The HPQ long is gapping down on the following news today. As per my typical strategy when caught on the wrong side of an unforeseen gap, I will usually wait a couple of minutes after the open in order to let any opening order imbalances settle down and then place a stop just below the lows (for longs or just below the highs on shorts). If the stock continues lower, then I get take out basically around where I would have at the open had I left a standing GTC stop-loss order in place, which would have been a 100% guaranteed loss. However, opening gaps are often quickly reversed and with the stock erasing a lot of those losses.
November 20, 2012 — 9:00 a.m. EST
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H-P Posts $8.8 Billion Charge on Autonomy
Hewlett-Packard Co. leveled serious accusations Tuesday against a software company it bought last year, saying it would take a $8.8 billion write-down after it claimed Autonomy’s leadership misrepresented its performance as the deal was being negotiated.
H-P, of Palo Alto, Calif., said it was writing down a vast majority of Autonomy, a software company it acquired last year for more than $10 billion, due to “serious accounting improprieties, disclosure failures and outright misrepresentations” at Autonomy that occurred prior to H-P’s acquisition of the firm. The non-cash write down amounted to $8.8 billion, H-P said, which included recent drops in H-P’s stock.
The comments shine a harsh new light on the deal, which angered investors and contributed to the technology giant’s decision to oust former Chief Executive Leo Apotheker last September.
source: Wall Street Journal