I don't recall a market this hard to trade since the dot com bubble started to burst. DNS +187, +50, +21.
SIGA has a nice 32% gain today. CWEI rebounded with a 9.8% gain.
Trades: none.
Portfolios:
The ESG portfolio is at -11.0% with 13 of 37 stocks above water now. The value-sales port dropped to +3.3%.
Reversal alerts: (3), junk.
Friday, December 9, 2011
Thursday, December 8, 2011
As Expected
Wednesday, December 7, 2011
Rebound to Even
The markets opened down and clawed their way back to even. DNS +46, 0, +3.
I took my cue from the European markets as they were diving and continued to liquidate positions. All equity positions are protected by trailing stop loss orders. That leaves two bull call spreads (long) and put options (short) on the XLF Financial ETF.
Trades:
I sold my CVI calls, +7.33%.
All this trading while in capital preservation mode is a losing proposition. I need more and bigger winners to make up for the trades that go bad (e.g., GMCR, FMCN, SPRD), and I'm not getting them in this environment. So I'll wait for the market or at least oil prices to reset.
Reversal alerts:(2), junk.
I took my cue from the European markets as they were diving and continued to liquidate positions. All equity positions are protected by trailing stop loss orders. That leaves two bull call spreads (long) and put options (short) on the XLF Financial ETF.
Trades:
I sold my CVI calls, +7.33%.
All this trading while in capital preservation mode is a losing proposition. I need more and bigger winners to make up for the trades that go bad (e.g., GMCR, FMCN, SPRD), and I'm not getting them in this environment. So I'll wait for the market or at least oil prices to reset.
Reversal alerts:(2), junk.
Tuesday, December 6, 2011
Close 'em Out
It's quite a mixed bag of gainers and losers today. DNS +52, -6, +1.
FRO closed up 18.6% after being considerably higher. HL closed up 9.2%.
SPRD got clobbered again for another 9.9%, and that's after it recovered some. I was sitting on a 51.5% gain (less comms) two days ago, now I'm down about 40%. SPRD is pretty volatile so a few good days could get me back ITM.
I felt like most everyone has been ignoring the elephant in the room that is Europe. Something is going to hit the fan again soon and I wanted to be in cash or short.
Trades:
I chose to close out my MCHX call options with an execute and sell order, +5.20%.
I sold my $20/$22.50 FMCN call spread while there was some value there (FMCM closed at $20.34), -25.2%. It might have recovered by the 16th, but not if the tide goes out. I'd rather have 75% of my money than none of it.
I went short with XLF (Financial Sector ETF) puts.
Reversal alerts: (3).
MEDW, PRFT, and GR. Pass.
FRO closed up 18.6% after being considerably higher. HL closed up 9.2%.
SPRD got clobbered again for another 9.9%, and that's after it recovered some. I was sitting on a 51.5% gain (less comms) two days ago, now I'm down about 40%. SPRD is pretty volatile so a few good days could get me back ITM.
I felt like most everyone has been ignoring the elephant in the room that is Europe. Something is going to hit the fan again soon and I wanted to be in cash or short.
Trades:
I chose to close out my MCHX call options with an execute and sell order, +5.20%.
I sold my $20/$22.50 FMCN call spread while there was some value there (FMCM closed at $20.34), -25.2%. It might have recovered by the 16th, but not if the tide goes out. I'd rather have 75% of my money than none of it.
I went short with XLF (Financial Sector ETF) puts.
Reversal alerts: (3).
MEDW, PRFT, and GR. Pass.
Monday, December 5, 2011
Give Back Half
It was a nice start. Too bad the markets couldn't hold their ground. DNS +78, +29, +13.
FRO had a 16% gain today. SPRD gave back 8.6%.
Trades:
PTEN ran up then drifted into its 5% trailing stop. It needed either more wiggle room or less, -2.2%.
I should have stuck with GMCR.
Reversal alerts: (11).
GEOY, PRSC, CSTR, and NFLX.
FRO had a 16% gain today. SPRD gave back 8.6%.
Trades:
PTEN ran up then drifted into its 5% trailing stop. It needed either more wiggle room or less, -2.2%.
I should have stuck with GMCR.
Reversal alerts: (11).
GEOY, PRSC, CSTR, and NFLX.
Friday, December 2, 2011
Two Steps Back, One Big Step Forward
This week didn't make up the losses from the two previous weeks, but it came close. DNS -1, +1, 0.
Watchlisters with a 20% or more gain for the week are NCTY (57.7%), CWEI (35.3%), ANR, AMED, CMC, MCHX, SWS, VIT, MCP, LCC, and SPN (20.2%).
Trades: none.
Portfolios:
The ESG portfolio is at -12.6% with 11 of 37 positions above water. The value-sales port is at +4.5%. The oil portfolio is at +5.85% with 8 of 11 positions above water (all but one were negative before). KOG, CWEI, and ROSE have double digit gains since Nov 3.
Reversal alerts: (13).
KITD, HXM, VCI, INTX, FLY, ZION, and SNCR sort of look okay. Maybe. Or not.
Watchlisters with a 20% or more gain for the week are NCTY (57.7%), CWEI (35.3%), ANR, AMED, CMC, MCHX, SWS, VIT, MCP, LCC, and SPN (20.2%).
Trades: none.
Portfolios:
The ESG portfolio is at -12.6% with 11 of 37 positions above water. The value-sales port is at +4.5%. The oil portfolio is at +5.85% with 8 of 11 positions above water (all but one were negative before). KOG, CWEI, and ROSE have double digit gains since Nov 3.
Reversal alerts: (13).
KITD, HXM, VCI, INTX, FLY, ZION, and SNCR sort of look okay. Maybe. Or not.
Thursday, December 1, 2011
I'll Take It
Today was good for a few good trades. DNS -26, +6, -2.
Shippers FREE and DRYS were up 11% and change. LULU recovered two thirds of its early morning loss.
Trades:
I was happy to sell when GCMRrrr's little rally faded and hit the 2% trailing stop loss order. It was nice to recover some value after it got clobbered but I have no intention of waiting around hoping to get back to even, -25.0%. Grrr.
SPRD bounced enough to hit a limit sell order for a bull call spread conversion. If it can hold $25 in 11 trading days it'll gross 61%.
My FMCN calls moved into the money today.
Reversal alerts: (32) with (24) coming from the more reliable t2 script.
Filtered: PTEN, DMND, BRCM, NGS, INFA, and RTI. PTEN and RTI have the best EPS growth estimates.
Shippers FREE and DRYS were up 11% and change. LULU recovered two thirds of its early morning loss.
Trades:
I was happy to sell when GCMRrrr's little rally faded and hit the 2% trailing stop loss order. It was nice to recover some value after it got clobbered but I have no intention of waiting around hoping to get back to even, -25.0%. Grrr.
SPRD bounced enough to hit a limit sell order for a bull call spread conversion. If it can hold $25 in 11 trading days it'll gross 61%.
My FMCN calls moved into the money today.
Reversal alerts: (32) with (24) coming from the more reliable t2 script.
Filtered: PTEN, DMND, BRCM, NGS, INFA, and RTI. PTEN and RTI have the best EPS growth estimates.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)