RF's Financial News

RF's Financial News

Sunday, September 6, 2015

This Week in Barrons - 9-6-2015

This Week in Barrons – 8-30-2015:

               















Boss:     Dilbert, I’d like you to be more entrepreneurial.
Dilbert:   Should I take huge risks, act like I have no boss, and be rewarded with billions if I succeed?
Boss:     Nope – just give me your great ideas.  I’ll take complete credit, and will decide if and when we do anything.


Dear Ms. Yellen:

This Labor Day weekend I believe that we are in a silent, economic war.  We all know about the Russian sanctions, the BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India and China) alliances, and the BRIC Development Bank.  What is not public knowledge is the Chinese Asian Alliance Bank, the non-U.S. dollar relationship between China and Saudi Arabia, and the non-U.S. dollar payment system that Russia and China are currently testing.  Taken in isolation, the following situations appear non-connected.  However, when considering them as part of a larger plan and their ‘unintended consequences’ – is when it gets interesting. 
-       Ms. Yellen, remember when ‘Dilbert’ suggested capping the price of gold and silver so that China wouldn’t dump our treasuries, and would then be accepted into the IMF’s SDR currency reserve basket?  Well, these same metals have now ‘turned the tables’ on you.  Demand is ‘off the charts’ and physical supply is non-existent.  Logically that would tell you that prices should be rising.  The reality is that future prices for gold and silver are LOWER than current prices.  The only way this is possible is for you to be fighting an economic war against the metals and price fixing. 
-       In terms of oil, remember when ‘Dilbert’ suggested that the Saudis increase production in order to hurt the Russian economy.  Unfortunately, the excess supply that was created is all but ruining our internal oil exploration and fracking industry.  The unintended consequence of increased oil production was oil plunging to levels lower than expected, and staying there longer.  The next consequence will be the financial default on half a TRILLION dollars worth of imploding derivatives based upon a set, higher price for oil.  
-       Remember when ‘Dilbert’ suggested promising China that they would be included in the SDR reserve currency basket, and then the IMF did an ‘about-face’ and postponed their involvement for a year.  Correspondingly (days later) China dumped $100B in U.S. treasuries and devalued its currency?  Then (days later) the 10th largest port in China exploded in what can only be called a micro-nuclear blast.
-       It’s also convenient that days after Thailand devalued their currency; Thailand experienced the worst ‘bombing’ event in their country’s history.
-       As for Russia, I’m sure you know that Putin has drafted a bill that aims to eliminate the US dollar and the Euro from all trade between the CIS countries (Russia, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and other countries of the former Soviet Union).
-       And in China, the Chinese Central Bank just launched a pilot two-currency (ruble and yuan) program in Suifenhe City, Heilongjiang Province.  This augments their 2014 Russian Central Bank / People's Bank of China 150B Yuan currency swap agreement.

Ms. Yellen, it seems that you’re in a silent, economic war to keep ‘King Dollar’ intact.  If that means bombing ports in China – so be it.  If that includes capping the price of gold and silver (despite record demand) – no problem.  The main issues surrounding silent, economic wars are the unintended consequences.  Just ask the bankers holding the paper on the half-TRILLION dollar oil derivatives and the corresponding loans on fracking industry equipment.  Ask them if they liked you telling the Saudis to increase production in order to cripple Russia?  As an example there was Hercules Offshore, who sold $300M in oil exploration bonds in early 2014.  When you caused oil to fall like a rock – their profits fell by 70%.  They were forced into bankruptcy, and the banks holding their $300M in paper received 5 cents on the dollar.  #ThanksObama.

Remember when ‘Dilbert’ suggested that the new King of Saudi Arabia meet with Obama in the White House?  Well, Friday that came true.  Maybe you can tell me if the new King took the opportunity to inform the President that Saudi will now accept the Yuan and/or the Ruble for oil (without converting them to U.S. dollars first).  If that agreement is made – I’m assuming we will see the lights flicker in your Washington apartment, and ‘Dilbert’ will be soon joining the ranks of the unemployed?


