Waiting was not the right move

I had been waiting to get back in under the premise that the market would not like the Fed's statements. They loved the Fed's sttaements yesterday

So lets focus on earnings season, which is getting ready to start.
What do I see? Strictly fundamental plays. Back to basics - who is growing and has an undervalued price relative to their PEG.
OIL RELATED
We have ATW & ESV. I'd like to add DO, MDR & GRP
HAL reported a slowdown in drilling in the US and Canada, but that is to be expected because of low natural gas prices. This in turn was tied to a warm winter and low demand for heating. Going forward, the US is setting itself up for a fall. NG supply is being cut as demand drops - rigs for pumping are leaving the Gulf of Mexico in droves. Next winter, supply shortfalls can be expected.

HIGH TECH
NUAN & UCTT - I stil think that they ar eboth cheap (they were cheaper but oh well...)
TRID still hasn't filed paperwork and they are theoretically destined for de-listing April 2. I just don't understand

OTHER
PCP - Don't get me started. I expect a split and that will add 10%.
DIGE - I like them at thi slow price
PWR - Let's return
KSU - Let's return
AMX - Let's return

Oil rigs being bought

Todco (THE) is being bought out for ~15% premium.
I've mentioned the inevitable merger among these drillers. (I was disappointed in DO because it withdrew itself from being both a target and a hunter.)

This creates a tasty bounce in the price premiums for these companies. There will be others

AMD - What is wrong

We discussed AMD at our last monthly meeting and I was very against it. I had heard rumors of a major cash problem at AMD.

Not long ago, Intel was running scared of AMD and now AMD is nearing disaster. What happened?
Three things, really:
1. Victims of their own Success: In beating Intel, AMD woke the sleeping giant. Intel slashed prices and AMD had to follow suit. This led to less cash
2. Purchase of ATI - Buying this graphics chip company was probably a savvy move, but it cost money. Meanwhile, th ebenefits are still a ways off.
3. Flash memory prices dropped

In other words, AMD is losing money. Their last quarter had negative earnings. Their cash position is: $3.8B debt and $1.5B cash. They sold $5.8B last year, but that figure will drop (due to price drops in their product lines).

AMD is not going away, but they are in a crisis mode. Watch them continue to crash and then become worth buying.

Blog update: weekly results, the week ahead, and AMD

I was slammed this weekend and did not do my stock homework.
Basically, I have been holding off because I firmly believe the storm isn't entirely over (aka I'm being greedy again and want to buy some stocks cheap).

I really think that the financial markets are not prepared for the reality I keep repeating: interest rates expectations won't be met. The Chinese Bank is raising their rates, as have every other major Asian and European country. That plus reported strong inflationary pressures will prevent Ben B from dropping interest rates this week.

On top of that, China and other countries are quietly admitting that they are no longer really buying dollars going forward. An interest drop by the US Fed will hasten their exit from the dollar.

The markets want a rate drop and it won't happen.

Worse, I think the depth of the mortgage industry collapse is about to be revealed. They have done an excellent job of hiding it for the past 12 months, but they can't get away any longer.

Meanwhile, oil equipment and service companies continue to rake in the cash.