Tag Archive for 'reading'

Long Weekend Reading 9/4/10

Published on September 4, 2010, 9:13 am in Opinions and reading. 0 Comments Tags: .

“President Obama said he can’t walk around with his birth certificate plastered on his forehead. Apparently he was reacting to new polls that show 1 in 5 Kenyans now believe he was born in Hawaii.” – Jay Leno

Nonfarm payrolls drop by 54k in August, jobless rate rises to 9.6 pct

Jobs Data Provide Hope

Military Study Warns of a Potentially Drastic Oil Crisis

Has The Fed Run Out Of Ammunition To Resuscitate The U.S. Economy?

Jason Leavitt Interviewed by Matt Davio

The Apathy Trade. Did September come in August this year?

The Real Story on the economy.

“In only his second Oval Office address, President Obama announced the end of Operation Iraqi Freedom. He said we have given the Iraqis a Western-style government. Well, we certainly have, haven’t we? Their economy is in shambles, their Congress is corrupt, the country is broke, welcome aboard!” – Jay Leno

Have a wonderful and safe Labor Day Weekend :!:

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Just another manic Monday

Published on August 30, 2010, 10:11 pm in Opinions, Trading and reading. 0 Comments Tags: , .

It was just another Manic Monday, until the last hour, when indexes closed at their lows….on very low volume. It was a slow-motion crash.

We’ve got a load of economic news coming starting tomorrow: Home Price Index, Chicago PMI, Consumer Confidence and FOMC minutes. The question is, will good news or bad news make the markets move up? Or will nothing happen until Friday when the monthly employment numbers come out. Crazy market!

When everyone is bearish, that is the time to go long, a contrarian indicator. But what if all the contrarians are saying that there are too many bears out there and start writing stories about that? I found a couple stories today to read: Are Wall Street Analysts Contrary Indicators? Then followed that up with Sell Signal on 36% Profit Increase Has Analysts in Math Denial.

Thanks for reading and good luck tomorrow!

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Weekend Reading 8/27/10

Published on August 28, 2010, 11:42 am in Opinions and reading. 0 Comments Tags: , .

After a crazy week with sucky news, try to relax, eat, drink and be merry!

When bad is good.

How to read Bernanke’s Jackson Hole Speech.

Stocks Surge, And Bonds Get Crushed: Here’s What You Need To Know.

Perception Versus Reality.

Ever wonder what a “prop trader” does? Wall Street Whispers: A Proprietary Problem.

Beware That New Credit-Card Offer. Have you noticed a whole bunch of credit card apps in your mail box?

I hope these definitions put a smile on your face:

Momentum Investing - The fine art of buying high and selling low.

Value Investing – The art of buying low and selling lower.

P/E ratio - The percentage of investors wetting their pants as the market keeps crashing.

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Trading some ETFs

Published on August 26, 2010, 9:33 pm in Tools, Trading and reading. 0 Comments Tags: , , .

I like to daytrade the index ETFs….y’know, TNA/TZA BGU/BGZ SSO/SDS and a multitude of other bull/bear pairs. Depending on how the market is doing, I jump on either the bull or bear ETF and scalp it for as long as all day sometimes….and other times for 60 seconds….sometimes for a profit and other times for a loss. You know how it goes. 8O

As I was watching the grass grow at mid-day today, I was daydreaming at where I would be if I had bought some pairs at the beginning of the year. Logic would be that one side would be up and the other side down. But no!

On January 4th this year, TNA opened at $44.66 and closed today at $33.58, down about 12%. The Russell is down about 4% for the year, and since TNA is a 3X ETF, being off 12% is about right.

So TZA should be up about 12%, right? No! TZA opened the year at $47.05 and closed today at $39.06, down about 15% for the year. What!? The bear ETF is down more than the bull ETF? Yes. So if you had decided to put on some sort of spread bet taking both sides to hedge yourself, you’d be a real loser! :cry:

My lesson here is … not to hold leveraged ETFs for more than a day. Yes I have held overnight and have both profitted and lost on the gamble…. But now just daytrade or scalp….make more money and sleep a whole lot better.

Here’s an article that should be read by anyone trading leveraged ETFs. This study is based on 2X ETFs so the issues are greater in the 3X and 4X ETFs available now. The explanation is a lot more technical than what my daydreaming came up with. How Long Can You Hold Leveraged ETFs?