The Market:

On Friday the market tanked on the newest jobs report which told us:
-       Of the 173,000 jobs created in August, 69,000 (40%) were part-time.
-       94M Americans (out of 340M) have ‘left the workforce’.
-       For the first time since 2013, the number of manufacturing jobs FELL.
-       The U6 unemployment rate came in at 10.3%.  This U6 number excludes people that have been looking for work longer than one year.  Yes, that means that these ‘long-term’ discouraged workers are no longer counted.
-       If we counted the long-term, discourage workers – the U6 unemployment rate would be over 20%, and the U3 rate (the 5.1% that the government publishes) would be 10.8% instead.

But what about the rate hike?  The only way that the FED can keep their propaganda string in tact is to go ahead and raise interest rates.  You can't have a strong economy and a zero interest rate policy.  The two do not go together.  And if you lived in a ‘normal’ world where the economy was strong, you need to ‘normalize’ interest rates.  If the FED doesn’t raise rates, it becomes instantly clear that everything they've told us is pure horse manure.  So to keep their illusion alive (while they wait for a major event on which to blame our economy) the FED has no choice but to toss out a quarter point rate hike on the 16th.  

The only element that would remotely hold the FED back is the falling and volatile stock market.  But I’m thinking along lines of propaganda, not reality.  If the FED stalls and says that they don't want to hurt the market, they prove to the world that their reason to exist is to help Wall Street.  For the past several weeks, FED heads have been parading around the country suggesting that the FED can't worry about the market, but rather must respond to the economy. 

Lately when I think of the FED, visions of Tokyo Rose and Baghdad Bob come to mind.  As island after island fell to the American forces in WWII, Tokyo Rose (the voice of Japan) would continue to talk of the great conquests the Japanese army was enjoying and how Americans would soon have to surrender.  Baghdad Bob was the voice of Iraq.  All during the American occupation, he told tales of American forces being slaughtered at the airport, and there's no way they'd ever seen an American in their city.

Our FED is behaving in a similar fashion.  Remember when everyone was convinced that the FED would never taper to zero, and some actually were looking for more QE?  The FED did indeed taper to zero, asking for zero emergency assistance, and all the while playing the propaganda violin.  Our FED refuses to be held responsible for crashing the economy, and certainly for not knowing how to fix it.  So, since they can't fix it, they have to act as though they have.  Therefore, it’s my guess that we receive a 25 basis point hike in interest rates on the 16th of September. 

If the FED doesn’t raise rates on the 16th, the market is going to feel they're safe until December and bounce higher.  If the FED does raise rates, we could see anything from a 500-point dump, to a 300-point romp, depending on how they ‘spin’ their commentary.  But we also have long-term economic cycles that are coming together in September, the Biblical Shemitah arriving in 6 days, the Pope visiting the White house, and the ending of Jade Helm.  All will add to this market’s volatility – which is higher than I can remember.  Since Friday, August 21st, the average DAILY range for the S&P has been 2.8%.  This is incredible, when you consider that we traded within a 1% range for the 6 previous months.

This is a tough atmosphere to trade because the moves are over-sized and often occur during the pre-market hours.  My suggestion for the next couple of months would be to ‘sit out’ this market.  Frankly without a new QE program of some sort of stimulus, I cannot see the market making new highs.  I can however give you dozens of reasons why we could go considerably lower.  That said, depending upon the FED’s next moves, I might start taking some long term short side plays such as long dated puts and some inverse ETF's.

Enjoy the Labor Day Holiday with your family and friends.  Enjoy some ribs, BBQ and a refreshing drink.  Life will catch up with us again on Tuesday morning.


TIPS:

Areas of support:
-       DOW: Look for a weekly range of 15,750 to 16,620.  It was down 540 points this week, and down almost 10% for the year.
-       NASDAQ:  I’m looking for large volatility, and expecting the range to be between 4639 and 4827.  It was down 140 points on the week, and 1% for the year.
-       SPX: I’m looking for a wedge formation and a consolidation around the 1940 area.  It was down 67 points on the week, and almost 7% for the year.  I would expect a trading range between 1892 and 2003 for this coming week.
-       RUT:  Unlike the other indices, the broad based Russell is not looking strong. However, it could be building a base in the 1115 – 1181 range heading into the FOMC meeting.  It was down 26 points on the week, and almost 6% on the year.  A ‘No Rate Hike’ decision could bring a flood of order flow into the market and send this index higher.  If we get a hike and a perception of tightening going forward, this index will indeed break to the downside.  I think all of the panic sellers are out for now, and no one is willing to put more new-money into the market until after the FOMC meeting.

