Virtual Office, -$326. SPY, -$1.25, 141.80.

Me, $218 on 8600 shares traded.
Tokyo, $10 on 1380 shares traded.
Retardo, no trades.
Timmay!, no trades.
Denarii, -$81 on 2100 shares traded.
OBAT, -$473 on 10,200 shares traded.

Man... I'm getting so depressed by this market that just today, I told Judy that I may stop eating organic food. That's right... I'm going back to preservatives and shit, not only because I'm now poor, but I'm thinking that maybe a little Yellow #5 will put me out of my misery a little quicker.

After I write this post, I'm gonna go snort me some Windex. Yum... (note to Mom: I'm kidding!)

Anyway, I have lots of VO news to report but I haven't the time right now. Life is busy for the Dinosaur household in the month of May and tonight is no exception. I'll say this, I'm really, really looking forward to this upcoming 3-day weekend.

Volume ticked up a bit today, and the bulls have to wonder why the Dow doesn't want to get above 13k. Could this market get interesting again? I hope so. For now, it feels like the bulls are living on borrowed time.

But then, I've felt we should be heading lower since last September... every rally feels false.

BTW, go check out Timmay's new site. It's pretty damn nice.

Lieberman Discusses Commodity Boom

Naturally, I dislike Joe Lieberman. However, this was a good interview.

In it, he and Sue Herrera discuss the commodity rise and ways in which speculation in commodities may have led to an undue increase in their prices.

Lieberman contends that "it's not just supply and demand" driving the commodities markets anymore, but instead "financial speculators are the largest single factor on the increase in commodity prices." He says many have simply been "buying commodities as a hedge on dollar weakness" and that Congress is considering "prohibiting pension funds from index speculation in the commodity markets" altogether.

Still, oil is up near $130 today, so I guess the commodity markets don't give a shit what Joe Lieberman has to say...

Somewhat Like Trading

I'm still in a bad/depressive mood and not up for writing fun shit. Since I don't want to make this blog any more depressing than it is currently, I present this guy... enjoy!


Insane Stunt Makes Dude Cry - Watch more free videos

Steve Ballmer Egged

The kid is angry that Microsoft charges public universities to use their software... I have to say, Ballmer handles it very well. It's almost as if he's been egged before.


Steve Ballmer Egged in Hungary - Watch more free videos

Animal Collective, "Water Curses"

Addicted To Hope?

As I sat down to lunch, down $450 with no positions, I began to think that this whole process I'm going through (because I know looking back from the future, that I will see it as just that, a process) wouldn't be so bad were it not for my utter hopefulness.

If I could just lose money everyday for 2 straight months without a glimmer of hope thrown in here and there, I may have already shut down this blog and moved on with my life. Who knows what I'd be doing, but the market would have shaken me out already. Instead, I get days like Friday, or even a solid trade in the middle of the day, and things like that give me hope. Hope that I'll figure this shit out and get back to being profitable, day in and day out, and be able to support my family and our lifestyle by being a trader as I have for nearly the last decade.

Hope seems to be killing me softly.

Anyway, besides trading I had a very busy day as well. I have to say, I'm not feeling very witty or anything. I think I'm just gonna go read and HOPE tomorrow turns out better.

I didn't have any particularly good trades or bad trades today. I just had a whole bunch of $60 and $70 losers and no winners.

I'll be back to regular blogging tomorrow. Tonight, I'm just too tired to get into it.

Here's the stats:

P&L, -$462
Best, ACI, $54
Worst, AKS, -$159

9800 shares traded.
11 stocks traded, 2 winners, 9 losers.

Virtual Office, -$224. SPY, +0.36, $143.03.

OBAT, $376 on 10,400 shares traded.
Tokyo, $238 on 1106 shares traded.
Denarii, $78 on 6400 shares traded.
Timmay!, -$454 on 3400 shares traded.
Me, -$462 on 9800 shares traded.

No time for typical VO post this evening... I'll have a daily up later.

I Am A Stock Trader "Money Philosopher"

Since most people assume that "stock traders" make money and I do not, I feel it's now an unfair title for me.

