Animal Collective, "For Reverend Green"

In their prime.

I listened to Strawberry Jam on my ride to the beach in the afternoon and then on the way back. Get it... it's explosive.

A New Appreciation For My Neighbor

My earlier post really says it all.

I only wish I had gotten home at 3:59 and not at 3:40... it would have meant $750 more in profits. Instead, I came home and was thrilled, shocked even, to see my P&L green and so I just sold out of most of my position near $31. I had also set limits to sell 400 at $31.20 and 400 more at $31.50 while I was out... amazingly, they too were hit. So upon my return, I had 1000 shares left and sold most of it around $31.10.


Believe me, I'm not going to complain too much about missing that last 65 cents.

You know, I said that I was doing that to prove to myself that I wasn't attached to money, but really, it seems like I'm more attached to trading itself than I am to money. I really "felt" that the stock was going to go higher but I "felt" even more that if I hung around to watch it that I'd screw it up.

Funny the way lessons can be learned.

Anyway, apart from my intraday number today, I made almost $600 in my "swing account" with gains in NMX (thanks Momo), POT, and DE. FED is dead in the water... if he doesn't move to the upside tomorrow I may bail on that one for a tiny loss.

Also instructive today is the fact that the other two positions that went against me, CNS (long) and LDK (short) would have worked out quite well had I let them be and not exited them for losses. I'm not saying that taking the losses when I took them was wrong, but I am saying that I should probably take smaller positions and give myself more room in them because it could be that I'm often on the right side of a position over a longer timeframe... I'll be exploring this more in the days to come.

Here's the stats:

P&L, $217
Best, ANW, $1007
Worst, CNS, -$544
23,200 shares traded.
14 stocks traded. 6 winners, 8 losers.
97 trades.

Virtual Office, $22,111. Dow, +34.79, 13,912.94.

Misstrade, $21,000 on 21,000 shares traded.
Momojuicing, $734 on 32,200 shares traded.
Tapeworm, $300 on 2 contracts traded.
Me, $217 on 23,200 shares traded.
Bubs, $97 on 1900 shares traded.
Evolution, may trade again tomorrow.
OBAT, -$8 on 15,400 shares traded.
Akalawoo, -$106 on 20 contracts traded.
Denarii, -$123 on 2400 shares traded.

Well, I guess I should address the obvious here... Misstrade did the heavy lifting today. I guess when you cover a chunk of your JRJC short at the low of the day you deserve those kinds of profits. Nice trade.

The rest of us slobs barely scratched out an existence today.

Anyway, volume sucked. I mean, seriously... the NYSE traded 1,180,687,000 shares today. That's like a summer Friday... is there a new Jewish holiday or something?

Looking forward to earnings season. Perhaps that will add some volume into the market.

My Neighbor

I hate his leaf-blowing, wood chipping ass.

Seriously the guy just blew some leaves into a pile (it's windy here... a rake could have done the job in half the time) and then proceeded to pick the leaves up in clumps, throwing them into his woodchipper, "making more" leaves.

Idiot.

Or, I could just be upset because I'm getting completely smoked. Currently, I'm down well past my limit which means I can no longer enter any new positions. So I'm left with this situation. I have 1800 shares of a thin, crappy stock. Do I sell it and accept my loss or do I just hold this piece of shit all day knowing that it's my only hope at regaining any of my lost money?

I could just go to the beach and let the chips fall where they may. When I get home I could either be exactly where I am now, -$1750 or down double that, or I could be positive again. My gut tells me the stock is moving higher today.

Since I've never done this before, and as an exercise in losing my attachment to money, I'm going to walk away and just post the graph here for your pleasure.



I'll be back at 3:59 to close the position. Wish me luck.


UPDATE: HA! HA!!!!!



I'm under no illusions here, I got pretty lucky. Okay, very lucky. Anyway, maybe my neighbor isn't such a bad guy after all, he drove me out of my house, into the surf and away from the computers.

Your Relation To Money

Will over at Dummyspots asks a big question.

He's been blogrolled over there on the right for some time. However, if you haven't taken the opportunity to check out his blog, today is a great day to do so. He always writes thoughtful, clear posts and has also made a couple of great trading calls.

ORA On Wallstrip

That's right, go green! Great Wallstrip today, check it out.

Gusty Southerly

Surf has been flat or unrideable here since early Sunday morning. 4 days has been the longest I've gone without surfing since I began again a couple of months back.

My surfing buddy relies a lot on paid surfing reports and "models" that tell him whether or not it's worthwhile to drive out and get in the water. I'm more inclined to drive out and get in the water despite the reports just because I think there's no better way to start your day than with a dip in the ocean. And hey, if I manage to catch a crappy closeout wave or two, so be it.

Anyway, we spoke late last night and he told me that the "models" were wrong and that the surf was going to be a mess today. I told him I was heading out regardless and that if he wanted a ride, to let me know.

I woke a little late this morning and noticed that the trees were still. No wind! I clamored in the darkness for my clothes and kissed Judy on the head. "I'm gonna go see what's out there," I said. Our daughter was nestled up next to her in bed, looking warm and comfortable. I ran downstairs and out the door.

By the time I arrived in my town, only a few miles away, the flag was stiff with a gusty southerly. One look at the flag and I knew what the surf would be like. White water mush with strong currents.

At 6:00am, the only people in town are the sanitation department guys, running around in fluorescent orange vests emptying garbage bins and hooking large hoses up to the hydrants, to hose down the streets. Since not many people are driving through town every morning with surfboards on their car, they've come to recognize me, and I waved to them as I decided to turn around and head back home.

I turned on the teakettle and walked back upstairs to the bedroom. I slid into bed next to our daughter and buried my nose in her hair, the hair that we cut for the first time just yesterday. Since she's not going to nursery school until January now, every extra moment we have with her has taken on a new importance... even if we appreciate those moments before she wakes up.

As I listened to her breathe and smelled her hair, I thought maybe getting in the ocean isn't the best way to start the day after all.