Northern Trust broke hard beneath a symetric triangle way back in June of last year. It has retraced fully to this pattern, offering a good risk/reward ratio on the short side. I'm going to use 48.01 as my stop.
Slope of Hope Blog Posts
Slope initially began as a blog, so this is where most of the website’s content resides. Here we have tens of thousands of posts dating back over a decade. These are listed in reverse chronological order. Click on any category icon below to see posts tagged with that particular subject, or click on a word in the category cloud on the right side of the screen for more specific choices.
9/11 From My Perspective (by Mark St.Cyr)
As I always say when I post this column: this one’s a little
different. A little more personal as I myself search for more
perspective to this game we call life.
The only thought I’m consistently reminded of is – life is precious.
And when it ends for what ever the reason chances are none of us will
have any control of the timing or circumstances. So live to your
potential everyday. Regardless of where you are in life. Because the
unexpected or the horrific can happen to any one of us. Not just someone
else as we so often think.
When the tragedy on September 11 happened it changed many of us. If
not all. Like most I remember exactly where I was. I also remember
vividly standing in line at my local bank moments after it happened.
Watching the televisions while waiting in line with others in sheer
disbelief. For all of us – time had stopped.
The days and months that followed with the heroism and outpouring of
help and support is well documented everywhere. Living in New England at
the time you either had gone to Ground Zero yourself to try and offer
any help – or someone you knew did.
I owned a local Deli in NH at the time. The owner of a company who
supplied me with breads went back and forth to Ground Zero as to pass
out muffins and pastries to the rescue teams nightly. Then would travel
back to New Hampshire to start his morning deliveries. No one
complained. No one said how hard it was to do. No one was looking for
credit. It was just done. Period.
On that day many of us changed. We viewed life a little bit
different. Suddenly it hit you with laser like focus that life is
precious, and death can come at any moment – from anywhere. No longer
was this an esoteric exercise. This was life at its core. Playing out in
front of our eyes leaving no gray area to ponder. You either got it. Or
you didn’t.
In honor of that tragic event I set new rules for myself. New
guidelines if you will for how I was going to move forward in life. I
decided that I would live life my way. By my rules. And if I were to die
today – so be it.
I was going to ensure with all my fortitude that I would pursue my
aspirations. Not a life of just trying to get by or exist like so many
do. While I’m here I’m not settling to merely survive – I’m here to
thrive. After all, as tough as life is shouldn’t that be the prize we’re
playing for?
September 11, 2001 changed my life forever. I say all this because
unlike most who’ve only read or heard about the people who lost their
lives on that tragic day. Peter was the younger brother of my close
friends growing up. Life’s mysteries don’t just happen to someone else.
They happen to all of us.
© 2012 Mark St.Cyr www.MarkStCyr.com
Two New Trades: MCP & ALXA (by Ryan Mallory)
I must have volatility running through my veins today because I just took on two historically very volatile charts and entered into long positions on them both. I jumped in Molycorp (MCP) at $12.48 and then shortly thereafter I got into Alexza Pharmaceuticals (ALXA) at $4.83 – but not to be confused with ALXN which I am also long in from $102.
Both of these trades are not ones you want to stay with for days on end, because there is a time factor risk associated with each – in that they both tend to react hard to news pieces both positive and negative. So the longer that you are in one of these trades, the more likely you will be impacted by such a news event. As a result, my target time frame for holding these stocks is 1-3 days.
Russell Cleanly Breaks Out
I'm none-too-thrilled to report that the $RUT has, over the past three days, affirmed the importance of the descending trendline and is threatening to break past its multi-year highs.
Beyond the Looking Glass
Obviously the most important things to watch this week are the central banks, as they reveal whether the economic situation is desperate enough for them to print enough money to set off a flight from cash into assets, and thereby spark off another leg of the bull run in equities. It really is a funny old world nowadays.
The most important decision should be made tomorrow, and that is when a German court will rule on whether the proposed ECB play to print money to buy EU sovereign bonds is illegal under German law. I hear that Morgan Stanley is suggesting 40% odds that it will be ruled illegal. I'm surprised the odds are as low as that. If the German court backs the plan then European QE is on, which would look bullish. If they don't the prospects for the the Euro and equities will look grim.
