Babbletron, "The Clock Song (Prod. RjD2)

Trader Z spray pick.

The RO Report, "1955" Edition

After watching that ten year plummet today to 1955 levels, I find myself getting a little obsessed with 1955. I mean, do I have to start putting grease in my hair? Is it not cool to surf? Will I never get laid again? Should I become a Dodgers fan?

Anyway, I found this interesting, although I fully admit that I'm not quite sure what it is. It seems to put a dollar amount to the Dow. In 1955, the Dow was worth $451. In November it was worth $7,997. (Perhaps he's averaging what the Dow was worth over the entire month.)

I dunno... point is, we're not yet really poor, but we're getting there.

For the majority of the trading day, the RO was really poor. And in fact, the Manservants had a great day. But I didn't even know they were dominating because I was mesmerized by the performance of "Trader Z" in the afternoon. Here's a guy who lost pretty big the last two days, came in this morning, had a massive loss, and was able to put it behind him, think clearly and execute a brilliant end of day strategy that saw him swing from -$16k to up over $30k. It's rare to see that kind of dominance over emotion in the face of such numbers.

Also, I just want to say a word concerning the large losses posted today by Trader B and Trader D. Don't just blow them off... those are big losses and I tend to think people have become somewhat immune to some of the numbers I post here. Don't get blind to the pitfalls of this job... Yes, people have made massive money these last few months, but that's because they're taking massive risk. You always have to respect the money.

Luckily, B and D are two of the best traders I know, so by the end of the month, today will probably be a footnote for them.

Anyway, out of 21 traders, 10 finished gross positive, or 48%. 8 traders made over $1,000 gross, but 10 lost over $1,000 gross. It was a tough day for counter-trend trading. I was #8 of 21.

For such an outlandish move, the volume was mediocre, although it really picked up into the close. The Manservants take it today.

"Chambermaid" - Trader D, -$74,938 on 468k shares traded.

2. Trader B, -$67,567 on 782k shares traded.
3. Trader 10*, -$8,871 on 2,200 shares traded.
4. Trader 4*, -$6,525 on 0 shares traded.
5. Trader 9*, -$6,089 on 500 shares traded.

"Lucky Pierre" - Trader Z, $34,445 on 191k shares traded.

2. Trader P, $12,678 on 80,200 shares traded.
3. Trader V, $11,167 on 51,900 shares traded.
4. Trader J, $8,197 on 57,700 shares traded.
5. Trader A, $7,698 on 204k shares traded.

Here is today's final "heat map." UGLY.

Ten Year Yield Lowest Since 1955

Remarkable...



Here's some other shit that happened in 1955!

Winston Churchill resigned...

The polio vaccine was introduced...

McDonald's opened its 9th restaurant...

The Warsaw Pact was signed...

Disneyland opened...

Lolita was published...

Rosa Parks was arrested for refusing to give up her seat on the bus to a white person...

Don't Invest In Stocks

This collectible plate is where it's at, my friend.



There's a strict limit of only 2 victory plates per caller! And the entire issue has been limited to 65 "firing" days... after that, they're breaking the mold and NO MORE PLATES!

So ask yourself... if you're lucky enough to have $20 to spend, would you rather have 3 shares of Citigroup, or a collectible plate?

BTW: LOFL @ 0:12-0:13....

Quiet Monday For DT

After Friday's "ass-blasting," I came in this morning a much-humbled trader. But you know, it's a good thing.

I spent the weekend reorganizing all of my sector lists thanks to my new favorite site, "Finviz." They really have a great screener. I highly recommend it.

The whole experience reminded me how often you need to re-start with this occupation. It's like none other. Everyday the market changes and you need to constantly adapt and remake yourself. You will be humbled and you need to learn from those experiences, or else you will fail.

Anyway, so I missed the morning carnage and have been trading very lightly. We've given back roughly a third of our run from last week. At 1:30, "Beardo" will be talking. The volume is light. In other words, there's really no reason for me to trade until the close at this point. See you then.

Meanwhile, get a load of the morning "heat map."



UPDATE: Also, nice post from Clusterstock comparing bad bear markets.

Another Interesting Search

Here's a good one. Some poor soul out there was trying to search Yahoo for "scrotum" but misspelled it "scotrum" and found my illustrious site...

Clearly, my guerilla marketing campaign is working.



NOTE: "the Fly" has added a new tabbed blogger. Go welcome "Chart Addict" to the site. As I quipped yesterday, iBC has so many tabs now it's "too big to fail."

Buy Nothing Day

Yes, for most it's Black Friday, but for others it's buy nothing day.

