Wednesday, May 11, 2005
Widgets
This is a test, do not be alarmed, it is only a test. I downloaded a widget, called "Dash Blog" from apple.com. It sits on my desktop's toolbar and whenever I get the urge to post to my blog, I simply click the widget icon and start typing. Does it work? Are you reading this on my blog?
Amylin
I left AMLN off my list of recent Insider Buys in my previous Blog, "The Google Economy," but rather then edit that blog to add the symbol, Amylin get's its very own blog. Why? In the past week the following Insider purchases were filed with the SEC:
CEO $200K @ $16.65
VP Marketing $59K @ $16.75
VP Sales $200K @ $17.35
Director $334K @ $16.72
Director $334K @ $16.72
Director $49K @ $16.37
This is all on top of the recent FDA approval of Amylin's two drugs for treatment of Diabetes, Symlin and Exenatide.
CEO $200K @ $16.65
VP Marketing $59K @ $16.75
VP Sales $200K @ $17.35
Director $334K @ $16.72
Director $334K @ $16.72
Director $49K @ $16.37
This is all on top of the recent FDA approval of Amylin's two drugs for treatment of Diabetes, Symlin and Exenatide.
The Google Economy
As I continue my learning tour through the Google 2004 annual report, one recurring theme seems to "pop-up" on my radar again and again. It has to do with this and other blogs, websites and web destinations of every kind and flavor. They all seem to be accompanied by click-through advertising. All sorts of people and companies are offering their goods and services to what may have been a previously untapped community of potential customers, the Internet surfers. The cool part of Google's technology is that they can figure out what the surfer is interested in and hand pick relevent advertising to place on the selected pages for viewing; a simple and elegant way of bringing together customers with merchants.
This ignited some curiosity on my part, what kind of advertisers were being placed on this blog? Not surprisingly, the vast majority of advertisers here are in the business of selling stock advice. Systems, picks, courses, newsletters, software, almost anything that might be of interest to traders or investors. This makes sense, as most of these blogs so far have been about trading and investing. But what is even more curious is just what kind and of what quality are these products and services that seem to be "sponsoring" my blog?
So recently I have been clicking on these ads and checking out the substance behind the cute promises cullied to get our attention, or more importantly, attract my readers' mouse and index (read: click) finger. Now first off, I am programmed to reject all claims and representations made by anyone selling investing/trading advice. Such wasn't always the case, but as with most who enter the arena of chance that we call the market, I have been seduced many times by promises and track records that more often then not were simply outright fabrications of reality.
But here's another perspective: I once ran an S&P timing web site based a neural net that my good friend Joe developed. It worked beautifully for about 20 months, then fell apart never to be pieced together again. But at the beginning, we advertised it on the Internet, just like the ads appearing around my blog today, gave everyone a two month free trial and actually had real testimonials from real traders who made money off of it. You would have been hard pressed to distinguish a real winning trading system from the phony promises by the few words exaulting you to click your way to riches.
So you never know, and if anyone, including me, finds anything worthwhile in these products or services, share it with the rest of us, as it appears we are all in this for the same reason, to make money, however it can be made.
Speaking about making money...... the past few days have seen a very nice upswing in the number of insider buying filings . Some of the symbols that have most recently popped up are: UTEK, ZHNE, NMSS, INFS, IED, and OSTE. The immediate pops, if any, are over, but as discussed in earlier blogs, under the right conditions more intermediate up moves can sometimes be triggered by these filings.
This ignited some curiosity on my part, what kind of advertisers were being placed on this blog? Not surprisingly, the vast majority of advertisers here are in the business of selling stock advice. Systems, picks, courses, newsletters, software, almost anything that might be of interest to traders or investors. This makes sense, as most of these blogs so far have been about trading and investing. But what is even more curious is just what kind and of what quality are these products and services that seem to be "sponsoring" my blog?
So recently I have been clicking on these ads and checking out the substance behind the cute promises cullied to get our attention, or more importantly, attract my readers' mouse and index (read: click) finger. Now first off, I am programmed to reject all claims and representations made by anyone selling investing/trading advice. Such wasn't always the case, but as with most who enter the arena of chance that we call the market, I have been seduced many times by promises and track records that more often then not were simply outright fabrications of reality.
But here's another perspective: I once ran an S&P timing web site based a neural net that my good friend Joe developed. It worked beautifully for about 20 months, then fell apart never to be pieced together again. But at the beginning, we advertised it on the Internet, just like the ads appearing around my blog today, gave everyone a two month free trial and actually had real testimonials from real traders who made money off of it. You would have been hard pressed to distinguish a real winning trading system from the phony promises by the few words exaulting you to click your way to riches.
So you never know, and if anyone, including me, finds anything worthwhile in these products or services, share it with the rest of us, as it appears we are all in this for the same reason, to make money, however it can be made.
Speaking about making money...... the past few days have seen a very nice upswing in the number of insider buying filings . Some of the symbols that have most recently popped up are: UTEK, ZHNE, NMSS, INFS, IED, and OSTE. The immediate pops, if any, are over, but as discussed in earlier blogs, under the right conditions more intermediate up moves can sometimes be triggered by these filings.
