Washington has taken up the cause as another reason to make sure that large banks cannot use “their capital” to put the public at risk. The logic is that if the trade hits the bank keeps the profits. If it fails, and it takes down the bank, and the public must pay for the egregious acts.

This is a grey area and one could support both sides of the argument. If the trade wasn’t big enough to take down the bank, then the bank is entitled to take the profit. On the other hand if it was so large that the taxpayers would be required to bail it out, it must be regulated to protect the public.

The trader being denounced is named Bruno Iksil, who is based in London.  The press is focusing on the fact that the bank has lost $2 billion on the trade and could lose more.

What is being ignored is that Mr. Iksil had made the bank more than $5 billion with his strategies in previous years.

Look at it this way. You buy a stock 4 years ago at 20 it goes to 50 and you do not sell it. When the stock comes back down to 30 you take profit.

Did you make 50% on the trade or did you lose 40%. It all comes down to accounting. If you took all the profit in prior periods, you lost 40% in the current period.  The 50% you made was “marked to the market” and has nothing to do with the current trade.

Since the street had priced in the gain, the news came as a loss.

Personally I would love to make $2 billion and be called a “rogue”.

JP Morgan’s stock is getting hammered.

It is called market expectation.

This happens all of the time and it creates opportunity. That is what I can teach you, how to take what the market gives us and turn them into winning trades.

To learn firsthand how I trade markets that are that are trading off of expectation , speak to one of my representatives and sign up to work one-on-one with me here:

http://averagejoeoptions.com/qual/
As Always,

Keep those stops tight.

Todd “Bubba” Horwitz

P.S. We run the fastest growing online options community. With weekly webinars and a very energetic forum, my team and I are always looking for great risk/reward opportunities. Click on the link below and become a member of my community today.

http://averagejoeoptions.com/qual/

Combined with nervousness in Europe, more flight “flight to quality” occurred as the yield on the ten year note fell below 2% again. In addition the Dollar and Yen gained ground on the Euro.

The reason given for the selloff was that Apple, the darling of the stock for months has given back more than $75 billion of its cap in less than two weeks.  Apple makes up over 16% of the NASDAQ index and is now pulling the index lower.

On the European front Spanish bonds tumbled as Economy Minister Luis de Guindos declined to rule out the need for a bailout similar to what Greece got earlier this year. He cited a figure of greater than $13 billion dollars.

Add this to fact that earnings season is now over and we don’t have a catalyst to go higher you have the perfect brew for a long overdue selloff.

The CBOE VIX index has come off of the mat in the last five trading days and advanced more than 8% to 20.39. This may seem like a huge percentage gain, but much of the increase is the fact that the index has been at its lowest level in more than six years.

Now suddenly bad news is bad. Good news isn’t as good as it should be and the markets are retreating. I have seen this cycle many time before and I have learned that we must react to what the market is telling us.

Is this the beginning of a trend change?

Is fear going to overpower greed?

Many investors have been looking for a retreat to put money to work should we be buying here?

The market will answer these questions for us, and my technical analysis will help you to decide which way to go. To learn firsthand how I trade markets that are coming of highs, speak to one of my representatives and sign up to work one-on-one with me here:

http://averagejoeoptions.com/qual/

As Always,

Keep those stops tight.

Todd “Bubba” Horwitz

P.S. We run the fastest growing online options community. With weekly webinars and a very energetic forum, my team and I are always looking for great risk/reward opportunities. Click on the link below and become a member of my community today.

http://averagejoeoptions.com/qual/

Year over year the production was down more than 2.2%. This is the steepest decline since 2009 since decline since December of 2009 when the index fell more than 3.6%.

The number caught most economists off guard as the consensus opinion was that the recent decline would end with a gain of slightly more than .5% and that the year over year numbers would be positive.

When you combine this with the problems of so debt and the call for new elections in a crumbling Greece you have the recipe for a selloff, and that is what the European markets did.  Greece’s benchmark ASE Index dropped 3.6 percent to close at its level in almost twenty years.

The euro also fell to four months lows and is now down more than 5.5% against the dollar in the past quarter. US treasury bonds continue their rally and closed just short of the all time highs established in early December of 2011.

Will the European Union be able to survive the sovereign debt and political turmoil that is rocking the markets?