I missed it, true, but you can make any day a "buy nothing" day. Go check it out.

Kenny Loggins, "Footloose"

Sorry, "Trader 10" that close was simply too gay for me to give you the song. Punishment must be rendered.

The RO Report, "Bloody Gobbler" Edition

What an egregious waste of wealth there at the end of the day.

Apparently, there were many leftover Thanksgiving turkey legs... and whoever controlled the final prints in the REIT stocks decided to shove them directly up trader's asses.

Why do stocks with published buy imbalances print down multiple points when the market is ripping? What does it all mean? Cold winter? End of days?

Anyway, let's get back to our holiday. This day will go down in infamy. I'm sure none of us will be trading the day after Thanksgiving in 2009.

Out of 18 traders today, 5 were gross positive, or 28%. Pathetic. 8 traders lost over $1,000 gross, while 2 traders made over $1,000 gross. Worse yet, "Trader D's" bot is the "Lucky Pierre." I can't imagine the joy "Trader D" is feeling right now, reading this, knowing that he missed a disaster. I was #13 of 18 or really smoked. The Manservants rule.

"Chambermaid" - Trader A, -$32,076 on 504k shares traded.

2. Trader P, -$19,126 on 257k shares traded.
3. Trader Z, -$9,764 on 278k shares traded.
4. Trader V, -$4,912 on 66,800 shares traded.
5. Trader C, -$4,509 on 73,400 shares traded.

"Lucky Pierre" - Trader 10*, $8,092 on 2,000 shares traded.

2. Trader T, $1,043 on 0 shares traded.
3. Trader H*, $625 on 1,900 shares traded.
4. Trader U*, $174 on 0 shares traded.
5. Trader 6*, $79 on 0 shares traded.

Click here for today's "heatmap."

A Day Of Organization

Sounds boring, but imagine you were leading an army to war each day... your troops get tired, they get unorganized, some of them "get gay." So it makes sense on a half day for me to just sit back and reorganize my screens and get my troops back together, so to speak.

In a way, it's almost therapeutic to make my sectors "tighter" and to make my layout more efficient. Crazy, but it's true, I find it relaxing.

If I bother to trade at all, it will be the last 30 minutes. And I could be wrong, but I don't think I'll have an RO post up this evening, because it looks like "Trader N" is being "all French" and taking a vacation day.

However, I will say this... I have a history post about 70% done. It won't be up today, but perhaps I'll work on it and have it up for next week. I'll make this promise... it will definitely be up by December 7th, because I can't go a full year without writing one.

Anyway, I hope you all had a restful holiday. Our family dinner featured a rousing discussion of squirrels... are they crazier this year than in the past? Most people at the table seemed to think that yes, the squirrels are "acting out" more than usual this year.

What does it mean? Cold winter? The end of days?

Daft Punk, "Da Funk"

The RO Report, "Turducken" Edition

Today, the market was supposed to be slow and sleepy ahead of the holiday, but instead, we ripped. My bottom call from a few days ago looking safe for now.

We're 1200 points from the lows.

However, despite the market rip, I got shaken out in the morning. So I went surfing, got eaten alive by the gnarly waves, dinged my board, and came home to see the RO up size. Man was I pissed. But it just proves that you always need to keep an open mind in this job... I say it over and over, but it's so easy to talk yourself out of trading. The truth is, there's almost always opportunity. You just have to find it.

Moving on, anyone have experience with Turducken? Seriously? Not that I want to eat one or anything, I'm just wondering who I need to block from the blog.

I imagine that most of you are already getting ready to stuff your fat American faces with food, so I'm just going to get to the numbers. If you're not American disregard that comment.

Out of 22 traders today, 17 were gross positive, or77%. 14 traders made over $1,000 gross, which I find pretty amazing the day before Thanksgiving. Only 2 traders lost over $1,000. I was #11 of 22. Have a Happy Thanksgiving. Be safe.

"Lucky Pierre" - Trader D, $26,517 on 389k shares traded.

2. Trader B, $22,182 on 126k shares traded.
3. Trader 10*, $10,714 on 3,900 shares traded.
4. Trader P, $8,026 on 290k shares traded.
5. Trader J, $3,803 on 130k shares traded.

"Chambermaid" - Trader 7, -$8,274 on 10,400 shares traded.

2. Trader A, -$1,442 on 552k shares traded.
3. Trader Z, -$666 on 6,530 shares traded.
4. Trader E, -$92 on 10,200 shares traded.
5. Trader U*, -$87 on 0 shares traded.

