Lincoln National Corporation (LNC)

The bond market isn't cooperating with stocks so far today. As for my trades in today's session, I'm adding to my short of Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A, BRK.B) in addition to my recent long buys in biotech. I think the value of BRK.B's "float" is dimin...

At 2:15 p.m. things appeared quite panicky. Just look at iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond (TLT), which was up $2.75 with the yield on the 10- and 30-year bonds down by another 12 basis points; the drop in crude oil, which was down $1 to under $30 a ba...

I have expanded my net long exposure from "slightly" to "small" by covering more shorts:  Disney (DIS), down $3.65), Lincoln Electric (LNC), down $2.61), MetLife (MET), down $2.01, Amazon (AMZN), down $22.50, Tesla (TSLA), down $15.05, and Netflix (...

I remain bearish and net short as we get ready for another trading week to begin. I recently substituted my short of the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY) with out-of-the-money SPY puts. This strategy increases my delta and short exposure as stocks fall, which...

Is it Friday yet? The market is almost unplayable for most. A crude reversal likely was the catalyst for the turnaround, as quants ran on board the train from the morning lows. As I mentioned this morning, there is little edge or trend right now. If...

My five largest longs: Citigroup (C), Bank of America (BAC), duPont (DD), Procter & Gamble (PG) and Macy's (M). My five largest shorts: Lincoln National (LNC), MetLife (MET), Netflix (NFLX), Tesla (TSLA) and Disney (DIS).

"He's a real nowhere man Sitting in his nowhere land Making all his nowhere plans for nobody. Doesn't have a point of view| Knows not where he's going to Isn't he a bit like you and me?" -- The Beatles, Nowhere Man S&P 500 futures are continuing to ...

My investment mantra remains opportunistic trading. I came in small-size short -- average cost of about $194 shorting SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY) -- and ended the day at market-neutral exposure. Covered my short SPY from yesterday at reasonably good leve...

My single largest industry on the short side is the life-insurance sector, specifically Lincoln National (LNC) and MetLife (MET). In the face of ever-lower interest rates, I can't think of an industry that's more structurally challenged by an absenc...

My thoughts on the day: I outlined my near- and intermediate-term outlook in parts one and two of this morning's opening salvo. I moved in dramatic fashion from a relatively large net long exposure taken on a week ago Wednesday and Thursday to a sma...

Is it Friday yet? Remember, tomorrow is the end of the month. Markups? Also, I previously discussed the possibility of a large rebalancing to the buy side tomorrow afternoon as bonds materially outperformed equities. It could be a catalyst late in t...

Is it Friday yet? A day full of sound and fury but perhaps signifying nothing. As I expected, the Fed acknowledged tightening financial conditions in the credit markets. Spreads have widened and the cost of debt and capital has risen. Here's my Fed ...

I'm adding Hartford Financial Services (HIG) to my "Best Long Ideas" list at $39.12 a share. I continue to view this insurer as a potential takeover target, and recall that Ace paid a 30% premium for Chubb. Potential HIG bidders could include Allsta...

I'm covering my oil shorts -- Exxon Mobil (XOM) at $75.14 and Schlumberger (SLB) at $64.07 -- and taking both stocks off of my "Best Short Ideas" list. Conversely, I'm adding to my long of Hartford Financial Services (HIG) against my shorts of MetLi...

 Here are my thoughts on the day: Did I mention that the market has no memory from day to day? I took today's late afternoon schmeissing as a panic low and adjusted my long exposure in my portfolio appropriately and opportunistically. All the ingred...

I've covered a portion of the following shorts: Apple (AAPL), Caterpillar (CAT), Comcast (CMCSA), Exxon Mobil (XOM), the iShares China Large-Cap ETF (FXI), iShares MSCI France ETF (EWQ), iShares MSCI Germany ETF (EWG), iShares MSCI United Kingdom ET...

Let's start with my observation that everyone should beware of instant earnings analysis in the business media. It's superficial -- three miles wide and an inch deep. Typically talking heads look at First Call estimates, then see the earnings result...

I'm currently short on two life-insurance stocks -- Lincoln National (LNC) and MetLife (MET) -- because of the reinvestment challenges that I believe insurers face. But I've decided to reduce that short exposure (after 20% drops from recent highs) b...

I am making small covers in the following stocks: Lincoln National (LNC) at $41.60; Disney (DIS) at $98.55; Exxon Mobil (XOM) at $75.30; Schlumberger (SLB) at $63.95; Comcast (CMCSA) at $53.70, iShares MSCI Germany (EWG) at $24.25; iShares MSCI Unit...

My thoughts on the day as we approach the closing bell: Very whippy market with a negative bias thus far. I have been quite bearish for some time, but I believe we are close to a tradeable bounce. On a near-term basis we are oversold; indeed, S&P fu...

I'm bidding to cover a portion of my shorts in the following stocks: Apple (AAPL), Caterpillar (CAT), Comcast (CMCSA), the iShares China Large-Cap ETF (FXI), iShares MSCI France ETF (EWQ), iShares MSCI Germany ETF (EWG), iShares MSCI United Kingdom ...

As the closing bell nears, here are my thoughts on the day: In the last half-hour we moved off the day's lows. In my Surprise List I warned of The Mother of All Flash Crashes, and the way things are going it could happen at any time, aided and abett...

I have orders in to add to the following shorts at slightly above the market price: Apple (AAPL), MetLife (MET), Starbucks (SBUX), Lincoln National (LNC), Facebook (FB), the iShares China Large-Cap ETF (FXI), the iShares MSCI Germany ETF (EWG), the ...

I have 10 longs and 16 shorts on my "Best Ideas" list. My longs are concentrated in financials and retail, while my shorts are less thematic and more based on bottoms-up research. Seems reasonable to me.

Here is a partial list of my current longs and shorts: Longs: Yahoo! (YHOO), Potash (POT), Citigroup (C), Bank of America (BAC), JPMorgan Chase (JPM), Fifth Third Bancorp (FITB), Twitter (TWTR), Macy's (M), Best Buy (BBY), Bed, Bath & Beyond (BBBY),...

Here are my thoughts on the day: The market's complexion continues to change, for the worse. Everything might be beautiful at the ballet  (my favorite "Chorus Line" song), but not in the markets these days. Check out these lessons on investing from ...

Here's a partial list of my short book, with asterisks after names on my "Best Short Ideas" list: Apple* (AAPL), Berkshire Hathaway* (BRK.B), Caterpillar* (CAT), Comcast*(CMCSA), Exxon Mobil* (XOM), Facebook (FB), General Motors (GM), iShares China ...

My thoughts as the day concludes: Tough and inconsistent market, but things could be worse. Kill the Quants before they kill our markets. Again, Mr. Market has no memory from day to day. Random moves continue, thanks to risk parity, gamma hedging an...

"Well, I don't want no short people, Don't want no short people, Don't want no short people, 'Round here." -- Randy Newman, Short People My list of individual short positions has grown measurably in the last two weeks, and my individual long positio...

Here's a roundup of my trades and orders so far today: Bonds are well bid this morning, with the iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF (TLT) up $0.85 as I write this. I'm using the strength to further reduce my exposure to closed-end municipal-bond fun...