MatchPointTrader

Bailout of Big Three

2008-11-19T11:50:00.000-08:00

From http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/081119/congress_autos.html

During the House hearing Wednesday, Rep. Brad Sherman, D-Calif., asked the three auto chiefs seated at the witness table before him to raise their hands if they had come to Washington on commercial airliners. No hands went up. Then he asked if any planned to sell their corporate jets. Again, no hands went up.

Sherman and Rep. Gary Ackerman, D-N.Y., told the auto executives they were having a hard time justifying to their constituents bailing out companies whose chiefs fly around in expensive private jets.

Ackerman said there was "a delicious irony in seeing private jets flying into Washington D.C. and people coming off them with tin cups in their hands."

Waiting on the sidelines

2008-11-19T10:58:00.000-08:00

Waiting on the sidelines as I had to take some heavy loss for meeting a margin call. Lesson learned and not forgotten. In the meantime, I am just relishing my eyes with some beauties in red(and other colors) than straining them by looking more at that negative graph of market thats been red for I don't know how long. I want to short stocks but I feel things are so oversold - For now, I am just trying to read and learn as much as I can.

Come on McCain, what were you thinking?

2008-11-07T08:39:00.000-08:00

There are lots of news about how McCain camp is angry with Palin but seriously, what were they thinking :)? For god's sake she was third in Miss Alaska, obviously people were enamored by her beauty, and she didn't have much political experience. Come on, don't tell me McCain camp didn't see this coming -

So they opted instead for a candidate who reportedly once addressed McCain aides wearing nothing but a towel and another on her wet hair, Newsweek reported. (Now that's HOT)
Newsweek reported that Palin was told she could buy three suits and hire a stylist, but that she instead started shopping for her family at top clothing stores, and also used the credit cards of low-level staffers to do some of the shopping.(Come on - this is a once in a lifetime opportunity. How can anyone be so naive to miss it?)
including even more designer duds, plus sprayed-on tans and fancy underwear. On top of the $150,000 first outlined in Federal Election Commission filings, Palin spent "tens of thousands of dollars" on additional clothing, makeup and jewelry for herself and her family, including $40,000 in luxury goods for her husband, Todd, our colleague Michael Shear reports. The campaign was charged for silk boxer shorts, spray tanners and 13 suitcases to carry all the designer clothes, according to two GOP insiders. (She\her husband must be a fan of Kramer(seinfeld) - http://membres.lycos.fr/tnguym/clothes2.html#xunderwear )
She didn't accept preparation for that interview and the aides say that that was part of the problem. And there were times that she was hard to control emotionally - there's talk of temper tantrums at bad news clippings," (yeah, like that's a surprise - come on, that's a universal truth - Ask Bill Clinton if you don't believe me)
An angry aide, quoted in Newsweek, described the shopping spree as "Wasilla hillbillies looting Neiman Marcus from coast to coast"(And what did you do, wait for that towel moment again?)
"Her staff didn't know the name of the French President,"(Yeah, and whats next? Belgium, uruguay? Couldn't you get better staff for her?)
We're told she didn't understand that Africa was a continent rather than a country just in itself
Cameron also said she was unaware who the members of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) were, or that the United States - along with Canada and Mexico - was one of them.(Big deal - many westerners dont k
now India is part of Asia - Ask around)
Ms Palin taking a prank call from a Canadian radio comedian claiming to be President Nicolas Sarkozy of France, during which she remarked she could be America's leader "maybe in eight years". - Now that's PRICELESS.

opportunity)
---
Sources -
More Dirt on Sarah Palin's Fancy Duds
Insiders spill the beans on Sarah Palin

BHI - Bought call

2008-11-06T10:25:00.000-08:00

I know this is might not be the time to go long but I have hard time finding the stocks that are good short opportunities in already beat up market.(Too bad I didn't have time in the morning.) Yes, I know the fundamentals don't matter in this market but still...
I just bought bhi Nov 35 call for 1.25 (bhikg) - Hey, it was 50% sale on yesterday's price.

UPDATE - Sold bhi Nov 35 call for 1.8

SWN

2008-11-06T09:10:00.000-08:00

Sold DEC 2008 30.0000 PUT for 3.5. No short positions currently. CHRW seems attractive though. I do look like an idiot for buying back sol again at 7.9. What was I thinking? One successful trade way too many...

BHI

2008-11-05T12:08:00.000-08:00

Sold bhi Nov 35 call for 2.55 for some quick profit

CHRW

2008-11-05T10:57:00.000-08:00

Covered rest of my chrw position at 52.95. Yes, it might still go down but I am just cutting my losses.

BHI

2008-11-05T10:23:00.000-08:00

Bought bhi Nov 35 call for 1.95

odfl, unp

2008-11-05T09:58:00.001-08:00

Covered some of my odfl shares at 54.1 and took some loss.
Bought and sold UNP put to get some profit and recover that loss.

Bought - SOL

2008-11-05T08:48:00.000-08:00

110 shares at 7.91. Yes, there is profit taking going on but I am going to hold it to the hilt if needed.

Short - SWN

2008-11-04T12:24:00.000-08:00

Bought SWN DEC 2008 30.0000 PUT for 2.25

The one that got away - SWN Short

2008-11-04T11:17:00.000-08:00

Tried to short SWN at 36.9 but my order didn't go through. The stock is melting because of lack of volume. I am not going to chase it.

