Possible Snag for Wind & Solar Plays

Taken directly from tradethenews.com,

"

6/17/2008 02:50pm

US Senate vote blocks extending wind and solar energy tax breaks

- in a 52-44 procedural vote that blocked closure of debate on the bill, Republicans blocked the tax break extension for the second time this week. 60 votes are needed to end debate and move it toward a formal up or down vote."

Will be interesting to see how this plays out and how it might affect Wind & especially Solar stocks. Can they really survive without tax breaks and subsidies?

Adding to Walmart (WMT)

I like the looks of Walmart (WMT) here on this pullback. I added my initial position on the pullback to around $55 on the 50 day moving average just a few weeks back. It's run up and then now its back down testing the 50day ma support again, so I'm adding. I cannot stress enough how this is literally the only consumer name I'm playing (could make an argument for MA & V though). When times get rough, people flock to the cheapest of the cheap, and that's WMT. In my first post regarding WMT i mentioned that their stores are PACKED even at 11pm on a friday night when my friends and I stopped in to pick up some drinks.

If you're going to be long the consumer in any way shape or form, this is the play. The chart is perfectly uptrending, using the 50 day moving average as support; it really speaks for itself, just have a look. Buy WMT on the dips as the tight consumer only gets tighter. This can give your portfolio some good diversification away from energy, tech, and commodities (ie: the things that have been working in this market).

Long WMT (have half my position now & will add more on future dips)

3g iPhone = Huge Margins?

Let me start out by saying: don't worry, this is not yet another 3g iPhone hype post that you can find all over the internet. Instead, this is a post about meaningful implications for AAPL as a stock based on some recent information. Ok, so we all know the 1st iPhone was a semi-success, but now that AAPL will be releasing an even better version, expectations are much higher. The initial hype surrounding the 1st iPhone was about growth. "Oh this will be a huge growth product for Apple..." blah blah. The point is that apparently now not only will the iPhone be a growth story for Apple, but it could also be a huge margins story. Portelligent (through EETimes) are out with research stating that they think the new iPhone will cost as little as $100 to produce. This when the 1st gen iPhone cost around $170 to produce. Note: They haven't actually gotten their hands on a new iPhone and disassembled it. Instead, they've done some channel checks in terms of components to gauge pricing and come up with this sum. Although this can be an accurate ballpark figure, I just want to throw that caveat in there. But, even if that figure is just slightly off, the point is that AAPL will still be seeing huge margins and here's why.

AAPL is Billy Badass when it comes to component pricing. If you're familiar with their tactics, then you know they aggressively buy components to ensure their competitive market advantage. Carl Howe over at The Yankee Group gives a timeline of AAPL's business savvy:

"Apple paid $1.25 billion in 2005 to guarantee flash memory for iPods through 2008; that purchase made it nearly impossible for other flash music players to have competitive supplies and profit margins. Apple reportedly negotiated another similar deal in 2007."

And, Howe made this powerful statement as well:

"In fact, if these numbers are true and the carriers are subsidizing the phone, the iPhone 3G could end up being the most profitable product Apple makes. But more likely, this means that Apple has a lot more pricing flexibility than analysts have given them credit for."

The point is that AAPL will be paying much less for components this time around due to technological/engineering advancements and the bullying approach they take in the component space. The display will most likely cost them half as much this time around. Additionally, AAPL will be getting memory for the phone on the cheap and in turn can sell it to consumers for nearly 5x as much as they got it for. The point is that AAPL has significantly reduced their input costs this time around; even with more/newer components in the phone.

In terms of pricing, the phone will most likely sell for $399 straight up no-contract or $199 with the At&t subsidy for a 2 year contract. These figures already show the huge margins AAPL will be seeing with this product. The At&t subsidy is actually a great thing for AAPL because they will be selling the phones to At&t at full price ($399 or so) and then At&t will take the hit in terms of the subsidy to guarantee they get customers in the door buying the phone and signing up for 2 years of service. Zero risk for AAPL there, they don't take a hit.

So, why is this all important? Well, we all know the iPhone is a growth story for AAPL. What I don't think most people realize is the huge margins AAPL will be seeing with this product. With all the high-tech gadgetry inside this phone, people assumed it would cost a pretty penny to produce so AAPL's margins wouldn't be all that high. Au contraire; it sounds though as if those revenue figures would be massively understated. The Mac computer has been the driving force behind AAPL's success all along as they continue to steal market share and crank out sales of macbooks and mac computers. This is the perfect silhouette for what the iPhone very well could be. Mac computers = high growth + high margins. If the new iPhone follows this same formula, then AAPL could see a meaningful boost to their bottom line come September/October. And, the best part is, At&t will be taking the hit by providing users with the subsidy. This gives the iPhone a very competitive price point and many of the features the first gen iPhone lacked. In the end, all you have to ask is: What is AAPL best at? They create high margin products that people HAVE to have. End of.

