Keith Richards Snorted His Father

You have to love that headline... I just couldn't resist.

Here's the link.

If Keith Richards were a stock, everyone and their grandmother would be short and getting squeezed. Can you believe this guy is still alive?

Low-Volume, Broad-Based, Stock Market Rally

Well, a nice rally today even if it was on light holiday volume. So I guess I probably missed out some because I'm in non-aggressive, holiday-week, trading mode. Still, I had a good day that officially puts my account back into the green for the first time since my twin disaster days in early March.

My best trade of the day was in CF. In the morning the stock dipped below old resistance at 39 that seems to have become some new support. I picked some up around there and slowly unloaded the position all day. I had 4 other triple-digit winners which helped pad the profits and only 1 triple-digit loser.


P&L $1022
Best: CF $559
Worst: SQM -$109

Stocks traded: 13, 9 winners 4 losers
Total trades: 122
Volume: 22,800

Alphatrends

Hey, I just discovered this blog Alphatrends that posts videos with some really well-done and easily understood technical analysis. Check it out!

I found it when I did my early morning drive-by of Wallstrip who covered EFX today.

Some rip today, eh? It's great but the volume is only slightly above yesterday's anemic levels so I'm not overly excited.

Ray of Light

It was a long few weeks that followed my visit to watch Albert trade.

During that time, my job as a Sales Assistant went from bad to just downright awful. I basically spent my days in meetings with unorganized salespeople who treated me like crap but then expected me to help them. No matter how hard I worked for them they were always unhappy. I had already been turned down once when I asked for a meager raise.

One day my mom called my office. She was calling from the hospital where she was laid up with a broken leg. (Parking lot. Ice.) Was she okay? Yes, but she would need a ride home. She and my father were divorced, and my two older siblings both lived in California. I had no choice but to go. I went into my boss's office and told him that I had a family emergency and that I needed to leave early. He said, "Do what you have to do. But I don't have to be happy about it." Even though I had only $600 in savings and over $30,000 in student loans, I quit then and there. I drove down to Collingswood and spent the next week taking care of my mom. I also decided that I was going to take a shot at trading. But with no income or savings, how was I going to live? Albert told me that I shouldn't expect to make money for at least 6 months and even that wasn't guaranteed.

As it turns out the timing for this particular problem was perfect. My girlfriend (future wife) Judy and I had been talking about moving in together; the lease on my apartment was up at the end of the month. I could not wait to leave this particular apartment because all of my neighbors were crazy. I lived next door to a couple who fought all the time. When they weren't fighting, they were listening to the Madonna song "Ray of Light" and having sex. Upstairs, lived a woman who worked in the sex-trade and downstairs, lived 3 guys who played video games all the time. When they weren't playing video games, they were busy visiting the woman who lived upstairs.

Anyway, Judy had a nice stable job working as an administrative assistant for the CEO of a large publishing company. She said her salary could support us both until I was profitable. In a week, we had found a house to rent on Staten Island and I was preparing for my second visit downtown to become more immersed in the world of trading. This time, I wouldn't wear a suit.