Sold some feed

2008-11-04T08:49:00.000-08:00

Feed - sold half of my feed shares that I had bought on Oct 23 for a really measly profit. I am getting myself screwed up in chrw short play - I guess i need to cover them soon.

Sold - SOL

2008-11-04T06:42:00.000-08:00

Sold sol shares for quick profit.

New short - CHRW

2008-11-03T11:22:00.001-08:00

Shorted 50 shares of chrw at 52.93

Todays trades

2008-11-03T08:28:00.000-08:00

I sold asfi stocks that I bought on Friday.
Sold sol stocks and then bought back again when it dipped.
Bought odfl shares after gap down to cover the ones I shorted.

SOL, NYX

2008-10-31T13:01:00.000-07:00

Sold 100 shares that I had picked up at 5 for the price of 5.51. Then picked up another 100 shares at 6.16. The commission is killing me but at least I made two moves in last two days to get a bit of cash back. And how about that nyx going north after I sold some of my the other day at 25.31! Oh well.

ODFL - Short

2008-10-31T12:57:00.000-07:00

Shorted 50 shares of odfl at 29.82. I will see if I get any gain or I will just cover and take the losses at 30.5. I am really not good at shorting - so I am trying this out.

Unusal activity - ASFI

2008-10-31T12:55:00.000-07:00

Up 50% with twich as much volume. I picked up 100 shares at 2.37 sold them at 2.75. Then picked up another 100 at 2.81 and holding them now. I know I dont have much profit in these moves by trying only 100 shares but I am starting slowly to get back into the groove.

Nyx Sol, Feed

2008-10-28T13:27:00.000-07:00

Sold 80 shares of nyx today and took some hefty losses. I needed to raise some money. I wanted to sell my feed shares that I bought the other day but in spite of huge rally, feed was down. Such a loser. I thought of buying mos\nov but decided that I will trade with small money. I bought sol early at 4.95 and even it didn't go up. Market is up 889 points and I did not have any winning trade being long. Time to get away from computer for a while.

Friday Meltdown

2008-10-24T10:05:00.000-07:00

I heard a lot of things on other blogs from "a bottom forming" to "Dow crashing below 6500". I was convinced that dow will fall at least by 500 points by reading so many sensational news early in the morning - oh well! One thing is certain - there is fear and panic and a lot of confusion

Again I am going to quote some of my favorite quotes:

From Revolver
"Don't try to make sense out of it, not now, because it doesn't make sense. " Jake Green.

From The Happening
Elliot Moore: Come on, buddy. Take an interest in science. What could be the reason bees have vanished?
Jake: [after a long pause] An act of nature, and we'll never fully understand it.
Elliot Moore: Nice answer, Jake. He's right. Science will come up with some reason to put in the books, but in the end it'll be just a theory. I mean, we will fail to acknowledge that there are forces at work beyond our understanding. To be a scientist, you must have a respectful awe for the laws of nature.

Is stock market one of the complex natural phenomena created by humans?

Poll results

2008-10-24T09:19:00.000-07:00

So the poll is over and here is the result

What sucks more?

Breaking up with a girlfriend after an year of relationship	7 (38%)
Loosing more than one year's earnings when dow hits 8000	11 (61%)

Votes so far: 18
So for 61% of the people, money-loss sucks more than break-up. Reminds me this quote of Jake Green from Revolver :

I know nothing hurts more than humiliation and a little money loss.

Whereas for rest of the 38% of us(including me), it sucks more to miss out on those summer days!

Recession - What Recession? - Updated

2008-10-23T06:18:00.000-07:00

Wall Street banks in $70bn staff payout
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2008/oct/17/executivesalaries-banking

How can "bankers still get millions of dollars in spite of mess they have created" is beyond my comprehension?

From above article -

Financial workers at Wall Street's top banks are to receive pay deals worth more than $70bn (£40bn),substantial proportion expected to be paid in discretionary bonuses,
Whereas Germany's Deutsche Bank said many of its leading traders would join Josef Ackermann, its chief executive, in waiving millions of euros in annual payouts.
At one point last week the Morgan Stanley $10.7bn pay pot for the year to date was greater than the entire stock market value of the business.
In the first nine months of the year Citigroup, which employs thousands of staff in the UK, accrued $25.9bn for salaries and bonuses, an increase on the previous year of 4%.
At Goldman Sachs the figure was $11.4bn, Morgan Stanley $10.73bn, JP Morgan $6.53bn and Merrill Lynch $11.7bn.
Days before it collapsed into bankruptcy protection a month ago Lehman Brothers revealed $6.12bn of staff pay plans

In other news,
Bank CEO slams salaries:
http://www.montereyherald.com/business/ci_10792837?nclick_check=1

Feed,wfmi, vlo

2008-10-23T05:48:00.000-07:00

Sold few shares of wfmi yesterday and took some hefty loss.
I decided to start trading slowly. I thought of buying 100 shares of feed. I placed an order. Then cancelled the order as I wanted to buy 110 shares. Then, bought 110 shares and checked my account. I saw 210 shares of feed in my account as somehow fidelity didn't cancel my earlier order although it gave me the confirmation. I just called it a day as I still need to get balance back. I should have checked my account after cancellation - I am still not as cautious as I should be! Cost basis for feed shares is 4.86.

