors asking for their favorite stocks for the coming year. This article is part of his 24th annual Top Picks Report.

Ryland Group Inc. (NYSE: RYL) is the favorite conservative pick from John Stewart, editor of The Leverage Alert. He notes, "The company, which builds homes and finances mortgages, is seeing its stock start to display positive price action, although many experts are calling for a broader and deeper housing correction.

"Much of the doom and gloom toward the sector seems to have already been priced into these housing stocks as even negative news seems to be shrugged off. RYL's technical picture now looks quite strong as it is trading well above key moving averages, such as its 80-day. Meanwhile, shorter-term moving averages such as its 10-day trendline have provided support for the security during its recent run higher.

"Despite the stock's strength, ample skepticism exists from the Street. Ample pessimism is evident in our quantitative sentiment indicators as well. Options players are quite heavily skewed toward the bearish side of the spectrum.

"A number of traders are betting against the stock by shorting the shares as well. The total number of shares sold short amounts to nearly 20% of the stock's float. As the shares continue their advance, these short sellers may be forced to buy back their pessimistic positions. This could further exacerbate the magnitude of the homebuilder's upside potential as the bears unwind their short positions."

To see John's top speculative pick for 2007, click here.

Top Picks 2007: Stewart is at home with homebuilder Ryland originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 28 Dec 2006 08:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

MOST NOTEWORTHY: The Homebuilding Sector, Research in Motion (RIMM) and Yum! Brands (YUM) were the most notable companies on today's extensive list of downgrades.

• Credit Suisse downgraded to Homebuilding Sector to Underweight from Market Weight as they believe the "seasonal trade is nearing an end," P/E ratios are at peak levels, new supply is getting worse, the potential for large impairments and credit quality issues;
  • specifically, the Credit Suisse downgraded Ryland Group Inc. (NYSE:RYL) to Underperform from Neutral, with a $44 target.
• Research in Motion Ltd. (NASDAQ:RIMM) was downgraded by RBC Capital Markets to Sector Perform and by Morgan Keegan to Market Perform on valuation.
• Yum! Brands Inc. (NYSE:YUM) was downgraded to Sector Perform from Outperform at RBC Capital Markets, citing a constrained share price based on valuation and tough U.S. SSS comps.

OTHER DOWNGRADES:

• Merrill Lynch and Goldman Sachs downgraded the Hershey Co. (NYSE:HSY) to Neutral from Buy, citing lowered growth expectations and a reduced confidence in strategy.
• Met Life Inc. (NYSE:MET) was downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at Keefe Bruyette & Woods, citing valuation and a more modest outlook for 2007.

Analyst summaries provided by TheFlyOnTheWall.com (subscription required).

Analyst downgrades 12-7-06: RIM, Yum!, Hershey, homebuilding originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 07 Dec 2006 10:53:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Sovereign Bancorp (SOV) and the Homebuilders sector topped the upgrade list today.

• Citigroup upgraded Sovereign Bank Inc. (NYSE:SOV) to Hold from Sell with a $25 target, citing expectations for management to announce a larger cost-cutting program in January of 2007.
• Bank of America upgraded the Homebuilders sector to Neutral from Cautious after their survey showed traffic improvements in 33 of 39 markets in November relative to October; They do not expect a smooth trend, instead, the firm expects to see choppiness in the market for the next 12-24 months.
  • In conjunction with the sector upgrade, Bank of America upgraded Standard Pacific (NYSE:SPF) to Buy from Neutral,
  • and Meritage Homes Corp. (NYSE:MTH), NVR Inc. (NYSE:NVR), Pulte Homes Inc. (NYSE:PHM), The Ryland Group Inc. (NYSE:RYL) and Toll Bros. Inc. (NYSE:TOL) to Neutral from Sell.

OTHER UPGRADES:

• Sanofi-Aventis (NYSE:SNY) was upgraded to Overweight from Neutral at HSBC.
• SAP AG (NYSE:SAP) was added to Merrill Lynch's Europe 1 list.

Analyst summaries provided by TheFlyOnTheWall.com (subscription required).

Analyst upgrades 11-30-06: Homebuilders sector upgraded originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 30 Nov 2006 11:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.