Will Prop Trading Die?

This bald-headed dick seems to think so. (h/t "Pete")

BTW, sorry to link a video that features both Dennis Kneale AND Michelle ("I'm 97% plastic!") Cabrusa Cabrera.

Peter Shiff On CNBC

Remember when they used to abuse this man on CNBC?

(h/t OOnr7)

Late Night Infomercial

Smashing Pumpkins, "Bullet With Butterfly Wings"

Anyway, I tried to get "Trader A" to post a song but the man is too damned honorable. He didn't officially spray since he didn't beat Trader C by double, and so he wouldn't take the song saying he "didn't earn it."

And since I lost money, I'm now forced to post bad music.

I could see catching some flack for this one, but for me, this song marked the end of anything good that came from the Smashing Pumpkins. Two good albums then shit.

The RO Report, "DGX Sucks" Edition

The report will be late tonight. Just know, DGX ruined my day.

UPDATE: So yeah, I was having a decent day and threw it all away on an end of day trade in DGX. The stock had a decent buy imbalance but basically went straight down. I had 4k of it. Painful.

But enough about me, the RO, once again, found ways to make money. And really, that's what trading is all about, finding a way to make money. I've been nervous recently just thinking about how people may step away from the market after all this lunacy, but all it means is that we'll have to find another way to make money. Perhaps we'll have to hold stocks longer term, who knows? I'm confident we'll figure it out.

Some dude was on CNBC today and basically said that proprietary trading was gonna die, and soon. The good news is that 99% of what you hear on CNBC is dead wrong. If he's not, this blog will quickly morph into a blog about anxiety.

Anyway, it's late and I'm tired. I've been suffering from a small bit of insomnia which began the other night when I left "Trader P's" place at 4am. I haven't slept since. Naturally, I blame him. So I'm going to go listen to some complex music in my headphones and get taken away by the trails.

Out of 24 traders today, 16 were gross positive. 7 traders made over $1,000 gross, and 3 lost over $1,000 gross. I was #15 of 24, gross positive, net negative. Very disappointing. However, on the bright side, I thought the market showed some very healthy action today. I, for one, am looking forward to more up days. Bosses win.

"Lucky Pierre" - Trader A, $26,682 on 1.1 million shares traded.

2. Trader C, $16,298 on 120k shares traded.
3. Trader P, $6,516 on 242k shares traded.
4. Trader Z, $5,901 on 348k shares traded.
5. Trader N, $3,242 on 177k shares traded.

"Chambermaid" - Trader B, -$4,391 on 141k shares traded.

2, Trader R, -$2,227 on 120k shares traded.
3. Trader N, -$1,029 on 39,000 shares traded.
4. Trader F, -$955 on 200 shares traded.
5. Trader L, -$918 on 32,000 shares traded.

"I Wanna Dance!"

Best part... 0:21 - 0:23...

Dennis Kneale Is An Idiot Dick!

I haven't watched CNBC for months and months. I just remembered why...


-Dennis Fucking Kneale

Obama just spoke on the economy again. He's going to hold a press conference each day THIS WEEK. He does this because it shows leadership... it gives people confidence. Someone is steering this fucked-up ship afterall.

(FYI, Bush held 17 his ENTIRE first term! A term that, never forget, included 9/11.)

Anyway, so immediately after the "presser" Dennis Kneale gets the first comment, "What happened to the great orator?" he whined. "He sounded like a boring technician up there."

It's a fucking PRESS CONFERENCE you fucking idiot! You wanted the "Yes We Can" speech again, during a press conference on the fucking economy that only months ago you were saying was in good shape? The same economy that you argued was being "talked into recession?"

You are irrelevant Mr. Kneale. Looking forward to seeing you hit the unemployment line sometime in 2009. Oh, and you're a dick.

Happy Thanksgiving!

A New Link

I feel like this is probably a site that you all know about and I'm late to the party, but check out Finviz for a great page on Industry groups. (h/t "Trader C")

Just click "Screener" and then pick the parameters that you want to screen for. Here's a screen I made for "Residential REITs." Back in the day, we'd pay $1650 a month for Bloomberg terminals that gave us this information... now it's FREE!

Anyway, like I said yesterday, I'm tightening up my layout and my baskets. Knowing exactly which stocks do what, and what stocks they trade lockstep with, is important.

A lot of trading is about making good decisions in the face of constant market uncertainty. But a lot also comes from knowing your shit. You have to put in the work if you want to be successful.

(BTW, what the fuck is wrong with Charlie Gasparino? Charlie... why are you such a dick?)