Business Commons^™

Short Covering In Oil Drives Prices, Steven D. Dolvin

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Suppliers reported an increase in crude oil inventories, yet contrary to supply and demand fundamentals, prices rose. Much of this is attributed to short sellers covering their positions at what is expected to be the low point in prices. See article here, Reuters.

China Suspends Circuit Breakers, Steven D. Dolvin

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Circuit breakers are designed to slow down (or even halt) panicked selling. However, Chinese authorities recently suspended their newly implemented circuit breakers, as they seemed to be increasing panic (as opposed to reducing it). See article here, Finance Asia.

Are Etfs Good Or Bad?, Steven D. Dolvin

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Like many questions, the right answer is probably, "it depends." Whether ETFs are the best investment vehicle for a particular person likely depends on their goals and needs. However, with trillions of dollars being held by ETFs, their size has necessitated a broader discussion of their merits. This is particularly true in light of recent pricing issues where ETFs traded well below their NAV (such as in August of this year, as well as during the "flash crash" in May 2010). See a good summary article here: WSJ.

Nyse To Stop "Stop Orders", Steven D. Dolvin

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On August 24, many stocks fell by large percentages, only to recover shortly thereafter. Investors with standing stop-loss orders likely didn't fair well. And, in fact, many are blaming these orders for the volatility. The NYSE plans to eliminate stop orders, but brokerage firms can still facilitate these for their customers, as long as the final order is sent at market. See article here, Bloomberg.

Circuit Breakers, Steven D. Dolvin

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The U.S. has had market-wide circuit breakers in place since the late 1980s, and individual stock circuit breakers were put in place more recently. Given the increasing volatility in Chinese markets, they are now following suit. See article here, Reuters.

Apple Added To The Dow, Steven D. Dolvin

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The DJIA (Dow Jones Industrial Average) is an index of 30 companies that are picked to represent the broad economy. As this Fox Business article notes, Apple is replacing AT&T in the index. Given that Apple is the largest company by market cap, why is Apple just now entering the index? The answer is that the Dow is price-weighted, so Apple's recent 4:1 split brought the price low enough, such that it would not unduly influence the overall index movement.

Volatility Adds Risk For Market Orders, Steven D. Dolvin

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With a market order, trades transact at the current market price. With increased high frequency trading, more and more stocks are seeing dramatic swings in prices within a short time period. Such swings add risk for market orders, as investors may get a price vastly different from what they had expected. In such cases, limit orders may be useful to minimize price risk. See article here, WSJ.

Alibaba Ipo, Steven D. Dolvin

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Most firms that undertake an IPO subject insiders (founders, initial investors, etc.) to a lockup period of, typically, 180 days. For Alibaba, this is not the case, which suggests that many additional shares could hit the market immediately after the IPO. This may mute the initial return that new shareholders could receive. See article here, WSJ.

Update: Even with insiders selling shares, the Alibaba IPO was well subscribed, generating a 38% return on the first day. Moreover, with additional shares sold (i.e., the overallotment option), the Alibaba IPO is reportedly the biggest IPO in history, raising $25 billion. See article …

The Wolf Of Wall Street, Steven D. Dolvin

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With the recently released movie (The Wolf of Wall Street), the fraudulent activities of the IPO underwriting firm Stratton Oakmont have come back into public view. For a detailed review of how the fraud took place, see here (Wall Street Journal).

Valuing Twitter's Ipo, Steven D. Dolvin

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Twitter recently announced (via a tweet) that they would be going public. While valuation is difficult in general, it is particularly problematic for an IPO. Read a good summary article here, Yahoo!.

The Dow Shuffle, Steven D. Dolvin

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While it is viewed as a major stock market barometer, the Dow Jones Industrial Average only follows 30 companies, and every so often the set of companies changes. The recent shuffle eliminated Alcoa, Bank of America, and HP, while adding Goldman Sachs, Visa, and Nike. The primary reason was the low prices of the eliminated companies. While most indexes are value weighted, the Dow is price weighted, meaning lower priced stocks exert little influence. This is also the reason why Apple will likely not be added -- with its "high" stock price. See a good summary here, Wall Street Journal …

Exchange Consolidation, Steven D. Dolvin

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BATS and Direct Edge, two large electronic exchanges, are merging to form the second largest exchange operator in the United States, taking over the ranking currently held by Nasdaq. This change exhibits the transformation of the industry toward electronic trading. While electronic increases speed and likely lowers trading costs, it doesn't come without risks, as the recent Nasdaq outage illustrates. See article here, Wall Street Journal.

