Man, that "rogue cold" I was hit with last week has stuck around in the most unwelcome way infecting not only myself, but Judy and my daughter as well.
So it was a quiet Christmas.
More on Christmas later... I just wanted to get the blog up and running again.
So far, trade looks extremely choppy.
Ferts are (as always) strong, the 4 horsemen are stable, solars are mixed and financials are down. Overall, the market feels heavy.
Misstrade, $6200 on 5000 shares traded.
Dehtrader, $506 on 1840 shares traded.
Wincity, $4 on 100 shares traded.
Akalawoo, no trades.
Evolution, no trades.
Me, no trades.
Sanglucci, no trades.
Denarii, -$57 on 600 shares traded.
OBAT, -$134 on 6100 shares traded.
Retard, -$614 on 2 contracts traded.
Okay, my eyes hurt so apologies for the lame posting today.
Can you see the Santa in the stock chart pictured below?
We traded just under 2.4 billion shares on the NYSE today (huge volume due to OPEX day) and the VIX continued to plummet, landing at 18.47.
This will be the last VO (and second to last post) until after Christmas. I just want to send my sincere good wishes out to you all... even "newequity" and "JJ."
Also, special thanks to all the VOers for making the VO such a vibrant place.
I've enjoyed blogging these past 9 months and I'm glad the VO has such a nice following.
I hope this holiday finds you, your family and friends well.
Thanks for reading.
-DT
I've been hit with a rogue cold.
My nose and eyes, feel like they're on fire. If I could simply harvest and sell my mucus, I'd be a billionaire.
Evolution, $1715 on 56,000 shares traded.
OBAT, $585 on 11,600 shares traded.
Retard, $408 on 6 contracts traded.
Denarii, $18 on 200 shares traded.
Me, no trades.
Misstrade, no trades.
Akalawoo, -$27 on 1 contract traded.
Dehtrader, -$199 on 3500 shares traded.
Sanglucci, -$467 on 11,698 shares traded.
Damn, it's like Evolution and OBAT are the big bullies of the VO suddenly.
Rumor has it that yesterday there was some confrontation over by the watercooler between OBAT and Sanglucci. Something about the old volatility mascot "Clarence." Apparently, he's still a divisive figure.
Anyway, it appears Sanglucci has been seriously shaken by said confrontation while OBAT just keeps getting stronger.
Retard has been hanging around Evolution and OBAT trying to gain favor... however, as yet he is merely a yes man. Yesterday, I caught him parking Evolution's new sport car... humble times indeed.
Denarii and Akalawoo keep their own counsel. They're the quiet guys lately. Rumor has it that they're doing a "raw foods" diet together or something like that...
Meanwhile people have been giving Dehtrader wide berth. He's had a rough month (you're not the only one man... keep the chin up) and he's put people through walls before... best to wait until he starts stringing the green days together again before saying much.
Wincity, is AWOL.
Finally, I've taken to hanging outside the VO and begging for spare change while Misstrade was last seen flying over the city in his private jet.
Oh, and we traded under 1.4 billion on the NYSE today while the VIX dropped over a point, to 20.58.
Kind of a demented/drunken version of this Christmas classic. But we've all hit the egg nogg too hard at one point or other, no?
You can find the track by following this link and downloading track #8.
Have at it.
Parabolic? On a monthly, definitely.
On the daily, less so.
Still, take a look at the daily and you see mostly distribution since November when it began the base that it's "breaking out" of today. Volume is also suspiciously light. One other problem I have with the base is the 20% drop in high volume that came the second week of November.
Finally, this is a third-stage base. This run is getting a little "long in the tooth." I'd be very cautious if I was buying here. Keep those stops tight.
"The Fly" called this one when it was trading in the low 30s. Luckily, I picked it up way back then and decided to hold it in my long-term account. Milk the farmer!
Just in case you missed it, I wanted to point out the exceptional interview conducted by Mr. White Folks of MtM fame, on Maria Bartiromo.