How will Greece be able to survive if it leaves the ECU?

Will it see the hyperinflation that hit Germany in the 1920’s?

It will be interesting and surely there will be some economic bumps and bruises, but you don’t have to be one of the participants getting brused.

I can teach you how to be the one giving the bruises by reacting to what the market is telling you what to do.  That is my trading method does. It teaches my teaching students how to take adverse market conditions and turn it into winning trades.

To work with me contact one of my financial consultants. They can put you on the right track to find which of my programs will work with you.

The programs are simple, don’t require 10 hours a week to implement and will get you in a position to make profitable trading decisions. To reach me click here:

http://averagejoeoptions.com/qual/

As Always,

Keep those stops tight.

Todd “Bubba” Horwitz

P.S. We run the fastest growing online options community. With weekly webinars and a very energetic forum, my team and I are always looking for great risk/reward opportunities. Click on the link below and become a member of my community today.

http://averagejoeoptions.com/qual/

First and foremost was the continuing problem of Greece. How can a country that has a GDP of Indiana keep coming back to haunt the markets? They have already defaulted on the first round of financing and now it appears that a coalition cannot be formed that will satisfy the far left.

The problems in Greece are not isolated. Spain is also having troubles, and the prospect that there will be a default grows every day. The rank and file has grown so complacent over the five decades that their chief complaint is that they will have to work!

A far more reaching problem may be what happened Sunday in state elections conducted in Germany. Voting in the North Rhine-Westphalia state, where a large percentage of German manufacturing originates, showed that the liberal parties that oppose Angelia Merkel showed a huge increase in strength.

Veteran political observers pointed out that this surprise swing in sentiment to the left may be a harbinger of things to come in the general election. If this trend continues the conservative parties that have been supporting the bailout in Greece, and the potential bailout in Spain may lose their traction.

So what happens to Europe if the last remaining conservative government is voted out?

It could cause some serious heartburn to the bankers around the world.

It will also create opportunity. That is my specialty teaching students how to take opportunity and turn it into winning trades.

To work with me all you have to do is to talk to one of my financial consultants. They can put you on the right track to find which of my programs will work with you.

The programs are simple, don’t require 10 hours a week to implement and will get you in a position to make profitable trading decisions. To spot opportunity in any market click here:

http://averagejoeoptions.com/qual/

As Always,

Keep those stops tight.

Todd “Bubba” Horwitz

P.S. We run the fastest growing online options community. With weekly webinars and a very energetic forum, my team and I are always looking for great risk/reward opportunities. Click on the link below and become a member of my community today.

http://averagejoeoptions.com/qual/

China’s economy picked up some steam as it’s GDP rose by more than 8.1 percent on an annual basis. However it was the slowest growth since the spring of 2009. With major economies around the world continuing to struggle a strong Chinese economy is important to world trade.

Europe’s declining growth could be slowing down imports from China. With major European firms running lower on cash reserves they are building up some large receivables. That has led to a greater than 4.8 decline in exports year over year.

Another factor that is slowing China down is the central bank has been trying to avoid a real estate bubble. In the past two years the government has reduced the area under construction by more than 2.8%.

Should the Bank of China flood the credit markets with cash?

There is a possibility that would not help as much as it did in the in US in the great recession. The banks seem to have plenty of money to lend but the demand for that money is loser than it has been for the past decade.

With the second biggest economy in the world, what happens in China affects the rest of the world. Their influence will create profit opportunities and that is what I help you to learn. I teach you How to take an opportunity and turn it into a profit.

To work with me all you have to do is to talk to one of my financial consultants. They can put you on the right track to find which of my programs will work with you.

The programs are simple, don’t require 10 hours a week to implement and will get you in a position to make profitable trading decisions. To spot opportunity in any market click here:

http://averagejoeoptions.com/qual/

As Always,

Keep those stops tight.

Todd “Bubba” Horwitz

P.S. We run the fastest growing online options community. With weekly webinars and a very energetic forum, my team and I are always looking for great risk/reward opportunities. Click on the link below and become a member of my community today.

http://averagejoeoptions.com/qual/

The spreads that were in place were managed by the chief investment office and were supposed to insure that the banks positions were being hedged.

The chief investment office has been transformed in recent years under Dimon into a unit that makes bigger and riskier speculative bets with the bank’s money, according to sources close to the bank.

