The White Stripes, "The Big Three Killed My Baby"

Let them fail.

Fuck Trading, I'm Becoming A Pirate!

I mean, check out this interview with a real life pirate... sounds like a nice guy. Just wants a little money.

They even eat with their hostages!

Q. [There are 20 crew members, most of them Ukrainian, being held hostage.] How are you interacting with the hostages? Eating with them? Playing cards?

A. We interact with each other in an honorable manner. We are all human beings. We talk to one another, and because we are in the same place, we eat together.

Strictly Business, "EPMD"

One of "Trader D's" many aliases is "Strictly Business." Another is "Mangina Wipe" but to my knowledge, there are no songs or bands with that name.

Nice day, D.

The RO Report, "Bailout" Edition

The RO made some bad decisions today and finished in the red. Especially "Trader A."

So tonight I come to you, hat in hand, asking for a bailout.

I mean, look, if "Trader A" has to take his loss today, it could have a negative psychological effect on him which could potentially lead to him trading less. Or he could start to lose money all the time. If this happened, the U.S Government would see an immediate tax revenue hit.

Moreover, should "Trader A" be allowed to fail, the NYSE would lose even more trading volume creating a worse liquidity problem for traders everywhere. This might appear to be inconsequential at first, but consider how added liquidity helps all traders and then you get at the scope of the problem... it's huge. If "Trader A" is not bailed out, traders everywhere will start to make less "cake."

End result? The US Government will lose even more tax revenue. Oh, and terrorism.

So again, while I don't ask you, my cherished readers, for much, tonight I ask you to bailout "Trader A."

All we need is $45,140 by tomorrow. I've done a quick calculation... Perhaps 700 of you will read this before midnight... would you shell out $64.48 to save the stock market? Sounds hefty? Well think of it like this... it's $64.48 tonight, but next month, it could cost you $876 billion.

I apologize for the serious tone I'm striking here, but it's your children's safety and happiness that we're talking about. You thought we were talking about a stock trader? No. Not at all. I'm talking to you about your children. Should you fail to cough up the $64.48, your children will die.

Anyway, out of 25 traders today, 13 were gross positive, or 52%. 8 traders made over $1,000 gross, and 8 traders lost over $1,000 gross. Again, we have volatility, but not an easy trading environment. Volume on the eminis came in at 2.8 million, not bad... so still not sure what's making this month more difficult than last.

I was #9 of 25, gross positive but net negative. Shitty.

The Manservants win. This is happening too much.

"Chambermaid" - Trader A, -$45,140 on 461k shares traded.

2. Trader N, -$16,313 on 60,600 shares traded.
3. Trader C, -$9,699 on 174k shares traded.
4. Trader Z, -$4,244 on 190k shares traded.
5. Trader H*, -$4,037 on 1,800 shares traded.

And the Bosses:

"Lucky Pierre" - Trader D, $17,884 on 167k shares traded.

2. Trader B, $4,767 on 478k shares traded.
3. Trader P, $2,430 on 49,114 shares traded.
4. Trader E, $2,339 on 89,200 shares traded.
5. Trader F, $2,086 on 98,600 shares traded.

NOTE: Attitude Trader is back with his Attitude Index. Check it.

Superchunk, "Slack Motherfucker"

Dedicated to myself, for being so damn lazy about posting these last couple of days.



The season is changing, I have a ridiculously large beard going, and I'm settling into winter. I'm not in the mood to just post shit, so you'll have to wait until I feel inspired again. Of course, the RO will be up as usual.

The RO Report, "The George Michael" Edition

Today, my blogging and trading was decidedly third-tier.

I'm not going to apologize though. I feel like I'm just getting back in touch with my roots a bit. You never want to forget where you came from.

I remember a week ago thinking that the market was dead and that I wouldn't ever be able to make money again. But then Thursday came and I made a shitload. I told myself, "I just need to be patient. Have to pick your spots in this market."

I felt smart for not overtrading the slow market of the previous week.

However, on Friday I gave back half of my gain from Thursday. I told myself, "Holy shit you're a fucking idiot." Then today I traded lightly and made $50. I don't have any great feeling about it. I'm not smart for making $50, and I'm not an idiot.

I'm Joe The Plumber. It sucks. I want my hair back.

Anyway, all day the RO bitched about the market action. I don't get it really, because we had a 200 point rip in the middle of the day followed by a 200 point tank at the end. We traded decent volume in the eminis, about 3.4 million shares. But for whatever reason, no one made great money.

In fact, the Manservants took the day, but largely because of "Trader D" and his new long term account, "Trader 10." In fact, since he was a double Chambermaid, the office coined a new term for this ultra-rare occurrence, "The George Michael."