Update - I also bought vlo 2010 Jan 30 call. I tried to buy solar call without any luck as bid price never quite matched my ask price. I decided not to catch the price and wait.

No trading from Wed-Fri

2008-10-20T05:53:00.001-07:00

Just watched from sidelines and didn't trade in last week from Wed-Fri. Hopefully I will start trading again from today.

NYX, EXM

2008-10-14T05:19:00.000-07:00

I closed two calls yesteray
1) Nyx -This is strange - I had bought "NYX jan 55 call" when NYX was on 37 - I sold that call yesterday when NYX was 28. I made profit of 80$. Talk about volatility!
2) EXM - I closed out one call of EXM for 20$ profit. I still hold three more calls. I decided to wait until today for rest of them. I had lost 70% of those calls on last Friday. Yesterday, i had recovered most of them.
BlueDog - if you are around, I hope you made $$$$$$$ on this pick. And I hope you make more on exm today.

That's all for yesterday. Looks like its going to be a green tuesday.

Its Poll Time

2008-10-13T05:17:00.000-07:00

For the few internet-addicted-humans who visit my blogs, please vote on the poll that's on the right side. Thanks a l0t!!!

Volatile Friday

2008-10-13T04:44:00.000-07:00

I totally missed it. I was loosing it before friday and I just decided to stay away and get myself together before I trade again. I did not look at the stock screen whole friday. In a way, I am sad for missing out a historical day. But, in a way, I am really glad to miss it out because I was not in right frame of mind. I realized I was thinking more about gamble to take my revenge on this bear market and I was going to gamble instead of trade\invest. I just stayed away and hopefully, I will stay in this game now longer.
I would like to thank for some nice posts on the blog-world.
http://dinosaurtrader.blogspot.com/2008/10/everyone-take-big-breath.html
http://tradinggoddess.blogspot.com/2008/10/despair-hopelessness-failure.html

And that awesome movie I watched-

Nyx

2008-10-09T08:47:00.000-07:00

Today price of ndaq crossed nyx. Nyx is such a sad story. Currently ndaq price is 26.83 and nyx is trading at 26.29. Such a loser!

That last half hour in today's market was like

2008-10-08T13:11:00.000-07:00

the timeless art of seduction!

Sold 50 shares of ntri

2008-10-08T10:48:00.000-07:00

NTRI is the only stock that's holding steady amongst all this carnage but I am really loaded up with it due to revenge trades. I am just going to start taking losses and unload some of my securities. Just sold 50 shares of ntri for 16.60

Note - I am going to hold as much as i can as I think stocks are really low right now. But, I am selling some of my positions as I really need the money.

Bizarro Bull Market

2008-10-08T10:38:00.001-07:00

“He’s reliable. He’s considerate. He’s like your exact opposite.”
“So he’s Bizarro Jerry.”
“Bizarro Jerry?”
“Yeah, like Bizarro Superman, Superman’s exact opposite, who lives in the backwards Bizarro world. Up is down, down is up, he says hello when he leaves, goodbye when he arrives.”
“Shouldn’t he say badbye? Isn’t that the opposite of goodbye?”
“No, it’s still goodbye.”
“Does he live underwater?”
“No.”
“Is he black?”
“Look, just forget the whole thing.”

I was watching an episode of Seinfeld today. It made me think of
Bear market = Bizarro Bull market.
OverSold = Bizarro OverBought.
Ridiculously low P\E = Bizarro ridiculously high P\E.

A youtube clip for you from the bizzarro world -

For those who love Heroes

2008-10-07T12:22:00.001-07:00

you might want to check out this TV mini-series called as "The Lost Room". I am sure you won't regret it.

No trades last two days

2008-10-07T12:18:00.000-07:00

I have just sat and watched. I have been completely long in this shorter's market and made a fool of myself. I can't even sell as these are ridiculous prices compared to what I bought. Then again, prices looked ridiculous 15,30,45 days back. I need to come up with some strategy to salvage the remnants of my portfolio. I am just not going to trade anything today and come back tomorrow hopefully, with some strategy.

WTF

2008-10-06T06:38:00.000-07:00

This is fu*kin ridiculous. Asfi closed on 6.28 on previous trading day. I had placed an order to sell 50 asfi shares at 8.9. I wanted to sell 100 more shares and almost placed the order before market opened but decided that I will wait before I sell. When market opened, my 50 share were sold at 10.08. Almost 60% more than previous close! I wish I had placed that order for 100 more shares. Asfi is back below 7 instantly.

The best thing about vista is

2008-10-04T09:31:00.001-07:00

you get above song if you buy a laptop with vista from hp. I really love the song!

Update today

2008-10-03T12:53:00.000-07:00

Currently, my portfolio is down 7.5% from yesterday's close. That's what I get for
- holding handful shares of nyx
- buying options for falling knives
- not keeping tight stop loss order
- not taking profit right away

Monday is another day. Hope everyone has a great weekend.

NTRI, NYX

2008-10-03T12:22:00.001-07:00

I am a bag-holder of these positions but definitely not proud. Nyx seems to find new lows no matter what the direction of market is. And, ntri does not seem to follow any pattern lately. Sometimes ntri follows the market for a while - then it works as an inverse indicator of market for a while. Really strange!

