Mediaboss Marketing

How do you find good stocks for great short-term trading opportunities? Do you hunt for value, growth or price momentum?

I look for all three, but with a twist that gives me an added "edge". I want to buy solid growth stocks after the market has "temporarily" and irrationally thrown them out with the bath water. If I am right that the selling insanity is temporary, I am also getting value that is about to resume a momentum price trajectory. The exaggerated reports of a great stock's death are often terrific "one shot, one kill" trading opportunities. Here are my essential screening gauntlet for "killer" swing trades with an edge: 1) Industry Dominator, Moat Optional
2) Earnings Machine with Institutional Sponsorship
3) Juicy Price Collapse that makes me say: "This stock is on sale!" The first criterion is pretty straight forward. I want to be looking at a well-run business with an established niche, if not industry domination. Obviously, a competitive moat is ideal. It's hard to get excited about price momentum if the company doesn't have other kinds of momentum going for it. The second criterion is all about growth. And when steady earnings momentum is confirmed by institutional investors accumulating and holding shares over long periods, you know you are in good company for higher prices in early to mid-stage growth. The third criterion is all about relative value. Sometimes good stocks get trashed for some of the following unwarranted reasons: Missed EPS or revenue target
Warned about a soft patch in business or economy
Made an acquisition the Street didn't like
New competitor is knocking on their niche
Concerns about the economy that cause a correction and sink all stocks with the market tide
Management change or a legal/regulatory/environmental battle cry from some assailant The assault could be any one of a dozen things that drive the price of a good company down 20% or more. In all cases, if you can confirm that criterion #1 and #2 are still intact, you may have just found a juicy bargain.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Only Hours to Go for Hidden Bulls Saturday, February 18 is your last chance to target quick bull market swings that few are seeing. Time's running out to take advantage of the irrational behavior of other investors. The door must close to Zacks' new short-term investor group because if too many members were accepted, it would be harder for everyone to profit fully. Don't miss four powerful investment opportunities that are emerging... See them now >> ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3 Stocks That Screamed "Buy Me!"
1) CME Group ( CME )
The most dominant derivatives exchange in the world saw a slow drift lower in its shares for all of 2011. Falling from above $325 to support at $240 in the fall, the stock met strong resistance at its 200-day moving average in November at $280. And then things really got scary when one of its largest clearing members filed for bankruptcy on Halloween. The implosion of MF Global sent institutional investors running for the hills, and sent the stock to lows not seen since April of 2009. When I saw the stock trading at $225 in early January, I decided to take a closer look at the earnings picture. Estimates had definitely come down after the Corzine debacle, but the core business was intact, still dominant and still growing. Plus, the company was poised for potentially outstanding growth as trillions in the OTC interest rate derivatives business was destined to move to the exchange "mark-to-market" model. Sensing a fantastic opportunity, I bought March 260 calls for under $2.50. After CME's strong earnings report in February, the stock exploded from $240 to $290, handing my Tactical Trader subscribers at least a triple (200% gain) in those options, while some held on to see ten times their money!

2) Coinstar ( CSTR ) Remember when Netflix ( NFLX ) shot themselves in the foot by making their subscriber service more complicated and costly? Customers said "who needs this?" And investors punished the stock because they saw the company headed in all the wrong directions. Well a tiny little competitor for movie entertainment appeared to be headed down the same path after its October earnings report. Coinstar, owner of the Redbox DVD rental kiosks, raised their price by a whole 20 cents! The stock fell nearly 20% as investors thought it was another NFLX debacle. I said this was crazy! This price bump should only make CSTR earnings estimates go up. And everybody I knew who rented movies the Redbox way would gladly pay another 20 cents. Heck, most people I know would pay another buck and not think twice. Why? Because it's fun to go pick a flick that way - even if you are "streaming" video at home, which most consumers are not. I was so convinced about CSTR being a bargain, I told everyone to "buy it with both hands" under $45. The company was not only executing its core strategy, it was brewing the content distribution deal with Verizon for potential streaming opportunities. As you can see from the chart, CSTR caught a lot of bears by surprise on their last earnings report in early February. I made 24% on my shares.