Sunday, May 08, 2005
Google, Revisited
We visited the Google story earlier, citing David Gordon's fine work in bringing this investment to our attention. There are several analytical pieces on David's web site related to Google, the company and the stock. My weekend reading this weekend included probably the most informative material yet on Google and it came right from the horses mouth, the December 31, 2004 Google Annual Report.
First off, even though my own blog here is part of the Google network, I never really understood how all of this fit into the Google story until about 1/3 of the way the annual report. Wow, I'm in business with Google! Or should I say, they work for me.
Second, I always thought of Google as a search engine, ok, THE search engine. Half-way through the Annual Report, I realized that Google is not only a search tool, Google is the Internet.
The more I read about Google, the more I want to own a piece if it, it's not just a company, it's not just a stock, Google is the future with the best yet to come. The very best recommendation I have for you is to download the 2004 Annual Report, if you haven't otherwise already read it, and spend some time reading about this incredible story.
First off, even though my own blog here is part of the Google network, I never really understood how all of this fit into the Google story until about 1/3 of the way the annual report. Wow, I'm in business with Google! Or should I say, they work for me.
Second, I always thought of Google as a search engine, ok, THE search engine. Half-way through the Annual Report, I realized that Google is not only a search tool, Google is the Internet.
The more I read about Google, the more I want to own a piece if it, it's not just a company, it's not just a stock, Google is the future with the best yet to come. The very best recommendation I have for you is to download the 2004 Annual Report, if you haven't otherwise already read it, and spend some time reading about this incredible story.
Thursday, May 05, 2005
Jim Cramer
Does this guy know stocks, or what? Along with his new CNBC hour of bellowing stock opinions, Cramer runs a subscription stock service through his street.com site, appropriately named, "Jim Cramer's Action Alerts Plus." Ever wonder to yourself just how good he is?
YTD: S&P 500 = -3.40%
YTD: Jim Cramer's Action Alerts Plus = -2.46%
Of course, past performance is no guarantee of future performance, which in this case, is probably a good thing.
YTD: S&P 500 = -3.40%
YTD: Jim Cramer's Action Alerts Plus = -2.46%
Of course, past performance is no guarantee of future performance, which in this case, is probably a good thing.
Sunday, May 01, 2005
A friend of mine has done some extensive analysis of Google, concluding it to be a, "singular opportunity" and maybe the singular investment opportunity of our era. His name is David Gordon and his web site is worthy of your frequent attention, above and beyond about a half dozen illuminating posts on Google. I personally bought Google before I read David's thoughts on the opportunity it presents, but have since bought a lot more. If you miss the excitement that once was the stock market, picking stocks, trying to see the big picture instead of 5 minute bars, you'll enjoy David's blog.
As for me, April is none too soon gone and a fresh month of trading is upon us. The bullish case has come to a crucial point, at least as Harry Dent see's it and as descibed in my archives. Essentially there's about 300 Dow points of risk here that if taken out calls into question Dent's entire great Bubble Boom hypthesis. Against that risk is a minimum of 6,000 points of upward reward. Not a bad bet, if you are a betting sort, especially with market sentiment near historic lows by some measures.
With April earning season behind us and so many stocks wallowing near there 12 month lows, my expectation (read: hope) is that insider buying perks up in May, along with my "old school" day-trading system which I have noted in my previous blog has picked up a bit in the past week or so.
It's Sunday night here in the inland Northwest, my Mac's new operating system, "Tiger," is installed (brilliant!) on my Powerbook and I for one would be hard pressed to imagine things (read: life) doing anything but turning up in May. Of course, I've been wrong before.
As for me, April is none too soon gone and a fresh month of trading is upon us. The bullish case has come to a crucial point, at least as Harry Dent see's it and as descibed in my archives. Essentially there's about 300 Dow points of risk here that if taken out calls into question Dent's entire great Bubble Boom hypthesis. Against that risk is a minimum of 6,000 points of upward reward. Not a bad bet, if you are a betting sort, especially with market sentiment near historic lows by some measures.
With April earning season behind us and so many stocks wallowing near there 12 month lows, my expectation (read: hope) is that insider buying perks up in May, along with my "old school" day-trading system which I have noted in my previous blog has picked up a bit in the past week or so.
It's Sunday night here in the inland Northwest, my Mac's new operating system, "Tiger," is installed (brilliant!) on my Powerbook and I for one would be hard pressed to imagine things (read: life) doing anything but turning up in May. Of course, I've been wrong before.
Wednesday, April 27, 2005
For Traders Only
My absence the past few weeks can be attributed to the market and my trading, as for the first time since July, 2003 when I started day-trading my system, I was having a negative month. As of Monday, that has turned positive, but I have been preoccupied with analysis, trying to figure out what wasn't working and if this 20 month run was in danger of ending. The good news is it wasn't my system, it was me, well, mostly me.
