DT Versus The RO On Friday

The Postal Service, "Such Great Heights"

I like the Iron and Wine version better, but this will do.

The RO Report, "Survivor Guilt (Not Really)" Edition

It was a complete bloodbath in the RO today, and coming out of the carnage squeaky clean, downright healthy even, makes me feel really, really, bad. good.

I mean, imagine being on a plane with all your friends and their smoking hot girlfriends. The plane crashes on a desert island. All your friends are maimed, but their hot girlfriends are perfectly fine and so are you. You quickly discover that the cargo area of the plane is loaded with comfortable mattresses, lubrication, and food. Meanwhile, there is an herb covering the island which causes nymphomania if it is breathed in, at all...

Can you imagine how AWESOME that would be? That's what it's like to be me right now... better yet, I have an entire weekend to revel in my victory.

That's right, fuck the RO. My only problem with today is that those scums didn't lose more...

It's hard to understand what the hell the guys were thinking today, trading like complete crackheads and shit. But the fact of the matter is, most of the guys in the office are total idiots. I'm smarter and better looking than them all. In time, they'll be calling me in the middle of the night, asking me how I've survived at trading for 10 years, and marveling at my ability to emerge from a two year slump as a "Lucky Pierre."

They'll be like, "Hey, DT, take a look at this graph... isn't that a strong uptrend?" And I'll be like, "No idiot, that's a downtrend, and the stock is going to zero. Anyway, are you good at 'sheetrocking?' My 8th house needs a new media center."

It was the worst day in awhile for the RO. Out of 24 traders, only 8 were gross positive, or 33%. In fact, that may be the lowest number I've ever reported in that category. Worse yet, only 1 remarkable trader (ahem) finished up over $1,000 gross, while the bottom 14 traders lost over $1,000 each.

I was #1 of 24. Repeat, I was #1 of 24.

Indeed, this weekend will be the most glory-filled weekend of my life. I may even let Judy order something that's not on the dollar menu.

Normally, I would put the Manservants "on top" since they handily defeated the Bosses today. However, since today is really about me and my victory, I'm putting the Bosses on top.

Here are today's Bosses:

"Lucky Pierre" Trader S, $2,842 on 109k shares traded.

2. Trader O, $794 on 12,400 shares traded.
3. Trader V, $664 on 32,400 shares traded.
4. Trader T, $600 on 3,200 shares traded.
5. Trader X, $439 on 33,800 shares traded.

And the Manservants:

"Chambermaid" - Trader B, -$35,809 on 605k shares traded.

2. Trader F, -$28,342 on 136k shares traded.
3. Trader E, -$19,055 on 201k shares traded.
4. Trader C, -$9,595 on 150k shares traded.
5. Trader N, -$4,361 on 121k shares traded.

NOTE TO STOCK BLOGGERS: Please link this post so that my victory will ring out throughout the Internets all weekend.

NOTE TO AMERICAN CITIZENS: Please lobby your local lawmakers to make October 24th National Dinosaur Trader day. Thank you.

Bullshit, The Commodity

-"bullshit" circa 1962

If Bullshit was a commodity, it'd be limit up right now.

The volume today is HIGHLY suspect, as in, there's none of it. For a day when the futures opened limit down, this low volume bounce is ridiculous.

The close will be very important and most likely, scary.

Remember to focus on volume. Without it, nothing matters.

An Eerie Morning...

For you neophytes, that flat line preceding the open means that the futures were "limit down." I haven't seen that in my decade of trading.



The open, has been anti-climactic. Volume is relatively light. It feels like walking under very shaky scaffolding on a windy day.

NYSE Circuit Breakers

BUMP: With futures "limit down" I figured we may need this. Good luck, watch your ass.

These were updated on September 30th.



In order for the exchange to halt trading, the Dow would have to be down 1100 points by 2pm. We came within 300 of that yesterday, so it's not out of the question going forward.

Just FYI.

Hustle And Flow, "It's Hard Out Here For A Pimp"

There was some debate today whether or not "Trader D" sprayed enough to get the song. Gross, he didn't double Trader A. However, net, he probably did. Anyway, he deserves this for walking away with a million long and putting his shit on "auto close" at 3:59:20. Pretty bossy.

The RO Report, "When In Rome..." Edition

I got smoked right off the bat today. Actually, not true. First I made $500, and then I lost $2500 getting short HES and SPY and buying DDR. Then I made it all back when I bought DDR again. I decided to go surfing. This was at 11am.

I came back to find the market had dropped over 500 points while I was out in the sun. The office sounded exhausted and no one had cleaned up during the drop. This seemed strange. I started trading again at around 2:45 and immediately lost a grand shorting SPY into the huge rip.

The market then got itself into a range. But the SPY was acting downright freaky. There were huge spikes up and down. The office was in a rage trying to divine what the hell was going to happen next.

