Weekend Open Thread

I was going to take the wind out of Ragin's sails by posting the picture that I'll be using as my avatar next week, but it's just too awful. So it's Halloween weekend, I figured I'd post a topical picture instead.

Bats are amazing creatures that deserve your respect and protection. Perhaps I'll write a post about them in the future. For now, enjoy that "grade-schoolesque" picture of that brown bat and click the link to learn more.

Okay, so you know the drill. Comment away. Spam me with your blog address whatever... just leave something interesting in the comment section for all to enjoy. Did you have a really good week? Tell us, we're all ears. Maybe your neighborhood caught fire... give us some idea of what that's like. Evacuee? Have a lot of time on your hands? Have at it...

Enjoy the weekend.

UPDATE: For "Noisy" trapped in some warehouse, here's my favorite Yo La Tengo song of all time.

XTC, "Dear God"

For you fans of the 80s.

Small Time Trader

Seriously, you'd think that after trading for 9 years that I could hold some bigger positions. Normally, when I get involved with a larger position I mess it up. Case in point today, DSX.



I learned that this stock wasn't going to go down with the rest of the shippers the hard way, by shorting it and losing money. This gave me a new idea... "hey, maybe there's strength in this stock." Clearly, it didn't want to go down. So I started buying at around $41. I bought 2500 shares.

I held the stock as it dropped below my purchase price. Each time it did this, my P&L would dip below $1000, making it impossible for me to place new trades because of my self-imposed loss limit. So basically, if I wanted to continue trading, it was all about DSX going up.

The problem is that once the stock got up to $41.25, I was down only $500 on the day and decided to sell most of my position so that I wouldn't have to be dependent on only it for the rest of my day. I sold 2000 of my 2500 shares and watched as the stock went up another point.

So I need to work on this... holding winners. Unique problem, right?

I had a nice turn around though. I caught the moves in PMI, FED and ABK though with small positions and managed to bring myself back positive on the day. At one point, I got all the way up to $1400 but then I started giving back and decided to call it a day.

My worst stock of the day was WCG. What can I say, I'm an idiot.

However, I did do something different today which definitely showed a little "growth" or "discipline" or something. Remember last week when the market gapped higher I got smoked and I said I always lose money when the market gaps up at the open? Well, I remembered that today and didn't screw it up too badly. Lesson learned.

Anyway, considering that I was down a bunch today and clawed back into the green, after my huge giveback yesterday, would look kind of like a "V" bottom on a graph. That's bullish and I'll take it.

Enjoy the weekend.

Here's the stats:
P&L, $796
Best, PMI, $537
Worst, WCG, -$393

63,000 shares traded.
28 stocks traded. 12 winners, 16 losers.
269 trades.

Virtual Office, $8700. Dow, +134.78, 13,806.70.

Stewie, $1000 on 22,000 shares traded.
Me, $796 on 63,000 shares traded.
Tapeworm, $180 on 6 contracts traded.
Akalawoo, $158 on 1 contract traded.
Denarii, $117 on 2200 shares traded.
Evolution, $29 on 75,600 shares traded.
OBAT, -$165 on 12,400 shares traded.
Dehtrader, -$400 on 4300 shares traded.

So the Dow closes up over 100 points and I lose a minor bet. No big deal. As I explained to Ragin Gayjun, losing a bet to a deep fry chef who lives in a FEMA trailer in New Orleans is really the least of my troubles.

And besides, my revenge, when it comes, will be sweet.

Meanwhile, it was a pretty good day for the VO. Nearly everyone cashed in and those who finished red didn't get slaughtered or anything. Not a bad way to go into the weekend.

While I'm upset that volatility dropped significantly today, at least we had some decent volume. We managed to trade 1,406,124,000 shares on the NYSE today.

It's hard to know what people expect to happen next week. Clearly, everyone expects a cut... whether we get 25 or 50 seems to be the main debate. This run up into the meeting could create some volatility for next week as well. Very welcome indeed. Let's close the month strong.

Enjoy your weekend. I'll have an open thread up with a surprise photo. Please stop by to share stories of your weekend escapades. Really, I want to know.

Leaving Early To Go See Bats

That's right... it's Halloween... big holiday when you have a kid.

So everything will be late. My apologies... whatever.

Don't forget to stop by this weekend and get involved in some conversation. Also, if you haven't already, go take the personality test. Let us know what type of psychopath you are.

Meanwhile, as for the "deathmatch," as I type this, the Dow is up 119 so I would lose.

Time will tell.

Still, feel free to provide me with some possible pictures to use as Ragin's icon.

UPDATE: As I'm getting ready to leave I see the Dow is back below 100... it's 3:23 and up 93.64. Nice. Get those picture ideas in the comment section. I need one for Ragin and one for Sloth.

Deathmatch #2

Ragin is claiming the market will close up triple digits today. I think not.

Should the market close up over 100 points, he can change my icon over at Wallstreak for one week. Should the market close up less than 100 points up, I can change his icon.

When asked why he thinks the market is going higher today he said something about "a woman's intuition."

Deathmatch on!

UPDATE: "Sloth" and Bubs from Wallstreak have also joined this bet. Bubs is on my side, Sloth is choosing to listen to the fry chef who lives in a FEMA trailerpark in New Orleans...

NOTE: We had some good back and forth over at Wallstreak on this one. Made a dull day a little brighter.

FINAL UPDATE: SHOULD I WIN I WILL BE HOLDING AN EMERGENCY POLL THIS WEEKEND TO HELP CHOOSE WHICH PICTURE TO USE.

Exclusive Footage!!!

Caught on tape! Momojuicing's last few moments in the Virtual Office.

Ghosts

One out of three people believe in ghosts.

I'm going to go out on a limb and say that these are the same people who think Iraq had something to do with 9/11.

Actually, I have an interesting post about ghosts, specifically an "Indian Princess" that I will try to unleash on Halloween.

Not that I believe in ghosts...

Blogs: The Next China?

Here's an article from Businessweek that pretty much says that fine blogs like this one are bound to be scooped up by the MSM soon. (h/t artha)

Let it be known that I will never sell out. Except for $2million USD and health benefits.

Meanwhile, "4th-tier blogs" will never be purchased.