Stocks flucuate amid worries after House OKs plan

2008-10-03T12:19:00.000-07:00

Stocks flucuate amid worries after House OKs plan

That's the top line on yahoo finance right now. And here I thought there will be volatility before the approval and stocks will move into one direction after the approval. This is really insane market.

Sold ndaq

2008-10-03T07:46:00.000-07:00

Sold calls for ndaq that I had bought earlier. I still like the company and it seems to be making upwards move. But, I just need to lock in the profit as almost rest of my portfolio is in red.
Sold two calls for ndaq - profit $130.

Indo-nucelar deal - Investing into nuclear power

2008-10-01T10:39:00.000-07:00

1) Senate debates US-India nuclear deal-
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5hjHnPz7XX0WpdjPiswhHLvaXj0pAD93HPTU83

2) Lots of developing asian countries are in need of energy. India is going to need massive amount of energy in next few years. Currently power outage is common in India except for major cities.
From,
India has power shortage of 73,050 million units
India, Asia's third largest economy, faced a power deficit of 73,050 million units between April 2007 and March 2008, an internal official audit says.

3) I strongly believe US senate will pass this historical bill - amid all the frenzy of financial bailout, understandably, this "controversial" deal is not getting the press it deserves.

4) This is going to be multi-billion dollar business.
From France Embraces Nuclear Cooperation With India
French energy firm Areva said Monday it hopes to profit from the nuclear pact by supplying the Asian giant with two of the latest design of reactors.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=ARVCF.PK
http://moneycentral.msn.com/detail/stock_quote?Symbol=US%3AARVCF

5) I haven't found other companies that will profit from this but I will update when I find more information.

UNG

2008-10-01T10:06:00.000-07:00

Sold one of the call I had bought for UNG for $50 profit. I wanted to hold on but I need some cash and I am locking in any profit I can get as my losses in other positions are too big to take. I already have two more ung calls.

Loss yesterday

2008-09-30T05:57:00.000-07:00

1) Loss yesterday is 17%.
2) I had a good run on the day when market gone up by 400 points. All of the profit I had made during last three weeks is completely wiped off. I am back to square one. Whats even better? I have more options now and less stocks - so losses might go exponentially.
3) - The Good - ntri, asfi are holding up nicely. UNG is not terribly bad
- The Bad - Pretty much everything else.
- The Ugly - Nyx, Sol, Exm
4) Why I covered amzn just day before it dropped by 6-7$ is still a mystery to me.

I am hanging in there as I don't have any option right now.

DO NOT - I repeat do not watch a movie like "Oldboy" after a day like this on stock market! Mark this down as a golden rule.

Attack of the wall street!

2008-09-29T23:49:00.000-07:00

I could not work on stock market today as i had another crazy busy monday. And, boy, I not pay the price for that! The market is down 777 points. Makes those 300 point moves some distant memory. Reminds me of this quote from movie deception - "That was foreplay. Now you're fucked."

Heroes is back!

2008-09-26T11:34:00.000-07:00

My favorite TV show heroes is back! You can watch the latest episodes at
http://www.nbc.com/Heroes/video/categories/season-3/679102/

WitchTerminator : The Sarah Palin Chronicles

2008-09-26T11:12:00.000-07:00

Is Sarah Palin protected against witchcraft? Apparently, yes!

Now its not her fault that pastor give this protection - but, I just think its funny!

IMMR, EXM

2008-09-26T10:17:00.000-07:00

Sold immr 100 shares for $6 each. - Loss $500. I have been holding this bag of stocks for a long time and its not going anywhere. I can instead invest the money in other stocks and hopefully recover the loss.

Bought EXM call. EXM MAR 2009 17.5000 for 4.1

I am looking to buy calls for tso, stld, vlo and ung if they drop even further.

Bought calls for ung, vlo

2008-09-26T07:52:00.000-07:00

Bought calls for vlo, ung for a quick trade. They have been giving me really good profit lately, so I have decided to put more money in them.

Surreal WAMU

2008-09-25T22:27:00.000-07:00

What happens to WaMu depositors, stockholders
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2008204423_webwamufacts25.html

Check the above article if you are a depositor, borrower, stockholder or employee of WAMU

__________________________________________________________________

Mockery of investors:

In AH, WM was tanking. I think people who sold wamu were stupid. They probably didn't read the investor relations from WAMU. I really don't know whether to laugh or cry on this -

From http://investors.wamu.com/irweblinkx/corporateprofile.aspx?iid=102028

“WaMu’s strong brand and irreplaceable retail banking franchise have enormous potential, especially in today’s environment, and I am thrilled to have this opportunity to create value for shareholders.”

-- Alan H. Fishman, upon his appointment as WaMu’s CEO on September 8, 2008

NOTE - Right next to this quote, some intelligent person decided to put a market summary module of WM only to show the change in WM stock price of -25.22%.

But, hold on:

From, http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/26/business/26wamu.html?bl&ex=1222574400&en=cd491cbff8aac3b9&ei=5087%0A

But the seizure and the deal with JPMorgan came as a shock to Washington Mutual’s board, which was kept completely in the dark: the company’s new chief executive, Alan H. Fishman, was in midair, flying from New York to Seattle at the time the deal was finally brokered, according to people briefed on the situation. Mr. Fishman, who has been on the job for less than three weeks, is eligible for $11.6 million in cash severance and will get to keep his $7.5 million signing bonus, according to an analysis by James F. Reda and Associates. WaMu was not immediately available for comment.

