What the $%@&* Trading!

After Friday’s first half hour short-covering, the markets really didn’t do anything…and it may not do anything until our legislators pass a bill allowing this bailout. Congressional wrangling may bring the market down for a retest, but passage will be good for stocks.

This turbulence has been good for CNBC and FBN as both networks have had primetime programs during the week and Sunday evening programs as well. The coverage has been at least interesting to watch and hear. There is so much going on so fast that it is about the only way to try to keep up.

Hopefully you made some good money last week. Even if you didn’t catch the top or the bottom, there was enough in the middle, each way, to make some moola. QQQQ, SSO, DDM and QLD were great plays from the Thursday to Friday transition.

Futures are to the downside this evening, although Asia markets are now experiencing our Friday market. If Asia upside can hold through Europe. I would expect some upside on Monday. But watch for the chop-chop. Happy trading

Mix one part inflation fears and one part oil prices with a dash of financial company worries and shake well….to bring down equities. While some individual stocks were green - red, the indexes were red from the opening bell and did not look back. The Naz and Russell 2000, as well as the Qs were down over 2%, while the Dow and SP500 were close at -1.7%….and all in oversold territory.

Now on individual stocks, there were some nice plays: ROYL, SXE and NT come to mind, and if you were quick on the trigger: SURG and XRM made some money in a short period of time….even more if you reversed your position and rode it down also

Some charts that I like (at least this evening) are: PDLI, COIN and IVAN. It’s still early but the Nikkei is starting off down and the US futures are green but not much. Still got 12 hours to change all that

Stop by Twitter and Finkker during the day to catch any comments while a bunch of us are trading.

Well we reached a low in the indexes just before the first quarter ended (March 17th), so why not repeat that again…heehee. Like I’m wishing for that…no. But it sure does look like something that could happen…and it is setting up that way. The “catastrophe” back then was Bear Stearns. Now, unemployment and oil prices.

As I’m writing this, U.S. futures don’t look so bad, but the Nikkei opened up with a resounding ‘thump.’ Tomorrow’s open should tell us a lot about this market. After big up days we have big down day…and after big down days we have big up days. Won’t this be exciting

The paint is dry, so there wasn’t much to do today. Yeah, the Dow dropped 100+ points, but on even lower volume than yesterday. What’s everyone doing?

The Dow and the Nasdaq are still above their 50 day moving average, but the S&P500 closed just below…but really close. We’ll have to see if we find support or go looking for the 20dma. The Qs took a small whack afterhours…I think because of ORCL, but RMBS sure took off to the upside!

The Nikkei opened lower and moving lower, but still lackluster. Another 11 hours until the U.S. markets open, so we’ll see then.

Happy Trading….if you don’t fall alseep

The blog has been inaccessible for 4+ days…I apologize. I guess 24/7 tech support does not mean 24 hours a day / 7 days a week. Or maybe 7 days does not include Saturday and Sunday.

Back to trading. We had a follow thru day from Friday, but recovered into the close to have a doji day. Still not bull-inspiring, but also not bear-inspiring. At this time U.S. futures are up slightly, as is the Nikkei. I think tomorrow will tell us the direction of these markets…for the short term anyway.

If I don’t get this rage for tech support out of my head I may not trade. You always need to be in a cool and calm frame of mind. Time for a cool beer and a good night’s sleep. See you tomorrow…if the site holds up

Another crazy day in the market. The markets reached their peaks an hour and a half into the day and then went down from there. A short-covering rally in the last 15 minutes brought the market back…. because nobody can predict what will happen between close and open. The selling volumes were bigger then the buying volumes and overall volume was below average.

In my stock plays today, NYNY continued its upward trend. AVII, CNTF and MVIS were green for me, but PEIX was red all day. The best was SWHC, up 23% today…better than a $2 pistol

Remember, China markets open tonight after being closed for the New Year holiday. It will have a lot of adjusting to do after 5 days. Japan opened in the green this evening and US market futures are a bit red, but we still have another 12 hours before the U.S. opens.

What an ugly day for the markets But, it has been good if you’re a trader, a stock picker.

My good picks made more than my bad picks lost. My winners today: STEM PEIX SIGA IDMI RFMD URZ. My losers today: LMRA CNTF SCA DVAX. So, I call it a good day…even though the Dow was down 370 points, on increasing volume, and accelerating into the close.

The Nikkei has been open 2 hours and is down -567. Futures are only down a little, but there’s 12 hours for a lot of change. Looks like momentum may take us down again tomorrow, maybe enough to bounce back.