As usual, your call is an almost perfect contrary indicator just as it was with LVS and Berkshire: http://www.elitetrader.com/vb/showthread.php?s=&postid=2376406&#post2376406 http://www.elitetrader.com/vb/showthread.php?s=&postid=2383163#post2383163 <img src=http://www.elitetrader.com/vb/attachment.php?s=&postid=2383159>
I should have listened to myself and bought HIG when it fell back to the $5 range. Any buyers of HIG out here?
I am sticking to my guns on HIG and have opened up new short positions (with stop prices of course). This company is an insolvent insurance carrier. The recent rise in the common stock price was due to politicians talking it up and false hope. This was a bear market rally or a dead count bounce. Traders have taken it as far as its going to go, no further!!!
All of the insurers are in a bad situation. If you suspect that a depression is around the corner then what do you do? The answer is to cut back and save where ever you can. You might cut the comp/collision from your car or, at the very least, raise the deductible to the highest you can stand. You might hold off buying that new car for a few years. All this means LESS premiums for insurers. In turn, the insurers are going to do whatever they can to compete for business. All-State will drop its premiums and then Hartford will follow in kind. Soon the insurance industry resembles the airline industry where there is never a profit to be made.
I hear you, Leap. I started this thread and the next market day HIG opened gapped up significantly, so I put it on the back burner, but I failed to set an alert for that test of 4.16 support. On 3/9 when the market began to rally on news that the entire financial system was actually not going to fail in the next month, HIG topped the previous day's high and became a low risk long play at that point, but by then I had totally forgotten about it!
But as we've found out he is not 100% consistent on this, as when he told Netanyahu to stop letting those settlements expand. I'm sure Netanyahu did not want to hear THAT.
Sold all shares this morning/afternoon. ALL Clients are still happy with me. Lol! Made 31% and could have been in the 70's if I had sold at $17. Argh! Oh well, that's me not violation my rules. Sometimes, I'll have to admit, I hate the rules. Lol! I guess it's either follow rules, or sink like most mutual funds have. Oh yes, I know. It's "easy" to make $$$$ with high beta stuff. Lol! I had a local competitor BUTT HOLE Broker tell a Client of mine at a dinner event, "your guy has made you 86% this year??? You need to read about Madoff. Your guy sounds shady." Lol!! I laugh, but also told my Client to call my 3rd party clearing firm about his YTD balance, and it's liquidity. Lol! I also mentioned the fact that I'm only trading 15% of his retirement account, NOT giving ALL of his $$ to ONE money management outfit hoping for the best like the Merrill Lynch idiot does. These idiots sign you up for a fee only account (I do too.) BUT, the wirehouse idiots let one manager manage 100% of their beloved Clients assets. Scares me to death! Sorry for the rant. We'll talk about when to get long HIG when the time comes. Right now isn't the time to get long HIG... It's been a very "tradable" stock since my 1st buy in Nov 08, and the pullbacks are welcomed! Hopefully down to $7-8! Then ride it back up to $12-13+ Ooh rah!