Thomas Friedman On The Daily Show

I'd like this guy more if he didn't fuck up his views on the Iraq war so much. Anyway, here he is on The Daily Show talking with Jon about our energy infrastructure and the "green bubble" that needs to form.

Another Person Who Shouldn't Trade

You should never enter a trade in order to impress other traders... doing so invariably leads to massive pain.

The Opposites, "Dom, Lomp & Famous"

Trader Z didn't "spray" today, but he's getting the song selection anyway, because he led many traders into the green with a solid afternoon call.

The RO Report, "Schadenfreude" Edition

Trading is a cutthroat business. You have guys who wish you well to your face, but behind your back, they only want to see you fail.

Lately, talk in the office has been about how "bossy" I've been and how popular I am on the Internets.

People said things like, "Hey, DT, good going lately!" and, "Wow, your blog is 'neat-o.' I wish I could write like you do!" and shit like that... but I knew, they were waiting, no, hoping for my demise.

The fact that a group of traders made loot today, secretly, scummishly even, without me would hurt more if it wasn't so expected.

I've mentioned that the RO is hiring. But look, you don't want to work with these assholes.

(I'll finish this post later this evening...)

UPDATE: Okay, so I was a little churlish after the close there because the RO completely outperformed me. I forgive them. Plus, I was kidding, naturally... they're just better traders than I am.

Anyway, I think in yesterday's post, someone asked about the volume figures that I quote each night. I use only the trades made on the NYSE, not including ECN trades. It's a pretty reliable indicator about volume in the market, however I think I'm going to start focusing on another volume indicator instead; the total volume traded in the S&P e-minis.

Why? Because this is what I watch intraday to decide whether or not I should be trading actively. If the volume is less than 25k traded over a 5-minute period, that's light. In the office, we call this the "whisper line" after "Trader A" who we also call "Whisp." We call him other things too, but nothing appropriate to mention here. Anyway, total volume in the E-minis today was 2.1 million shares... very light.

The RO had a solid day. Out of 24 traders, 14 were gross positive, or 58%. 9 traders made over $1,000 gross while 5 lost over $1,000 gross. I was #11 of 24, or disappointed with my performance. Still, it beats being "Trader D," who is breaking all kinds of "Chambermaid" records.

The Bosses easily beat out the Manservants today.

"Lucky Pierre" - Trader Z, $12,589 on 43,800 shares traded.

2. Trader C, $8,491 on 134k shares traded.
3. Trader A, $7,075 on 137k shares traded.
4. Trader F, $6,661 on 22,600 shares traded.
5. Trader N, $4,609 on 32,000 shares traded.

"Chambermaid" - Trader D, -$4,454 on 101k shares traded.

2. Trader E, -$1,840 on 61,600 shares traded.
3. Trader M*, -$1,163 on 0 shares traded.
4. Trader 6*, -$1,153 on 0 shares traded.
5. Trader J, -$1,019 on 37,400 shares traded.

Japanese Candle Rape

I'm all about maximizing my reading audience.

I mean, ostensibly, this is a finance blog, and I cater mostly to those who trade stocks. But apparently, I also serve onanists who are into "Japanese Candle Rape."

See below. (h/t "Trader E")

Where Homes Are Worth Less Than They're Worth

Click here for a map that shows just how fucked certain states really are.

Nevada seems to be the most severely screwed, with nearly 50% of homes worth less than their mortgages. Also, two huge states, California and Florida, are near 30%.

No data for Wyoming however. Most likely this is because more than 80% of the state is Dick Cheney's bunker.

Beta Band, "Needles In My Eyes"

The RO Report, "Indian Summer Market" Edition

We enjoyed unseasonably warm weather around here the last few days and with it, the market has reentered its summer volume doldrums. We barely edged above the billion share level today on the NYSE. It was one of the lowest volume days since August.

That doesn't bode well for trading. It also seems to me that we're due for some consolidation here, another negative. However, as "Trader P" pointed out to me today, the VIX is still trading near 60, and that should mean the market in general is good to trade for some time. There will be slow periods, but the volatility isn't going away too fast.

The lesson here is that as an active trader, you need to pick your spots... don't overtrade a dead market. We'll have our chance again to trade like crack-addicted hyenas.

A perfect example of solid trading today goes to our #1 and #2 Bosses, "Trader A" and "Trader Z" respectively.

Trader A traded hard right out of the gate. He had a plan, it worked out and he took his money. Most of which was made in the first 15 minutes of the day. "Trader Z" on the other hand, stayed on the sidelines until just after 3pm and hit the close hard. Neither trader churned away precious profits or whittled away hard won confidence by trading the low volume middle of the day time period.