So, until further notice, I am to be called a "money philosopher."

DT Takes On The Anti-Environment Set

Don't fuck with my bazooka.


Turkish Rambo - Watch more free videos

Note To All Drivers

The left lane is for passing only. If you are in the left lane and not actively passing someone, you are an idiot.

This has been a public service announcement.

Thanks. Continue with your weekend.

Bush: Saudi Oil Boost Does Nothing

Really? How hypocritical... the 300,000 a day from the Saudis does nothing to help, yet that potential 1 million a day from ANWAR is worth ruining one of our last natural habitats?

What a silly man... what a silly argument.



Looking forward to January...

The Lucksmiths, "T-Shirt Weather"

Great song to listen to in the spring... read the lyrics while you watch the video.

Stock Trading

First of all, I was getting all excited about the coming Russell Rebalancing, but after watching the way MOCs have been acting lately (horrible) my enthusiasm is beginning to wane.

I had a couple of good trades today. Best news is that I didn't make one bad trade. I made a couple of bad trades by omission... or by covering too early, but I didn't have one bad entry today.

After the carnage I suffered last week, I was very happy with my performance this week. I had 3 up days, 1 flat day (-$11) and one down day. Closing with strength today gives me some confidence going into next week.

Anyway, my best stock of the day was BHI. This has been on the HCPG watchlist for awhile. With the early strength in oil, it was one of a few stocks I was planning on watching intently at the open.



Afterwards, I broke even on an SLB trade. Then, I noticed the run in ag stocks. CF was up near $142 but couldn't break above, so I short 100 shares at $141.73. This turned out to be my "worst" trade of the day, not because I lost money on it, but because I didn't respect my buy stop, at $142.01. Instead, I got nervous and took 15 cents, covering my position at $141.57. Look what happened after I covered...



Then, towards the end of the day, I made one final trade. It worked very well.



So, we'll see what next week brings. Hopefully, I can get positive on the month again. Whatever, for the weekend, I'll feel good.

Here's the stats:
P&L, $428
Best, BHI, $267
Worst, SGR, -$22

7200 shares traded.
9 stocks traded, 6 winners, 3 losers.

Virtual Office, -$5530. SPY, +0.16, $142.69.

Me. $428 on 7200 shares traded.
Timmay!, $346 on 5600 shares traded.
OBAT, $231 on 8400 shares traded.
Denarii, $77 on 3200 shares traded.
Ainkurn, -$152 on 200 shares traded.
Tokyo, -$218 on 190 shares traded.
Retardo, -$6242 on 40 contracts traded.

Holy fucking shit! I made over $400! Last time I made over $400 was way back on April 24th.

It's been a grind...

But the VO isn't just about me... there are other third-tier bloggers we need to discuss. Take Retardo for example. Dude sits on a position for weeks and then gets blown out of the water. Best thing he can do now is get famous like HPT and make a viral blowup video or something... at least that might get him laid. Go click some ads. Together, we can bring that loss down to $6240.

Speaking of viruses, check out this cartoon... I loved it.

Anyway, nice reversal for the bulls today. But guess what... we're still stuck at unlucky 13,000 on the Dow.

In fact, I'm going to make my year-end prediction for the Dow right now... 13,000.

All weekend, I'll be stuck in churches and luncheon places celebrating communions. It's gonna suck. However, I'm in such a good mood today that it isn't bothering me much yet. Tomorrow, when I re-enter my customary bad mood, I look forward to passing loads of gas-guzzling SUVs and laughing scornfully at the drivers.

Enjoy your weekend.

NOTE: Check out this classic post from "the Fly." Kind of describes how I've been feeling about the market for the last few months.

Bush Sacrifices Golf For The War Effort

Indeed, he's a mighty fine leader...

Ruby Suns, "Oh, Mohave"

I just came back from one of my best surf sessions ever.

I wish I had more time to get into it, but I want to be able to describe the feeling you get when you're on a wave and everything lines up perfectly.

The only thing I can say is that you just feel like you have more time. Not more time as in, you thought it was 9:30, but it's really only 9:27. More time as in seconds take longer to tick... they stretch out. You're just stuck, nailed to the moment and the moment sometimes feels like forever.

