Bob and Scott » bzh

MTB Trade Felt Right

BobL — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 19:23:46 +0000

I made a trade in M & T Bank (MTB) today. Because Scott and I put restrictions (loose as they may be) on the trade sizes that we record on this site, you won’t find it in my log. However, I did include an ongoing discussion (with myself) in the Bob and Scott Twitter Feed. I have clipped it and included it below. There are times, when a stock appears bound in a range, that you can safely play the range. Some of the amazing charting tools provided from your broker should help you identify buy/sell signals. However, you can get stuck (as I did earlier in the week with Beazer).

With MTB, I was in at $45.27 and out at $46.27 (400 shares). Nothing earth shaking, but it felt good to have something react in the manner that I anticipated.

Out of my $MTB at $46.27. Patience paid off!about 1 hour ago from TwitterFon
Reversal.about 3 hours ago from web
Turning quick. $MTB on the way up to my sell point soon?about 3 hours ago from web
$MTB Looks headed down shortly. Hold or sell?? I think we have another move up later.about 3 hours ago from web
$MTB little battle @ $46.00about 3 hours ago from web
As noted. A buy of $MTB @ $45.50 would yield $0.50 – $0.60 by end of day. Who made it? I am debating sell $$. Basis is $45.27. @ $46.02 nowabout 3 hours ago from web
$MTB buy here. 45.50 mid-morning lull. Quick 50-60 cents by EOD?about 4 hours ago from web
Let’s not forget that it is quad witching day.about 5 hours ago from web
$MTB is in the mid-morning trough a bit early. $45.14about 5 hours ago from web
$MTB in a great place here. Ripe for a tradeabout 5 hours ago from web
I feel like the morning is giving me a chance to take positions. Gun shy.about 5 hours ago from web

MTB

Episode 22 – Going Green

BobL — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 00:18:44 +0000

In episode 22 Bob and Scott discuss quite a variety of topics including input devices, housing, a penny stock pump and dump and green initiatives.

Episode 22

Picked up some Beazer

BobL — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 14:47:00 +0000

Update 6/17/09: I am out of BZH. Took a big %’age loss and hope to avoid looking back at this (I feel I could have gotten out at 2.15′ish with patience). I took $2.02 to cut my losses and run. Knowing that BZH is in violation of some of its debt covenants is not a good thing. The company is in desparate need of a debt refinance and the market has not been kind to companies in that position. Without new financing, the debtholders could force the companies hand and move them to Bankruptcy. Let’s not forget about what the shorts could do if they pile on and crush the common.

How quickly things change. I looked for a trade based upon the stock range and got caugh up in a debt downgrade that brough BZH to the fore. I wouldn’t be shocked to see a close of around $1.65-$1.72 on BZH (currently at $1.99).

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Call me crazy, but I like housing. If we are at, or near our bottom, housing will recover. I like BZH as a trade in this case. If I wanted to make a long term play in the sector, I would consider an ETF to minimize my risk. I couple of the housing/builders ETF’s are XHB and ITB (I own ITB in a long term account).

I am looking at BZH as a trade. When you watch stocks enough, you can get a sense of where the movement is. BZH has a pretty wide range which could make for good trading. I have been in and out between $2.44 and $2.76 in a long term account. With BZH earnings pretty far off, the stock should trade in a range with the market. My hope is to exit at around $2.57 for a nice little gain.

Consider the fact that housing starts were @ 2.2 million in December 2005. The are about 500k now. Are we at a bottom?

We’ll see how that one works out. If recent trading is an indicator for you, you should be shorting the stocks that I am buying. Patience will be the key on my open positions. I took a big loss on a trade a couple weeks back that would have been well into the money right now. Patience!!

Beazer Homes settles securities class-action suit

BobL — Tue, 05 May 2009 22:56:35 +0000

This is good news for Beazer, but I couldn’t imagine that this settlement is significant enough to have been the catalyst (leak) for the recent move in the stock. (take a look at a chart from 4/27/09 until today)

Beazer Homes settles securities class-action suit – Yahoo! Finance.

Combo on Beazer @ $3.42

BobL — Tue, 05 May 2009 18:11:50 +0000

Bought 400 BZH (Beazer Homes) at $3.42 per share. Missed a ton of the upward movement on this stock, but I feel there is still room to run.

I am also utilizing call options to reduce my basis in the stock. I sold 4 of the June 5 call options for $0.35 each. This provided me with an effective price between $3.10-$3.20 while still allowing for a significant upside.

Bought BZH @ $3.42
Sold Call options BZHFA @ $0.35

Long Term Buy ITB

BobL — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 16:21:43 +0000

I am upset that I missed the run up in Beazer Homes today. I posted a note to myself on Saturday to buy BZH based upon the Option action. Well, since I missed BZH, I decided to make a long term buy of the ITB (iShare on the Home Construction business).

This is not a trade. This is a long term buy that I think would be a smart buy for most diversified portfolios.