Today I even impressed myself 
We had an immediate 192 point drop in the Dow and then a stair step climb up 452 points, and taking out yesterdays post-Fed spike, before fading 52 points in the last few minutes to close at 12,650.36, up 107.53 for the day. Even better, I took advantage of some of the buying and selling opportunities, even though that last minute dive at the close caught me and I left some money on the table. SCA ININ and MNTA were my big winners today.
After hours, GOOG is taking a big hit at the moment (4:30PM EST) with the less than stellar report. It’s probably heading for 515, but remember what AMZN did today. They (Amazon) just announced they are buying ADBL…pop there. And, we all better be drinking Bud Lights tonight…since BUD missed 
Published on
January 31, 2008,
9:14 am in
Trading.
Futures going kaboom….talking heads using surprised, panic tones…lotsa doom and gloom! Should end up to be a decent day today 
If the bond insurers get downgraded, then we may as well forget any upside for a while. But if clearer heads prevail, after that big dump in the morning, we should recover. Don’t you always feel better after a big dump?
Happy Trading 
I’m thinking it may be all priced in already. Wild swings for sure…
Sort of a “what happened day.” For 20 minutes or so, I thought it was gonna be a great one. But it soon choked. At the ding-ding, the indexes were all red, not much, but red. The rally went poof. Just confirmation that the general direction should be down. The week will probably continue with the swingin’, but it should start to tone down and just become a bear market. Play ‘em like you see ‘em. 
PEIX and MNTA continued on their upward trek. Closed out the others.
Wednesday is “guess the rate cut day” for all media, but I’m sure they’ll go overboard on CNBC asking every talking head “what’s your guess and what will happen?” I think we’re all sure that if Fed only cuts 25bpts, a down day it is. But what if it’s 50bpts? I’m thinking it may be all priced in already. Wild swings for sure either way. So place your bets ladies and gentlemen by 2PM EST, short, long or flat….the report is out by 2:15.
You’ve got to admit…the Federal Reserve is “damned if they do, and damned if they don’t!” And as always, we may not know the actual reaction for a day or two. So it’s up to you 
All the winners from yesterday continued…and more. Of course, I took some off the table as they worked there way up. I still have positions in them all. LMRA' >
LMRA continued up from my last note eventually reaching 55%, but then fading back to +38% for the day.
I had entered my position at $2 and got out at $3.63. I got in on Jan 23rd as it popped open at the 8ema, but then proceeded to go straight down. My stop was the middle of the preceding day’s bullish engulfing candle. It never hit the stop loss. The next was an up day, but again was repulsed by the 8ema and again never hitting the stop loss. After that, well, you can see.
You’ll also find similar patterns on DVAX on Dec 11th and SCA on Jan 22nd. I still have positions in both after taking some profits.
lmra.JPG' title='LMRA'>
Well yesterday’s loser is today’s winner….so far. A deal with Lockhead Martin sends LMRA up 33%. The 8ema is also coming up through the 20sma.
The big question….can it hold. In previous “good news” situations, after a healthy pop, it would dribble back down. I’ve raised my stop loss, so whatever happens, it won’t turn into a loser. 
Haven’t had one of these for a while. A big up day (that’s a personal up day, not an index up day) can sure make up for the bad days…as long as you honor those stops….which I don’t always do. 
Soon I’ll try to explain why I got into these stocks. And when I get into a groove, I’ll try to tell you before I get into them. 
Published on
January 25, 2008,
9:35 pm in
Trading.
After a great morning, the market is fading….$%@&* 
At this time, the Dow is showing a Bearish Engulfing pattern. You sell in the last hour, not now. C’mon people, start buying
Published on
January 25, 2008,
8:59 am in
News and Tidbits.
Since this subject has come center stage in the media, I found an interesting website: FTalphaville. It claims to be “the premier resource on the world wide internet for all stuff relating to Societe General’s dodgy alleged €5bn rogue trader fraud.” Even more interesting are some of the questions it poses…..
Why was it first a “two year cover up” and later, according to the FT, simply a case that Jerome Kerviel built up his losses over a short period?And what about margin calls?? Answer that!
Why did SocGen people first say a compliance official had first discovered a fake trade after calling a supposed counterparty – and then later the bank said the discovery followed a tip-off?
Wasn’t George Soros in some sort of insider dealing scandal involving SocGen?
Didn’t SocGen bankroll Saddam Hussein through the “Super Gun” affair?
Didn’t something similar to this happen last summer?
Looks like this banter may last a while.
After 5 straight down days in the Dow, chopping -1,143 points off the index, we’ve had back-to-back green days returning +407 of those points. And if the momentum generated by MSFT after hours today, Friday may add a 3rd day in a row! Yeah baby!
It’s been 18 days since the Dow closed above its 8 ema (exponential moving average)….hoping it now becomes support. I’d like to target the 20 sma (simple moving average) at about 12,733. There’s still room in the stochastics, which are just coming out of the oversold area. Click on the thumbnail for a bigger picture….not that great of one, so I’m going to explore some new ways of capturing charts.
At this time, Dow futures are up and the Asian markets are up…..so let’s have a pleasant tomorrow
Published on
January 24, 2008,
11:33 am in
Trading.
Up, down, up down. Burst out of the gate (+140) and then a retreat (-50) and it’s been + or – 50 since. Catch the waves and there’s money to be made
the 
on lower volume 
