Three Companies in the News

Whether I have tipped my hand in the past or not, I am an avid equities trader, usually focusing on short-term trades (one week to three months). One of the classic rules of trading (hat tip to my friend RF over at Trade 24/7) is to “buy the dips and sell the rips.” Well right now there are three companies in the news and they are all dipping hard.

Goldman Sachs (GS) was hit by the initial SEC bombshell last week and then the Manhattan U.S. Attorney’s office got in to the act after-hours yesterday with bombshell #2. As of right now, it looks like Goldman has bounced off their intra-day low of 144.44 as it now sits at 146.73. Two weeks ago, Goldman was at 185.

The other two companies in the news are the offshore drilling giant Transocean (RIG), and British Petroleum (BP) — the two “public enemies” in the oil rig explosion/oil spill debacle that has been playing out in the Gulf of Mexico over the last week. Transocean shares were torn to shreds this morning but have rebounded a bit this afternoon trading at 73 (they were at 90 last Friday). The market has been a touch kinder to BP, as their shares are off only 10% in the last week. Transocean’s more dramatic price dip is is due mostly to the fact that the company has WAY more exposure (as compared to large diversified oil giant BP) to potential political and legal crackdowns on offshore drilling. President Obama has already announced the U.S. will halt all new offshore drilling until the Gulf debacle is fully investigated.

Keep a close eye on these three companies in the next few weeks. Obviously there is a ton of uncertainty, so tread carefully, but oftentimes a lot of money can be made in these types of situations. Please note that the views expressed in this post are my own personal views, and that I am not recommending a buy or sell on any of these stocks, just trying to draw your attention to them. Charts are below.