Friday, January 25, 2008

Coal Stocks Rip To New Highs

I woke up this morning a little late and rushed through my research. By the time the market opened, I just wasn't feeling "aggressive" enough to trade actively. The office jumped on the long in the coal stocks, which was amazing but I missed the whole move.

I mean, take a look at CNX... 8 points straight up.



So, I started looking short.

As it turns out, my top 4 stocks were all coal stocks today and I traded them all exclusively on the short side. ANR, CNX, WLT, and MEE. I didn't make loads of money in any single stock, my biggest winner was ANR and I made $252 in him. The key for my success today was keeping things simple. I also kept my volume really light.

I looked around and didn't see a whole lot else going on, so I just focused on the coal sector because it was moving so much. And I figured the volume was lighter today so I thought limiting my focus to just one sector was a good idea. In fact, it made the day seem really easy... perhaps I'm onto something there.

Anyway, so I'm turning the computer off for now. I'll be here all weekend. Stop by.

Here's the stats:

P&L, $817
Best, ANR, $252
Worst, TIF, -$39

14,000 shares traded.
12 stocks traded, 10 winners, 2 losers.

2 comments:

wincity said...

Good for you shorting the coals. I saw them but didn't dare to short. I wasn't sure what was going on.

These coals often go very crazy. Wish I know the fundamentals so I could short them with confidence.

Dinosaur Trader said...

Win,

I saw two things... first, something about BHP having a shortage of coal in the UK or something... and declaring force majeure. Then, there was something in CATs guidance that was apparently bullish.

-DT