Here are your Manservants:

"George Michael"
Trader 10*, -$8,825 on 24,100 shares traded.
Trader D, -$7,701 on 135k shares traded.

3. Trader H*, -$4,744 on 4,600 shares traded.
4. Trader C, -$2,760 on 73,000 shares traded.
5. Trader T, -$937 on 1,800 shares traded.

And the Bosses:

"Lucky Pierre" - Trader A, $4,910 on 71,400 shares traded.

2. Trader B, $3,907 on 315k shares traded.
3. Trader Z, $908 on 51,448 shares traded.
4. Trader E, $516 on 31,000 shares traded.
5. Trader N, $460 on 22,600 shares traded.

The Difference Between A Recession And A Depression

I found myself wondering what made these two terms different and I found the following joke. (The real answer involves numbers and boring shit.)

A recession is when your neighbor loses his job.

A depression is when you lose your job.

Another Person Who Shouldn't Trade

One of the better trading rules applies to this video. Disaster starts slowly.

David Guetta - "The World is Mine"

Ummm... NSFW. Apparently, "Trader N" is the resident pervert of the RO. Anyway, maybe he just likes the song...

The RO Report, "Deathed" Edition

The bloodletting is too heavy.

Today was my single worst day ever trading, and I think "Trader D's" worst day as well. It also may have been "Trader Z's" worst. Naturally, I blame "newequity."

We all had decent exposure to the market just after 3pm, when it really took a dive. The selling was so intense, and quick, that it didn't feel sustainable, and we were slow to exit our longs. In fact, I know I was adding a lot before I finally got washed out. As a little lesson, I took my loss with 20 minutes to go in the trading day... it was a hard loss to take, but it was the right thing to do.

The only consolation, is that we all did well yesterday. Truly, if you need life lessons in "impermanence" and the importance of always keeping perspective, trading is a great job to have.

These lessons aren't always easy to learn. In fact, they're downright painful lessons to learn.

Anyway, this day is over.

Out of 24 traders today, 5 were gross positive, or 21%. 14 traders lost over $1,000 gross while only 2 managed to make over $1,000 gross. It was a bloodbath, plain and simple. I was #18 of 24, or completely smoked.

The Manservants got their revenge on the Bosses today in a big way.

"Chambermaid" - Trader D, -$59,866 on 509k shares traded.

2. Trader H*, -$23,705 on 4,600 shares traded.
3. Trader Z, -$22,431 on 245k shares traded.
4. Trader C, -$11,730 on 165k shares traded.
5. Trader B, -$10,919 on 741k shares traded.

And the Bosses:

"Lucky Pierre" - Trader N, $3,213 on 76,000 shares traded.

2. Trader E, $1,442 on 112k shares traded.
3. Trader 9, $857 on 500 shares traded.
4. Trader 3, $140 on 15,800 shares traded.
5. Trader 7, $81 on 8,000 shares traded.

Got Smoked, Went Surfing

Back to see if the afternoon magic works once again...

Why "The Internets" Is Dangerous

I made a nice chunk today, took my family out for dinner and then, after that, met friends for drinks.

I came home slightly buzzed with my new Pitchfork 500 in my hands... one click purchasing could be a very expensive habit.

Now if I could only hook up this webcam...

Developing...

Ween, "Dr. Rock"

Beat this, stock-blogosphere.

The RO Report, "Momojuicing Bottom" Edition

Does anyone around here remember the blogger "Momojuicing?" He had a nice blog, funny as shit, but then one day, just deleted the whole thing, "paranoia-style," in a matter of minutes.

I still hear from him on email all the time. He's always asking me about what he should trade, how he could be a better father, how he could be a better husband... shit like that. And I take pity on the guy because deep down, he's into cabaret and stuff... it must be hard.

Anyway, the other day we were talking about when "the bottom" would come (again) and he said something like, "the next time you want to buy weapons, buy stocks instead."

He didn't say it so eloquently, of course, (English may not even be his first language, I really don't know) but that was the gist of it. Looking back on today, when I made that post with the 3 stock charts, in my gut I really was scared, and thinking about buying guns and storing grains in my basement.

I actually went onto the Home Depot site and priced generators...

I hate to say it, but the dude was right. I went into my long term account and bought UYG at $6.12 and UWM at $16.85... true story. Minutes later, the market took off.

It was a wild day in the RO. Most of the traders were deeply red at some point or other. The swings that Trader A took, were legendary. And B and D were both down over $30,000 at completely different points in the day.

So make sure you respect those numbers I'm about to post... it's not easy even if the end result is often positive...

Out of 26 traders today, 22 were gross positive, or 85%. 17 traders finished up over $1,000 gross, 10 finished over $10,000 gross. Only 2 traders finished below $1,000 gross... one of them was a swing account. All told, excellent numbers. I was #7 of 26, very respectable.

