Monday, June 4, 2007

Black Francis, "Black Rider"

Black Francis of the Pixes covering the Tom Waits song, Black Rider.

Streetwide Issues

Well, today was a slow one. The volume on the NYSE was just above what it was the Friday before the Memorial Day holiday. Perhaps it's because between 10:30 and 12:00 there were "streetwide issues" that made trading risky.

I personally had a number of orders hung and I couldn't get anyone to tell me the status of those orders. So I basically had to sit on my hands and wait... perhaps that was for the best because I had a hard time finding stocks that were moving today.



My best stock of the day was TNH although, I hardly traded it at all. Here are the trades:

9:34:22 Buy 200 @ 87.99 (200)
9:34:53 Sell 100 @ 88.44 (100)
9:35:05 Sell 100 @ 88.53 (flat)
10:09:03 Buy 300 @ 89.46 (300)
10:09:56 Sell 100 @ 89.72 (200)
10:39:20 Sell 100 @ 89.80 (100)
12:17:07 Sell 100 @ 91.13 (flat)
15:45:44 Short 200 @ 91.92 (-200)
15:46:42 Buy 100 @ 92.14 (-100)
15:53:03 Buy 100 @ 91.61 (flat)

Notice the gap between 10:39 and 12:17... that's when the trades were all screwy on the NYSE. Funny thing is that not being able to sell during that 1.5 hours probably helped me out!

Also, one note about my short at the end of the day. Everyday, at 3:40 trade imbalances are published. Mostly you see them in big cap names.

Today, TNH had a very small buy imbalance, for 14,600 shares. Normally, I don't mess with imbalances I just watch them. However, I knew that people would see this imbalance and try to buy ahead of the closing price. I also knew that the imbalance was small enough that it would almost definitely be filled by the time the confirmation came out at 3:50.

So, at 3:50 when the the news wires said, "No Market On Close Imbalance" in TNH I figured it would force the mooks who bought at 3:40 to panic and sell. I was right about everything except my entry on the trade... I shorted the stock too early.

Anyway, just figured I'd let you in on my thinking on that particular trade. It was an imbalance play. Occasionally, they are worth trading.

I'm happy to start June in the green... even if it is just $116, it's a psychological victory. I did a good job at keeping my losers small. Besides AMR, which I was trading with fairly large size, I didn't have one loser over $100.

If I can string some winners together at the beginning of the month and have a "buffer" against going into the red, it will open me up to start taking more risk again.

Hopefully, the extra risk-taking will pay off.

Here's the stats:

P&L, $116
Best, TNH, $331
Worst, AMR, -$253

shares traded, 31,400
stocks traded, 17, 7 positive, 10 negative
total trades, 166

Virtual Office, -$1261. Dow, +8.21, 13676.32.

Misstrade, $700 on 10,600 shares traded.
Me, $116 on 31,400 shares traded.
Denarii, $37 on 1400 shares traded.
Dehtrader, -$394 on 7800 shares traded.
EvolutionTrader, -$1720 on 58,400 shares traded.

A negative day for the VO is a rarity, but today we are seeing red.

Misstrade had what he termed a "flat" day but still had enough in the tank to rise to the top of the pack. I made about $100 on my first trade of the day. Had I known the rest of the day was going to be one big churn, I would have stopped at 9:40.

On the downside, ET got a little smoked. Luckily, he started the month off well on Friday so he's not in any real trouble. Check his site to see what happened.

Let's hope we do better tomorrow. The volume in the market today was pathetic perhaps tomorrow we can see a pick-up.

A More Nuanced View Of Ron Paul

I imagine that with almost a year and a half to go before the presidential election that a lot will be dredged up about all of the candidates.

Ron Paul has generated a lot of buzz from the Republican debates because he is their only candidate that is anti-war and he is not a fear-mongerer. Still, there is a lot to be learned about the man and his past.

We will see how it all plays out. For now, I still can't say I would want to vote for any Republicans or Democrats currently in the running. Thank goodness it's early.

NYSE "Issues" Resolved

Well, just after 12:00 it seems that my orders all cleared. That kind of "glitch" really throws my day off.

Since we're in the middle of the day and not a whole lot seems to be happening, I'll probably just chill out until 2pm and see if things look any more interesting then.

I have 3 small long positions as we work our way into the middle of the day. Yawn.

Dan Deacon, "Wham City"

Technically, this is a "stock market blog" since that is what I do for a living and because it's the fuel that feeds the drama of my everyday life.

However, you should know, I don't give a damn about stocks or the stock market and, in fact, I don't like most people who do.

It's just one of the ironies of my life.

Anyway, it's 10:40 and the "NYSE is having streetwide issues". In other words, I have a bunch of orders hanging and I'm not sure if I've been filled or not. In these situations, the rule is, I lose money. So, I'm going to sit and wait until I hear that things are okay again with the damn SIAC lines or whatever is causing the trouble this time...

Whatever your thoughts on the Hybrid Market may be, I don't think anyone can argue that since its implementation there have been far more days where "streetwide issues" effect trade. Remember the 500 point drop in February?

Anyway, here's another great song. Courtesy of the Pitchfork Media Forkcast.

Blitzen Trapper, "Wild Mountain Nation"

Start The Week Laughing

I have a soft spot for Candid Camera type pranks, okay?