__________________________________________________________________

Talk about making money in someone's demise. How fast the government is putting together a big bailout, I am not so sure about their plan.
Bailout - Where is your money going?

Refineries

2008-09-25T13:09:00.000-07:00

VLO - It might be breaking out! Or not. This stock is trading between 31-35 forever. I might have closed my position too early if it breaks out tomorrow. I have been buying VLOCC for 3.8 to 4.2 and selling VLOCC for 5 to 5.5. I like the company and I will certainly buy some calls tomorrow if vlo drops.

TSO - I closed my position today only to see it take off even further.

Among others, fto and wnr are attractive. Look at the revenue and market cap of those companies.

TSO

2008-09-25T10:14:00.000-07:00

Sold call for tso for $70 profit. (Bought for 2.3 sold for 3). I like tso and vlo but I will wait for them to drop again or break the resistance.

Bought calls for exm

2008-09-25T07:11:00.000-07:00

EXMCD - Bought for 3.9
EXMCD - Bought another for 3.7 -----Update

Trade updates - Monday to Wednesday

2008-09-24T11:58:00.000-07:00

I was barely able to do any trading. Here is the update
Bought -
Calls for
ACH
STLD(thanks to bluedog for this cool pick)
UNG

Sold -
Two calls of vlo ( I wanted to hold one call but in the end decided not to - hoping that vlo will retrace.) - Profit $170
100 shares of asfi to get some capital to invest in other options. - Profit $40
One call of BP(Wish I had bought it again yesterday). - Profit $170

Covered 25 amazon shares - Loss about $150

Most of the trades i had placed over weekend and they were automatically executed. Currently I am trying to buy
more of exm calls
calls of vlo if it goes down.
call for bp if it goes down.

I did not take profits on ndaq and exm. Now, I am again into red for those stocks. I was probably more greedy to hold on to them. We will see.

Today's quick update.

2008-09-19T12:26:00.000-07:00

In the morning fidelity wasn't accepting orders properly - probably because of overload. So, I was only able to trade for some time and then I had to work. I placed some trades now - too bad, I can't trade a lot today. Anyways, I sold
Mig - 75 shares
VLO - One call - VLOCC
ASFI - 130 shares
I got profit in all of the above.
NDAQ - I sold my call that was expiring today for $60 loss.
I tried to sell my calls for exm, dsx and ndaq but I missed my chances. I have placed the trades and I hope they execute or I will wait for another day to catch the peak.

Update --- That's all the trades for that day. None of my other orders got through.

Carnage

2008-09-19T05:43:00.000-07:00

Many died and many will soon - shorts are getting slaughtered in pre-market. GS up 30%. MS up 50%. I mean - we probably are talking about a lot of margin calls. Yesterday and today - I am sure pigs are laughing(smirk-ing) instead of getting slaughtered.

The one that got away

2008-09-18T13:02:00.000-07:00

In all the frenzy, I missed my short candidate. I almost bought oct put for PNRA but my order didn't go through and then, the market closed. Oh well - it was certainly some short covering out there, so I was hoping for a gap down on next trading day. It is nicely tanking in AH.

IMMR, SMSI - Loss

2008-09-18T11:55:00.000-07:00

IMMR - Sold 50 shares - Loss = $224
SMSI - Sold 50 shares - Loss = $370.
Both of these babies are product of me not taking my losses early and holding stocks forever hoping to get the profit one-day. But, enough is enough. I am taking a loss and calling it a day!
I still have 100 shares on which I have sold a call. So, I will sell them on another day!

SEC tightens rules on short sales

2008-09-18T11:34:00.000-07:00

http://biz.yahoo.com/rb/080917/shortselling_sec.html

Amzn short - loss

2008-09-18T11:26:00.000-07:00

Total loss I have got in shorting amazon is $950. I shorted amazon at 62 and 67 more than an year ago - only to see it climbing higher. I got an opportunity to cover my losses and even gain a small profit a couple of times but I was holding on amazon assuming(hoping) that it will easily hit 50. But, everytime I was wrong - and I was adamant in not accepting that I was wrong. This time, I am not going to be stubborn. I took my losses when amazon hit 72 by covering most of my position. I still have 25 stocks shorted on amazon and I will take them off as amazon slides further. This loss pretty much wipes out any profit I have made lately but I guess it was the tuition fee for learning investing.

Bought calls for

2008-09-18T09:53:00.001-07:00

Bought calls for NYX, BP, UNG, ACN. Tried to get into pbr or btu but missed the drop. I will wait for them. I might sound like trigger-happy here....I just couldn't resist.

Short squeeze

2008-09-18T09:53:00.000-07:00

Just when I was about to buy call for BCS, it shot up by 3$. Looks like a short squeeze. I will have to wait now.

Palin PWNED!

2008-09-17T21:58:00.000-07:00

http://michellemalkin.com/2008/09/17/the-story-behind-the-palin-e-mail-hacking/

Gone shoppin...

2008-09-17T11:31:00.000-07:00

Its another fire-sale.
Bought calls for vlo, dsx. Re-entered EXM.
Trying to buy ung,fto again when it dips a bit.
Sold calls on my ntri position.
Covered some amzn short.
Looking to find more buying opportunities.