Recommendations:
-       When examining the sectors:  Energy (XLE = Bearish), Financials (XLF = Bearish), Utility stocks (XLU = new lows = Bearish), Basic Materials (XLB = Bearish), Consumer (XLP = poised on support), Consumer Discretionary (XLY = poised on support), Industrials (XLI = Bearish), and Healthcare (XLV = headed lower) – so it’s easy to be ‘Bearish’ in the short-term.
-       Goldman Sachs (GS): BUY SEPT $185 Puts, SELL SEPT $180 / +190 Call Credit Spread 
-       Nasdaq (NDX): SELL Sept2 $4170 / +4270 Call Credit Spread
-       S&P (SPY):    BUY SEPT $195 Puts
-       REN – Long-term buy on this small oil stock priced @ $0.50
-       OAS – Long-term buy on this small oil stock priced @ $11

I’m currently holding (notice the Calendars bought as hedges):
-       AAPL – BOUGHT – Diagonal – Sept -130 Calls / Oct +135 Calls,
-       IWM – SOLD – Iron Condor – Sept5 @ 110 / 112 to 122 / 124,
-       LJPC – BOUGHT – Sept $30 Calls,
-       MDY – SOLD – Iron Condor – Sept4 235 / 240 to 270 / 275,
-       MSFT – BOUGHT – Oct $31 Puts,
-       QID – BOUGHT – Sept $37 Calls, 
-       RUT – SOLD – Iron Condor – Oct 1090 / 1100 to 1250 / 1260,
-       SPXPM – SOLD – Iron Condor – Sept @ 1885 / 1890 to 2090 / 2095,
-       SPX:
o   BOUGHT – Calendar – Sept / Oct @ 1950,
o   BOUGHT – Calendar – Sept / Oct @ 1980,
o   SOLD – Iron Condor – Sept2 @ 1820 / 1825 to 2020 / 2025,
o   SOLD – Iron Condor – Sept2 @ 1955 / 1960 to 2070 / 2075,
o   SOLD – Iron Condor – Sept @ 1925 / 1930 to 2025 / 2030,  
o   SOLD – Iron Condor – Sept @ 1935 / 1940 to 2035 / 2040,  
o   SOLD – Iron Condor – Sept @ 1965 / 1970 to 2035 / 2040,  
o   SOLD – Iron Condor – Sept4 @ 1900 / 1905 to 2040 / 2045,
o   SOLD – Iron Condor – Sept4 @ 1925 / 1930 to 2075 / 2080,
o   SOLD – Iron Condor – Sept4 @ 1955 / 1960 to 2090 / 2095,
o   SOLD – Iron Condor – Oct1 @ 1895 / 1900 to 2055 / 2060,
o   SOLD – Iron Condor – Oct1 @ 1905 / 1910 to 2055 / 2060,
o   SOLD – Iron Condor – Oct1 @ 1915 / 1920 to 2170 / 2175,
o   SOLD – Iron Condor – Oct1 @ 1925 / 1930 to 2170 / 2175,  
o   SOLD – Iron Condor – Oct2 @ 1850 / 1855 to 2060 / 2065,
o   SOLD – Iron Condor – Oct2 @ 1895 / 1900 to 2060 / 2065,
o   SOLD – Iron Condor – Oct4 @ 1825 / 1830 to 2070 / 2075,
o   SOLD – Iron Condor – Oct4 @ 1880 / 1885 to 2120 / 2125,
o   SOLD – Iron Condor – Oct5 @ 1860 / 1865 to 2200 / 2205, 
o   SOLD – Iron Condor – Nov1 @ 1850 / 1855 to 2085 / 2090.


To follow me on Twitter.com and on StockTwits.com to get my daily thoughts and trades – my handle is: taylorpamm. 

Please be safe out there!

Disclaimer:
Expressed thoughts proffered within the BARRONS REPORT, a Private and free weekly economic newsletter, are those of noted entrepreneur, professor and author, R.F. Culbertson, contributing sources and those he interviews.  You can learn more and get your free subscription by visiting: <http://rfcfinancialnews.blogspot.com> .

