You are not alone if the title hurt your head. I think my eyes are bleeding looking at it, and I had to pop two painkillers. I was flipping through a book at Barnes & Noble (shout out) and I ran into some math regarding probability through time. This article drifts all over the place….
Blitz: The Allure of Turnaround Plays
Right now we have Alcatel-Lucent Mania here at The Market Archive. This is due in no small part to the release of a company profile that talks a ton about anything and everything I know about Alcatel-Lucent. So why turnaround plays? Some of my favorite stocks are turnarounds. Am I a masochist? Do I have…
Options 101 – What is an Option Premium?
An option premium is the value of an option contract. I wish that were the end of it, but understanding a premium is critical to understanding options. At its purest form premium only refers to that amount that rises above the innate value of something. Think about collectible pennies. The face value of a penny…
What Is An Initial Public Offering (IPO)?
Companies do not just start on stock exchanges. They are formed by private parties as a private company. It is only after they establish their business and hopefully prove themselves that they make an initial public offering or an IPO. I do not mean to sound condescending, but I’ve learned that even people who are…
Options 101 – Types of orders in Options
If you’re familiar with stock trading including short selling you know there are multiple kinds of orders. If you are not familiar then you might only be familiar with buy and sell. Well with stocks there is buy, sell, sell short, and sometimes (though not always) buy to cover. Not even sure I’ve seen the…
Using the Price to Book Ratio and Free Cash Flow to find Stable Undervalued Stocks
A price to book ratio below one means that the market has attached a discount to the assets of a company. It that for every dollar spent buying a piece of the company, the amount bought is greater than that dollar. There are various other definitions and metaphors that are apt, but the simplest explanation…
Dividends are Fantastic, Own them and Love them
Dividends are the best. They are a great way to earn a return from the safest stocks. Frankly, even the safest stock out there is subject to a beating like the one we had in 2008. Think of dividends like your risk premium. You take the risk of your capital, and the company pays you…
Cisco Does Well After Earnings – What I Learned
I have not gone over Cisco’s ([stock CSCO]) earnings (transcript of call), this is more about the last two days when I was asked about Cisco by a friend. I said that the $18 calls for August and the $16 puts for August looked good. They were very low-cost. Initially, I thought Cisco would follow the…
Graphene’s Mystical Properties Creates Opportunities Part 1
I do not think I have seen a material with such a jack-of-all-trades quality as graphene. I’m sure many have not heard about it. Those who have know of the fantastical properties attributed to it. The weird part is that these are not urban myths or media hype. Graphene has the potential to do all…
Intrinsic versus Extrinsic Value in Options
I have incorporated this topic into my other article, but I wanted one that focused on this topic so I can reference it as necessary for future options trades. Understanding intrinsic value and extrinsic value can help you identify profitable opportunities. Remember options are an agreement to buy or sell the underlying stock at the…