I've felt high since leaving the beach. I'm hoping it translates into a good trading session as well. I'll get more into the "stoked" thing later... I need to get to work. But I wanted to share something. Here's a great song to be "stoked" to.

Good luck today.

Beach House, "You Came To Me"

No Follow Through

I'm busy tonight, so this will be a very quick post describing my loss for the day.

Basically, today I got chopped. My biggest loser was for $67, but the problem was that my largest winner was also for only $67. I just couldn't get any follow through in my positions.

I had a couple that initially worked in my favor only to reverse negative. These included AGU at $89, BEC at $69, and MON at $125. In each of these trades I bought the stock, made a dime or so, and then got out as they quickly reversed through my buy points.

My worst stock of the day was ATW... this one I did as an "over lunch" hold. I short at $104, put my buy stop at $104.25 and went with Judy to watch our daughter's swim lessons. While I was out, the stock dropped all the way into the deep $102s, only to reverse strongly and stop me out at $104.34. A bummer, but not a bad play. I did have buy limits in, but they were below $102.

Close...

Sorry for the runty and humorless post. Enjoy the night.

Here's the stats:
P&L, -$249
Best, BHI, $67
Worst, ATW, -$67

10,800 shares traded.
12 stocks traded, 4 winners, 8 losers.

Virtual Office, -$1135. SPY, +1.80, $142.57.

Denarii, $44 on 5000 shares traded.
OBAT, -$37 on 14,000 shares traded.
Me, -$249 on 10,800 shares traded.
Timmay!, -$413 on 4000 shares traded.
Tokyo, -$480 on 113 shares traded.

Here's a good trading rule... don't trade hungover.

Well, looking at the VO, I may not have been the only one out on a Wednesday night... in fact, this must be one of the lamest VO boards of all time... hopefully I'll be able to announce some changes next week. It's still developing.

However, I have to say, I was a little underwhelmed by the response I got from last night's VO post, asking for some nicknames/historical characters etc. to name potential "ghost" VOers. Not that I don't have plenty of ideas, I just thought I'd get some good feedback.

Again, the volume sucks... again, energy and ags were on the move... this market is really getting dull. As we head into the end of May and Memorial Day, I expect it to get a little lamer. My real office was about 50/50 today in terms of up traders to down traders... a couple of guys had big days... I'm guessing they made good money on the oil stocks. A couple of oil names had crazy ranges. But in a good trading market, my office would be more like 80% green. This isn't a very forgiving market.

Crude oil was all over the map today, enjoying a $6 intraday trading range. WTF?

Anyway, lets hope for a more interesting day tomorrow.

"Groggy-Eyed And Fried"

Vagina, 2008.

About ten years ago, this essay was published. I read it, and liked it enough to remember it, but I didn't really get the full meaning.

Everything is on a scale, of course, but last night, while drinking a little bit more than I'm accustomed to, and enjoying the company of a new group of people, I thought of the essay again.

Judy and I had an excellent time. I'll work on a post describing the whole scene, but right now, I'm just focused on recovery. I will relay the following... the hosts made a gigantic tray of paella. The diameter of the tray was at least 3 feet. Honestly, I'm not even sure how you store something like that. But anyway, the tray was overloaded with huge clams and mussels.

A girl next to me picked up a clam that was slightly open and gave it an odd look. "I mean, how do you eat something like that?" she asked, "It looks like a vagina." In real life, as is often the case on this blog, I'm blessed with the gift of "smart-assism." However, that comment caught me a little off guard, and was actually, too much of a layup. I let it pass.

The girl quickly corrected herself, "Not my vagina...."

Judy and I ducked out of the party early and head to a local watering hole. We played backgammon and drank. The table next to us, was filled with Germans. They were being very rude to the waitstaff. I wondered, with the dollar as weak as it is, if that wasn't a glimpse into the future, as more Europeans take advantage of the exchange rate to vacation, or even buy second homes, here.

Perhaps soon, we'll be complaining about "loud and obnoxious Europeans" in the same way that Europeans now deride us "dumb Americans."