Please write to Mr. Culbertson at: <rfc@culbertsons.com> to inform him of any reproductions, including when and where copy will be reproduced. You may use in complete form or, if quoting in brief, reference <rfcfinancialnews.blogspot.com>.

If you'd like to view RF's actual stock trades - and see more of his thoughts - please feel free to sign up as a Twitter follower -  "taylorpamm" is the handle.

If you'd like to see RF in action - teaching people about investing - please feel free to view the TED talk that he gave on Fearless Investing: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K2Z9I_6ciH0


To unsubscribe please refer to the bottom of the email.

Views expressed are provided for information purposes only and should not be construed in any way as an offer, an endorsement, or inducement to invest and is not in any way a testimony of, or associated with Mr. Culbertson's other firms or associations.  Mr. Culbertson and related parties are not registered and licensed brokers.  This message may contain information that is confidential or privileged and is intended only for the individual or entity named above and does not constitute an offer for or advice about any alternative investment product. Such advice can only be made when accompanied by a prospectus or similar offering document.  Past performance is not indicative of future performance. Please make sure to review important disclosures at the end of each article.

Note: Joining BARRONS REPORT is not an offering for any investment. It represents only the opinions of RF Culbertson and Associates.

PAST RESULTS ARE NOT INDICATIVE OF FUTURE RESULTS. THERE IS RISK OF LOSS AS WELL AS THE OPPORTUNITY FOR GAIN WHEN INVESTING IN MANAGED FUNDS. WHEN CONSIDERING ALTERNATIVE INVESTMENTS (INCLUDING HEDGE FUNDS) AN INVESTOR SHOULD CONSIDER VARIOUS RISKS INCLUDING THE FACT THAT SOME PRODUCTS AND OTHER SPECULATIVE INVESTMENT PRACTICES MAY INCREASE RISK OF INVESTMENT LOSS; MAY NOT BE SUBJECT TO THE SAME REGULATORY REQUIREMENTS AS MUTUAL FUNDS, OFTEN CHARGE HIGH FEES, AND IN MANY CASES THE UNDERLYING INVESTMENTS ARE NOT TRANSPARENT AND ARE KNOWN ONLY TO THE INVESTMENT MANAGER.

Alternative investment performance can be volatile. An investor could lose all or a substantial amount of his or her investment. Often, alternative investment fund and account managers have total trading authority over their funds or accounts; the use of a single advisor applying generally similar trading programs could mean lack of diversification and, consequently, higher risk. There is often no secondary market for an investor's interest in alternative investments, and none is expected to develop.

All material presented herein is believed to be reliable but we cannot attest to its accuracy. Opinions expressed in these reports may change without prior notice. Culbertson and/or the staff may or may not have investments in any funds cited above.

Remember the Blog: <http://rfcfinancialnews.blogspot.com/> 
Until next week – be safe.

R.F. Culbertson
<http://rfcfinancialnews.blogspot.com>

Sunday, August 30, 2015

This Week in Barrons - 8-30-2015

This Week in Barrons – 8-30-2015:













This market is like a roll of toilet paper: the closer it gets to the end - the faster it goes.


Thoughts:

This is not about fear or a coming collapse – it is simply the long and tested motto of the Boy Scouts, “Be Prepared!”  The market roller coaster will continue until we get to the FOMC meeting on September 18th.  The market requires certainty and vision as to what the Fed will do, and where they see it moving forward.  Their ‘data dependent’ message has kept everyone guessing longer than necessary.

This weekend, the FED and other central bankers are attending their annual Jackson Hole retreat.  Historically this meeting has often given us a glimpse of the FED’s concerns and their willingness to adopt new policies.  Thus far, I have not heard anything to suggest a confirmed rate hike or QE4.  Yes QE4.  Remember it was The Ben Bernanke that planted the seeds for QE2 at the 2010 Jackson Hole summit.  The probability of a QE4 has gone from less than 1% to over 18% this past week.  It may be improbable, but not impossible – so ‘Be Prepared’.

Last week the markets dropped over 5% in a week.  Historically speaking:
-       The first week after a 5% weekly drop – the averages remain flat.
-       The second and third weeks – the averages gain 1.65%.
-       And over the next 12 weeks, the averages historically return over 5%.