3) Vertex Pharmaceuticals ( VRTX ) Vertex is not exactly a "dominator" in biotech when compared to Amgen or Celgene. But it did create something incredible last year that surprised lots of pharma experts and investors. They produced the first incredibly successful drug treatment for the hepatitis-C virus (HCV). Their drug Incivek topped sales of over $400 million in the third quarter of 2011, while pharma giant Merck could only do about $80 million in sales with their HCV treatment. Based on this success, the earnings estimates for Vertex soared to above $4 per share for 2012 with projected sales of over $2.5 billion. But the stock was already in a curious collapse before and after those results came out, getting cut in half from $52 to $26 in only two months. I decided to take a closer look at the catalysts. What I found was that the analyst community and large biotech investors were looking at all kinds of new competition for Incivek coming to market. The VRTX drug used an interferon cocktail regime with nasty side effects and lots of competitors were creating next-generation oral treatments that didn't need interferon. The biggest threat came from Gilead Sciences who had just paid $10 billion for Pharmasett to get their hands on that young biotech's HCV treatment. The problem was that none of these competitors would have their drugs ready for market until 2014. So with 170 million people worldwide exposed to HCV, and VRTX estimates not coming down, I thought that Incivek still would win in 2012. Plus, VRTX had a cystic fibrosis drug very close to FDA approval. On the very first day of the Tactical Trader service in early December, we opened the books by buying the VRTX April 30 calls for under $4. We just sold them for a 100% gain last week. Too bad we didn't keep them a little longer as the stock launched above my $40 price target Friday morning.

Catching Falling Knives, or Scooping Fallen Gems? There's an old adage in trading and investing that one can get really hurt trying to catch a falling knife. But if you do your homework, and you develop sound screening criteria that give you a very favorable risk/reward edge, you can bank sizable profits off the irrationality of other investors. I may not have the deep pocket and time horizon of a Warren Buffett, but my approach fully capitalizes on the idea to "be greedy when others are fearful."
No Need to Pursue These Profits on Your Own If you'd like some help, my private trading group has been re-opened until Saturday to new investors. Its purpose is to go long or short with stock, ETF, and options moves to catch small market swings that others rarely spot and ride them for substantial one to 12-week gains. The number of investors who share the moves from our Zacks Tactical Trader must be limited, and demand to get into the service was so intense that it had to be closed early when introduced last December. Now it's open to you again, but only until 11:59 pm Saturday, February 18. There will be no extensions so I strongly encourage you to look into it now. Click now for details about Tactical Trader >> Good Investing, Kevin Cook Kevin, a Senior Stock Strategist at Zacks, is a recognized authority in global markets. A former market-maker in the $4-trillion-dollar-a-day world of interbank trading, he developed the ability to track the movement of money, and trained his reflexes to take advantage of it. Today he directs the new Zacks Tactical Trader , providing commentary and recommendations.
 
CME GROUP INC ( CME ): Free Stock Analysis Report
 
COINSTAR INC ( CSTR ): Free Stock Analysis Report
 
VERTEX PHARM ( VRTX ): Free Stock Analysis Report
 
To read this article on Zacks.com click here.
 
Zacks Investment Research

The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of The NASDAQ OMX Group, Inc.

Continue reading here:
3 Killer Criteria for Super Swing Trades - Weekend Wisdom

How do you find good stocks for great short-term trading opportunities? Do you hunt for value, growth or price momentum?

I look for all three, but with a twist that gives me an added 'edge'. I want to buy solid growth stocks after the market has 'temporarily' and irrationally thrown them out with the bath water. If I am right that the selling insanity is temporary, I am also getting value that is about to resume a momentum price trajectory.

The exaggerated reports of a great stock's death are often terrific 'one shot, one kill' trading opportunities. Here are my essential screening gauntlet for 'killer' swing trades with an edge:

1) Industry Dominator, Moat Optional
2) Earnings Machine with Institutional Sponsorship
3) Juicy Price Collapse that makes me say: 'This stock is on sale!'

The first criterion is pretty straight forward. I want to be looking at a well-run business with an established niche, if not industry domination. Obviously, a competitive moat is ideal. It's hard to get excited about price momentum if the company doesn't have other kinds of momentum going for it.

The second criterion is all about growth. And when steady earnings momentum is confirmed by institutional investors accumulating and holding shares over long periods, you know you are in good company for higher prices in early to mid-stage growth.

The third criterion is all about relative value. Sometimes good stocks get trashed for some of the following unwarranted reasons:

Missed EPS or revenue target
Warned about a soft patch in business or economy
Made an acquisition the Street didn't like
New competitor is knocking on their niche
Concerns about the economy that cause a correction and sink all stocks with the market tide
Management change or a legal/regulatory/environmental battle cry from some assailant

The assault could be any one of a dozen things that drive the price of a good company down 20% or more. In all cases, if you can confirm that criterion #1 and #2 are still intact, you may have just found a juicy bargain.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Only Hours to Go for Hidden Bulls

Saturday, February 18 is your last chance to target quick bull market swings that few are seeing. Time's running out to take advantage of the irrational behavior of other investors. The door must close to Zacks' new short-term investor group because if too many members were accepted, it would be harder for everyone to profit fully.