Well, guess what? The same shit that happened yesterday, happened again today. At 3:40, we had an explosive rally to the upside. I'm not sure if this is the new normal. However, since REIT stocks started acting like crack whores, I decided that hell, I'd act like a crack whore too and just start buying them, despite the fact that they looked very overextended off their lows. Who knows? The market acts crazy and I guess sometimes you just have to act crazier...

It was a fairly mixed day in the RO. This too, seems to be the new normal. A month ago, we were all enjoying gains and the trade seemed somewhat easy. The market isn't as easy to trade right now... most traders were on the dark side for at least a portion of the day. There seems to be some type of large shift happening, but I can't put my finger on exactly what it is...

Anyway, out of 25 traders, 13 finished gross positive, or 52%. Not good. The top 8 traders all made over $1,000 gross while the bottom 7 all lost over $1,000 gross. See? Very mixed. Not easy. I was #5 of 26 and happy to make back half my loss from yesterday.

The bosses, largely because of gains from "Trader D" and "Trader A," took the day.

Here are today's Bosses:

"Lucky Pierre" - Trader D, $27,168 on 217k shares traded.

2. Trader A, $13,969 on 287k shares traded.
3. Trader F, $8,648 on 120k shares traded.
4. Trader E, $3,155 on 98,200 shares traded.
5. Trader S, $2,735 on 69,800 shares traded.

And the Manservants:

"Chambermaid" - Trader Z, -$8,802 on 172k shares traded.

2. Trader K, -$4,165 on 55,200 shares traded.
3. Trader C, -$4,050 on 168k shares traded.
4. Trader P, -$1,516 on 130k shares traded.
5. Trader O, -$1,511 on 26,776 shares traded.

NOTE: I just want to give a special thanks to "Trader N." He helps get me these numbers each day. The office has really gotten behind the blog. Also, they support the work I do here.

True, I Lost 5 Grand Yesterday

But things could be worse...

Tag Team, "Whoomp! (There It Is)"

Easily one of the worst songs of all time, featured this evening on my blog because I was a Manservant and none of the Bosses had a relative spray.

The RO Report, "Dead Dinosaur Bounce" Edition

Well, I just got smoked, so it's hard for me to have much to share right now that will be objective... I'm way too focused on the spanking I just took.

It's pretty rare to see the market turn on a dime so late in the day. Especially when all the imbalances are to the sell side and when "down volume" is completely swamping "up volume." But I guess it happens. And when it does, you don't want to be caught short.

Still, despite the late day rip in the indexes, the Dow lost over 500 points and the VIX closed near 70. The only good news there, at least for me, is that I should have plenty of opportunity to make my money back. However, that said, today was pretty dead until the last hour... so you need to stay patient in this market, despite the volatility.

Anyway, many of the ROers played it well and hence, the Bosses won the day.

Let's just get to the numbers. I have a new drug habit to start or something... oh, and as always, if you think you want to do this Godforsaken job, email me.

Out of 26 traders today, 15 were gross positive, or 58%. I was number 23 of 26, or, a Manservant. The top 9 traders finished up over $1,000 gross while the bottom 6 all lost over $1,000 gross.

Here are today's "Bosses"

"Lucky Pierre" - Trader D, $38,262 on 291k shares traded.

2. Trader A, $30,717 on 355k shares traded.
3. Trader Z, $24,747 on 142k shares traded.
4. Trader C, $18,256 on 146k shares traded.
5. Trader E, $8,128 on 101k shares traded.

And the "Manservants"

"Chambermaid" - Trader P, -$23,905 on 126k shares traded.

2. Trader B, -$18,939 on 276k shares traded.
3. Trader S, -$4,594 on 57,400 shares traded.
4. Trader I, -$4,075 on 17,700 shares traded.
5. Trader 6*, -$4,034 on 0 shares traded.

*swing account

Always Have An Exit Plan

Here's another idiot who should never trade. I mean, you get yourself into a bad position in trading, with no exit plan, and Mom won't bail you out.


Moron Fails on Terrible Squat Thrust - Watch more free videos

Death Trading Range

So we gapped lower, had a nice little tank, then rally, and now, death.



I'm not sure how you guys are doing out there, but I always find low volume markets tough to trade. My guess is that I won't make another trade until after 3pm. Just look at the volume drying up...

Again, watch your ass. No reason to overtrade this market.

Palin Sacked

This made my heart sing.


Crazy Protester Interrupts Palin Interview - Watch more free videos

My Chemical Romance, "Three Cheers For Sweet Revenge"

Trader A with the spray.

The RO Report, "A Mixed Bag" Edition

So the thing is, from a trading perspective, you always want more volume. It just means smoother markets, more liquidity. It's always possible to make money in a low volume market, it's just harder, and the risk/reward ratio gets skewed. I think today's RO numbers perfectly illustrate that point.

