|
Opening Segment #3: |
 |
'The Sell Block'
'Going
Against The
Grain'
 |
 |
|
Thursday,
June 18, 2009 |
|
|
 |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
Jim's
rating on
this stock |
STOCK
SYMBOL |
Closing
price that
day |
Full Company Name |
|
 |
MON |
82.30 |
|
|
Jim:
Tonight, I want to
talk to you about
one of the most
difficult aspects of
investing… knowing
when it is time to
change your mind… it
is incredibly
difficult to switch
views… especially on
a stock that you
really liked and
have championed… so
you need a process
to prevent yourself
from holding on all
the way to oblivion…
how do you recognize
a red flag when it
is being waved right
in your face… and
realize that you
have got to take it
seriously… that is
what we are going to
explore in this
special off the
charts sell block…
and I want to use
Monsanto, the global
leader in
genetically altered
seeds, as well as
herbicides… I like
to think of them as
a agriculture bio
tech stock as an
example… and that is
why I have built a
Round-Up-Amid… one
of the most familiar
products to go with
all of our other
mids.
Now, I have been
optimistic about
Monsanto (MON)…
|
|
See comments continued below...
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Jim's Charitable
Trust Alert -
Just happened:
* Just
BOUGHT new stock: Inverness
Medical
- IMA!
& just sold both BHP & 3M *
see
all
Jim's
latest
holdings here> |
|
|
|
Thursday,
June 18, 2009
(Cont'd from
above)...
▼ ▼
▼ ▼
▼
Jim:
I have said that I
think it is a good
place to be… and
just two nights ago
in response to a
question about
Syngenta (SYT),
which happens to be
Monsanto’s Swiss
little brother, I
reiterated that I
like Monsanto in
general… then along
not one but two
technicians, the
people who look at
the lines on the
stocks chart to
divine its future…
and they do not like
the stock…. and they
are telling me, be
careful Jim, be
careful of the
Round-Up-Amid… and
these guys are among
the best in the
business… back at my
hedge fund, whenever
we had a stock that
was twice hated by
technicians… we
would always absorb
what they were
saying… and then
actually, literally
try to find reasons
to sell… so we could
get in the heads of
people who were
trading the stock
were thinking… we
wanted to find some
problems with the
fundamentals because
we did not want to
ignore two enormous
red flags that we
got from
technicians.
That is right, we
would embrace
technicians who were
speaking in unison…
albeit it in
tongues, and try to
find out what was
wrong with the
company… at the
hedge fund I would
use technical
analysis to keep my
bullishness in
check… and to make
sure that I was not
being too
optimistic… and in
this sell block I am
teaching you how to
do the exact same
thing that I did at
my hedge fund where
I ran a half a
billion dollars
worth of stock… lets
start with the chart
itself.
Remember, we have
got two chartists
who think that
Monsanto is a sell,
sell, sell… first,
Helene Meisler, who
writes the Top Stock
Newsletter for
TheStreet.com where
I am chairman…
Helene “Top Stocks”
Meisler taught me
everything that I
know about technical
analysis back in the
1980’s when she
worked at Cowen and
Company and then
went on to become
the top technician
at Goldman Sachs
before going out on
her own… she says,
this is really
important… that this
stock at $82.30,
could be headed down
to $70... based on
its chart… Meisler
sees two, not one,
but two big
negatives in this
chart.
First, Monsanto sold
off on high volume
at the end of May…
okay, to go back to
May… see that high
volume at the end of
May… and since then
has rallied back but
on lighter volume…
remember the
technicians they
have no use for the
Fifth Amendment,
just like me… and
they do not believe
in due process,
neither do I… they
are all about trying
to figure out
exactly what the
truth is… they want
to know what the
truth is, and they
skip straight to the
polygraph… which is
what volume is to
them, a lie
detector… and the
sell off on high
volume told the
truth… see the big
volume… and this, I
have to tell you, I
really love this
stuff, I have to
admit… see it goes
back up on low
volume… but it sold
off on big volume…
that is the
definition of what
you need to be
scared of.