‘Be Prepared’ for more Chinese devaluation.  When the IMF embarrassed the Chinese by suggesting their currency wait another year to be implemented into the SDR basket, it was just a couple days later that China pulled the devaluation card.  China was all but promised the Yuan being a part of the SDR basket this year, and they were fooled.  Well, you shouldn't fool a nation that own trillions of our own dollars.  But they didn't stop with currency devaluation.  This past week China started dumping U.S. Treasuries.  Since the start of the year until mid-August, China has sold about $105B worth of U.S. Treasuries.  In the last few weeks they have sold an additional $100B.  So, who's buying?  You can bet it's the FED and their Central Bank buddies.  A nation like Belgium may be the temporary storage facility for the treasuries, but you can bet that it’s our FED themselves (directly and indirectly) that is doing the buying.  

Given China has a lot more U.S. Treasuries to sell; this could be the start of the great China un-wind.  At what point does the tsunami of treasuries become too great?  I don’t know, but I suspect we are going to find out.  And what then does the FED do?  They will continue talking about how our economy is solid and employment is great, and if need be – they can do QE4.  On a more ‘truthful’ side, the Atlanta Fed came out this week and said they only see economic growth of 1.2% this year.  So we have got China dumping U.S. Treasuries and a slowing economy – what else could go wrong?

Glad you asked.  China remains the world’s manufacturing hub – especially in so far as ‘smart products’ are concerned.  At last week’s DEF CON Conference, a talk was given by the Brinks Corporation (the makers of armored trucks and safes) concerning their new ‘Smart Safe’ – the world’s ONLY unbreakable safe.  It comes equipped with a Windows operating system and a USB port.  It took hackers less than 30 seconds to ‘break into’ the safe using products found at BestBuy.  This is Brinks – a really good ‘safe’ company.  So you can imagine my fear when the world starts buying smart refrigerators, washing machines, and microwave ovens – which all have access to your own personal Wi-Fi network.  They could all talk to each other, the manufacturer, and anyone else who will listen.  So please – ‘Be Prepared’.


The Market:

This week got everyone's attention because not only did we have a 1089-point crash on Monday, but also a 900+ point gain on Wednesday and Thursday.  That was the biggest two-day gain in market history.  Which begs the question, is this a buying opportunity or are we in a correction.  The recent action has not only made investors gun-shy, but has potentially woken them up to just how large a factor the FED really is in our economy.  Investors are facing the investment dilemma of a lifetime due to massive FED ‘interventionism’.  Reviewing the investment options:
-       Bonds – The 10-year bond is paying 2%, and inflation is running around 1.8%; therefore, you will not make any money – but you’ll be safe.
-       Cash – Cash is king when it’s strong, because it allows you to buy things cheaper than you would normally.  So ‘buying stuff’ works right now.
-       Real Estate – With strong rental demand and high rents relative to mortgage interest, it remains a great, inflation-protected investment.
-       Commodities – Gold and silver are two of the more common commodities for long-term inflation protection.  Don’t buy them as an investment, but rather as an alternative inflation hedge.
-       Equities – Stocks are where the action is, but remember to hedge your positions.

But aren’t stocks in a bubble right now?  Absolutely, but there’s nothing wrong with investing as long as you KNOW it’s a bubble – and you are able to hedge your positions.  We can’t fight the bubble.  As much as I may disagree with FED policy – they are driving the train.  In the long-term, this is going to end very badly (just like the Dot.com and Housing bubbles) with a massive downturn and implosion.  However, during the Dot.com bubble, you couldn’t talk reality with those who ‘believed’.  Each year the market would rally, and new IPOs would rocket to the moon.  The housing bubble was exactly the same.  The Kool-Aid drinkers always ignore the math.

The math is easy: Revenue – Costs = Profit (or Loss).  But, when you replace Revenue with borrowed money (margin) to subsidize your costs, it seems like everything is fine.  When the ability to borrow ends, and you are no longer able to cover your costs – then the house of cards collapses.  In the Dot.com bubble it was the Venture Capital firms and investment banks that stopped lending.  In the housing bubble it was banks and mortgage companies that stopped lending.  This time it is the FED who has printed and bought TRILLIONS in bonds and mortgages (and continues to do so to this day) that will stop lending.  But how long can this go on?  The Dot.com bubble inflated for 4 years before it burst.  The housing bubble was 5-6 years in the making.  The FED’s bond bubble has been 5 years, and (I believe) has some room to grow.