Sold calls ung, exm

2008-09-17T06:59:00.000-07:00

that I had bought in fire sale on Black Monday. Profit $1 each on those calls. So total profit $200 on $1110 investment.
Yes, this is nothing compared to what other traders are making during one transaction but hey, its gain :).

Watchlist

2008-09-17T06:22:00.000-07:00

Added a gadget for the stocks in my watchlist on the right hand bottom the website!

How to convert lead into gold

2008-09-16T01:12:00.000-07:00

For the people like me who haven't studied economics...here is a hilarious video that explains the current financial mess ;).

Link to youtube video.
Ivan Canas: Lehman Brothers, has said it will file for bankruptcy. The US cannot lead the world without money. This video explains what happened in a funny and easy way! The end of the US Empire is just starting. Please read the 'more info' section

Fire sale

2008-09-15T13:16:00.000-07:00

Or clearance items for expiring-soon products...whatever you are gonna call! With dow down 500 point, I just couldn't resistI bought
Symbol Description Quantity Cost
-TSOBD CALL (TSO) TESORO CORP COM FEB 20 (100 SHS) 1 $2.20
-UNEDG CALL (UNE) UNITED STS NAT GAS APR 33 (100 SHS) 1 $5.00
-SOLDD CALL (SOL) RENESOLA LTD APR 20 (100 SHS) 1 $1.90
-EXMCD CALL (EXM) EXCEL MARITIME MAR 20 (100 SHS) 1 $6.10

I almost bought calls for vlo but too bad, the market closed. Vlo dropped nicely by $5.

ung, tso

2008-09-15T08:59:00.000-07:00

Bough one call for ung for Apr 2009. Strike price $35. Bought for $5 each(i.e. $500 total).

I have a buy order for tso as well.
Symbol -TSOBD
Description CALL (TSO) TESORO CORP COM FEB 20 (100 SHS)
Order Type Limit at $2.20
I was thinking of buying it at market price but I have decided not to chase stock prices and wait for the dip. I have lost a lot of money chasing stocks.(thanks to the tip I found on BlueDog's website).

SOL , NDAQ

2008-09-15T08:57:00.000-07:00

Looks like my $20 sol and $35 ndaq calls for september are going to render worthless. I was up by more than 20% on both of them once, I just got greedy I guess.

Lehman got margin call

2008-09-15T08:53:00.000-07:00

and you would think that investment companies would know better ;)

Duh!

2008-09-12T11:58:00.000-07:00

Friday update -I wouldn't have been able to work on any stocks on Friday, so I had placed the orders before I left. Too bad! Could have got a lot of profit but instead, I had to settle on small profit.
Closed short position on pnra on $100 profit only to see stock going down by $6
Closed one call I had bought(vlo) for $100 profit only to see it rising by $3.

Monday update -
I guess it doesn't matter much as both of the stocks are back to square one.

Energy stocks up - premarket

2008-09-12T06:02:00.000-07:00

vlo, xto, fto, tso all up in premarket whereas the market is headed to open lower.
I feel idiot for selling out fto and xto

I need to be careful

2008-09-11T09:39:00.000-07:00

I screwed up my vlo play. VLO was nicely up by more than 2$ when I was trying to close the call I had bought(a couple of days back) for some profit. I thought I had placed the order but apparently I hadn't gone past the preview order. Now, VLO has retraced and I am back at break-even. This sucks. I really really to double check my orders.

LEH

2008-09-11T09:15:00.002-07:00

I almost got into LEH at $4.8 but then refrained. I don't have a setup or exit-strategy and I was just trying a gamble! I might miss on some profit here but I am just trying to be more disciplined.

PNRA

2008-09-11T07:54:00.000-07:00

Talk about a recession-proof stock ;).

I have a hunch that

2008-09-11T07:53:00.000-07:00

stock market will close green today. Its just a hunch though!

Sold call - Fto

2008-09-11T06:52:00.000-07:00

Sold the call I have had bought for fto from Sept 9. I just wanted to lock my profit even if fto seems to be climbing.

Sold call - xto

2008-09-10T11:21:00.000-07:00

Sold the call I have had bought for xto from Sept 9. I just wanted to lock my profit even if xto seems to be climbing.
Self note - I really need to learn chart patterns and understand where is the momentum.

Lehman Brothers LEH

2008-09-10T01:31:00.000-07:00

Analysts--
Fox-Pitt Kelton's David Trone -

Not ruling out a buyout by the management, in a note dated Sept 9, that Lehman could sell its investment-management unit and fund the entire tender.
that Lehman needs $5 billion in net capital.
deal scenarios would have current shareholders getting $10 a share to $15 a share.

Banc of America's Michael Hecht

"best case" scenario for common equity holders is that Lehman "limps along" and gets by with a partial reduction of its troubled asset exposure by raising dilutive capital and selling a portion of its investment-management unit.
a Bear Stearns-like bailout will likely leave little value for common stockholders of about $2 per share

Current Deal Talks--

Korea Development Bank confirmed talks had ended for now with Lehman Brothers
Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc is in talks with BlackRock Inc to sell a package of British real estate assets.

Lehman Response to Volatility of Stock-
Lehman has brought its third-quarter earnings up to Wednesday(today) morning, and will announce strategics.

I am guessing that Leh won't prepone the earnings date without being in a stronger position than market thinks it is. I don't know who is trading so early but Leh is trading much higher(10.35) than yesterday's close(7.79) in today's premarket. Thats a rally of 30%. Talk about volatile market! I am hoping for a bull ride today to recover some losses.