But it gets better…
she thinks that this
rally is making a…
this is the best
example I have seen
in all of the time
that I have been
doing off the
charts… she says
that it is making a
right shoulder on
what is known as a
head and shoulders
top… now, you will
be able to see this
too… see this, there
is the left
shoulder, there is
the head, there is
the right shoulder…
but this is one of
those predictive
patterns that
technicians see
over, and over, and
over again… and
while it may seem
silly… that does not
mean that it is not
often right… if this
stock falls below
$78 or $77... then
it crosses what is
known as the
neckline.. and that
is where if this
were a person, it
would confirm the
pattern… and would
make Meisler even
more bearish…
especially since it
would also be
breaking thru the
uptrend line… which
is almost a
universal signal to
chart watchers that
the uptrend is dead.
A plunging neckline
could seem positive
to 51% of the
audience… but in
Cramerica it is a
sign that the
emperess isn’t just
dressed skimpily…
she may have no
clothes on… you can
imagine what happens
with the head and
shoulder pattern…
you get the head,
the shoulder, this
is the right
shoulder… and then
boom.
Now, Bert Dohman,
another widely
respected
technician,
especially by me
because I have
followed him from
the original FNN
from the ‘80’S…. he
is the writer of the
Wellington Letter,
this network
introduced me to
him, he is another
colleague of mine, I
read him every
single week, he also
writes for
RealMoney.com, the
subscription side of
TheStreet.com where
I am chairman… he
hates Monsanto… he
thinks that the
entire commodity
boom is phony…
including
agricultural, as
farmers cannot get
the credit to buy
machinery,
fertilizer, seeds
like Monsanto…
Dohman thinks the
stock, gets this… he
is a great
technician, I love
his work…. and this
is what really
freaked me out, he
said that the stock
is going to get cut
in half… definitely
not preferable to a
sharp stick to the
retina… which is
what I think I would
be doing myself if I
were to buy Monsanto
after hearing this…
and it took a 50%
plunge.
These people are
good… when one
technician disagrees
with me on a stock…
it does not bother
me… but when two
highly respected
ones… Helene “Top
Stocks” Meisler, and
Bert “Wellington
Letter” Dohman, say
listen be careful…
they do not like a
stock that I am
recommending… I
start feeling out
there… I feel
exposed… I feel
naked… I wonder if I
am being too
optimistic… so
instead of trying to
prove the
technicians wrong…
which is a great way
to dig in your heels
and cling to an
incorrect thesis…
long after it does
not make any sense..
I try to find out
what is wrong with
Monsanto… so I look…
and what do you
know… just yesterday
Potash, the big
fertilizer company..
the worlds largest
supplier of Potash,
the crop nutrient…
announced yet
another cut to
production… 800,000
metric tons… its
total cuts now
yielding 5.5 million
since August… and
that is in response
to slow demand… the
company prefers
production cuts to
price cuts.
Same day… K&S,
European fertilizer
company… announced
production cuts over
a range of products…
and says that it
foresees an
extraordinarily week
demand for
fertilizer… if
farmers are not
buying fertilizer…
why would they buy
Monsanto genetically
modified seeds…
which because they
cannot reproduce are
much more expensive
to use than normal
seeds… because every
year the farmers
have to come back
for more… Monsanto
is a play on farmers
trying to increase
their crop yields…
but when the demand
for crops is not
that high… than
neither is the
demand for anything
that increases those
yields.
You know what… I
think the chartists
are right… I now see
what the bears see…
and I have been too
bullish on Monsanto…
I have been to
complacent… in light
of the fertilizer
production cuts, and
the charts… I know
think that you have
to lighten up on
Monsanto… especially
if it goes higher.
Here is the bottom
line…
▼ ▼
▼ ▼
▼
The Bottom Line!:
When a stock is
twice hated by two
highly respected
technicians.. that
is your first clue
that something could
be very wrong… it
told me to worry
about Monsanto… and
then when I saw the
weak demand for
other ag products
that increase crop
yields… I knew it
was time to change
my mind and stop
liking the stock…
let the technicians
clue you in when
something is wrong…
they are the CSI of
investing… with
forensic data this
strong, it is time
to change my mind…
and with the stock
on the move upward
just from the other
day when I said that
I liked it… I have
got to tell you… I
see in
Monsanto (MON)
the germination of a
sell idea… that I
have to be blind not
to heed.
[verbatim recap]
[end of segment]
Read Jim's next Segment
here
▼ ▼
▼ ▼
▼
Read Jim's next Segment
here
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
 |
 |
|
|
|
Search for Jim's past comments about a specific
stock. Use
ticker symbol or company name in quotes
(e.g., GOOG or "Google") |
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|