Big down, big up ... now what?

Just a list of possibilities to keep my fried brains in line for tomorrow's market.

a. Buy more BIDU (345) before Thursday's earnings report.
b. Buy more RIMM (120), which ran wild on China distribution news to 128 before pulling back.
c. Buy more AAPL (183) after big earnings gain run-up.
d. Buy more VMW (107) before tomorrow's earnings report.
e. Buy more CROX (67) while the price is fairly low.
f. Buy more NTDOY (70) while the price is fairly low and holiday season nears.
g. Buy GOOG (670) for the first time.
h. Buy ISRG (300) for the first time.
i. Buy more STV (40).
j. Do nothing and just wait.

Best move is no move. We had a big selloff on Friday and part of Monday, then a major reversal part of Monday and today. Nothing is cheap, but CROX and NTDOY aren't priced too high. Waiting will also give me time to do some homework. Longtop Financial (LFT) looks a bit interesting; the IPO is on tomorrow.

IPO Home: Longtop Financial Technologies (LFT)

China Digital TV (STV) seems to ride (or drag) on the coattails of Baidu. Without any earnings report in the near term, I don't know if STV will sustain its recent gains after Baidu announces on Thursday. If Baidu does not blow out estimates, the entire China sector could dip (with the exception of energy/oil stocks).

And this: Is there really anything to the notion that blockbuster earnings are announced early in the week for full effect, while weak earnings are held back to the end of the week to minimize investor backlash? My gut says Baidu will report another strong quarter, and CEO Robin Li is one of the best. But the time to get more Baidu was on Friday, and I chose VMware instead.

First taste of VMware

Tough decision, not so much whether to sell, hold or buy. More like, which one to buy: AAPL, VMW or BIDU. All three report Q3 earnings next week. I went with VMW.

1. Down 15% from its high of 114.
2. No serious competition in its field.
3. Global PC explosion.
4. Still a new stock (IPO was in August) that will gather accelerating coverage and institutional buying.

Entry point VMW @ 97.66. VMware reports on Wednesday. The market could continue declining next week, but VMW is a cash cow. So is AAPL, but VMW is the bigger grower short term. I love all the fundamentals, the margins, the numbers period.

From Q2
• Margins: profit 13%, operating 16%
• Growth: quarterly revenue (yoy) 89%, quarterly earnings (yoy) 125%

Debt ($800 million) outweighs Cash ($280 million), the only negative, and the only reason why I have VMware rated an A- stock rather than an A. I'm willing to pay (with a small position) for early entry into a great growth company.