NASDAQ continues to stumble through post-holiday indigestion

I'd give NASDAQ another day or two, if not the whole week, to finish digesting the post-holiday economic data and to get over it's holiday "financial coma." Sure, a disappointing Black Friday is now ancient history, but online retail sales have yet to be fully digested. The price of oil seems to be stabilizing, but that remains to be seen as well. Overall, the U.S. economy remains in semi-decent shape and continues its lackluster incremental improvement, which is good for the long term, but leaves an ADD-afflicted Wall Street anxiously grasping for straws with every news report.

 

Monday's selloff erased the gains of the holiday week, and Tuesday's recovery bounce earned back half of that, but could have been a dead-cat bounce, so we need a couple more days  for the market to sort it out. NASDAQ futures are fluctuating very close to the flat line, indicating a relatively flat open and that traders have no clue as to where the market is headed next. We'll see soon enough.

 

The Lending Club (LC) IPO is coming next week, currently expecting pricing next Wednesday evening (December 10, 2014) in the $10 to $12 range. I registered my "indication of interest" with Fidelity last night through the DSP (Directed Share Program) that they have arranged with Fidelity for those of us who have been participating in their loans. I've been funding Lending Club loans for five and a half years now, and my effective rate of return is 9.50%. It will be interesting to see if the stock can deliver a comparable rate of return over the years! The DSP is limited to 350 shares, so I have already registered a separate indication of interest with Fidelity outside of the DSP. And, there is certainly no guarantee that I will be allocated all or even any shares at all, so I am ready to buy in the open market as well.

 

I continue to buy more Twitter (TWTR) as the hedge funds seem quite determined to push it down despite its continued dominance in its market niche and long-term potential.

 

My foray into Oil (OIL) is still positive, with the appearance that the price of oil may be stabilizing after it's sharp plunge during the holiday week. I'm sure it will be volatile and I plan on buying more if it dips another 5%. Ditto for Tesla (TSLA) and Solar City (SCTY).

 

-- Jack Krupansky