Ipo Advice, Steven D. Dolvin

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IPOs generally experience a positive first day return, so-called underpricing. However, this return primarily accrues to those who are fortunate enough to receive an allocation of shares at the offer price. A recent article in the Wall Street Journal provides some advice for those interested in investing in IPOs. See the article here.

Trading Issues, Steven D. Dolvin

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This is an excellent read on the mechanics of market microstructure, particularly as it relates to "mini-crashes" in individual stocks: Erroneous Combustion, CFA Institute.

This article discusses the efficacy (or lack thereof) of the new limit up / limit down circuit breakers on individual stocks: The Trade.

Man Vs. Machine, Steven D. Dolvin

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It has always been difficult (if not impossible) to consistently beat the market -- so called "market efficiency." However, it may be even more difficult with the advent of quantitative systems trading -- i.e., algorithmic trading. (See article here, WSJ.)

Hot Market?, Steven D. Dolvin

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Initial Public Offerings (IPOs) have increased in size and number during the recent bull market. IPOs tend to follow market cycles, particularly in environments where volatility is less pronounced. This gives firms more pricing stability, combined with increased investor appetite -- obviously the right mix for IPOs. ()

Circuit Breakers, Steven D. Dolvin

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Following the "Flash Crash" in 2010, the SEC implemented new trading curbs. Following continued discussion, these curbs have been updated once again--for both individual stocks and the market as a whole. See this Bloomberg article and this NYSE summary.

Exit Strategies, Steven D. Dolvin

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Unfortunately, picking the next winning stock is only half the battle. Many investments have strong gains, but end up losing because investors fail to exit their holdings at the right time. Trailing stop orders are one way to help mitigate this issue. (See article here, Yahoo Finance.)

Index Etfs -- Not Created Equal, Steven D. Dolvin

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You might expect that all "Large Cap" ETFs are the same, as they would likely track the S&P500 index. However, in an effort to reduce costs, many ETF providers (such as Vanguard) are replacing the standard index with others that charge lower licensing fees. This allows the providers to either reduce the expenses they charge or increase operating margins. As providers make this switch, it could also impact the underlying holdings to the extent that differences occur across the indexes. See article here, Wall Street Journal.

Facebook Ipo Lockup Expiration, Steven D. Dolvin

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When a firm undertakes an IPO, insiders (owners and venture capitalists, among others) agree to retain their shares (i.e., lockup) for a period of time, typically six months. When the lockup period expires, it is customary to see a large block of shares flood the market, having an adverse effect on the stock's price. Facebook just hit its lockup expiration. See article here, NY Times.

Alternative Investments For The Masses, Steven D. Dolvin

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Historically, hedge funds and private equity funds have only been available to qualified (i.e., rich) investors. However, new ETFs offer the opportunity for smaller investors to join the party. Check out the new AlphaClone ETF, which will be offered on the International Securities Exchange.

Popularity Of Alternative Investments Rises, Steven D. Dolvin

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Alternative investments were once thought to be the domain of sophisticated, wealthy investors. However, they are gaining popularity among financial advisors (and their clients) as they realize the potential diversification benefits they provide. In particular, hedge funds and private equity funds are becoming increasingly common additions to even mid-market investors. (See article here, Reuters.)

Facebook Trips Circuit Breaker, Steven D. Dolvin

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The fallout of the Facebook IPO keeps getting worse. On the second day of trading, Facebook shares tripped their circuit breaker as prices dropped more than 10% in the opening minutes of trading. This is very unusual for an IPO, particularly one as highly anticipated as Facebook. Recall, these individual stock circuit breakers were implemented following the flash crash (which occurred on May 6, 2010). See the article here (Wall Street Journal).