The Robots Freaked Out

(First of all, be sure to try out my new fancy stock widget. Click on the blue box next to the stock symbols in this post. From that link you can click on the stock's profile, see a graph, get news, etc.)

At 1:00 I was busy emailing people and commenting on other blogs, whining about how I was getting smoked. My neck was killing me and I was making a mess of my keyboard with the Tiger Balm. It stank of peppermint in my office. Meanwhile, my daughter was downstairs "foot painting" with Judy and had just made a mess of a rug.

It was a bad day.

But you know, if you're feeling a little "no" all you have to do is add some "yes" to the "no" and things normally start to work out. Luckily, I have some friends in the ECB who were about to supply some "yes" for my day. Isn't life strange?

The first indication that something was wrong with the market was when I made money in a short trade. The stock was UBB.



I got short around $144 and covered just over $142. That got my blood flowing again and I realized that something was up. Weakness was really showing in the futures. Candles not retracing at all... red cliff forming quickly.

I don't know what I did or in what order, but I know I got massively short BEN and ANW. I also got short MLM and JRJC. All of those stocks turned into big winners for me. My other big winner, TNH, was a long.



I bought TNH when it was still in the middle of that first huge drop. I got filled on 400 shares at $121.98 and basically closed my eyes. It was like my PCP trade on my last huge day (in August). Sometimes, when things get wacky and extreme you just have to jump in... no price target, no "R" calculation... you just have to react.

Anyway, the stock retraced nicely. I missed the drop down to $116. What a fucked up stock.

If I was creating a "watchlist" today for future long positions, BEN would be on that list. Why? Because of the way it held up amidst the carnage. Also, JCI. Still, BEN was my best stock today because of the money I made on the short side during the selloff.



My worst stock of the day was DSL... he basically twisted the knife that he inserted in my back yesterday. I lost about $400 in him.

Anyway, like I said in the VO post, thank goodness we got some volatility today although I expect it to be short lived. But I guess you never know, perhaps Uncle Ben will freak everyone out tomorrow during his "talk." I mean look at this old picture of him... anything is possible.



Here's the stats:

P&L, $7443
Best, BEN, $2430
Worst, DSL, -$395

63,800 shares traded.
26 stocks traded, 19 winners, 7 losers.
234 trades.