Yes and Not Yes

The earnings season is upon us once again and it seems that the markets will be moving steadily up once again and that traders are going to be more trusting of the general markets.  Certainly the housing and sub-prime sectors are still causes for worry, but I think we are nearly to the point of getting over both those issues. 

Alright, yesterday I wasn’t able to check up on any of my holdings during lunch as I was a bit swamped with work.  So, I look at my holdings early this morning and I had to do a double take as I saw that my gains on the 20 calls for SMH (semi-conductors ETF) that I purchased four days ago at the July 40 strike had gone from about -10% to 98%.  Unbeknownst to me, the underlying stock had shot up 3% yesterday.  It’s time to take profits.

My second holding I’d like to highlight is Harbin Electric (HRBN), a Chinese company that manufactures linear induction motors and drivers.  I purchased the stock in mid May (kudos to OTC Speculator), and it shot up from $12.50 to $17.50 where it topped off and traders took some profits.  My trailing stop triggered at 16.10 and the stock went down and up for a week and then I bought back in at $15.50 and now we’re on our way up again.

Third highlighted holding is Lundin Mining (LMC).  They recently acquired Tenke Mining (TNK.TO) and Rio Narcea (RNO), both companies with substantial assets of copper, cobalt, nickel and gold.  As developing countries continue to grow along with the hunger of the dragon that is China, resources will continue to be in much demand.  Mergers and buyouts will continue to occur as the larger mining companies exhaust their old mines and therefore must find replacements in order to remain profitable.  Lundin Mining is an extremely good takeover target.  I’ve patiently held onto my shares and have accumulated at times when the stock was clearly oversold and my gains are 17% with the positive news of Lundin’s successful acquisitions.  This is not a stock for trading.  Thanks go to Sufiy who has opened my eyes to new markets, new ideas, and new parts of the world.  I have personally helped Sufiy edit some of his articles that he has submitted to Seeking Alpha; you should check them out.