Apparently someone was asleep at the switch.

Dimon said in a prepared statement that the firm had lost the amount because of “egregious” failures in the risk management at the bank. He further stated that the “banks portfolio has proven to be much riskier and more volatile than was previously thought.”

Synthetic credit products are derivative trades that can generate gains or losses to credit performance of any asset that do not require the owner to actual buy or sell the underlying asset. In this case that asset was actually debt. The losses occurred as the company sought to unwind a portfolio of the instruments used to hedge JPMorgan’s credit exposure.

“In hindsight, the new strategy was flawed, complex, poorly reviewed, poorly executed and poorly monitored,” Dimon said.

JPMorgan said the losses were partly offset by gains from other areas of the banks portfolio, resulting in a net loss for the firm’s corporate division, which includes the CIO, of about $800 million after taxes. The losses could widen or narrow during the rest of the quarter, Dimon said.

The bank is “repositioning” the synthetic credit portfolio, and the CIO “may hold certain of its current synthetic credit positions for the longer term,” the firm said.

Wall Street had a knee jerk reaction, and in after hours trading major indexes were sharply lower.

Will the mess at JP Morgan prove to be the tip of the iceberg?

Is it an isolated incident and will prove to be a buying opportunity?

The market will let us know. One thing is for sure, no matter what happens it is going to create a lot of opportunities, and my teaching can help you to take advantage of those chances.

To work with me all you have to do is to talk to one of my financial consultants. They can put you on the right track to find which of my programs will work with you.

The programs are simple, don’t require 10 hours a week to implement and will get you in a position to make profitable trading decisions. To spot opportunity in any market click here: villian

http://averagejoeoptions.com/qual/

As Always,

Keep those stops tight.

Todd “Bubba” Horwitz

P.S. We run the fastest growing online options community. With weekly webinars and a very energetic forum, my team and I are always looking for great risk/reward opportunities. Click on the link below and become a member of my community today.

http://averagejoeoptions.com/qual/

Wednesday Gold sold off again. In the past month Gold has sold off almost 10% as the stock markets around the world have reached yearly highs.

It couldn’t be the Stock markets this time, unless investors were subject to profit calls.

Uh… this time it is the sovereign debt crisis in Europe. The logic now is that Gold is no longer a hedge against calamity; it could be very vulnerable if the Greeks default on the new money they just borrowed. Investors are now selling gold to buy US bonds. That is the same instrument that propelled Gold to lifetime highs when it was downgraded last year because of the US debt situation.

If none of this makes sense to you it is because none of it makes sense to anyone.

I have said this numerous times, and I am going to say it again.

Gold is a commodity and like any commodity it will fluctuate in price. Over the past ten years it has had one of the most spectacular runs every seen in any asset, but for the last nine months it is down almost 18% and if it were a stock it would be considered to be in a bear market.

Will Gold begin to glitter again?

Probably, but what if it continues to lose value?

Can we profit from this bear market, as we did in the bull market?

The answer is yes and I can teach you how to take advantage of any market and turn it into a profitable trade.

That will take discipline and that is what I can teach you to do. I have taught hundreds of students how to learn to trade and I can help you too.  To contact one of my financial consultants and learn how I can teach you how to make successful trading decisions, in any market simply click here:

http://averagejoeoptions.com/qual/

As Always,

Keep those stops tight.

Todd “Bubba” Horwitz

P.S. We run the fastest growing online options community. With weekly webinars and a very energetic forum, my team and I are always looking for great risk/reward opportunities. Click on the link below and become a member of my community today.

http://averagejoeoptions.com/qual/

So how does this affect the Greek debt situation that was supposedly resolved earlier this year? Well some of the possible coalition members want to leave the European Union, and that would in effect cancel their obligations to bond holders of the new debt structure.

In effect the new government would change the currency back to the drachma and default on the second round of financing. The whole thing has become a political football.

Since investors have already taken a 50% haircut on their original bonds, the threat of more troubles is not as daunting as it was six months ago. If Greece will not cooperate with austerity measures, and decides to go it alone they may face an economic problem that they are not prepared for.

Shareholders in Europe clearly didn’t like the signals being sent, and hammered  the Greek stock market down more than 6.5% on the day and the Greek banks down over 12%.