Stocks - Insightful Posts

2008-09-10T00:02:00.000-07:00

I guess I am over trading and loosing more money. Also, I am betting against trends loosing more. Its time to analyze my strategies and understand the experiences of other traders. Here are some resources that I am reading currently -

From http://www.theimpatienttrader.blogspot.com/
1) Read the rules at the top of the page.
2) Always Ask Yourself
3) Position Sizing: Finding Your MAX Pain
4) Anatomy Of A Bear Market
5) Strong conviction but never stubborn - I think this is a really important thought. I need to learn this and I need to get over my ego.
6) If You Have Been Struggling Lately. Try These Tips: By Alan Farley
7) Stages Of a Trader: By Bo Yoder
8) Three Positions A Trader Must Take - I think I know about first position, I need to get used to the second position and I am so not used to the third - which is what I really need to learn to survive.
9) To Make HUGE Profits, You Have To Think SMALL
10) Last but not the least :)
Thanks much Stewie!

In other news

2008-09-09T12:03:00.000-07:00

FRE up almost 30%
FNM up almost 60%

whereas leh, wm, aig are down bigtime. This indeed is a crazy market and somebody is making a lot of money.

Bought calls

2008-09-09T08:56:00.000-07:00

Bought calls for fto, xto, vlo, ung.

PNRA

2008-09-09T08:50:00.000-07:00

I am not sure why Panera Bread Company(PNRA) is trading with a P\E of 28+. It might be because there are no more stocks available to short. I don't know. But, there are so many other better companies with strong growth that are trading with a P\E less than 15. I just bought -UPAVJ Oct 50 put for $1.6. I really love the food at Panera and I have sustained some loss when I went long on this stock at $40 and bailed out. If you want to buy puts, you might want to wait until PNRA hits 55 and then take the profit as soon as you can unless you can figure out the high P\E for this stock.

New Jerry Seinfeld & Bill Gates Ad

2008-09-05T07:30:00.000-07:00

Yes, this ad is completely random...kind of like that show about "nothing" :). There is plenty of criticism out there but, personally, I liked it!

Here is some explanation for geeks I found on a blog -

by Stariun September 4, 2008 10:27 PM PDT: This ad wasn't about nothing. First of all, looking into the shoe shop, Gates had the chance of selecting a shoe which fits him. Windows 'ecosystem' is like that. Different computers of various shapes and forms which fits your needs. Also the flexibility of the shoe compares to that of Windows. (Linux also)

About Seinfield having shower with his clothes on, that refers to the Mac. You are not legally permitted by Apple to build from scratch like some personal system builders can do on Windows or Linux platform. Macs come pre-built from Apple (Psystar and co are seen as illegal in Apple's eyes). You are not legally allowed to build from bare bones or naked PCs.

At least at the end when Seinfeld asked "Are they ever gonna come out with something that will make our computers moist and chewy like cake so we can just eat them while we're working? If it's yes, give me a signal. Adjust your shorts." and Gates gave a sign. Microsoft is placing some Windows gurus at some Best Buy stores to convince people to buy Windows PCs. Some people wether in small numbers after seeing this ad would be curious as to what the new product from Microsoft is and some of these people will end up talking to these guys who will convince them to buy Microsoft products.

This particular ad was made for people to figure out what is going on and therefore make them follow the subsequent ones which will need no brainer to uncover the reason behind it. (Just like how the Playstation 3's 'This is Living' ad started)

I know bashing MS of late is a fashion but come on guys, just think about it and you'll get it.

Stock to watch today - Sandisk ( SNDK )

2008-09-05T05:06:00.000-07:00

Samsung is working to acquire Sandisk. SNDK is already up almost 30% in pre-market trading. Stock is really beaten up lately because SNDK produced unexpected loss last quarter.

Buy or Sell

2008-09-04T12:17:00.000-07:00

With dow down more than 300 points, did you buy or sell? I am betting it will recover some losses tomorrow - so, I took positions in UNG, VLO, SOL. Though, I am calling it a day for today!

MIG

2008-09-04T11:20:00.000-07:00

I had got 375 shares for my pros shares a while back. I sold my 200 shares at 7.09 a piece as the stock(mig) wasn't moving anywhere much. Today, DOW is down by 330 points(2.87%) and MIG is up by 2.21% without any news. As always, in retrospect I should have held on mig - I guess I can never comprehend market.

Seen on Washingtonpost

2008-09-04T10:44:00.000-07:00

I love when people who have nothing to do take jabs at each other or politicians.(I know I read 'em like I have nothing else to do!). Here are some barbs from "Palin Speaks: How Did She Do?"
Note - this is not to offend anyone and these aren't my comments. I just thought they were funny.

This is like Dick Cheney in a skirt - how is this going to win independents???
I counted one policy. Rest was just blather. Bush-lite.
She is a relatively inexperience governor. She is an ideologue. She has confidence. Remind you of Bush? Here we go again...
"She doesnt even deserve to be mentioned in the same sentence with Hillary. I wouldnt let my dog play with her. "
"She came off Jerry Springer like."
I was playing warcraft today and this one dude was named Obamination
Palin is Dick Cheney with longer hair....
Interesting they polled 25 Hillary voters and 0 said they would vote McBush!
I knew the Liberals would run over to their computers and try to flood message boards.
She, um, she...really firebombed the abortion clinic out of that speech!
Palin is unintentionally hilarious.