Some Good Online Resources for Research

Just wanted to take a quick second to point out some great online research resources for those who might not know about them.
First, I want to point out The Wall Street Journal's Money Flow pages. These pages monitor "Buying on Weakness" in which they list the stocks that are down for the day but have seen the largest inflow of money. They also monitor "Selling on Strength" which shows stocks that are up for the day but have seen the largest outflow of money. Buying on Weakness can be found here. Selling on Strength can be found here.

Second, for those who are not necessarily actively trading in the commodities markets, but still want to know what's going on with oil and natural gas, here's your quick solution. It can be found at Bloomberg on their self-updating Energy prices page found here.

Thirdly, I want to link up Goldman Sachs' Conviction Buy List. Goldman is undoubtedly one of the best i-banks/hedge funds on the street right now, having navigated successfully through the credit crunch and recession (so far). Therefore, you should at least keep tabs on the info they release. Not to mention, the stocks that get added to/subtracted from this list will definitely move based on that news. StreetInsider tracks the list here.

Next, I want to link up MSN Money's Insider Buying/Selling tracker. This page monitors the top 10 largest insider purchases and top 10 largest insider sales in the last 30 days, The list is updated weekly on Friday and is based on Form 4 SEC filings. You can find that here.

In terms of news, you need to keep an eye on certain Economic developments and this calendar sets you up with all the action that will take place during the upcoming week on Wall Street. Its a great resource to have so you know what kind of catalysts are coming that will move the markets. Check it out here.

Lastly, just wanted to post up an Options guide for those who might be newer to Stock Options. They're a powerful and useful tool for investors, but you've got to know how they work and the various strategies you can use. TheOptionsGuide has a very good breakdown of all the various strategies here.

Alright, that's just a few for now, I'll add more as the days go on. Please feel free to add any other worthwhile sites in the comments section!

FundMyMutualFund.com - Check it out

Hey everyone, just wanted to take a minute to point out TraderMark's site: http://www.fundmymutualfund.com/. Many of you reading now undoubtedly came here through Mark's site, so you already know what he's up to over there. If you're unfamiliar with his site, he's on a quest to start his own mutual fund and has been cranking out pledges from readers, with this past month being his highest month ever in terms of pledges. This past month, he raised $901k and that brings his total pledges up to $2.5 million. He runs a virtual fund right now via marketocracy and has a solid track record based on his macro investment platform. If you're familiar with mutual fund managers, then think Ken Heebner (CGM Funds) with just a slight twist. He's very transparent, outlining his thought process and investment rationale through the blog. His investment style is very similar to mine and that's how I found him in the first place. Macro investors ftw!

At any rate, just wanted to give him a mention as he's doing a great job and deserves to be running a fund for his track record and the amount of time/hard work he puts into his passion of investing (all while maintaining a normal job as well!). You can pledge by dropping him an e-mail on his page or by posting a comment on one of his posts. If you're not interested in pledging, at least stop by to check out his economic commentary and market thoughts (well worth the read).

You can find his most recent reader pledge update here.

Housing Market Still Sucks... What Else is New?

In the spirit of my post below reminding everyone that we're still in a downtrend, I wanted to point out a post at The Big Picture by Barry Ritholtz. He posts up some staggering statistics taken from RealtyTrac, an aggregator of foreclosure data. In the month of May:

one in every 483 U.S. households received a foreclosure filing during the month of May. This is the highest monthly foreclosure rate since they began tracking foreclosures in January 2005.

And then accompany that info with the following chart. Obviously California, Nevada, Arizona, Colorado, and Florida continue to feel the pain. What's interesting to see is that the problems in Michigan seem to be slowly oozing into neighboring states Indiana and Ohio as well.



To everyone trying to call bottoms: give it a rest. The housing sector is accelerating to the downside. All you have to do is look at the data.

Just a Friendly Reminder: We Are Still in a Downtrend

While we may be due for an oversold bounce near-term, it's always good to take a step back and look at the big picture. Focus on the green trend lines I've drawn in. Until we get a full break to the upside of that trendline on some strong volume, we are still in a downtrend.

Chart: 1 year S&P500 daily


Chart: 1 year S&P500 weekly


Just your friendly neighborhood reminder.