-Executive Summary-

• News of Osama Bin Laden’s death buoyed the markets for a little while, but sellers emerged to take the markets down a bit from their highs today.  Under normal conditions – today would be a typical sign of a downside reversal – 1. New highs achieved in the morning 2. Sell-off on increasing volume in the afternoon  3. After an extended rally  4. On what normally would be excellent news for the market to move higher.  What keeps things uncertain is a lack of overall volume today.
• At the Stock Market Companion we initiated a 2x SHORT on silver today using a product that can be purchased in IRA’s and regular trading accounts.  See more below.
  At the SMC, we wouldn’t purchase any more shares in this Ultra-Short ETF (Ticker: ZSL) much above $15.75/share.  Our stop is below $12.80/share.
• Here is a video interview of a father and son using the Stock Market Companion successfully together – as a teaching and investing tool.
  

– Stock Market Companion – Current Holdings –

Nr.	Co.	Ticker	Action	Entry Date	Current Gain (Loss)
1	Nexxus Lighting	NEXS	Miniscule Holding	3/18/2011	-24%
2	Dell Inc.	DELL	Holding	3/21/2011	+3%
3	Ford Motor Co.	F	Holding	4/1/2011	-2%
4	Cisco Systems, Inc.	CSCO	Holding	4/25/2011	+4%
5	Proshares Ultra-Short Silver ETF	ZSL	Purchased Today	5/2/2011	+7%

If the above “Current Holdings” table is empty it means that we are not holding ANY stocks at this time and that we are therefore 100% in cash.

– Markets “At a Glance” –

(Please scroll down to the end of the report to see your favorite benchmarks – Dollar, Oil, Gold … closing prices and daily direction.)

Market	Price (Today’s Close)	Unit of Measure	Today’s Direction
SP-500	1,361.22	Index	Flat = -2.39 points
DOW-30	12,807.36	Index	Flat = -3.18 points
NASDAQ	2,864.08	Index	Down =-9.46 points
NASDAQ 100	2,404.24	Index	Flat = +.16 points

– Market Trends –

Trend	SP-500	DJ-30	NASDAQ	NASDAQ 100
Short Term	Flat	Flat	Flat	Flat
Intermediate	UP	UP	UP	UP
Long Term	Lateral	Lateral	Lateral	Lateral

*Summary of terms from Trader Vic II-Principles of Professional Speculation (pg. 140-141)
*_________* Represents a change in trend rating.

– Market Perspectives –

For your added perspective, we’ve included this chart of the broader market (Successful stock investors develop and start with a minds-eye view of the broader market and keep it clear) –

1. SMC SP-500 ETF Daily Chart (Click to open helpful chart in a separate browser window).

– Today’s Highlights –

This morning, the markets responded with enthusiasm to the surprise news that Osama Bin Laden had been killed.  That enthusiasm however was not sustained throughout the day, as the volume of shares traded lagged and sellers emerged to take their profits on stocks that are at multi-year highs.  The markets would have responded completely different in 2002 through 2007 to this news about Osama Bin Laden’s removal.  Now, we have the markets already having advanced a long way without a retracement and a there is a certain “buyer-fatigue” entering into the marketplace.

Shares of stocks like Caterpillar, Inc. (Ticker: CAT $114.37), Apple, Inc. (AAPL $346.28) and others that have reached higher over the last weeks were sold-off today.

With the markets reaching ever higher on positive earnings news and the simple fact that there are few other investments that have been working favorably, buyers are showing at least a little reluctance to step out and make purchases at current prices.

While market investors have to a large extent not rewarded growth stories like Apple, Inc. the benefit of high price / earnings ratios, firms with strong balance sheets were again out shopping today for companies to purchase.  International Coal Group, Inc. (Ticker: ICO) was courted today for purchase by Arch Coal (Ticker: ACI), at an approx. +31% premium to its closing price on Friday.   We have been writing for over a year about companies showing a willingness to pay a strong premium to market prices for companies that will benefit their market share or advance their businesses in some manner.  Today’s acquisition of ICO is another clear example of this phenomenon.

For the moment, the markets “stalled-out” today – which could spell the beginning of an overall retracement.   That said, there have been countless short-sellers thrown under the bus by this market over the past two years – as the rally has pressed ever higher.

– Story-Stock Investing –

Hi-ho SILVER Away (click here for a Youtube video of the Classic Lone Ranger Theme Song)…   Silver has advanced to nearly $50/ounce from  approx. $17/ounce in August.  That’s a very strong move in a relatively short period of time.  Here’s the math to calculate this advance … (50-17)/17*100 = +194% move!

Over the last week or two we have made occasional mention of the Proshares Ultrashort Silver ETF (Ticker: ZSL) as a possible investment for us to capture a retracement (pull-back) in the price of silver.  Today we “pulled the trigger” and sent out this SMC Intra-Day Alert –

Dear Subscriber-Friend –

Good afternoon.  At the Stock Market Companion we’ve proceeded to purchase shares of the Proshares Ultra-Short Silver ETF – Ticker: “ZSL”

We purchased it just like we purchase any stock and are putting our stop down at around $12.50/share.  Our entry was $14.92/share.  We would consider purchasing more up to approx. $15.75/share.