I only wish he had delved into her past a bit more. He missed the opportunity to discuss her famed but mysterious "hairdex."
Evolution, $1633 on 55,600 shares traded.
OBAT, $868 on 7400 shares traded.
Akalawoo, $13 on 100 shares traded.
Me, no trades.
Misstrade, no trades.
Retard, no trades.
Wincity, no trades.
Denarii, -$14 on 200 shares traded.
Dehtrader, -$77 on 2530 shares traded.
Sanglucci, -$402 on 18,400 shares traded.
I didn't look at the market all day, so it will be hard to provide some color. Luckily, I have no problem making shit up. Actually, go visit Evolution and OBAT... they're on top of this market right now.
We traded under 1.4 billion shares on the NYSE today and the VIX dropped about a point, to 21.65. There.
Anyway, trust me when I say that I had more fun than you (random trader) did today despite nursing a huge hangover (I rarely drink). I took my daughter to my wife's toddler yoga class and watched Judy teach for the first time. She's a great teacher even if she drops the "f-bomb" on 3- year-olds a little more than she should...
Tomorrow I plan on waking early and watching the market for the first hour or so... just to keep up.
Just wanted to let you all know that while I'm temporarily unemployed and not trading, that I plan on keeping things professional around here.
I'll be monitoring the market and posting when something interesting happens.
Today, I happen to be a little hungover, so posting will be light.
Still, the VO will be up and if I get to it this evening I will be working on the next "history" post and writing about last night.
Trade well.
I just severed my link with my company.
After 6 years of being with them (with 3 total down months, in March, April and June of this year), I guess I expected more than a phone call 2 minutes before the open and the threat that "should you lose much more, we'll shut you down."
I lost $700 more yesterday and today they shut my account down with nary an email or phone call.
So I called them.
"Send us another check and we'll be more than happy to open you back up," they said.
Nope. While I understand it's a cold business, I simply expected more.
While trading is about numbers, it's more about psychology.
I can only assume by their actions that they were basically asking me to walk away. Traders are people and if you have a business that revolves around traders, you need to learn to help them manage difficult times. I would have found it helpful simply to receive a phone call now and then, just so it seemed like they were watching and showing some type of concern about my struggle.
Instead, the only time they called me was when they wanted to shut me down.
Like I said yesterday, I had contacted them a number of times since April in search of help. They were always nice, saying things like, "If there's anything we can do to help, just call," but other than sounding helpful, they didn't help me at all.
The one thing that did help was when I put a loss-limit on my account. In the end, that didn't even help me, since none of my days this month were your typical trading blow up day (a la HPT ZING!) as Moom mentioned yesterday in the comment section, my recent downturn has been steep, but minor if looked at in the perspective of my trading year.
So whatever, fuck them, their loss.
I contacted an old friend and hopefully, I'll be up and running again by January 2nd.
Evolution, $4038 on 73,848 shares traded.
OBAT, $730 on 10,000 shares traded.
Sanglucci, $224 on 18,800 shares traded.
Denarii, $44 on 100 shares traded.
Me, no trades.
Misstrade, no trades.
Retard, no trades.
Wincity, no trades.
Akalawoo, -$181 on 6 contracts traded.
Dehtrader, -$3058 on 4116 shares traded.
Wow, a reversal day... I'm jealous.
Still, while you greedy bastards were sweating and trying to make 20 cents here, or a point there, I was enjoying time with my daughter.
Seriously people... there's so much more to life than making money. You "Wall Streeters" are greedy little punks.
Anyway, looks like it was a great day to trade. Some of the moves in the fertilizer stocks for example, were ridiculous. I'm sure these types of moves were mirrored in other areas as well.
It's very nice to see Evolution and OBAT up there near the top. They've been with the VO since the very beginning.
Your Christmas fruit baskets should be arriving soon, guys.
