BAC – Bank of America (NYSE) – (Closing Price – $35.96)
Bank of America is down moderately since my initial short recommendation and I think now would be a good time to cover and take the gain off the table. I still think financial companies are going to see further weakness but they will most likely rally tomorrow when the Fed cuts interest rates. If the Fed cuts by a point, which I have a feeling is going to happen, financials could get a significant short term boost. Instead of holding through the volatility I think it would be wise just to cover.
If you shorted Bank of America when I gave my recommendation you are sitting on a 9.5% gain in just a couple of weeks. That is not an insignificant gain considering the short amount of time it took to obtain it. You could have made an even better gain shorting other financial companies when I gave my recommendation. If you shorted Bear Sterns (BSC) you would be sitting on a huge gain.
If you are a very short term trader and like to trade in and out of stocks it may be wise to consider buying financial stocks tomorrow, especially if the Fed cuts by a point. If financials rally tomorrow I would trade the news but get out quickly.
Disclaimer: I have no position in BAC, BSC, or any other financial company.
The Credit Crisis and Potential Shorts
Financial companies have seen severe declines over the past year and they still have the potential to go down a lot further. The reason financial companies are on such shaky ground is because the risk of rising foreclosures and loan defaults has resulted in a really severe credit crisis. For those of you who don’t understand the current credit fiasco I will try to explain it and show why financial companies still present good shorting opportunities.
Before I start I want to point out that the stock market surged on the Fed cut just like I predicted and also sold off quickly just like I predicted. If you bought financials yesterday I hope you sold the news and got out quickly. If you did play the short term volatility I would recommend that you take new short positions in financials again. Now I’ll go back to the credit fiasco.
The last time the Fed tried to fight off a recession Alan Greenspan, who deserves some blame for the current credit mess, lowered interest rates to ridiculously low levels. Consequently, there was plenty of easy money to go around. Since interest rates were at extremely low levels banks were happy to provide consumers with just about any type of loan they wanted without much regard to the credit worthiness of the consumer. (more…)
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