Let me end with this.  I'm on record as saying that the market topped back in May.  And as long as we don’t get some sort of perverted form of stimulus like QE4, I don’t believe that we can regain those highs.  But at this point, I think the question should be how LOW can we go?  All is not well, and yes we're going to see more volatility.  For the foreseeable future, it will be all about trading the bounces both up and down.

This coming week will focus on the Friday jobs report.  Like every first Friday of the month, we all will have to sit with ‘baited breath’ to hear what they say happened to the employment situation for the previous month.  That will capture a majority of this week’s trading chatter.  And (after all) we have already recouped over 100 S&P points from the big sell-off.  That's a lot without a pause, and there's a decent possibility that this initial bounce has already run its course.  Because even if you're a bull, the common thinking on a big pull-down is that we bounce and then fade back to ‘test’ the strength of the lows.  So even the most bullish are comfortable with the idea that we could easily start sliding back down sometime in the near future.  I tend to think that this will happen sooner rather than later.  And after a 900-point bounce, I think that we only have about one more day (if that) before we peel some of these gains back off. 

The key to investing over the next several months is that being nimble will be your friend, and don't marry anything.  The ‘talking heads’ will say that you were just given a discount on your favorites; therefore, back up the truck and load-up.  Remember, they were saying those same words in early 2008, as the market fell from 14,000 down to 6,600.


TIPS:

In terms of index levels that I’m watching this coming week:
-       NDX 4400 (presently 4329):  If we can get back above 4400, this level would then act as support for a run higher.  Anything between the 3800 and 4400 spells volatility – so ‘Be Prepared’.
-       SPX 2040 (presently 1989):  We will either push the index back up into the 2040, or renew the selling pressure back down to the 1880 level.
-       RUT 1150 (presently 1163):  The good news about the Russell Small Cap Index is that it never broke down to the September 2014 lows.  The bad news is the current bounce is not nearly as strong as the other indices.  This shows order flow trepidation, and that broad base money is NOT seeing this market as a buying opportunity, just yet.

I’m currently holding (notice the Iron Butterflies and Calendars bought as hedges):
-       AAPL – BOUGHT – Diagonal – Sept -130 Calls / Oct +135 Calls,
-       IWM – SOLD – Iron Condor – Sept5 @ 110 / 112 to 122 / 124,
-       MDY – SOLD – Iron Condor – Sept4 235 / 240 to 270 / 275,
-       RUT – SOLD – Iron Condor – Oct 1090 / 1100 to 1250 / 1260,
-       SPXPM – SOLD – Iron Condor – Sept @ 1885 / 1890 to 2090 / 2095,
-       SPX:
o   SOLD – Iron Butterfly – Sept1 @ 1880 / 1930 to 1930 / 1980,
o   SOLD – Iron Butterfly – Sept1 @ 1770 / 1820 to 1820 / 1870,
o   BOUGHT – Calendar – Sept / Oct @ 1950,
o   BOUGHT – Calendar – Sept / Oct @ 1980,
o   SOLD – Iron Condor – Sept1 @ 1825 / 1830 to 2070 / 2075,
o   SOLD – Iron Condor – Sept2 @ 1820 / 1825 to 2020 / 2025,
o   SOLD – Iron Condor – Sept2 @ 1955 / 1960 to 2070 / 2075,
o   SOLD – Iron Condor – Sept2 @ 1970 / 1975 to 2070 / 2075,
o   SOLD – Iron Condor – Sept2 @ 1980 / 1985 to 2080 / 2085,
o   SOLD – Iron Condor – Sept @ 1925 / 1930 to 2025 / 2030, 
o   SOLD – Iron Condor – Sept @ 1935 / 1940 to 2035 / 2040, 
o   SOLD – Iron Condor – Sept @ 1965 / 1970 to 2035 / 2040, 
o   SOLD – Iron Condor – Sept4 @ 1900 / 1905 to 2040 / 2045,
o   SOLD – Iron Condor – Sept4 @ 1925 / 1930 to 2075 / 2080,
o   SOLD – Iron Condor – Sept4 @ 1955 / 1960 to 2090 / 2095,
o   SOLD – Iron Condor – Oct1 @ 1895 / 1900 to 2055 / 2060,
o   SOLD – Iron Condor – Oct1 @ 1905 / 1910 to 2055 / 2060,
o   SOLD – Iron Condor – Oct1 @ 1915 / 1920 to 2170 / 2175,
o   SOLD – Iron Condor – Oct1 @ 1925 / 1930 to 2170 / 2175, 
o   SOLD – Iron Condor – Oct2 @ 1850 / 1855 to 2060 / 2065,
o   SOLD – Iron Condor – Oct2 @ 1895 / 1900 to 2060 / 2065,
o   SOLD – Iron Condor – Oct4 @ 1825 / 1830 to 2070 / 2075,
o   SOLD – Iron Condor – Oct4 @ 1880 / 1885 to 2120 / 2125,
o   SOLD – Iron Condor – Oct5 @ 1860 / 1865 to 2200 / 2205,
o   SOLD – Iron Condor – Nov1 @ 1850 / 1855 to 2085 / 2090.