Anyway, overall, it was a fairly crappy day for the RO. Out of 26 traders today, 11 finished gross positive, or only 42%. 4 traders finished up over $1,000 gross, while 5 lost more than $1,000 gross. I was #6 of 26, or happy.

The Bosses barely edged out the Manservants thanks to afternoon trading.

"Lucky Pierre" - Trader A, $6,708 on 110k shares traded.

2. Trader Z, $4,527 on 41,200 shares traded.
3. Trader E, $3,026 on 39,800 shares traded.
4. Trader N, $2,138 on 23,000 shares traded.
5. Trader T, $775 on 3,600 shares traded.

And the Manservants:

"Chambermaid" - Trader D, $7,416 on 76,100 shares traded.

2. Trader R, -$2,520 on 60,000 shares traded.
3. Trader C, -$1,341 on 61,600 shares traded.
4. Trader B, -$1,131 on 225k shares traded.
5. Trader H*, -$1,089 on 4,000 shares traded.

See you tomorrow.

Al Gore's Op Ed

I've stayed away from the news for the last few days. The election is over, time to take a breath. Luckily however, I ran across Al Gore's recent piece from the NY Times. It reminded me why we should feel good going forward if we can finally get on the right path.

Below is an excerpt, click here for the full piece.

Here is the good news: the bold steps that are needed to solve the climate crisis are exactly the same steps that ought to be taken in order to solve the economic crisis and the energy security crisis.

Economists across the spectrum — including Martin Feldstein and Lawrence Summers — agree that large and rapid investments in a jobs-intensive infrastructure initiative is the best way to revive our economy in a quick and sustainable way. Many also agree that our economy will fall behind if we continue spending hundreds of billions of dollars on foreign oil every year. Moreover, national security experts in both parties agree that we face a dangerous strategic vulnerability if the world suddenly loses access to Middle Eastern oil...

...What follows is a five-part plan to repower America with a commitment to producing 100 percent of our electricity from carbon-free sources within 10 years. It is a plan that would simultaneously move us toward solutions to the climate crisis and the economic crisis — and create millions of new jobs that cannot be outsourced.

Husker Du, "Chartered Trips," Frank Black, "Headache," The Field, "From Here We Go Sublime"

Volume today is already tracking very low and it's only 10:15. We have no major economic news all week and the indexes, unfortunately, could be setting up for some low volume consolidation.

This is probably good for you swing traders, but bad for active daytraders.

I'm just guessing here. Anyway, I'm gonna listen to some music and take it easy with the trade until I see some intriguing reason to enter the market. Enjoy.

Meanwhile, if you're not a fan of rock, and like trippy electronic music, be sure to check out that track by The Field.

Smashing Pumpkins, "Rocket"

As you know if you've been reading this blog, I think the Smashing Pumpkins suck. However, before they started to suck, they made one really great album which can easily bring me back to 1993, a good year for DT.

Smack dab in the middle of the album is this song, and the build from 1:50 to 2:45 (or so) is one of the highlights. Enjoy some real music for the weekend... however, don't watch the video too closely... way too many close-ups of bandmembers trying to look blissed out and spacey.

The RO Report, "Weekend Edition"

I won't be able to get the RO report up until late this evening or perhaps tomorrow.

UPDATE: Okay, as "Jd" or "Trader P" mentioned in the comment section, it was an ugly end to the week.

After the carnage of Wednesday and Thursday, we welcomed a little buying off the open which was followed by a fairly steep midday sell-off and then some ultra low volume consolidation heading into the afternoon.

The fun really began after 2:45.

Obama was giving his first news conference as "President Elect" on the troubled economy and the market seemed to be holding its breath. Just before he spoke, the Dow ripped 100 points. Then, when he began to speak, it dropped a quick 200. Finally, at the conclusion of this speech, the market decided to rip 200 points back to the highs.

So, if your strategy was to position for a continuation of the trend of the morning, you were frustrated and quite possibly, "ass-mangled" in the wild afternoon chop.

Anyway, out of 23 traders, 13 were gross positive, or 57%. That's not awful. The problem was in the extent of the losses. The bottom 7 traders all lost over $2,000 gross, while only 6 traders finished over $1,000 gross. You see the math doesn't add up well for the bosses... I was #5 of 23, or bossy.

Given the fact that I had 3 hours sleep and a sick kid, my bossiness should serve as a rebuke to the entire office.

Here are Friday's Manservants:

"Chambermaid" - Trader D, -$20,344 on 305k shares traded.

2. Trader B, -$19,010 on 365k shares traded.
3. Trader N, -$6,018 on 65,400 shares traded.
4. Trader C, -$5,350 on 124k shares traded.
5. Trader V, -$2,369 on 36,200 shares traded.

