Zig or Zag

Now comes the hard part - figuring out whether to stay short or go long.

Yesterday was a great day for longs. My SPY puts lost half their value. AMAG had a great day and SEDG did okay, both of which I trimmed the day before.

The SPY puts have worked great. My portfolio gained value all but one day (when my #2 position AMAG took a dive). It's reassuring to know you're making more money in a down market (provided your biggest positions only suffer modest losses). I wish I'd put them on two weeks earlier. But in a rally they puts the brakes on a rebound and are soon to be a losing position.

Screen:
I looked at some stocks that have been defying the market and came up with AXGN, TRVN, EZCH, EFOI and BEAT (charts). I could have bought TRVN when it was only up 3% (sigh). I ended up buying a starter position in EFOI when it was up 9% or so and still closed with a gain.