Don't miss four powerful investment opportunities that are emerging...

See them now >>

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

3 Stocks That Screamed 'Buy Me!'

1) CME Group (NasdaqGS:CME - News)

The most dominant derivatives exchange in the world saw a slow drift lower in its shares for all of 2011. Falling from above $325 to support at $240 in the fall, the stock met strong resistance at its 200-day moving average in November at $280. And then things really got scary when one of its largest clearing members filed for bankruptcy on Halloween.

The implosion of MF Global sent institutional investors running for the hills, and sent the stock to lows not seen since April of 2009. When I saw the stock trading at $225 in early January, I decided to take a closer look at the earnings picture. Estimates had definitely come down after the Corzine debacle, but the core business was intact, still dominant and still growing.

Plus, the company was poised for potentially outstanding growth as trillions in the OTC interest rate derivatives business was destined to move to the exchange 'mark-to-market' model. Sensing a fantastic opportunity, I bought March 260 calls for under $2.50. After CME's strong earnings report in February, the stock exploded from $240 to $290, handing my Tactical Trader subscribers at least a triple (200% gain) in those options, while some held on to see ten times their money!

2) Coinstar (NasdaqGS:CSTR - News)

Remember when Netflix (:NFLX) shot themselves in the foot by making their subscriber service more complicated and costly? Customers said 'who needs this?' And investors punished the stock because they saw the company headed in all the wrong directions.

Well a tiny little competitor for movie entertainment appeared to be headed down the same path after its October earnings report. Coinstar, owner of the Redbox DVD rental kiosks, raised their price by a whole 20 cents! The stock fell nearly 20% as investors thought it was another NFLX debacle.

I said this was crazy! This price bump should only make CSTR earnings estimates go up. And everybody I knew who rented movies the Redbox way would gladly pay another 20 cents. Heck, most people I know would pay another buck and not think twice. Why? Because it's fun to go pick a flick that way - even if you are 'streaming' video at home, which most consumers are not.

I was so convinced about CSTR being a bargain, I told everyone to 'buy it with both hands' under $45. The company was not only executing its core strategy, it was brewing the content distribution deal with Verizon for potential streaming opportunities. As you can see from the chart, CSTR caught a lot of bears by surprise on their last earnings report in early February. I made 24% on my shares.

3) Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NasdaqGS:VRTX - News)

Vertex is not exactly a 'dominator' in biotech when compared to Amgen or Celgene. But it did create something incredible last year that surprised lots of pharma experts and investors. They produced the first incredibly successful drug treatment for the hepatitis-C virus (:HCV). Their drug Incivek topped sales of over $400 million in the third quarter of 2011, while pharma giant Merck could only do about $80 million in sales with their HCV treatment.

Based on this success, the earnings estimates for Vertex soared to above $4 per share for 2012 with projected sales of over $2.5 billion. But the stock was already in a curious collapse before and after those results came out, getting cut in half from $52 to $26 in only two months. I decided to take a closer look at the catalysts.

What I found was that the analyst community and large biotech investors were looking at all kinds of new competition for Incivek coming to market. The VRTX drug used an interferon cocktail regime with nasty side effects and lots of competitors were creating next-generation oral treatments that didn't need interferon. The biggest threat came from Gilead Sciences who had just paid $10 billion for Pharmasett to get their hands on that young biotech's HCV treatment.

The problem was that none of these competitors would have their drugs ready for market until 2014. So with 170 million people worldwide exposed to HCV, and VRTX estimates not coming down, I thought that Incivek still would win in 2012. Plus, VRTX had a cystic fibrosis drug very close to FDA approval.

On the very first day of the Tactical Trader service in early December, we opened the books by buying the VRTX April 30 calls for under $4. We just sold them for a 100% gain last week. Too bad we didn't keep them a little longer as the stock launched above my $40 price target Friday morning.

Catching Falling Knives, or Scooping Fallen Gems?

There's an old adage in trading and investing that one can get really hurt trying to catch a falling knife. But if you do your homework, and you develop sound screening criteria that give you a very favorable risk/reward edge, you can bank sizable profits off the irrationality of other investors.

I may not have the deep pocket and time horizon of a Warren Buffett, but my approach fully capitalizes on the idea to 'be greedy when others are fearful.'