And the Bosses:

"Lucky Pierre" - Trader A, $10,456 on 144k shares traded.

2. Trader H*, $6,701 on 2,100 shares traded.
3. Trader F, $1,653 on 25,000 shares traded.
4. Trader M*, $1,485 on 0 shares traded.
5. Trader S, $1,223 on 18,400 shares traded.

Robots Have Bad Taste In Music

I haven't written a post about my now well-documented hatred of robots in a long time. But this came across my desk and I felt I had to warn the general populace once again about the dangers of these metallic beasts of hell.

Obama: The Aftermath

Really funny...


Obama Win Causes Obsessive Supporters To Realize How Empty Their Lives Are (h/t "Pete")

Obama Gave My Daughter An Earache...

First he tanks the market and now this. It was a miserable night at DT's lair as my daughter was up all night with an earache.

Currently, she's high on Children's Motrin and singing songs about blue bunnies.

Anyway, the good news is that the last time I traded without any sleep, I made money.

If I make money again today, I'm just going to forego sleep for the near future, as a trading experiment.

Meanwhile, I want to send this anonymous message to the children in my daughter's nursery school class: You are a bunch of germ-ridden shits.

Kelis, "Bossy" (Boss Bitch Edit)

Nearly impossible to find an "embeddable" copy of this godforsaken song. Still, hats off to "Trader C" for his "Lucky Pierre."

The RO Report, "Fuck Obama" Edition

Apparently, Barack Obama and the fucking Democrats, are ruining our country. Two days as "President-Elect" and already he's bankrupting the stock market. This is all his fault.

I hope you naive socialist shitheads who voted for him are happy. How's "Hope" taste? I hope good, because when you can't afford food anymore, you're gonna need something.

Anyway, what a shitty day. I guess you could say the RO is full of counter-trend trading crackheads, because we were all smoked early buying this market that has no bottom. The only time people started to make money back was in the afternoon, when we got short.

I'm a bit rushed, and frankly, since the comment section of this blog has been way too quiet for my taste, I'm not going to put too much work into making this post any more witty or funny than it already is. Stop being such lurkers. What's wrong with you people? Don't you know it's creepy to just hang around and watch all the time, without participating? Damn...

So let's get to the numbers. Out of 25 traders today, 14 finished gross positive. There were some impressive comebacks today. For example, "Trader B" was down $50 grand at one point and managed to get back to gross positive. Nicely done. Also, kudos to "Trader C" on earning his first "Lucky Pierre." Enjoy that. I was #16 of 25, down but well off my lows.

The Bosses pulled out a win with some spirited end of day trading.

"Lucky Pierre" - Trader C, $10,452 on 102k shares traded.

2. Trader H*, $8,117 on 3,400 shares traded.
3. Trader Z, $3,789 on 96,896 shares traded.
4. Trader F, $3,739 on 60,400 shares traded.
5. Trader A, $3,397 on 149k shares traded.

And the Manservants:

"Chambermaid" - Trader P, -$4,325 on 83,312 shares traded.

2. Trader I, -$3,053 on 10,800 shares traded.
3. Trader D, -$2,623 on 337k shares traded.
4. Trader 6*, -$2,544 on 0 shares traded.
5. Trader M*, -$1,871 on 0 shares traded.

* denotes swing accounts

Another Bad Morning...

I've had another rough start to the day. Not sure how much longer I can count on the afternoons to bail me out.

I was working on reversals again all morning. My worst losses are in complete piece of shit stocks... DFT, MIC, VCI and SVR.

What I've learned is that playing these extreme moves works best when the market doesn't have a clear direction (today it does, down) and when the stocks don't have earnings news.

I won't get blown up tomorrow morning making the same mistakes I've made the last two days.



UPDATE: At 12:39, only 6 ROers are gross positive... not good.

UPDATE II: At 1:44 we're down to 4 gross positive... and one of them is a swing account...

Palin Didn't Know Africa Was A Continent... No Shit!

I know I said no more political posts for awhile, but this is just too good.

Let's just forget for a moment that Palin didn't know Africa was a continent. I mean, sweet Jesus... but what I love about this piece is that even after this guy basically lays out that she's an ignorant idiot, he says, "Still, she's fired up the base and many are looking for her in 2012."

Perhaps by then she'll get that 3rd grade education that we require from our VPs.



NOTE: Trader Z pointed out that the reporter uses the "word" "knowledgeablity" not once, but twice. Fox News makes up facts, and sometimes, they make up words. Nice.

Afu-Ra, "Whirlwind Thru Cities"

Nice spray from "Trader B."