Finally added some information on my new trading computer. Look under the “Tools” section. I’ve provided links to detailed information from the manufacturers of all the ingredients….I guess Parts List would be the correct way to describe them. There’s also some pictures. Any questions? Just ask!
Monthly Archive for October, 2010
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The bulls came back today, but not in such great numbers as there were bears yesterday. The Fed’s Beige Book really did not confirm or deny another quantitative easing, but it looks like traders are set in their thinking that it is coming.
It doesn’t look like earnings are neither helping or hurting the markets. It’s all about the dollar$.
On Thursday we get unemployment claims, the Philadelphia Fed Survey and Leading indicators.
It’s not just a catchy trader’s blurb….”Buy the rumor, sell the news” is a real thing. You see, if everyone buys in anticipation of good news, much like AAPL and IBM, there’s no one left to buy when the good news hits….as in yesterday’s earnings reports. So if no one is buying, they must be selling…and they did, not only in AAPL and IBM, but the indexes in general.
It was a big down day, but the markets closed well off their lows. Was this a fluke or do we need to stretch those downside legs? I’m still banking on more downside. I question though…how much more and how soon? A lot will depend on our US dollar…maybe catching a bid and showing some strength.
Still in QQQQ puts, VXX calls and QID. I also picked up some FXI puts, thinking that China may not like that rise in interest rates they got today….which by the way may also help our dollar.
Thanks for reading and good luck tomorrow!
Yes, it’s been 23 years ago that the market crashed….with the Dow down almost 23% in one day! I wasn’t trading back then, but I do remember listening to news breaks on the radio that was playing in the office. Of course I was working in northern New Jersey at the time and living among many Wall Street types, so the news may have hit harder there than on Main Street.
Traders with AAPL or IBM may have thought another crash was going on afterhours today when they reported earnings. AAPL took a $20 dive while IBM went down 5 bucks. This of course helped push my short market positions via QID and VXX back into the green. I’ll have to wait until the market opens to see how well the options are affected! They were all green when the market opened and for the first hour. But then it started to get messy and that slow grind up whittled away that profit feeling.
Futures are looking a bit down this evening…but they were also down yesterday evening. Volume sucked again on Monday…about 35% below average. So, do we get a turnaround Tuesday 
Well my October puts didn’t do so well by expiration day so I rolled them into November….QQQQ and VXX….and I’ve still got some FXI puts from way back. So I guess I wasn’t wrong, just early! 
GOOG brought the Q’s up big on Friday…helped along with AMZN and AAPL. But besides these big caps, the smaller techs really didn’t do so good. And if the rest of the market isn’t so happy, we may be just experiencing a bit of that irrational exhuberence. Tomorrow’s reports from AAPL as well as IBM will give us a hint.
S&P futures are down this evening as the US dollar shows some strength….short futures so far so good and puts looking good too. Let’s see what morning brings.
Finally getting back to “normal” with my computer. Now to document it all so I can remember what I did. 
Here’s some interesting reading until then….
Goldman No. 1 at Rating Financial Companies With 38% Right. Just like baseball, if you’re batting .300 you’re good!
Stick With “What’s Working” and Don’t Fight the Fed.
Trade rain! CME to start trading new rainfall contracts Nov. 1.
Hold on to your underwear…Flashback to 1870 as Cotton Hits Peak.
Can it get worse? Five Ways More Fed Easing Could Make Things Worse
Bernanke Weighs Risks of New Action. Will he figure it out?
“There’s a fine line between a genius and an idiot… One has to buy, the other has to sell… which one are you?”
All the action today was after the market closed when GOOG came out with a blowout earnings report. GOOG popped $50 and brought up all the index futures and the Q’s. So, how will the market react overnight and tomorrow, options expiration Friday?
After the indexes dumped most of the day, it was another bull stampede in the last hour…maybe in anticipation of those GOOG earnings. Just 2 stocks, C and BAC, comprised almost a quarter of the total market volume….which was back up to average, or as it is now known as a big volume day!
Expect a few shennanigans on opex. Futures at this time of the evening are alreadya bit under the weather…but we still have 12 hours before the US markets open. Speaking of US, maybe someone will decide to support the US dollar. Boy, is it ever stuck in the mud…but low dollar means high stocks and gold and oil and just about everything. So don’t be surprised when all those foreign imports start costing more.
I’ll leave on a light note from David Letterman:
“Bo, the White House dog, turns 2 years old today. Do you know the difference between Bo and the economy? Obama has fixed the dog.”
Heehee!
The sun rose this morning … INTC did what it always does…drop after earnings. AAPL held on to 300 barely, and I added to my short positions via SDS QID and VXX … so it was a slow day. I also took profits on C calls and DRYS calls I’ve been holding for months.
So why did the markets go up today? INTC had a good report…but INTC didn’t go up. JPM had a good report…but JPM did not go up. I guess it must be AAPL…as goes AAPL so goes the market? I did see a report today that AAPL’s weighting is two-thirds of the QQQQ. The markets were cut in half from the highs today…so does that mean something? I’m not sure, but I am now net short and will continue to take profits in the longs that I have remaining…if they show themselves.
Now that AAPL hit 300 I guess all the people on CNBC will be pumping $400 for a while. Of course it looks like it went down to $298 after hours. Speaking of which, the US Dollar continues to tank and Index futures are moving up this evening. Gold continues its trek to $1400 and the grains are moving up also.
I’m starting to feel queasy about this market….irrational exhuberence comes to mind. If all these companies are doing so well, why is the economy still in the gutter? There’s a correction coming, I just don’t know if it’s sooner or later.
We rolled down hard and then ground up click by click on Tuesday. Although I would have rather stayed down, but I had enough time to cash out on the shorts purchased on Monday. Then with that move up I reentered the same shorts at an even lower price.
Unfortunately, that deal is not working out this morning…yet! Futures are up big Wednesday morning, as good reports from INTC CSX and JPM injects some euphoria into the marketplace. INTC ‘s history shows that it likes to pop ‘n drop on its earnings…and JPM took money out of its reserves to make the beat. I still can’t get my head around this irrational exhuberence on QE2. Doesn’t printing more money just mean that the economy still sucks?
I’ll probably add onto my short positions as the market pops and look for a drop into options expiration Friday or the morning after. QID VXX SDS
Congratulations AAPL for breaking the $300 barrier this morning!
Gee, were the markets open today? Not many trades…SPY and ES trading was less than half the average volume. Ugh! Makes for a boring day. But I was busy loading Tradestation and Infinity on the new machine. Tomorrow I start trading with it…I’m excited. Plus I can give my backup PC a breather.
The Beige book comes out tomorrow is all the news, but INTC reports after the close. Futures this evening are under the weather, which is just fine with me.
I did make some trades today, buying some November VXX calls and a position in QID….yes, I’m looking for some pullback here.
Sometimes, entranced by the screens, watching equities, options and futures change colors, charts moving in a wave, and indicators pointing in every direction, I just have to scream....
