Market Blog » The Arora Report Stock Market News

FACEBOOK IPO A GREAT BUY, BUT NOT WITH LONG LOCKUPS AND FAT FEES

March 28, 2012

I have been advocating backing up the truck and buying all the Facebook (FB) shares an investor can get in the IPO. (For background please see:Facebook IPO Is Nigh, Should You Buy?) When an IPO is as white hot as Facebook, plenty of scams are bound to raise their ugly heads. The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) has done a good job of warning investors about scams. I encourage investors to read the write up by FINRA before considering pre-IPO Facebook shares. In the United States, securities offerings such as shares of Facebook must be registered with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission

APPLE NEEDS SOMEBODY TO SAY NO TO BAD DESIGN

March 26, 2012

An ex-Apple (AAPL) engineer, Michael Margolis, tweeted, “Now there is nobody to say no to bad design.” Margolis was referring to the design of the new Apple TV set top box that was released alongside the new iPad earlier this month. Margolis claims that the new designs were tossed out five years ago because Steve Jobs did not like them. Whenever user interfaces change, some previous users are not going to like new designs. Today, many experts would think the new design is brilliant because it brings more of a sense of uniformity to Apple products. It is amazing how short investor’s memories

MORE ON PNSN

March 26, 2012

Stops hit in today’s action. We recognize that aggressive subscribers are still holding this position and therefore we will continue to provide updates on PNSN. PNSN sell off appears to be triggered by a proxy filing by the company. The proxy has a section on debt restructuring, which details March 13 agreement. Perhaps some investors were reacting to it today. No action by Smart money was seen today. After today’s s sell off, PNSN is dirt cheap. There is no evidence of fraud or illegal activity; however the way the stock is trading, there may be concerns.

WEEKLY MARKET DIGEST: INDIAN JEWELERS STRIKE TO PROTEST TAX ON GOLD

March 23, 2012

(The Weekly Digest reproduces the morning capsules made available every morning before the market open in the Real Time Feeds to the paying subscribers.) SPANISH YIELDS AGAIN OVER 5.5% March 23, 2012 Bench mark 10 year bond yields in Spain have risen to 5.53%. This is a stark reminder that problems in Europe may raise their head again and pull down world markets. India’s jewelers went on strike to protest a hike in taxes on gold imports. There is significant anecdotal evidence that physical demand for gold is falling. India is the world’s biggest gold buyer. Gold futures are at

FED CHAIRMAN BERNANKE ON GOLD STANDARD

March 22, 2012

My objective in contributing to Trading Deck is singular — to help investors make money. We at The Arora Report are neither a bull nor a bear on any investment. The essence of our methodology is to let the hard data speak for itself. From the comments on my articles and emails I receive, it is clear that a very small minority is not interested in making money but mostly interested in how nasty they can be. Unfortunately, this tiny group of readers is extremely vocal and ends up confusing investors who are simply reading Trading Deck to help them

BROKERAGES RACE TO FEED APPLE TO THE MUPPETS

March 22, 2012

Shades of Greg Smith muppets are beginning to appear in Apple stock recommendations. Greg Smith is the conscience stricken ex-Goldman Sachs (GS) renegade whose New York Times op-ed was recently widely read and commented on around the world. The crux of the Greg Smith’s writing is that he believes Goldman Sachs places its own interests before the interests of its clients. Greg Smith wrote: It makes me ill how callously people talk about ripping their clients off. Over the last 12 months I have seen five different managing directors refer to their own clients as “muppets,” sometimes over internal e-mail. I don’t know of any

UPDATE ON PNSN

March 22, 2012

The Fundamental Case for PNSN is Still Positive PNSN still is drastically undervalued from a long-term perspective. PNSN derives significant revenues from providing clearing services to brokers. History tells us that over a long period of time, volume of transactions increases. This long-term trend is beneficial for PNSN. There is an increasing trend towards independent RIAs (financial advisors). This trend works towards the advantage of PNSN. PNSN is also a prime acquisition target. A logical buyer of PNSN is another financial company. Balance Sheet Risk PNSN has been hit hard due to company’s missteps with its balance sheet. The company is tightly regulated and so far there is no news from

MORE ON NG

March 22, 2012

NG is engaged in development and exploration of gold and silver in Alaska and British Columbia. 52 week high for the stock is $14.02. Yesterday we recommended a 10% tranche at $7.12. In our view, NG is a take over candidate. It has long been on our list to buy, but never hit our buy zone. Our buy zone has been at $6.25 to $6.56. Yesterday, we raised the upper band of the buy zone to $7.30. There were three reasons for this change. First, there were persistent rumors of interest by ABX to buyout NG. Second, Electrum a New York based firm