To follow me on Twitter.com and on StockTwits.com to get my daily thoughts and trades – my handle is: taylorpamm. 

Please be safe out there!

Disclaimer:
Expressed thoughts proffered within the BARRONS REPORT, a Private and free weekly economic newsletter, are those of noted entrepreneur, professor and author, R.F. Culbertson, contributing sources and those he interviews.  You can learn more and get your free subscription by visiting: <http://rfcfinancialnews.blogspot.com> .

Please write to Mr. Culbertson at: <rfc@culbertsons.com> to inform him of any reproductions, including when and where copy will be reproduced. You may use in complete form or, if quoting in brief, reference <rfcfinancialnews.blogspot.com>.

If you'd like to view RF's actual stock trades - and see more of his thoughts - please feel free to sign up as a Twitter follower -  "taylorpamm" is the handle.

If you'd like to see RF in action - teaching people about investing - please feel free to view the TED talk that he gave on Fearless Investing: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K2Z9I_6ciH0


To unsubscribe please refer to the bottom of the email.

Views expressed are provided for information purposes only and should not be construed in any way as an offer, an endorsement, or inducement to invest and is not in any way a testimony of, or associated with Mr. Culbertson's other firms or associations.  Mr. Culbertson and related parties are not registered and licensed brokers.  This message may contain information that is confidential or privileged and is intended only for the individual or entity named above and does not constitute an offer for or advice about any alternative investment product. Such advice can only be made when accompanied by a prospectus or similar offering document.  Past performance is not indicative of future performance. Please make sure to review important disclosures at the end of each article.

Note: Joining BARRONS REPORT is not an offering for any investment. It represents only the opinions of RF Culbertson and Associates.

PAST RESULTS ARE NOT INDICATIVE OF FUTURE RESULTS. THERE IS RISK OF LOSS AS WELL AS THE OPPORTUNITY FOR GAIN WHEN INVESTING IN MANAGED FUNDS. WHEN CONSIDERING ALTERNATIVE INVESTMENTS (INCLUDING HEDGE FUNDS) AN INVESTOR SHOULD CONSIDER VARIOUS RISKS INCLUDING THE FACT THAT SOME PRODUCTS AND OTHER SPECULATIVE INVESTMENT PRACTICES MAY INCREASE RISK OF INVESTMENT LOSS; MAY NOT BE SUBJECT TO THE SAME REGULATORY REQUIREMENTS AS MUTUAL FUNDS, OFTEN CHARGE HIGH FEES, AND IN MANY CASES THE UNDERLYING INVESTMENTS ARE NOT TRANSPARENT AND ARE KNOWN ONLY TO THE INVESTMENT MANAGER.

Alternative investment performance can be volatile. An investor could lose all or a substantial amount of his or her investment. Often, alternative investment fund and account managers have total trading authority over their funds or accounts; the use of a single advisor applying generally similar trading programs could mean lack of diversification and, consequently, higher risk. There is often no secondary market for an investor's interest in alternative investments, and none is expected to develop.

All material presented herein is believed to be reliable but we cannot attest to its accuracy. Opinions expressed in these reports may change without prior notice. Culbertson and/or the staff may or may not have investments in any funds cited above.

Remember the Blog: <http://rfcfinancialnews.blogspot.com/> 
Until next week – be safe.

R.F. Culbertson

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