For all the periods studied except one-year, tracking error grows larger … and more negative … as the expected return grows.
The results of the study are clear. As you move further away from the targeted one-day time period, tracking error on these funds grows.

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Weekend reading 08/21/10

Published on August 21, 2010, 10:52 am in Opinions and reading. Closed Tags: .

I called my broker yesterday to ask him what I should be buying. He said, “Canned goods and ammunition.” :D

Now on to some serious reading….

Levkovich Says `Hindenburg’ Shouldn’t Preempt Stocks.

Norwegian traders charged with manipulation.

Bulls in Jeopardy of a Total Breakdown.

When Wall Street Rules, We Get Wall Street Rules.

A Dip In Capital Markets Pushes Oil Towards Reversal, Tempers Gold’s Rally.

Rethinking Gold: What if It Isn’t a Commodity After All?

Bonds are Most Certainly NOT in a Bubble.

Now….that doesn’t matter much to computers – oops, I mean traders, does it? Have a great weekend!

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Weekend Reading 8/14/10

Published on August 13, 2010, 9:48 pm in reading. Closed Tags: , .

Let’s start with a funny:

“This week in 1861, the first federal income tax was instituted to pay for the Civil War. These days, we don’t worry about that kind of stuff. Our wars are paid for by our grandchildren.” — Jay Leno

Ok, now start reading:
`Hindenburg Omen’ Suggests Another Leg Down in Stocks: Technical Analysis.

More HO stuff: The Hindenburg Omen did NOT Volley & Thunder from Ian Woodward’s Investing Blog.

How Stocks Have Done On Friday The 13th Since 1900.

The Geography of a Recession, or, what does the unemployment rate look like since January 2007?

Rising Profits Are Good, but There’s a Catch.

Obama defends ground zero mosque plans. Our President couldn’t find the time to attend the National Day of Prayer which is completely non-demoninational, but he can schedule to host an Iftar dinner? Asshole!

BofA, Citi added as lead GM IPO underwriters.

Financials Now Attractive for First Time in Months.

Before you run off to read all those, here’s another laugh:

“The U.S. Postal Service reported a $3.5 billion loss in the last quarter, which established it as the federal government’s most successful enterprise.” — Jay Leno

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Weekend Reading 8/7/10

Published on August 7, 2010, 8:47 am in reading. Closed Tags: .

The story of the week was wheat…..
Wheat prices soar. Are bread prices next?

Wheat Heads for Biggest Gain in Half a Century on Export Bans.

….but wheat gave way to HP after the market closed on Friday…
HP CEO Mark Hurd resigns over sexual harassment investigation.

H.P. Ousts Chief for Hiding Payments to Friend.

….and now back to the markets.
Will Online Financial Planning Catch On?

7 Market Myths Exposed.

Payrolls disappoint.

Thanks for reading and good luck next week!

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Whole lot of shaking going on!

Published on July 30, 2010, 11:44 pm in reading. Closed Tags: .

There was a Whole Lotta Shakin’ Going On today as volatility was chop chop chop! However that doesn’t matter much to computers – oops, I mean traders. :mrgreen:

Here’s some weekend reading:
A great site to check sentiment using option puts/calls. ISEE Index

Do The Latest European Bank Lending Numbers Reveal A Major Headache Looming For The ECB? The devil is in the details.

Oh boy! More levereaged ETF’s :twisted: Direxion Planning 11 New Leveraged Currency, Commodity ETFs.

High-Frequency Programmers Revolt Over Pay. Computer jockeys setting up own shops in bids to make millions.

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Weekend Reading 7/24/10

Published on July 23, 2010, 9:12 pm in reading. Closed Tags: .

Here’s some interesting reading for your weekend. Now don’t forget to spend time with the family and have some fun!

I’ll be back Sunday night.

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Weekly Reading 7/17/10

Published on July 16, 2010, 9:13 pm in Opinions and reading. Closed Tags: .

What can you say about Friday? I don’t do well on OpEx Fridays so I try to stay out. But I do have some long positions in my swing/long-term account that remind me of day old fish. But that’s just for a day or two….it is a longer term account. I need to review the charts, but I think we sank into an oversold area fairly quickly. I’ll wait until Sunday to make a decision for stocks to watch.

In the mean time:

Have a great weekend everybody!

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