We gave back more than half our gains from yesterday, but remarkably, on even LOWER volume. What this tells me, is that we're probably stuck for awhile, in a range that we're currently determining, until another bank fails or something.

But we've all been busy and it's probably not a bad thing to be able to breathe a bit. Regain your perspective.

In other breaking news, I have no new plans for this blog ever. Apparently, I'm going through a bit of a "dry spell" as far as my "creative" posts are concerned. I'm just not feeling it lately. Perhaps the market sapped me of all my creative energy... I don't know, fuck you. Some kid stole my daughter's pail at the sandbox and I wanted to kill it... maybe I need to write a post about that, to work out some anger.

Anyway, the RO was mixed. Out of 25 traders today, 15 were gross positive, or 60%. 7 traders finished up over $1,000 gross, and 6 traders lost over $1,000 gross. I was #9 of 25, which I'll take. If I can continue to stay green and make some money as the market slows, I'll be very happy. The bosses barely did it today, but they end up "on top."

Here are today's Bosses:

Lucky Pierre - Trader A, $8,558 on 198k shares traded.

2. Trader Z, $3,422 on 65,200 shares traded.
3. Trader B, $2,899 on 96,200 shares traded.
4. Trader F, $2,881 on 64,200 shares traded.
5. Trader E, $2,475 on 64,800 shares traded.

And the Manservants:

"Chambermaid" - Trader J, -$6,523 on 73,200 shares traded.

2. Trader D, -$4,400 on 89,700 shares traded.
3. Trader C, -$4,159 on 120k shares traded.
4. Trader V, -$1,657 on 60,400 shares traded.
5. Trader 6*, -$1,600 on 0 shares traded.

See you tomorrow.

Watch Your Ass

That's an hourly chart of volume on the NYSE. I drew a horizontal line after the first 4 hours of trade today to illustrate how volume has completely, and rather suddenly, dried up.

In short, it has taken us 4 hours today to get to where we were volume-wise in 2 hours most of last week.

We've quickly moved from a market where you were rewarded for "pressing your bets," to one where you can easily get smoked in low volume chopfest.

Trade accordingly.

Trader D Wins In A Landslide

I tell you what, "Trader D" didn't really need another victory, but he comes away with a rather convincing rout over the rest of the RO.

Now it's just a matter of providing "incentives" so that we may receive a nice post from "Trader D." Developing...

Here are the final results. The percentages don't add up to 100 because you were allowed to vote for more than one trader. The question was, "Which ROer would you like to see write a post?"

Trader A, 17 votes or 11%.
Trader B, 49 votes or 38%.
Trader C, 10 votes or 6%.
Trader D, 89 votes or 60%.
Trader E, 4 votes or 2%.
Trader F, 8 votes or 5%.
Trader P, 8 votes or 5%.
Trader Z, 14 votes or 9%.

Chemical Brothers (ft. Wayne Coyne) - "The Golden Path"

About time I'm able to post a song on my own damned blog. Great video.

The RO Report, "Melting Upwards" Edition

Well, if this is what it means to be in a slow market, I can take it. But man, the volume was completely lacking for a 400 point move on the Dow. I'm still feeling very neutral on the market here, although I realize the bottom is starting to look rather "firm."

If we could see more volume on these rips, I'd start getting excited that my UWM purchase in my long term account will actually be a long term holding. Time will tell.

Anyway, the RO had a very nice day. Great breadth among the office mates. Everyone is feeling tired and worn out from the last few weeks. Our group volume took a marked dip today. It's very nice to see almost everyone in the green though, because the test of a good trader isn't only who is making the most money when the market is acting like a crack-whore, but also who can be consistent when it's slow. Being a good trader means constantly switching gears.

Out of 25 traders today, 22 were gross positive, or 88%. The top 11 traders were all up $1,000 gross, and only one trader lost more than $1,000; a very nice ratio. I was #12 of 25.

No one "sprayed" today. "Trader A" and "Trader D" who got into a little verbal war in the comment section of Friday's RO post, were duking it out for the 1 and 2 spot all day... in the end, "Trader A" was victorious. Also of note were the nice bounceback days coming from "Trader C" and "Trader P."

Finally, this is your last chance to vote in the RO post poll, over on the right.

Here are today's "Bosses:"

"Lucky Pierre" - Trader A. $10,265 on 258k shares traded.

2. Trader D, $9,655 on 76,200 shares traded.
3. Trader C, $8,777 on 177k shares traded.
4. Trader Z, $6,102 on 60,800 shares traded.
5. Trader P, $3,783 on 55,602 shares traded.

And the "Manservants:"

"Chambermaid" - Trader F, -$2,131 on 51,800 shares traded.

2. Trader T, -$748 on 1,900 shares traded.
3. Trader 3, -$372 on 7,600 shares traded.
4. Trader X, $50 on 8,000 shares traded.
5. Trader 8, $55 on 1,600 shares traded.