Power Trading Radio

Guest host John O'Donnell chats with special guest Rick Wright about Greece, gold, foreign oil and much more.  Join the Ambassador of Opportunity and other special guests all this week.

Financial stocks and Semiconductors continue to vault the markets higher this week, yet there may be some downgrades coming which could seriously impact that lunar trajectory! John O’Donnell  joins Merlin Rothfeld for the weekend edition of Power Trading Radio where they discuss the potential Moody’s downgrade of some Major financial Institutions, including GS, BAC,C! John shows us some great charts which clearly illustrate a slowdown coming to the US economy. When will that hit is anyone’s guess, but the facts are the facts! Later, Merlin brings up the question of QE3 and the present inflation numbers. Does the fed now have the green light for QE3? JO says No!

On past shows, Merlin has talked about the importance of knowing EXACTLY what you are invested in, in all accounts. On this show, he challenges listeners to be proactive and find out exactly what they are holding in their 401k’s, IRA’s, SEP accounts etc… Then make a list of your investments and find out exactly what the fees are. Paul Orme joins the show to talk about what the average person can do to increase their rate of return, and diversify according to their own risk profile. Later, Paul talks about the new Pimco bond ETF and how that might benefit your portfolio.

Wednesday’s trading started out just like any other day, with a nice gap up and a little continuation rally that lasted several hours. Around midday, rumors started circulating that Apple might need to be rebalanced on the NASDAQ 100 which caused vicious selling for the remainder of the trading day. This selling crushed all gains, and dragged down all 3 major US indices. Steve Bobbitt joins the show to talk about how today’s trading activity may be the top that he is looking for. Bobbitt looks at how the futures relate to the underlying index, and the clues they give us about market health. Merlin and Steve offer targets for a variety of trading vehicles and offer insight into what the future may hold.

After answering a couple listener questions, Merlin is joined by Bert Antonik from Singapore. Bert shares with PTR listeners what his thoughts are on the current fiasco with the Euro. Last time Bet was on, he called the current rally in the Euro, and the exact target price which we reached last week. What will his next target be? Tune in and find out!! PowerPick: EURUSD

As the markets power ahead, a quick glance at the Nasdaq reveals something interesting. Only 1 stock is really moving up with any strength: AAPL

So much so that it is one of the only nasdaq stocks breaking new highs. This power raises concerns with our guests Michael Young and Merlin Rothfeld, who feel that Apple is susceptible to a very sharp drop in price at anytime. This type of sell off can trigger HFT systems, and another potential flash crash. Michael also goes onto talk about how to trade a strong trending market like the one we have currently. The focus shifts to probability and risk management in these times of turmoil and uncertainty. PowerPick: BMY

John O’Donnell joins Merlin Rothfeld for a weekly rundown of the major macroeconomic issues facing our markets. Europe takes center stage as Greece finally commits to some serious reductions, but it may be too little too late, as other areas of the Eurozone are also poised for doom. Later John dives in to his favorite topic, Gold and comments on its recent price moves as well as its importance as a hedge for fiat currency. Later the duo talks about the problems with Insider trading and the new bill circulating that would make it illegal for congressmen to trade off of insider information.

PowerPick: JKS

Merlin is joined by Bob Heitner to discuss the eerie facts that the vast majority of Americans are ill prepared for retirement. Bob Points out a couple simple things that most are doing which will prevent them from attaining their retirement goals. First and foremost is keeping money in a savings account, as you can’t even beat inflation! Next is the buy and hold mentality! It does not work! Nearly every sector is at extended highs right now and poses significant risk to long term investors, and timing these markets makes for a much higher annualized rate of return. Bob stresses that with minimal effort, everyone can manage their own investments.

After a impassioned rant about the big banks funding presidential hopeful campaigns, Merlin is joined by seasoned Options trader Josip Causic. Josip tackles a couple listener questions about options strategies before moving on to explain the differences between European & American style options. There are significant risks involved in trading and using European style options helps reduce risk even further. However every coin has 2 sides, and Josip clearly explains the pros and cons. PowerPick: SWK

Merlin and guests had been talking for the past few weeks about the strange directional move that the dollar index is making with the S&P 500, both in the same direction! “Something has to give” they said, and low and behold we have seen the dollar crater while the major market indexes soared. Even gold and Oil benefited on Tuesdays dollar slide. Mike McMahon joins the show to talk about this relationship as well as several other currency pairs and some key supply and demand zones on each. PowerPick: CIT