No Need to Pursue These Profits on Your Own If you'd like some help, my private trading group has been re-opened until Saturday to new investors. Its purpose is to go long or short with stock, ETF, and options moves to catch small market swings that others rarely spot and ride them for substantial one to 12-week gains. The number of investors who share the moves from our Zacks Tactical Trader must be limited, and demand to get into the service was so intense that it had to be closed early when introduced last December. Now it's open to you again, but only until 11:59 pm Saturday, February 18. There will be no extensions so I strongly encourage you to look into it now. Click now for details about Tactical Trader >> Good Investing, Kevin Cook Kevin, a Senior Stock Strategist at Zacks, is a recognized authority in global markets. A former market-maker in the $4-trillion-dollar-a-day world of interbank trading, he developed the ability to track the movement of money, and trained his reflexes to take advantage of it. Today he directs the new Zacks Tactical Trader, providing commentary and recommendations.

Read the analyst report on CME

Read the analyst report on CSTR

Read the analyst report on VRTX

Zacks Investment Research

More From Zacks.com

Link:
3 Killer Criteria for Super Swing Trades

Public release date: 17-Feb-2012
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Erin Tornatore
erin.tornatore@childrens.harvard.edu
617-919-3110
Children's Hospital Boston

Boston, Mass. ? Some 90 percent of people are exposed to the Epstein Barr virus (EBV) at some point in their life. Even though it is quickly cleared from the body, the virus can linger silently for years in small numbers of infected B cells. According to researchers at Children's Hospital Boston and the Immune Disease Institute (IDI), the immune system subdues the virus by watching for a single viral protein called LMP1, knowledge that has already helped suggest two new treatments for the EBV-fueled cancers seen in some immunosuppressed patients.

The study team, led by Klaus Rajewksy, MD, and Baochun Zhang, MD, PhD, of the Program in Cellular and Molecular Medicine at Children Hospital Boston and the IDI, reported their results online this week in the journal Cell.

While the immune system's T cells rapidly clear most EBV-infected B cells, about one in a million infected cells escapes destruction. Within these cells, the virus enters a latent phase, kept in check by the watchful eye of so-called memory T cells. This uneasy relationship usually holds steady the rest of a person's life, unless something ? such as infection with HIV or use of anti-rejection drugs following a transplant ? suppresses the immune system and breaks the surveillance. The virus can then reawaken and drive the development of B cell cancers like AIDS-associated B cell lymphoma and post-transplant lymphoproliferative disorder.

To better understand how the immune system maintains its watch and how the virus turns cells cancerous, Rajewsky and his team had generated a model mimicking latent EBV infection by engineering mice whose B cells contained an inducible version of viral LMP1. Researchers have long known that EBV needs LMP1 to turn B cells cancerous, but modeling this relationship in vivo had proven challenging.

"We had previously attempted to develop an animal model of LMP1 transformation of B cells," said Rajewsky, who recently moved to the Max Delbr?ck Center for Molecular Medicine in Germany, "but we had never been able to get the mice in our models to actually produce any mature B cells. The immune response against the LMP1-producing B cells was so robust that the cells were eliminated very early on."

Their breakthrough came when Zhang and colleagues reengineered the model to lack T cells. "The mice were initially fine, but succumbed within two to three months to aggressive B cell lymphomas," Rajewsky said. "The profile mimicked very closely what we see in immunosuppressed lymphoma patients." In additional experiments with Rajewsky's original model, the team eliminated the mice's T cells before activating the viral protein in B cells, sparking a similar but even more rapid fatal disease.

The team also made several observations with possible clinical application. First, they noted that in the mouse model the LMP1 producing B cells were being attacked by a specific kind of T cell called a CD4+ T cell. "Transplant patients who develop B cell lymphomas because they are immunosuppressed by their anti-rejection drugs are often treated with T cells that carry the CD8 marker," Rajewsky noted. "These results would argue for also considering CD4+ T cells for treatment."

Second, they found that tumors in the LMP1 producing mice often displayed targets recognized by another kind of immune cell called a natural killer (NK) cell. Seeing an opportunity, Rajewsky worked with cancer immunologist Glenn Dranoff, MD and colleagues at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, to test a potential therapeutic agent that uses a portion of the NK cell activating receptor called NKG2D, fused to the stimulatory Fc portion of an antibody, a combination capable of activating and directing immune attack against tumor cells. In a transplantation model of LMP1-fueled lymphomas, the NKG2D-Fc fusion proved quite capable of reducing tumor growth and prolonging survival of the recipients.

"These preclinical results suggest administration of the NKG2D-Fc fusion protein, perhaps combined with treatment with CD4+ T cells, could benefit some patients with EBV-driven lymphomas," Rajewsky said. "What we can say with certainty, though, is that LMP1 is the immune system's primary surveillance trigger following EBV infection and clearance, knowledge that we think will open doors to additional treatment options."

