Monthly Archive for May, 2011

Boy oh boy

Published on May 31, 2011, 9:12 pm in Trading. Closed Tags: , , , , .

What a wonderful start to the summer! It is a seasonally strong time. According to the Stock Trader’s Almanac, Today, the day after Memorial Day, Dow has been up 8 of last 11…so the win streak continues. Tomorrow, first trading day of June, Dow up 10 of last 12. Let’s see if that continues also!

Sold out of QQQ this afternoon, but decided to hold on to SPY. Although I’ve got some winners, TBT is still a loser for me. Looks like low interest rates might be a catalyst for the next bull run.

And what’s going on with oil? You would think with the economy taking a double-dip that oil demand would decrease…but no! Still working its way up.

“Al Qaeda has been plotting attacks against oil tankers and refineries for years. Thank goodness that never happened. The price of gas would have skyrocketed.” — Jay Leno

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DX done?

Published on May 30, 2011, 9:17 pm in Trading. Closed Tags: , .

The US dollar was having a tough time while the US markets were closed….on the other hand the S&P futures sure are having fun. It’s Monday evening and ES is reaching a new high of the session. Sure we’ve got a lot of time before the cash open, but a trader can dream, can’t he?

Hope everyone had a fun long weekend…and thanked the servicemen and women in their families and circle of friends. All rested and time for a trade.

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Weekend Reading 5/28/11

Published on May 28, 2011, 8:33 pm in reading. Closed

“A new Facebook app is coming out that will remind users exactly what they were doing a year ago from that day. Nine times out of 10, the answer will be ‘wasting your time on Facebook.’” — Conan O’Brien

Do ya think? Sanders demands that commission curb oil speculation.

This used to be the “only” way….Does ‘Dollar Cost Averaging’ make sense as an investment strategy?

You got to start someplace….The Nine Ways to Guarantee Success.

They just wanted to get ahead! PayPal lawsuit alleges Google stole trade secrets.

No corn this weekend! Memorial Day barbeque costs a LOT more than last year!

“A new study found that cleaning your house can increase stress. Yeah, but so can hiring someone else to do it for you — just ask Maria Shriver.” — Jimmy Fallon

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Don’t short a dull market

Published on May 26, 2011, 9:37 pm in Trading. Closed Tags: , .

Another perfect example of the old adage! A small gap down and then just hanging around breakeven for a couple of hours. But the indexes started a steady up move.

Around ES 1324 it was very tempting to short….and I did for a point….got out quickly, that was enough. The bulls would not be denied today. And volume was the highest this week! Not by much but still about 5% above the rest of the week. A/D volumes were above +3:1 and A/D issues were greater than +2:1….pretty nice.

Wonder if any traders are taking off early for the long weekend?

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Rest in Peace

Published on May 25, 2011, 10:14 pm in Opinions and Trading. Closed Tags: , , , .

Mark Haines dies at age 65. Prayers to him and his family. The world responded as when any icon passes away. I’ve watched him for may many years….about 15. It really is a personal loss for many viewers.

The markets started negative but were able recover to stop from having 4 negative days in a row. Looking a lot like a short term bounce here. Markets usually have a positive bent leading up to a patriotic holiday. Since this is the first summer holiday, I think volume should go downhill from here. ES traded 2.1 million contracts today.

We have GDP and Jobless Claims reports on Thrusday which may just set a tone for the market. Pending Home Sales and Personal Income and Spending on Friday….with really low volume. Futures are up, so far, this evening.

We have met the enemy, and they are us. –Pogo

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Forever Young

Published on May 24, 2011, 9:19 pm in Trading. Closed Tags: , .

Well the market sure seems old, but I thought since it was Bob Dylan’s birthday I would play one of his remarkable songs….Forever Young. Yes he has an incredible repertoire, but this one always stuck with me.

So I listened to Dylan songs today because the market did nothing….on low volume…. ho hum. All the indexes closed on their lows…and continued after hours to move down.Futures this eveing are also moving down. ES should see 1300 overnight, maybe 1290. And if it does, I’m expecting buyers to step in for some bargains.

Me…I’m sitting in cash…mostly. I’ve still got some losers in banking and interest rates. Financials did seem to pick up in the afternoon, so this may be interesting.

No news today, no news tomorrow. Maybe it’s time to start the holiday weekend?

A new USA TODAY/Gallup Poll finds that as gas prices hover near $4 a gallon, nearly eight in ten Americans say the high cost of fuel is causing financial hardship for their families. The other 20% own oil company stock. — DailyComedy.com

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Monday, Monday

Published on May 23, 2011, 10:56 pm in Trading. Closed Tags: , , .

Monday Monday, can’t trust that day. News was slow in the US but the news from Europe started the downward trend early and was reinforced with the Italy downgrade later in the day. The dollar went up, everything else went down…except for bonds of course. Advance/Decline volume was way down at -9:1

Dick Arms, the creator of The Arms Index, also known as TRIN, says: a TRIN close over 2.0 results in bounce next day 9 times out of 10. No bounce? Market in trouble. The TRIN closed at 2.23 today. We’ll see how this works out on Tuesday.

Signing off before the thunderstorm knocks me out!

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Got that out of the way

Published on May 22, 2011, 10:03 pm in Trading. Closed

May options expiration is finally over, so maybe now we can get some normalcy back in. XLF really took a beating on Friday along with the associated banks and financials. The US Dollar was strong and gold found itself back over 1500.

We got a week heading into a long weekend, so we may see volume start to deteriorate as traders start that weekend early. On the other hand, low volume wouldn’t be anything different than the last year!

We’ve got GDP reports coming from several countries this week, including the US. Otherwise, not much news. Futures down this evening. Guess I’ll go and get some sleep. Happy trading!

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Weekend Reading 5/21/11

Published on May 21, 2011, 8:46 am in reading. Closed

“A lot of people are worried about the safety of America’s nuclear power plants. It’s important to remember that we’ve never had a full meltdown. We came close with Charlie Sheen, though.”– Jay Leno

Technology…can’t live with it, can’t live without it! SEC probes electronic platform failures.

Might as well know why. 50 Things Every American Should Know About The Collapse Of The Economy.

Uh oh! Signs Mount That Bull Run Is Ending.

Aw c’mon, really? Long View: Historian sees S&P fall to 400.

GS vs. DX –>Uh-oh. Will Goldman kill the dollar too?

Is stupid a good reason? Why People Buy Stock in Bankrupt Companies.

Need a good revolving door? Sears CFO quits.

Let’s bet on death! Death Derivatives: Has Wall Street Finally Gone Too Far?

“The United States has hit the debt ceiling. Do you know what that means? Neither do I. I do think it would be wise for all of us to learn to speak Chinese.” –David Letterman

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Party like it’s 1999!

Published on May 19, 2011, 9:03 pm in Trading. Closed

Modest gains on a bit heavier volume than yesterday, but still light. Jobs news was good but housing, leading indicators and the Philly Fed survey sucked. With the mixed news the markets were uneventful.

If you were around in 1999, you probably were experiencing flashbacks as LNKD flew up 110% from its IPO. All we needed was a sock puppet to make it real :D    Top 10 dot-com flops if you don’t have first hand knowledge of the big tech bubble burst.

According to the Stock Trader’s Almanac, on May Expiration Day, the Dow has been down 12 of the last 20, with an avergae loss of 0.2%. With no Eco news on Friday, the markets are free to meander. Just remember…it is optiones expiration. Good luck and happy trading!

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