Can a Greek withdrawal from the ECU bring down the ECB? It is highly unlikely but certainly poses some threat.

Will the banking mess spill over to the US and other major markets?

It is highly unlikely that what is going on in Greece will cause the US markets to have a problem, but that is up to the markets to tell us.

We will be in a position to react to the market no matter what happens in the Greece. We always trade the market that we have and we don’t worry about the market that we want.

Opportunity is available in all markets and this market will not be different.

That is my specialty teaching students how to take advantage of the opportunities that exist, and turn them into profitable trades.

To reach me and have me show you how to take advantage of any market condition, speak to one of my financial consultants and sign up to work one-on-one with me here:

http://averagejoeoptions.com/qual/

As Always,

Keep those stops tight.

Todd “Bubba” Horwitz

P.S. We run the fastest growing online options community. With weekly webinars and a very energetic forum, my team and I are always looking for great risk/reward opportunities. Click on the link below and become a member of my community today.

http://averagejoeoptions.com/qual/

Although it had been reported for quite a few weeks that Francois Hollande would most likely be the next president, the news still shook up the markets.

On the opening Crude Oil which had sold off more than six percent in the three previous sessions, opened down almost 3%. Most observers felt that the economic climate in Europe was not going to be starting the new week on a positive note.

The flight to quality that had driven bond prices much higher on Friday continued as the US long bond was up over a full point.

The S&P continued to break and added another 1.2% loss on top of the 2% it recorded last week. It really looked like the support levels from the selloff  a month ago were not going to hold and this retracement might be the start of a much bigger down turn.

It appeared that it was going to be a very ugly opening in the US on Monday morning.

The markets opened on their low tick and proceeded to rally the rest of the day finishing near the highs. This was the opposed case of the “market expectation last Friday. On Monday the markets knew the worst would happen so the “presold”, when there was no follow thru, the shorts got squeezed and the rally was underway.

Is the bottom in for the time being?

Was this a dead cat bounce?

No one knows for sure, and that is what makes the markets exciting.

One thing is for sure and that is they will present challenge and opportunity.

That is my specialty teaching students how to take advantage of the opportunities that exist, and turn them into profitable trades.

To reach me and have me show you how to take advantage of any  market condition, speak to one of my financial consultants and sign up to work one-on-one with me here:

http://averagejoeoptions.com/qual/

As Always,

Keep those stops tight.

Todd “Bubba” Horwitz

P.S. We run the fastest growing online options community. With weekly webinars and a very energetic forum, my team and I are always looking for great risk/reward opportunities. Click on the link below and become a member of my community today.

http://averagejoeoptions.com/qual/

On Tuesday the Dow got to four year highs, and by Friday it had the worst week of the year.

The overall unemployment number dropped from 8.3 to 8.1percent, but most observers felt the reason for the decline was that many workers are no longer actively seeking employment.

The catalyst on Friday was a jobs number that was released before the market opened that showed that hiring is slowing down. The nonfarm payroll number showed that more than 115,000 jobs were created, but that is not enough to sustain any growth.

A more startling number was that the amount of men participating in the labor market age 20 and older decreased to less than 73%. That is the lowest since the statistic was originated in the 1940s.

The S&P fell more than 2.3% on the week and the NASDAQ also had it worst week of the year falling more than 3.6%. Crude Oil had its worst week in five months as it fell below the buck to close down more than 7% for the week.

For the past couple of years the relationship between Crude Oil and the stock markets have been very positive. The logic is that when economies are humming that the world will use more Crude Oil, and vice versa.

Some of the Indexes are coming down to support, and if they fail we may go into the first correction since last fall.

In order to succeed in these markets it is going to take discipline, and the ability to react to what the market is telling us to do. Many opportunities will appear, and that is my specialty teaching you how to have the discipline to take advantage of any opportunity.

To reach me and have me show you how to take advantage of any market condition, speak to one of my financial consultants and sign up to work one-on-one with me here:

http://averagejoeoptions.com/qual/

As Always,

Keep those stops tight.

Todd “Bubba” Horwitz

P.S. We run the fastest growing online options community. With weekly webinars and a very energetic forum, my team and I are always looking for great risk/reward opportunities. Click on the link below and become a member of my community today.

http://averagejoeoptions.com/qual/