###

This study was supported by the National Cancer Institute, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, and the Astellas Foundation for Research on Metabolic Disorders.

Children's Hospital Boston is home to the world's largest research enterprise based at a pediatric medical center, where its discoveries have benefited both children and adults since 1869. More than 1,100 scientists, including nine members of the National Academy of Sciences, 11 members of the Institute of Medicine and nine members of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute comprise Children's research community. Founded as a 20-bed hospital for children, Children's Hospital Boston today is a 395 bed comprehensive center for pediatric and adolescent health care grounded in the values of excellence in patient care and sensitivity to the complex needs and diversity of children and families. Children's also is the primary pediatric teaching affiliate of Harvard Medical School. For more information about research and clinical innovation at Children's, visit: http://vectorblog.org.

[ | E-mail | Share ]

 

AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

Read the original:
A single protein helps the body keep watch over the Epstein-Barr virus

In just over five minutes of discussion with the press, Mark Gottfried used the word better nine times.

We have to be better late in the game.

We’ve got to do a better job.

We’ve got to find a way to be a little bit better.

We’re going to get better.

We’ve got to get better.

At the end of his press conference, Gottfried let out a huge sigh and then retraced those 128 steps, a little slower this time, muttering with his small entourage about what might have been. When he got back to the Wolfpack locker room, Jim Harrick, Gottfried’s former boss at UCLA, was waiting for him. Harrick, dressed in a bright red sweater, draped his arm over Gottfried’s shoulder and gave him the kind of consoling hug that only a coach can give another. Then Harrick said, “It happens to the best of them.”

If we learned anything from Thursday night, it’s that the Wolfpack isn’t the best, but they are better than they’ve been in a long time. Clearly Gottfried’s next goal is to make them better than better.

The rest is here:
Crothers: Pack getting better

February 17th, 2012

By Hans Olson

Jesus Gonzales, who fights Adonis “Superman” Stevenson tomorrow night in Montreal, was put into question after a heated press conference in Montreal on Wednesday where Stevenson accused him (via social media) of using a racial slur.

Prior to that accusation, Gonzales had spoke of Stevenson’s criminal past during the press conference.

“I know his past. He likes kids and girls,” said Gonzales at the presser. “If you’re poor and rob a bank, you can be forgiven. Or even if you kill—if someone has threatened you. But when you rape and beat-up little girls…what kind of guy is that? He’s a piece of shit. You can’t forgive that. It’s an issue that bothers me. But that’s his past, not mine.”

Later on in the day, Stevenson posted the following statement on his Facebook page:

“Gonzales is a fucking racist and a fucking lier. He called me a stinking n—–. Saturday night Im gonna knock this motherfucker out.”

Friday, Boxing Insider caught up with Jesus Gonzales to get his side of the story in which he emphatically denies what Stevenson posted on Facebook.

________________________________________

Boxing Insider: First off, thanks for taking the time to answer a few questions Jesus. Can you share your thoughts on the statement Adonis Stevenson posted accusing you of calling him the N-word?

Jesus Gonzales: “He’s a liar. The people at the press conference know it’s a desperate lie.”

Boxing Insider: So you can confirm 100% that you did not use a racial slur against Adonis?

Jesus Gonzales: “No, of course not. He was very smelly at the press conference and I said he stinks like shit. [You can] confirm I didn’t say the n-word.”

Boxing Insider: Why do you think he accused you of saying that? It’s pretty bold for him to accuse you of that…

Jesus Gonzales: “Yeah, he just has a big mouth and I got under his skin. So he went and I guess, posted the lie that I called him the n-word. Everyone that was there, knows it’s a lie.”

Boxing Insider: Was it your intention to “get under his skin” by bringing up his criminal past?

Jesus Gonzales: “No, I never brought the issue up. A journalist asked me the question and I just told him what I know. I just want to fight, I don’t get into that drama. Hopefully he’s sorry for his past. He’s a dramatic guy.”

Boxing Insider: Can you tell me about Natalie’s House and your involvement with them? I understand you’ll be wearing their logo on your ring trunks Saturday…

Jesus Gonzales: “Yes, while I was in training camp, I was contacted and asked if I would wear it on my trunks. I work with lots of charities in AZ, so it don’t hurt me to wear their logo. It looks like Adonis is taking kindness for weakness.”

© 2011 BoxingInsider LLC. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed with out written permission.  Print This Article   |    Email This Article        

Read the original:
Jesus Gonzales: “I Didn’t Say the N-Word” | BoxingInsider.com - Boxing | Boxing News