Virtual Office, $5026. SPY, -0.63, $138.47.

Sanglucci, $4100 on 38,400 shares traded.
Ainkurn, $550 on 150 shares traded.
OBAT, $334 on 10,400 shares traded.
Me, $124 on 2400 shares traded.
Retardo, no trades.
Denarii, -$82 on 4800 shares traded.

Well, apparently "cake city" is somewhere in Brazil.

If you're a prop trader and managed to hear the news about Brazil getting upgraded by S&P to "investment grade" status when it came out, you probably made A LOT of money.

That is, unless you got all smart and tried to fade the move... (Note: As I wrote this, UBB dropped 6 points from its high, so there was money made fading as well...)

Sanglucci, current "cake king" around here, is learning Portuguese and moving to Rio de Janeiro. Congrats, Sanglucci. But let's not overlook our boy down south, Ainkurn. He says FSLR is his "bitch." He's thinking of upgrading and moving to Jackson, MS.

Ah, to be young and trading in the spring...

Anyway, the FED cut 25 basis points. The market rallied hard on the news and then reversed, all on mediocre volume. I'm always happy when these days come and go. I really don't like news driven markets... makes me feel dependent.

Just give me graphs.

FED Cuts Another Quarter Point

The initial reaction was bullish. But these things often reverse.

The Daily Show "Does" Scalia...

Pretty much from 1:59 on is the reason why I love the Daily Show. Fucking perfect.

Taking A Bike Ride

It's a nice day, so I'm heading out to take a bike ride. No reason for me to fuck around pre-FED during lunch hour.


Biker Gets Hit By Speeding Car - Watch more free videos

I've made a couple of trades and I'm up $200. No matter what, given that it's the last day of the month, I won't go negative. So I may just be done for the day.

FOMC Meeting Day

I'm gonna be taking it very easy today. I figure it's a good day to surf the web until the FED, in all its bearded wisdom, throws us a bone. So here's some reading.

• Take a look at that sea of plastic bottles... seriously, that shit's not going away. (h/t Wallstreet Fighter)
• Mrs. Edwards has my vote. I agree 100% with this OpEd piece.
• Iran says "fuck Barbie," but not literally, because that would be against the Koran.
• I hate the war and I hate its architects, but it must completely suck to be over there. Last week, a kid from my town was killed by a roadside bomb. That shit ain't right. Send the troops some support, because they're not to blame for our government's bad policy.

Fleet Foxes, "English House"

Spend the $5 and go pick up this band's EP on iTunes. If you like 60s era rock, (think Crosby Stills and Nash), you should like this.

Virtual Office, -$704. SPY, -.55, $138.95.

Me, $250 on 6600 shares traded.
Ainkurn, $136 on 700 shares traded.
Retardo, no trades.
Denarii, -$1 on 2600 shares traded.
OBAT, -$59 on 11,400 shares traded.
Timmay, -$265 on 500 shares traded.
Sanglucci, -$765 on 23,400 shares traded.

So I only traded the first hour today. No color for you.

However, I'd just like to note that it seems "the Fly" effectively sold the bottom on his SMN. The ag stocks, recent darlings of the stock market, have been beaten down like Barack Obama getting beaten by Reverend Wright. And thus, SMN is rising faster than yeast. Fuck yeah! Yeast!

It's ugly and most likely, getting uglier.

I'm looking forward to getting tomorrow out of the way. May the FED, in all it's bearded wisdom free the market from these low volume doldrums.

Back to your regularly scheduled posting tomorrow.

Oh, and one last thing... may the Pittsburgh Penguins defeat the children of Satan, also known as The Rangers.

Vacation! Not Really....

I need to take a half day to attend to some "family business." I'm up $250. I will have the VO up later this evening. Enjoy trading.

Pulp, "Pencil Skirt"

If women "breast painting" bothers you, then don't watch this video. Great lyrics. The whole album is excellent, really...

Better Than It Looks

Longtime readers will notice that I'm trading far less shares, and that I'm trading fewer stocks, as well. This is all by design. I'm slowly gaining more confidence with this new style of trading (for me, anyway) and as I gain more, I will start upping my share size. Today, I had a good confidence day, even though I only pulled $245 out of the market.

Why? Well, because I'm starting to see trades correctly. My first trade of the day, in ARD, was well thought out and I even showed some patience. I was watching the $48 level on the daily graph. The stock opened and ripped right above the level. Instead of chasing, and getting caught in a nasty pullback, I waited and bid for the stock back down near the $48 level. I figured, if I got the shares, it was a low risk play, since I was going to stop just below $48. And if I didn't get the shares, I'd move on.



As you can see, I got the shares, and screwed up my exits. But I still like the trade because it shows I'm thinking right, even though I need to let my winners run.

My next trade was also okay, even though, once again, I didn't hold for the full move. I was watching NUE $76.50 on the daily, and liked it even more, since NUE was showing a little relative strength compared to the rest of the metals early today.



Then I dabbled in PCU for awhile, took some small losses and then made them back by finally catching the short I was looking for, down to the $116 level. This stock was showing good relative weakness for a short. He's just a dick...



Anyway, I haven't even gone over my best trades today... short BGC, long TEX and short AGU, but I'm doing a sunrise surf session (which now means 5:30am so I can get back to the desk by 8:45) and I need to get to bed.

I expect the market to be dead until after the FED decision on Wednesday, and will continue to trade tight and light until then. Also, looks like I'll be trading a half day tomorrow.

Here's the stats:

P&L, $245
Best, BGC, $161
Worst, RSG, -$37

9 stocks traded, 5 winners for $328, 4 losers for -$83.
6400 shares traded.

Virtual Office, $1766. SPY, +.01, 139.61.

