Stars Of The Lid, "Requiem For Dying Mothers (excerpt)"

Quiet day, quiet song. Enjoy the evening.

Mixed Messages

I'm done trading for the day because I can't figure out what is going on.

Here's a few examples of what I mean...

The AD has been bearish most of the day but the TRIN has been mostly bullish.

The S&P and Dow are down for the day, but the COMP is positive.

Half of the latin-american names I watch are down and half are up.

Same with the fertilizers, POT up good, TNH down, CF flat.

In other words, it's hard to discern any type of trend in this market today and since volume is light and I've lost in the last 3 trades I made, I'm walking away.

I don't have a lot to offer today as far as trades go. Nothing really worked much in my favor or really against me. I had a couple of instances where I should have let things run more. Case in point, TNH.

I got short at 11:41 as the stock traded above 136. I figured he might hit some resistance in this area due to the action on Tuesday. He ran up near 137 and turned tail, heading south. I covered at 1:37 as the market looked to be rallying and it was getting close to my entry.

Instead, I should have held my stop in this situation because he wasn't showing "strength". I was skittish. I took a small profit when instead I could have taken a few points.

So I'm not forcing anything. Today, afterall, is the day when the toddlers come to pee on our carpets and rip down our window treatments. I need to mentally prepare for the chaos.


Sorry for the lame post, but it was a lame trading day.


Here's the stats:


P&L, $15
Best, HXM, $131
Worst, NOV, -$128


shares traded, 6400
stocks traded, 14, 7 positive, 7 negative
total trades, 49

Virtual Office, $776. Dow, -11.46, 13565.84.

HPT, $409 on 15 contracts traded.
Evolution, $322 on 8800 shares traded.
OBAT, $55 on 7000 shares traded.
Me, $15 on 6400 shares traded.
Denarii, -$25 on 1000 shares traded.

I'm happy that most finished green for the day but the only word I can think of to describe the trading today is LAME.

The indexes were mixed, the indicators were mixed, the stocks that normally trade together weren't.... it was just LAME.

If you're bullish, I guess you can be happy that the market reversed it's losses from the morning. I wouldn't say I'm bullish or bearish here, more like, "boredish".

Anyway, let's see if the employment data tomorrow does something to create a little action. I wouldn't bet the house on it though... or even a shingle.

Tight Rules And Easy Trading

The holiday is behind us but the holiday week is not.

Therefore I'm going to be taking it easy again today studying setups and watching the market for clues.

For now I will share a conversation I overhead this weekend. Three guys talking about books.

Jack: "Joe, you ever read Philistines At The Hedgerow?"

Joe: "No. Any good?"

Jack: "Yeah, it's pretty good. Gossipy. I just thought about it when George mentioned that he didn't know if any of the condos sold but he knew that Brian Cook was renting one. It's name-dropping like that. You're gonna love it, George."

George: "Yeah, and let me tell you, I'm happy you brought it for me to borrow, because this book I just started is slow."

Joe: "What are you reading?"

George: "Crime and Punishment", which sucks, because I just finished the "Count of Monte Cristo" and it ruled. Before that, I read "War and Peace" and that was pretty damned good too."

Joe: "War and Peace"? Damn, isn't that a really big book? Who wrote it?"

George: "I dunno. Leo Tolstoy or some shit."