Power Trading Radio

As the month of May kicks off, Merlin takes a look at some of the historical numbers pertaining to the monthly performance of the S&P 500 going back to 1926. Interestingly, it does support getting out of the market in May, yet that all changes during Presidential election years. Guest Bill Henner adds his 2 cents before turning things to current market volatility issues and VIX. Bill also talks about his recent appearance in the Extended Learning Tract (XLT) program, then adds a little about his ProPick on the Japanese Yen futures which worked out very nicely!

As more and more countries continue their economic slide, currency volatility persists. This volatility presents tremendous opportunities for traders in all markets if they can properly time the markets. Merlin Rothfeld and Rick Wright spend an entire show just breaking down the macro fundamental and technical analysis on a variety of currency pairs, mapping out some of the more important levels where price may find buyers or sellers. Currencies include: Aussie, Yen, US Dollar, Loonie and more.

As the markets appear to be topping out, Debbie Hague and Merlin Rothfeld discuss how one needs to modify their trading style to accommodate a changing markets. Debbie emphasizes that the major force is still to the upside, and that her current strategy is to buy the pullbacks into demand levels. They also talk about relative strength, and how they find trading opportunities which offer Low risk, High reward potential. Ultimately it boils down to how you scan and filter the market to find your trading opportunities.

For many weeks, listeners have asked us to address the issue of Life Insurance and some of the pro’s vs cons.

Merlin and John, welcome Brian Bewley and Richard Keal of Generational Wealth Partners, a firm focused on a new approach to an old investment: Life Insurance. Brain and Richard explain how most investors have been duped into buying a product that does them no good, and that by self directing their life insurance they can achieve much greater returns and flexibility on this once rigid instrument.

Tillie Allison brings her incredibly analytical mind to Power Trading Radio to shed some light on what the longer term investors should do with regards to the media and their pumping of stories. She stresses the very systematic rule based system taught in the Proactive Investor class as an easy way to eliminate external noise and follow the rules. She tells us how she analyzes her long term accounts every Friday and makes necessary changes, coincidentally getting her long the market last Friday! Later in the show, the duo looks at asset allocation and how portfolio’s should be balanced in present markets.

PowerPick: USDJPY (same as yesterday)

Every earnings season Merlin and his guests repeatedly emphasize that trading earnings announcements are very risky and should not be done. Having said that, there is one asset class which makes a little more sense if one did decide to trade an earnings announcement. Steve Moses joins to show to talk about the versatility he has with options and walks the listeners through a few examples including a naked short position he had open going into Apple’s earnings last night. After sharing their thoughts on straddle trades and their usefulness, Steve and Merlin look at Amazon’s earnings announcement coming out tomorrow after hours and evaluate how options might be useful if one took the risk of trading that earnings release.

After an extended “Donkey of the Day” segment about Chesapeake Energy CEO Aubrey McClendon, Merlin steers the remainder of the show to the international currency markets. Over the last week, many questions have poured in regarding the Japanese Yen, and how to trade it in the various markets; Spot, Futures, and Equities. Merlin and guest Steve Misic Look at how the instruments function on the various exchanges then take a look at the economic numbers and charts for a better sense as to where the currency is headed. After addressing a listener question about Spain being too big to let fail for the EU, Steve turns his attention to the Swiss franc to evaluate the impact its current trend is having on the Swiss National Bank, and if they can hold prices where they have said they would!

With solid documentation about pointing to the shrinking of global economy’s, a listener wonders if its best to short the equity markets. Merlin shares his thoughts on the issue, and offers other suggestions rather than just shorting. Jeff Manson joins the show after his Live Trading event in Irvine California. He shares with Merlin the steps he takes to prepare for and execute his live trades in front of a group of students. Later, Jeff and Merlin look at what are some of the key factors which led to the trades he made today. Jeff adds to his previous comments about Fibonacci and its many uses for his trading.

PowerPick of the Day: BAC

With John O’Donnell back in the saddle as Co-Host, Power Trading Radio dives into the major market news impacting our worlds. John starts off denouncing the accusations that he is a Perma Bear in real estate with examples of when and where he will buy. He then turns to Merlin’s new portfolio acquisition, Natural Gas with some thoughts about the investment. Later, feeding off a listener question about how to profit from a Greek default, Merlin and John break down the major components at play in Europe and what they would to do make money if the Euro continues its current path.  Finally, John talks about gold, and expresses his opinion about waiting to buy gold after it dips a little bit more!

Merlin starts things off by answering a listener question about how he set up his GLD trade a few weeks back. After walking through exactly how the stop was set, he dives into his newest portfolio addition, Natural Gas. Diana Hill joins the show to talk about alternative ways which we can buy properties for flipping or investment. Many feel the there is a foreclosure wave coming which will push prices down further, Diana says shenanigans! Later the two talk about purchasing houses at Auction sites and what to be watchful of when doing so!