Sanglucci, $1601 on 46,200 shares traded.
Me, $245 on 6400 shares traded.
Timmay, $135 on 1000 shares traded.
Denarii, $104 on 400 shares traded.
Retardo, no trades.
Dehtrader, vacation.
Ainkurn, -$120 on 500 shares traded.
OBAT, -$199 on 7000 shares traded.

Well, it was another low volume chopfest in the major indexes today. Today, it took until 3:50 to trade 1 billion shares on the NYSE... that's like a bad volume day back when I first began trading, in 1999...

At this pace, in mid August, we'll be trading 750 million shares a day on the NYSE. And NYX should be trading in the mid 40s... time will tell.

Anyway, after the close and into tomorrow morning there are a number of interesting companies reporting earnings, including V, MA, X, VLO and AG. Hopefully, this will give the market some "juice," however, I doubt it will. The big day (which too, I expect to be anticlimactic) will be Wednesday, when the FED, in all its bearded wisdom, releases its most recent policy statement.

Until then, I expect traders to keep their heads low. Be careful out there...

Oh, and someone is posting on Evolution's blog, although it doesn't seem to be him... the plot thickens.

Painful Fall

You couldn't give me enough money to do this... meanwhile, before the kid jumps, he says "this is for Burt's Bees." Is he talking about the chapstick maker? I mean, my wife uses that shit... I can't imagine this kid selling chapstick.


Crazy Kid Leaps Down Staircase - Watch more free videos

Blogroll Update

I've added a few new blogs to my blogroll and deleted a couple of others that have gone dormant. I try to keep the blogroll current, so if a blog I read stops updating, I'll remove it and add fresh blood.

First, here are the new blogs:

OONR7 This is a very informative blog with nice graphs and descriptions of trades. He also viciously attacked Jake Gint in my comment section... always a plus.

Dogwood Again, a nice blog with discussion of stocks and other random stuff. Also, I like Dogwood trees... and, he did a whole post about my trades... always a plus.

The removed blogs... mdawsz's old blog... Get Short! He turned this shit to invite only and had the audacity to not invite me. I'd link it, but you'll just get a page that says you're not invited... making you feel like a dick. He teased a few weeks ago about launching a new blog. When this happens, he will be reinstated.

Trade Like Mike... dude got a real job and has gone on permanent hiatus. If he follows through to turn this into a humor blog, it will be reinstated onto the blogroll... that is, if it's funny.

NOTE: Here's my Peanut Gallery post explaining the "work" I'll be doing for IBC during their election...

An Extraordinary Place, Dubai...

I found this incredible post about the growth of Dubai. I mean, the pictures were so amazing and the buildings so tall, that halfway through I started to think it was a big sarcastic joke... but it's not.

DT Wins Again!

I'm fucking rich! And famous!

"The Fly" is paying me A LOT of "dirty Internet money" to "live blog" his elections this May 6th.

This will perhaps be the biggest event ever on the Internets... think 2 girls one cup, but looser.

Since I will be "live blogging" for 8 straight hours, I will be drinking plenty of Powerthirst. After I blog there, I will go light buildings on fire and win at "art."

Dark & Stormy

Okay, so yesterday when I was complaining about my neighbor's dog, Bluedog wrote in and told me to drink a Dark & Stormy and that I'd forget about the dog.

Well I'm on my third Dark & Stormy and that fucking mutt is still out there, barking like a fucking seal. I'm gonna kill it with my bare hands and a log. Ultimate Warrior style...

As for the Dark & Stormy, it's a good drink, but a little sweet for my taste. I mean, that hasn't stopped me from having a few. Still, in the summer, I suggest some Pernod with seltzer.

The Velvet Underground, "I'm Waiting For The Man"

Virtual Office, $1058. SPY, +1.37, 139.68.

Sanglucci, $1163 on 55,800 shares traded.
Denarii, $117 on 5600 shares traded.
OBAT, $112 on 6000 shares traded.
Retardo, no trades.
Ainkurn, -$21 on 600 shares traded.
Me, -$313 on 13,200 shares traded.

I should have taken today off. The day started at 6:15 when my neighbor decided it was a good idea to start powerwashing his house... powerwashers aren't quiet... And it basically ended with Maria asking John fucking Travolta if... and this is a direct quote, he's "feeling the impact of the financial slowdown."

HAHAHAHAH! He could hardly suppress his laughter. Thank you, once again Maria Bartiromo, for being a beacon of light in the darkness that is financial journalism.

Today was a dicey day to trade. Even the guys from Mississippi were saying it was slow... always a disturbing sign. Some guys in my office made really good money, with the top dog comfortably over 5gs. But half the guys in the office were in the red too, so it wasn't exactly easy. On most days when it's good to trade, 80% of the office is green. I've done studies.

Anyway, as you might imagine, I was disappointed with my own performance. I hate red Fridays. At least the "pirate hooker" Sanglucci made back his losses from yesterday. Well done, ya hooker.

Tonight I will not have a daily post up, as I have a dinner and ice cream date with a certain 3 year old. Judy is going to a dance performance. I hate dance.

Racism Friday!

Since the NYPD was acquitted for shooting some innocent dude 50 times or so, racial tensions will be running high in the city for some time. I thought I'd fan the flames a bit with this gem from the british show, "Balls of Steel."


Balls Of Steel Militant Black Guy - Watch more free videos

Frank Black, "Czar"

Having a hard time getting started today... so how about a song? Play it loud.



UPDATE: Okay, if you want to do some good reading, go check out MWF's racy "history" posts over at The Trading Fraternity. These are nothing like my, PG rated, history posts. He's got crime, sex with fat chicks, lying, cheating... in other words, lots of fun.