Nov

1

Covering KFED, rotating money to HZO and BC

November 1, 2007 | Leave a Comment

This morning I decided to cover my short in KFED at $12.70. I still believe there is going to be problems for KFED going forward, but I see bigger opportunities elsewhere at the moment, so I want to free up some capital.

I’ve taken the proceeds from my KFED trade to opportunistically enter a new short position in HZO at $14.97. I covered the position yesterday in anticipation of bump on good earnings, and that is just what happened. […]

Continue Reading Covering KFED, rotating money to HZO and BC

Oct

31

Taking partial profits in KFED

October 31, 2007 | Leave a Comment

This afternoon I decided to take profits and cover half of my position in KFED at $12.69. The stock has gotten pegged in the last few days, and on the eve of what will probably be a Fed rate cut, there is the chance of a short term rally in the wake of the meeting. Given this possibility, I would like to lock in some of my gains here and potentially sell the stock again at higher prices.


Continue Reading Taking partial profits in KFED

Oct

27

KFED loan loss provisions likely to rise

October 27, 2007 | 2 Comments

A few months back, I wrote an article detailing how I thought K-Fed Bancorp’s loan loss provisions looked to be absurdly low in comparison with most other banks. While most banks were allowing loan loss provisions of 1-2 percent earlier this summer (before the credit crunch and the big jump in delinquencies), KFED’s allowance for loan losses amounted to just 0.6 percent of the portfolio. This looked to me to be suspiciously low, and with KFED’s Annual Report […]

Continue Reading KFED loan loss provisions likely to rise

Oct

26

Sold NLY, Increasing short position in KFED, reinstituting short in HZO

October 26, 2007 | Leave a Comment

This afternoon I decided to sell the rest of my position in NLY at $17.09. I like the company as a rate cut play, but I’ve caught a nice move here, and there are more fun places to play from a volatility perspective here.

In addition, I decided to double my short position in KFED at $13.83. I’m going to write in more detail about KFED shortly, but in the meantime, I highly encourage people to take a […]

Continue Reading Sold NLY, Increasing short position in KFED, reinstituting short in HZO

Oct

23

Sold EGO position, increased KFED short

October 23, 2007 | Leave a Comment

This afternoon I decided to divest my position in EGO at $6.56, a few cents above my basis. I also decided to double my short position in KFED at $13.77. However, it is still a small position in the overall portfolio.

With regard to EGO, my sale is simply an effort to raise more cash and mitigate the potential downside should gold correct. Having done a bit of technical work today regarding gold, I see $730 as the […]

Continue Reading Sold EGO position, increased KFED short

Oct

18

Two new shorts: BC and KFED

October 18, 2007 | Leave a Comment

This afternoon I decided to add small positions in two new shorts: BC at $20.84 and KFED at $13.96. KFED is a former short holding of mine, and my thesis here is exactly the same as it was when I originally shorted the stock earlier this year. I am not going to review the whole story, but my basic thesis is that this California bank has an abnormally low provision for loan losses, and that provision is more […]

Continue Reading Two new shorts: BC and KFED

Aug

7

Moving further to the short side on the Fed’s no decision

August 7, 2007 | Leave a Comment

Today I decided to scale back my long positions quite heavily by cutting both HRBN and NTRZ from my portfolio. It is certainly a disapointment to watch my 30% profit in HRBN turn to a small loss in a matter of weeks, but nevertheless I must remain disciplined and take my medicine. Therefore, I’ve sold my position in HRBN at $12.55. In an effort to further raise capital, I also liquidated my holding in NTRZ at $2.80. […]

Continue Reading Moving further to the short side on the Fed’s no decision

Aug

3

More rebalancing–Taking profits on CHCG, shorting KFED

August 3, 2007 | 1 Comment

In light of the current market weakness, I decided to take more off the table and close my position in CHCG at $6.47. This has been one of my better performers, and certainly has the ability to move back to old highs, but with the market firmly slanting to the downside, I thought it best to book profits and take a wait and see approach.

I have also decided to take out a small short position in KFED at $13.13. […]

Continue Reading More rebalancing–Taking profits on CHCG, shorting KFED