Tag Archive for 'QQQQ'

Historic Bullsh!t

Published on August 4, 2011, 9:03 pm in Trading. Closed Tags: , , , , , .

Yes it was the worse day for the markets since December 2008! Just look at some of those numbers for just the 4 days of this week: Energy and Transportation down 10%; Russell down 9%; Banks down 8%; Semis down 7%…just ugly! Get a perspective here at A look at the Dow’s worst drops since 1900.

The VIX finally perked up with a 35% pop today and ES volume was enormous, relatively speaking with over 5 million ES contracts traded. Haven’t seen that since…well I don’t know when…but it’s been a long time!

And did you see the NYSE Advance/Decline volume? …-84:1 WOW! I guess traders aren’t going on vacation…they’re lurking!!

Happy Monday

Published on June 27, 2011, 11:20 pm in Trading. Closed Tags: , , .

I sure hope we haven’t used up all the summer rally in just one day. A nice up day on Monday usually looks for a nice down day on Tuesday. But do we really have to?

Took profits on some QQQ Jul 54 calls, then just sat on my hands.

ES futures sitting in a narrow 3 point range so far, but we have the whole night before us.

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

Merger Monday!

Published on March 21, 2011, 9:29 pm in Trading. Closed Tags: , , , .

Even though Japan is still a disaster area and the Mideast is still in turmoil, merger mania took centerstage today….T acquires T-Mobile and SCHW goes for OPXS, 2 pretty big mergers.

Even though Japan is still a disaster area and the Mideast is still in turmoil, merger mania took centerstage today….T acquires T-Mobile and SCHW goes for OPXS, 2 pretty big mergers.

Markets closed off the highs but did keep most of the morning move up. Cashed out on IWM and QQQQ calls, and will now wait and see what happens. I do have some calls in C and F….and looking to get some TBT.

Looking for a down move going into Friday’s GDP report, but looking at that as an opportunity to load up on long positions.

So far this evening, futures are moving down but would like to see a gap up in the morning. We’ll see how the rest of the world sees our move on Monday. Good luck and happy trading.

News-driven

Published on March 16, 2011, 9:30 pm in Trading. Closed Tags: , , , .

Technical analysis didn’t matter much today…it was an unbelievably news-driven day….difficult day to trade. The VIX was up 30% during the day, topping 31.28 which we haven’t seen since last summer.

We also had the highest TRIN close this year at 3.10 and way oversold. TRIN close over 2.0 results in bounce next day 9 times out of 10. No bounce? Market in trouble. It’s worked the last several times it closed above 2. In anticipation, I entered some QQQQ calls.

We have the biggest economic news day of the week on Thursday with Jobless Claims, CPI, Industrial Production, Leading Indicators andPhilly Fed report…..and any news report that has the word “nuclear” in it!

“When you’re up to your ass in alligators, it is hard to remember that your original intention is to drain the swamp”

As noted…

Published on March 3, 2011, 9:14 pm in Trading. Closed Tags: , , , , .

Today’s up volume did not compare to Tuesday’s down volume….about 2/3rds…so bears are still on the prowl. I’m looking, like many traders, to test the recent highs and then look for more correction moves.

So I did start to accumulate some QQQ puts and SDS calls, a little bit of TBT….mostly to protect some longs in a few regional banks like HCBK and ZION, plus some C and F.

And if you’re an F holder waiting for this correction to be over, Ford Accounting Move May Add $13B to Profit, Expert Says. Sounds like good news!

We’ve got two weeks until March expiration. Next week will begin the rollover in futures contracts from March to June, or ‘H’ to ‘M’…. So volatility should continue to pick up.

The TRIN indicator worked its magic today as it predicted this bounce today. Isn’t it great when an indicator does what it said it should do? 8O

“A federal watchdog agency says that overlapping and duplicate programs waste billions of dollars each year. Congress is taking this study so seriously that they’re ordering a second study to look into it.”
– Jay Leno

Is it time to buy?

Published on February 23, 2011, 10:41 pm in Trading. Closed Tags: , , , .

Indexes had their biggest two day drop since last summer….which puts us in official correction territory, small but still a correction. I took profits on the majority of my remaining short positions and added a few long positions: C QQQQ and F, and those may be gone by the open on Thursday.

Jobless claims, Durable goods and New Home sales, along with Gas and Oil Inventories should make for an eventful morning. There’s also a lot of Treasuries on sale tomorrow as well. The volatility makes for a good short-term traders market. :)

You never need to chase a trade. The market has plenty of opportunities. The money runs out before the opportunities do. –John Saleeby

Another mixed up crazy day

Published on January 6, 2011, 9:39 pm in Opinions and Trading. Closed Tags: , , , , , .

Except for my shorts on Nasdaq-related issues like QID and QQQQ puts, it was a good day to be short! And the big big winners were the rare-earth related shorts in REE and MCP. I was so giddy, I even wanted to sell my 1970 Rare Earth album…. I Just Want to Celebrate.

Retail sales reports were not as good as expected and started the move down. Then Jobless Claims popped a bit helping to increase the downward pressure. But the techs were not following, keeping the Qs and Nasdaq futures in the green. Just another mixed up crazy day.

Friday we have Non-farm Payroll reports. And the talk all day is that it may be a blowout good number, maybe even 500K jobs in the private sector! With any news, it doesn’t matter if it’s good or bad. it’s a matter of how the market reacts to it that counts. And that’s what worries me…the market being disappointed, even on relatively good numbers. Be afraid, be very afraid! 8O

Cut ‘n Paste

Published on December 14, 2010, 9:29 pm in Trading. Closed Tags: , , , .

That’s what the Fed did on the FOMC rate decision…just copied it from the last meeting. That made for the most uneventful FOMC day! Usually there is wild swings, but it just sat there. Then when traders finally realized the Fed is still saying the economy stinks, everyone started selling. But that only brought the markets back to unchanged for the day.

Shorts are still working for me…a little short SPY, a little IWM via puts, and some short on the Qs via QID. Get in and get out, back in and back out….like a revolving door. If I was really talented I would go back and forth long and short, but I’m still looking for a bigger correction than a midday selloff. Maybe that’s about to start.

Remember, after Monday and Tuesday even the calendar says W T F . . .

Good Day

Published on December 1, 2010, 9:14 pm in Trading. Closed Tags: , , .

Oh what a beautiful day! Sure I was looking for an up day, but nothing like this. Finally my thinking and the market were in sync….and that makes for big profits! The QQQ calls were the big winners but XLF and NOK did themselves proud also. I also added C and BAC to the list. Go financials!

The first of the month has been green for 10 out of 12 months in 2010. Good news today from the U.S. and abroad got the juices flowing early…and they never looked back! Some consolidation or a small pullback would not be surprising at all and give us an opportunity to reload the longs for a nice move up into 2011.

This is amusing….Buy the fuckin’ dip you fuckin’ idiot!