Tuesday 12th February 2008

Wowser... i just had a brain explosion, hence I'm ending it for today... really stupid stuff. Got impatient on an upside reversal on POT, and went in way too early... was down over $1100 at one stage... ended up getting out on the reversal, paring gains at $151.25 (actually this was for a loss) and out at $151.85. All that for a $36 gain... I'm an idiot. See the chart below for NOT WHAT TO DO if you want to feed your family.

+$430


Chart of the Day (Brain surge)

Upside Morning

It's been a strong morning for the markets. Buffet coming out and saying he'd "save" the municipal bonds is very bullish for stocks, although I think we'll probably get some pullback in the afternoon. I probably won't trade anymore today - I'm up $340 from some play with GS, but I tend to make mistakes in strong trending markets (ie chasing) so I have to be careful. My options in NYX and AAPL are running pretty well too, so I'll take the upside with those.

Salute!

Dow Jones News

I have a question for anyone/everyone out there. I currently do not use a news service, but hear that Dow Jones News is very good and have realized in the past that it could have saved my ass from doing stupid things following an analysts note or what-not that you don't read in yahoo finance until the end of the day. Is Dow Jones News worth the cost? Does it update immediately that something happens, such as an analyst upgrade/downgrade etc... the Comtex News Service doesn't really say anything meaningful in real time. If you use DJ, could you give me a review of sorts??

Thanks!

Trading Strategy Today

Someone asked me about my trading strategy. In this market, with all the chop and multiple reversals, fake-outs etc, it's fairly easy to scalp. Of course you have to be disciplined if something does eventually break-out or down. BSC today was always going to be weak, so I chose that to short on any strength. It worked pretty well all morning (I did go long at open before realizing that it had been downgraded this morning!!)

Virtual Office

As of today, I am the newest member of the Virtual Office. DT runs it from:

http://dinosaurtrader.blogspot.com

Check it out!

Monday 11th February 2008

Gotta jet early today...

Scalped BSC all morning, that was pretty much it. Quite choppy, so it worked out well for me.

+$445

Bought 1 NYX June 75 Call

I put a bid in earlier in the day for $5.30 and it executed on a dip. I'm pretty happy with the price on a June $75 call. I'm definitely going to hold onto this one, unless there is a big spike in the coming days, which I doubt.