What the heck is going on with FMD today?

2008-08-29T10:52:00.001-07:00

FMD is up almost 17%. I own fmd from 38 and 12 and I have pretty much given hope about getting any of my money back. So, I wasn't following it and today its up 17% and I can't find a substantial news. Short squeeze - probably. But, didn't we already have one just some time back? I need to do some research again.

VLO - Breaking out?

2008-08-27T11:31:00.000-07:00

Vlo broke through 50 day moving average 35.45, climbed upto 35.95 and retraced back. Its going above 35 again. Are we seeing a breakout here?
At least street.com says so
http://cosmos.bcst.yahoo.com/up/player/popup/?rn=289004&cl=9401170&src=finance&ch=633473

Earnigs play - AEO

2008-08-26T02:15:00.000-07:00

Aeo is going to report earnings today. I was thinking of buying calls of aeo yesterday but refrained.
Oil price has taken its tall on this stock as it has in other retails. Still its a Recognized Brand, stock is trading with low and Currently at nearby 52 week low. Also, Insiders are buying and holding. http://finance.yahoo.com/q/it?s=AEO
It would be interesting to see how it plays today.

Solars

2008-08-25T07:03:00.000-07:00

With low pes and good profits, I am tempted to take more positions in solars. Though, I really feel an urge to short fslr. Here is a link that I got from yahoo message board.
http://solarfeeds.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=3157:solar-stocks-comparison-table-8222008&catid=75:climateer-investing&Itemid=115
With LDK providing some strong future - http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/080825/ldk_solar_outlook.html
it looks like solars are going to have some rally today. I have already bought sept 20 call of SOL.

Ouch!

2008-08-23T08:50:00.000-07:00

Taekwondo Loser Disagrees, Kicks Judge's Ass
What a way to finish the olympics! Being a judge in in taekwondo must require higher premium of insurance ;).

NTRI

2008-08-12T08:34:00.001-07:00

NTRI is holding pretty well. Probably short covering or company buyback or may be both! Regardless, its working well for my portfolio :)

NDAQ

2008-08-08T07:40:00.000-07:00

Bought two calls of NDAQ yesterday. The PE is really low and company is definitely making profit.
JAN 35 for 2.95 + brokerage
SEP 35 for 1.1 + brokerage

Both the calls are in green now and I hope I recover some of my loss through these positions.

Its a "who sucks faster" game

2008-08-08T07:35:00.000-07:00

Earnings are over for all the positions I have - pretty much got crushed in every position so far. Although I did make some profit on the puts that I had bought to hedge on my positions. SuckerList
Long-

NTRI,
Nyx,
WFMI,
CROX,
VLCK,
SMSI, - Took loss and sold some position.
IMMR, - Took loss and sold some position.
FMD, - I have a huge loss. Can't even think of selling it now.
ENT, - Not quite sure whats up with this company. Just holding 100 shares at $550 loss.

Short -
AMZN(Among all the stocks - why did I short only this one?)

Ok - I still believe market will go up .... someday!

NYX - A Bizarre Stock

2008-08-01T05:14:00.000-07:00

All those people who are trading nyx for a while know how bizarre this stock is. This is the screenshot I had taken today in premarket. How many times have you seen bid price more than ask price?

Tomorrow - One more monster day!

2008-07-31T11:40:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow - Again Earnings time! NYX, VCLK, IMMR are reporting earnings.

1) I had invested heavily in NYX
Share 300 ( Bought at 73, 74.2, 77.8). Nyx is currently trading at 47.75.
Loss - 8100.
I have also bought calls recently hoping that nyx will go up after earnings(well, thats a big hope, isn't it? - nyx shareholders will know the feeling ;) as nyx seems to down on any news).
Invested $1300 in calls. Also, invest $100 in puts.

2) I had bought vclk(valuclick) 200 shares at 21.5. Its currently trading at 11.82. So I have approximately $2000 loss.

3) I had bought IMMR 150 shares at 11.1 . Its currently trading at 7.04. Loss - $620

Why I never had stop losses is a million dollar question. Its really expensive to learn simple things hard way!

New Goals

2008-07-31T11:34:00.000-07:00

Goal -Recover $10K in next two months and\or Get rid of margin by $5k

Portfolio Account Value -

Total Loss : $50500
Margin Debit : $25,600
Current Account Value : $29,500

Loss of $50500 might sound big(well it is big) but it is 5k less that whan I had last month.
My accuont value was $23k last month and its improved.
I have invested all my savings of 2 years and running a very risky life right now...but it's ok. If I loose all of that, I can call it a day for stock market and start a new life as I am still 27 :):):). I just need to take care of that margin first.

I'd rather be lucky...

2008-07-24T00:10:00.000-07:00

Here is something from move Match Point

The man who said "I'd rather be lucky than good" saw deeply into life. People are afraid to face how great a part of life is dependent on luck. It's scary to think so much is out of one's control. There are moments in a match when the ball hits the top of the net and for a split second it can either go forward or fall back. With a little luck it goes forward and you win. Or maybe it doesn't and you lose.

I hope I get enough luck to win the gamble in the stock market.......So my strategy is match-point strategy!