Green Dot Corporation (NYSE: GDOT)

Green Dot Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a technology-centric, pro-consumer bank holding company that provides personal banking for the masses. It offers prepaid debit card products and prepaid card reloading services in the United States, as well as mobile banking services with its GoBank mobile bank account offering. The company’s products include Green Dot MasterCard, Visa-branded prepaid debit cards, and various co-branded reloadable prepaid card programs; Visa-branded gift cards; and MoneyPak and swipe reload proprietary products, which enable cash loading and transfer services through its Green Dot Network.
Please take a look at the 1-year chart of Green Dot (NYSE: GDOT) below with my added notations:

GDOT had held an important level of support at $20 (blue) for the last 9 months, and that level had also been a previous resistance. After rallying back up near $22 earlier this month, the stock came back down to $20 yet again. Yesterday GDOT finally closed below the $20 support and should be moving overall lower from here.

The Tale of the Tape: GDOT had a key level of support at $20. Now that the stock has broken support, a trader might want to enter a short trade at or near the $20 level with a stop placed above that level. A break back above $20 could negate the forecast for a move lower.
Please share this article

Emerging Markets Are Attractive, and Under-Invested

Emerging Market stocks are cheap & ripe for buying pretty soon

Source: Barclays Research
Some of you are wondering, with all of the negative media coverage, why in the world should one buy Emerging Market equities?
Well, the answer is precisely because everyone dislikes them so much. Even more importantly, GEM Equities are starting to look extremely attractive from long term valuation standpoint. Last week, the overall MSCI EM Index traded at 1.4 price to book value, cheapest since the depths of the Lehman panic in 2008. As we can see in the chart above, that is usually a buy zone (even though I personally think that P/BV could fall closer towards 1 before the major low is in).  (more)
Please share this article

McCormick & Company (NYSE: MKC) Chart Is a Screaming 'Buy'

"Sugar and spice and all things nice" comes to mind when I think of Tuesday's rally in McCormick & Company (NYSE: MKC) following its better-than-expected fiscal first-quarter earnings report.
McCormick, which manufactures and distributes spices, herbs, extracts, seasonings and more, posted earnings of $0.62 per share, up 9% from the year-ago period. First-quarter revenue rose 6% year over year to $993.4 million. Analysts were expecting EPS of $0.58 on revenue of $974.5 million.
Management reaffirmed its fiscal 2014 earnings forecast of $3.22 to $3.29 per share, in line with analysts' estimates of $3.27 per share.  (more)

Please share this article

Financial Select Sector Fund (XLF) One Chart You Need to Watch Right Now

If you're worried about trouble in the stock market, there's one sector you need to keep an eye on.

 

Banking stocks are the market's version of the canary in the coal mine. If there's going to be a correction, it'll show up first in these stocks.

 

The Financial Select Sector Fund (XLF) broke out to a new high last week. And so far, it has been immune to the volatility this week. That makes it tough – even for diehard skeptics like me – to argue there's trouble brewing in the stock market.

 

But the momentum of the financial sector could change course at any moment...

 

Take a look at this chart of XLF...

 

 

The red lines represent the support and resistance lines of a rising channel. It's a series of higher highs and higher lows – which is bullish.  (more)

Please share this article

SouFun Holdings Ltd (NYSE: SFUN)

SouFun Holdings Limited operates a real estate Internet portal, and a home furnishing and improvement Website in the People’s Republic of China. The company offers marketing services on its Websites, primarily through advertisements, to real estate developers in the marketing phase of new property developments, as well as to real estate agencies; and suppliers of home furnishing and improvement, and other home-related products and services. It also provides basic listing services that enable customers to post information of their products and services on Websites, and special listing services, which offer customized marketing programs involving online listings and offline themed events to real estate agents, brokers, developers, and property owners and managers; and suppliers of home furnishing and improvement and other home-related products and services.
To review potential trading opportunities with SouFun’s stock, please take a look at the 1-year chart of SFUN (SouFun Holdings Limited) below with my added notations:

SFUN may be forming a bearish chart pattern known as a double top. Double tops are reversal patterns and are as simple as they sound: Rallying up to a point (T), selling off to a support, and then rallying back up again to approximately the same top (T).
SFUN appears to have formed a double top price pattern (red) from December of last year until this week. As with any price pattern, a confirmation of the pattern is needed. SFUN would confirm its pattern by breaking the $70 support (green) that was created by the double top pattern.

The Tale of the Tape: SFUN has formed a potential double top. A short trade could be made on a break of the $70 level. Since there is no guarantee of a breakdown, a long trade could be made at $70 if a trader is willing to disregard the pattern.
Please share this article

Short-term interest rates likely to stay near zero for 2 more years

A week after Janet Yellen unnerved financial markets in her first press conference as Fed chair, markets have settled down. The Dow (DJI), which fell 114 points after she suggested the Fed could raise interest rates "something on the order of six months” after ending its asset purchases, has made up for close to half its losses that day. And the 10-Year Treasury yield (^TNX) has dropped slightly, to 2.7% from 2.78%, raising Treasury prices, which move inversely to yields.  (more)

Please share this article