First of all, the market wasn't cooperating with much follow-through on my trades. Whereas my system is based on 1-2% moves from entry, I was barely getting 0.5% pops. Not enough pop to take profits, so the trades were going flat and worse, turning negative. My rule is to exit with $100 losses, no question asked. This time, I was letting the losses get away, sometimes $200-300 per trade, as I was in a state of false arrogance, "it worked in the past, it's going to work now."
Add together a greatly diminished number of wins and a stupid doubling or tripling of my losses, and it doesn't take a genius to figure out the month is going into the red. My system is designed to withstand periods of market non-cooperation, as long as I am faithful to the $100 loss rule. Without it, I'm in the soup with everyone else.
The further good news is that my trades are working again, my stops are being respected and April is suddenly in the black all around.
The bad news is I'm back to blogging.
First of all, the market wasn't cooperating with much follow-through on my trades. Whereas my system is based on 1-2% moves from entry, I was barely getting 0.5% pops. Not enough pop to take profits, so the trades were going flat and worse, turning negative. My rule is to exit with $100 losses, no question asked. This time, I was letting the losses get away, sometimes $200-300 per trade, as I was in a state of false arrogance, "it worked in the past, it's going to work now."
Add together a greatly diminished number of wins and a stupid doubling or tripling of my losses, and it doesn't take a genius to figure out the month is going into the red. My system is designed to withstand periods of market non-cooperation, as long as I am faithful to the $100 loss rule. Without it, I'm in the soup with everyone else.
The further good news is that my trades are working again, my stops are being respected and April is suddenly in the black all around.
The bad news is I'm back to blogging.
Wednesday, March 23, 2005
DNDN
A lot of insider buying in Dendreon lately, Directors, Officers, CEO, Cheif Scientific Officer among others. I bought some this morning at $5.70. DNDN has $3.21 cash per share, virtually no debt and a lot of good science to go along with substantial insider buying at these levels.
From Yahoo:
Dendreon Corporation is a biotechnology company focused on the discovery, development and commercialization of targeted therapies for cancer. The Company's portfolio includes product candidates to treat a range of cancers using therapeutic vaccines, monoclonal antibodies, small molecules and pro-drugs. Its most advanced product candidate is Provenge, a therapeutic vaccine for the treatment of prostate cancer. Provenge is being evaluated under a pivotal, randomized, double blind, placebo-controlled Phase III clinical trial in men with androgen independent prostate cancer whose cancer has a Gleason score of seven and less. Dendreon's preclinical programs include monoclonal antibodies, therapies targeting the trp-p8 pathway and serine protease and pro-drug product candidates for the treatment of cancer. In July 2003, Dendreon completed its acquisition of Corvas International, Inc.
From Yahoo:
Dendreon Corporation is a biotechnology company focused on the discovery, development and commercialization of targeted therapies for cancer. The Company's portfolio includes product candidates to treat a range of cancers using therapeutic vaccines, monoclonal antibodies, small molecules and pro-drugs. Its most advanced product candidate is Provenge, a therapeutic vaccine for the treatment of prostate cancer. Provenge is being evaluated under a pivotal, randomized, double blind, placebo-controlled Phase III clinical trial in men with androgen independent prostate cancer whose cancer has a Gleason score of seven and less. Dendreon's preclinical programs include monoclonal antibodies, therapies targeting the trp-p8 pathway and serine protease and pro-drug product candidates for the treatment of cancer. In July 2003, Dendreon completed its acquisition of Corvas International, Inc.
Thursday, March 10, 2005
Friday, March 04, 2005
BI-Buy
Stock: TELIK
Symbol: TELK
I-BUY: Director, $181K, 10K shares @ $18.08
SEC Filed: Friday, March 4, 2005 @ 16:05 (4:05PM EDT)
BI-BUY: Biotech Insider Buy
Telik, Inc. is a biopharmaceutical company that discovers, develops and commercializes small molecule drugs to treat serious diseases. The Company discovered all of its product candidates using its proprietary technology, Target-Related Affinity Profiling (TRAP). The technology exploits a fundamental property of all drugs, which is their selective interactions with proteins. By developing a profile of how small molecule chemicals interact with a reference panel of proteins, the Company may identify compounds active against disease-related protein targets much faster than by alternative technologies. The Company concentrates its efforts on three therapeutic areas: cancer, diabetes and inflammatory diseases.
Symbol: TELK
I-BUY: Director, $181K, 10K shares @ $18.08
SEC Filed: Friday, March 4, 2005 @ 16:05 (4:05PM EDT)
BI-BUY: Biotech Insider Buy
Telik, Inc. is a biopharmaceutical company that discovers, develops and commercializes small molecule drugs to treat serious diseases. The Company discovered all of its product candidates using its proprietary technology, Target-Related Affinity Profiling (TRAP). The technology exploits a fundamental property of all drugs, which is their selective interactions with proteins. By developing a profile of how small molecule chemicals interact with a reference panel of proteins, the Company may identify compounds active against disease-related protein targets much faster than by alternative technologies. The Company concentrates its efforts on three therapeutic areas: cancer, diabetes and inflammatory diseases.
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