The Manservants got fucked up today.

Here are the Bosses:

"Lucky Pierre" - Trader D, $178,595 on 843k shares traded.

2. Trader B, $150,697 on 1.4 million shares traded.
3. Trader A, $92,027 on 717k shares traded.
4. Trader Z, $77,754 on 493k shares traded.
5. Trader F, $54,588 on 311k shares traded.

And the Manservants:

"Chambermaid" - Trader 9*, -$2,798 on 0 shares traded.

2. Trader I, -$2,409 on 29,000 shares traded.
3. Trader E, -$731 on 278k shares traded.
4. Trader M*, -$30 on 400 shares traded.
5. Trader 7, $102 on 6,400 shares traded.

T. Boone On The Daily Show

More about energy independence. Kudos to the Daily Show for hammering on this issue.

How about reducing our dependence on foreign oil by 30-50% in 10 years? Impossible?

T. Boone points out what we've been lacking... LEADERSHIP!

Shit Is Getting Scary Again...

We're all trying to figure out how the market is only down 30 points with the carnage in these big names.

This One Makes Me Proud...

Oh, and look who's all the way down there at #5. Sorry Danny, DT Wins Again!

NOTE: This blog looks interesting... dedicated to CNBC sucking. My friend, please, you are not alone in your hatred of CNBC and your love of Barry Obama. We are kindred spirits. However, my blog kicks your blog's ass whenever anyone searches for "Dennis Kneale Is An Idiot."

Joe Cocker, "A Little Help From My Friends"

Dedicated to the RO.

The RO Report, "We Kick Ass" Edition

I'll tell you what, a year ago, no way would I have even attempted to come back from a $5500 loss in one day. In fact, we just passed the year anniversary of my FSLR blow-up. Funny, read some of the comments... remember that JJ troll guy? Check out SWC today... $2.40. He apparently put his life savings into it in the teens... LOL! DT WINS AGAIN!!!

Anyway, today I was able to come back largely due to the guys in the RO, they're good... even "Trader D."

If you're just starting out in this business, I can't over-emphasize how important it is to surround yourself with good traders. Through the good times and the bad, it helps to be around, and trading with, other people who understand your situation.

(At this point let me drop a brief reminder that the RO is always hiring... email me with questions. My email is under my profile.)

You could argue that I was around the same traders this morning when I first loss my money, but that'd be a "dicky" thing to point out. Don't be a dick.

In fact, if you are a dick, might I introduce you to "the Fly's" blog? The comment section over there needs you. Tell Jake Gint I said "Hi!"

Anyway, I'm starting to get a good feeling again about this market despite my intraday massacre. We should have a massive bounce again soon... it'll be short-lived, sure, but it should make for good trading. I hope it happens before Thanksgiving week, when I plan on taking off.

The Bosses took it to the Manservants today in an embarrassing way. In fact, most of the Manservants were swing accounts. Out of 26 traders today, 20 were gross positive, or 77%. 14 traders finished up over $1,000 gross today, while only 2 lost more than $1,000 gross. Great numbers.

I was # 18 of 26. Right now, I can look and say that's disappointing... however, if you told me at 11:00 that I'd be flat on the day, I would have taken it. So while I've had 2 straight days of gross underperformance versus the RO, it could've been far worse.

I'm happy and will tighten my game up tomorrow.

Here are today's Bosses:

"Lucky Pierre" - Trader A, $28,628 on 275k shares traded.

2. Trader B, $15,859 on 435k shares traded.
3. Trader H*, $12,265 on 14,000 shares traded.
4. Trader Z, $9,975 on 127k shares traded.
5. Trader C, $7,794 on 224k shares traded.

And the Manservants:

"Chambermaid" - Trader 6*, -$1,980 on 200 shares traded.

2. Trader M*, -$1,359 on 700 shares traded.
3. Trader Q, -$875 on 17,800 shares traded.
4. Trader U, -$216 on 0 shares traded.
5. Trader I, -$116 on 2,400 shares traded.

When The Market Gives You Lemons...

I, for one, take those lemons and squeeze the lemon juice into any available open wound on my body.

I'm completely smoked, like historically smoked for me, down 5 grand, mostly because of this shit PLD.



What I've learned the hard way in this market, is that 20% moves in cheap stocks is quite common. The only silver lining I see right now, is that there's good volume in the market and I'm hopeful that I'll be able to make at least a portion of my loss back this afternoon.

NOTE: As of 12:00, the Manservants are solidly in charge. I'm second worst in the office currently, and I'd be worst were it not for "Trader C" blowing up. But there's loads of big red numbers right now that hopefully we can pare.

UPDATE: My day is only getting worse, as my neighbor (and nemesis) has begun to blow his leaves onto my property.