This is a bit more speculative purchase than what we normally make, and have adjusted our share counts accordingly.

For your protection and our own, we would like to remind everyone that this is not an investment recommendation for any particular individual.  We cannot possibly know the risk tolerance and investment suitability of such investments for any particular subscriber. Successful investors know their own objectives, purposes, and risks associated with any investment – whether in real estate, stocks, or other investments.  Each investor is on their own.

We are simply reporting the SMC actions in the market place.

Last week we reported at length how Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke shook things up with a very transparent view of the markets from the Federal Reserve’s point of view.   Many SMC subscribers share differing views of the role, function, and need for a U.S. Central Bank.  That said, we believe that Mr. Bernanke’s open comments could spell at least a pause in the endless advance of precious metals as the buzz of runaway inflation is – for the time being – perhaps reduced.  This may be what we are seeing in the precious metal space today.  As such, we are willing to step out and pick up the Proshares Ultra-Short Silver ETF which moves higher by a factor of 2x, when the price of the metal falls.  This ETF will also plummet the same 2x factor when the price of silver rises.  Such an investment tool is useful when attempting to take advantage of possibly unsustainable  vertical moves in a commodity or market.  There are many such Pro-shares Ultra-Short ETF’s for various markets or commodities.  Of course there valid concerns about how such instruments move over an intermediate period of time and how they are not able to maintain an exact 2x performance.  But for short / intermediate time frames, these instruments are suitable for our purposes.

At the Stock Market Companion we do not and cannot give individual investment advice. According to the State of Washington RCW 21.20.005 the Stock Market Companion is not a Registered Financial Advisor and we do not render any advice on the basis of the specific investment situation of a particular individual. This information is for a wide readership and is not intended for any particular individual,  and under no circumstances should our Market Update or Watchlist be considered an investment recommendation or plan for any specific individual.  By accessing this material, you agree that the Stock Market Companion will not be held liable for any actions taken by a subscriber or other parties.  Please seek the council of a broker or other licensed investment professional for accurate pricing and concerning the suitability of all investments that you may be considering. Disclosure : You understand that the Stock Market Companion holds positions in the above mentioned securities.  Based on market related or personal events these positions may change without notice.

– Stock Market Companion – Performance –

Please click on this chart to see the Stock Market Companion 15MinuteStocks stock performance versus the SP-500.  It will open in a separate browser window.
* Gains (losses) do not include brokerage fees.   Our returns are very strong … BUT …  WE have to remind everyone just like all other financial sites in America – Past Performance is No Guarantee of Future Returns.  Unlike others however, our objective is to teach you to be able to make these types of strong returns On Your Own.

All of the investments – stocks, entries, and exits are listed on our Stock Market Companion Watchlist at the bottom of the spreadsheet, in the section labelled Former Holdings.

– Benchmarks “At a Glance” –

US Dollar	1.4791 USD = 1 Euro	USD / EUR	Dollar = UP a bit off this morning’s multi-year lows.
Gold	$1,541.70	Ounce	Gold = Down from this morning’s highs.
Oil	$112.82	Barrel (West Texas Crude)	Oil = Flat
30 Yr. Fixed Mortgage	4.85%	Percent	Flat
10 Yr. Bond Yield	3.286	Percent	Down
1 Yr. CD	1.16	Percent	Flat

Data Source : Financial Visualizations Inc.

Signing-Off for Today,

Your -Stock Market Companion

** Stock Market Companion Disclaimer **

The Stock Market Companion (SMC) Market Update and Watchlist are published documents to subscribers that show how we (SMC) are viewing the markets and what we are watching, investing in or selling today.  This information is for a wide readership and is not intended for any particular individual,  and under no circumstances should this Market Update or Watchlist be considered an investment recommendation or plan for any specific individual.  By accessing this material, you agree that the Stock Market Companion will not be held liable for any actions taken by a subscriber or other parties.  You understand that the Stock Market Companion holds positions in the above mentioned securities.  Based on market related or personal events these positions may change without notice.

Furthermore, the Stock Market Companion, Inc. is a content provider and publisher and not a registered broker-dealer or licensed investment professional.  Our intent is to publish very accurate market information for an audience of subscribers (1000+ subscribers).  By accessing the Stock Market Companion website and/or using the Stock Market Companion products and services such as this Market Update and accompanying Watchlist, you understand and agree that the material provided in the Stock Market Companion products and services is for informational and educational purposes only, and that no mention of a particular security in a Stock Market Companion product or service constitutes a recommendation to buy, sell, or hold that or any other security, or that any particular security, portfolio of securities, transaction or investment strategy is suitable for any specific person.  To the extent any of the information contained in any Stock Market Companion product or service may be deemed to be investment advice, such information is impersonal and not tailored to the investment needs of any specific person.  Before selling or buying any stock or other investment you should consult with a qualified broker or other financial professional to verify pricing information and to solicit advice as to the appropriateness of a given transaction or investment.