We hear these numbers thrown around every day. For example...
JJ, "the tellurium blogger," has lost millions.
Exxon Mobil makes billions in quarterly profits.
The Iraq War is going to cost our children trillions.
While that gives you some idea of what these numbers mean, Wall Street Fighter provides a great link that really drives home what these numbers represent.
Interesting stuff.
If you've never had the opportunity to get phoned by your company at 9:28am and told that if you lose much more money that you'll be "cut off" then you haven't really lived yet.
That's right, the risk-manager at my company chose to take my current state of "mindfuckedness" up to a whole new level today by basically declaring me "dead" as a trader.
He could have at least called me last week and told me that I was almost dead.
To just be dead, came as somewhat of a shock.
Funny that I made over 10gs in November despite making the worst trade of my life (FSLR short) but that 2 weeks into December I'm "dead."
Ah well, it's a cold business and I don't take this personally.
That said, I've been with this company for 5 or 6 years. I've been writing them since April looking for help. I was told, in short, that "there was nothing they could do for me." The fact is, I've received loads more help from complete strangers over the Internet via this blog and others.
To those who've offered me constructive criticism, I sincerely thank you very much.
Unfortunately, it didn't help one damn bit.
I kid, I kid...
Now, it's true that I am almost out of trading capital. I can send this company another check and pretend nothing happened, or I can take this opportunity to test the waters at other companies.
I decided to test the waters. Perhaps, I thought, I need a fresh start.
So, by 9:45am, I had a job lined up with another firm. Unless something good happens with my current company before Friday, or unless I hook up with some rich "cougar" and move to Hawaii, as of January 2nd I'll be trading with a new firm.
In an example of "art mirroring reality" this company has a very active group of "remote traders" who work each day in a "virtual office." Just the kind of support I could use.
Speaking of art, I've decided to write a damn book, because this shit is twisted. It'll be like the "my history" posts, but with added sex and violence.
If you or someone you love is a book agent, contact me about the massive advance you're willing to pay me.
Anyway, I lost all of my money today in MOS. Most of it around 10:00am when the stock made a move that only the "hybrid architects" could love.
But really, my problem once again was my ratio of winners to losers. I'm still at a loss as to what I'm doing different these last 2 weeks that has made it nearly impossible for me to bag a winner.
Here's the stats:
P&L, -$713
Best, KMT, $351
Worst, MOS, -$794
20,800 shares traded.
10 stocks traded, 2 winners, 8 losers.
Misstrade, $5233 on 1000 shares traded.
Akalawoo, $6 on 1 contract traded.
Wincity, no trades.
Sanglucci, no trades.
OBAT, -$82 on 13,600 shares traded.
Denarii, -$137 on 1400 shares traded.
Me, -$713 on 20,800 shares traded.
Evolution, -$1940 on 70,200 shares traded.
Dehtrader, -$3984 on 1500 shares traded.
Wow, this market sure looks ugly. Remember a few weeks ago when I was talking about "September redux?" It looks like all those low volume rallies were just one big head fake.
Sheesh... how can a guy be so right and so wrong at the same time?
I tell you, life is funny and complex.
Not sure how many of you caught the banter between Dylan and Maria today between 3 and 4. Dylan said something about "people" and Maria, always the comedienne, said... get this... "Have your people call my people." She found that funny enough to giggle like a little girl.
I tell you, she is a real talent. How she ad-libs like that is beyond me. I'm amazed at her originality. Ah, and of course, because the market was getting smoked, she had to mention the "sell imbalances" which as I've mentioned before are published every day but are mentioned by Maria only when the market is down triple digits.
Sigh... score another for the "CNBC Stupidity" tag.
Anyway, no surprise in that volume blew yet again. We traded about 1.3 billion shares on the NYSE. Bad for humans (majority of the VO), just fine for robots (Misstrade).
Let's see what tomorrow brings.
It's crunch time for the elves.
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