Blitzen Trapper, "Furr"

From their new album. This is a live version, but the quality is pretty good. Enjoy.

The RO Report, "Relatively Quiet" Edition

Well, two trends continued today... The last hour of trading continues to be for crack-addicts, professional gamblers, and idiot savants. Also, while some traders are making money in the RO, an equal number are losing.

There is loads of volatility, but something has changed which has made it more difficult to be on the right side of the trade. I mean, take a look at a chart of the Industrials today... we had a solid 200 point range, up and down, but in the middle, we also had 100 point shakeouts. So we're trending, and making big moves, but the counter-trend rallies are deadly.

In other words, if you're not getting good entries, you're getting shaken-out or taking lots of pain.

Also, volume was a little lame today, under 1.4 billion.

I've got loads of shit to do, so I'm cutting to the chase. Out of 25 traders today, 14 were gross positive, or 56%. 11 traders finished up over $1,000 gross, but 7 finished below $1,000 gross. I was #5 of 25, or bossy.

Again, these numbers aren't great. Perhaps the "go-go" days of late September and early October are officially behind us and we're moving solidly into the holiday season.

I will be taking it easy until after the election now unless we get some interesting market news.

Here are today's Bosses:

"Lucky Pierre" - Trader B, $10,474 on 487k shares traded.

2. Trader C, $5,942 on 76,800 shares traded.
3. Trader T, $3,739 on 3,700 shares traded.
4. Trader E, $3,645 on 89,800 shares traded.
5. Trader S, $2,397 on 27,000 shares traded.

And the Manservants:

"Chambermaid" - Trader D, -$15,065 on 326k shares traded.

2. Trader A, -$3,527 on 471k shares traded.
3. Trader I, -$3,124 on 20,600 shares traded.
4. Trader Z, -$3,123 on 92,000 shares traded.
5. Trader H*, -$2,217 on 8,800 shares traded.

A Couple Of Trades, Some Squiggly Lines

Like I said in an earlier post today, I miss speaking directly to you, cherished reader, about the actual trades I've been making. Largely, I've been pressed for time, as I haven't had any time intraday, to work on posts since the market has been on crack.

However, after my nasty loss yesterday, I find myself up a little this morning, and not looking to press my luck, I'll discuss a trade or two that I made, and also talk about some squiggly lines that I find helpful of late.

I didn't have any strong feel about direction today, after yesterday's extremely fucked up close, so I decided to simply watch my most up and most down filters, and just take the opposite sides of extreme moves with small share size. I used small size because I assumed I'd go out of the money a bit before the stocks turned in my direction.

My best short of the day, came in WLL.



My best long, was in WFR. However, I really screwed this one up a bit...



I liked this strategy today, because I didn't have a feel for the market move. I kept my size small so I wouldn't get "tilty." I had no idea why the stocks were making the moves they were making... it wasn't really important. It's more like playing a mechanical move... things can't go up or down at that pace forever, so start small and just look for a counter move to take back your shares.

Now, about the squiggly lines... a few months ago you may recall that I was trading the HCPG way. This is breakout trading, mostly, as you're looking at a specific level and hoping the stock trades it and never looks back. This market hasn't really been rewarding classic breakout trading.

Anyway, a few months ago, "Trader B" told me to watch the Bollinger Bands "to get good prices, yo." This has helped me immensely because I have taken to a recent strategy of scaling into positions instead of buying a chunk at a certain level. I think, though maybe it's just because the market has been working this way recently, that this strategy makes far more sense in a Hybrid environment.

I will delve into that idea deeper in a later post. It deserves more attention from me since this blog originally began due to my consternation with the Hybrid system.

Barack Obama On The Daily Show

Jon asks Obama if his "white half" is going to have trouble voting for his "black half." Classic.



Meanwhile, you gotta love the major division in the Republican camp.

Blog Maintenance

Wow, time flies when you maintain a blog.

I spent two hours of my life last night cleaning up my bloated sidebar. That's a bit awful.

Anyway, I removed all the individual stock symbol labels. I don't think anyone was clicking on them, and it really lengthened that label list. Then, I merged the following categories:

-"interesting words" into "vocabulary"
-"weekend walk" into "weekend reading"
-"wallstrip" into "stock market blogs"
-"ape assholes" into "ape anatomy"
-"book quotes" into "books"
-"stock earnings" into "stock earnings season"
-"stock research" into "stock trading ideas"

I've also added a few blogs to my blogroll. First of all, while browsing Jamie's blog, I noticed that Trader X is back in the game. So I changed my link from his old charts to his now updated blog. Jamie also had a link to The Zen Trader. I've never read it before, but I will now, if only to see what happens when the dude blows up. I mean, I really want to know how the "Zen people" handle losing all their money. Or, as an experiment, I may just go there everyday and leave obnoxious comments, to see how "Zen people" handle assholes.

I also added the "classics," The Big Picture, The Daily Options Report, and Afraid To Trade.

(Brief aside: If any of you recently blogrolled bloggers are reading this post due to a massive surge in traffic, feel free to return the favor. Actually, feel obligated to return the favor. More to the point, should you fail to return the favor, you will be de-blogrolled in less than a week.)

Finally, looking back on some of my old posts, I realized I kind of miss writing the "daily trading statistics" posts, so I'll try and do more of that again.

I'm open to suggestions and always searching for interesting blogs to add to my blogroll.

Thanks, as always, for reading.

Pro-America Vs. Anti-America

We're getting down to the wire in the election. You could get your "news and views" from the main-stream media (MSM) if you wish, but face it, us bloggers do it better.

For example, would you find a handy chart dividing "Pro-American" behavior from "Anti-American" in the MSM?

Answer: "No."

However, depending on which channel you watch you might be "Anti-American" already.

Make sure you check it out before you go to the polls next week. It is from my friend "Jon Swift" who really isn't my friend at all, despite the fact that he's linked down there on my blogroll. It's just that I've heard McCain say "my friends" during the course of the past year so many times that I call everyone my friend.

UPDATE: I'll toss a bone to the MSM for this fine article contrasting the differences between the Democratic and Republican rallies.

Scott MacKensie, "San Francisco"

The "San Francisco Treat" for Trader D.

The RO Report, "OMG, WTF?" Edition

Call me old-fashioned, but these sick reversals at 3:50 are beginning to get old.

Me and my mates were happily long, making solid money, when we got mangled. I mean, we dropped over 400 points there in the last 10 minutes. OMG! WTF? Let's just review... we were ripping, MOCs came out largely to the buy side, things were good, and then WHAMMO! Welcome to your own personal Great Depression.

Needless to say, the RO took some massive pain. And it happened so quickly.

You think you can trade? Make sure you're okay with losing tens of thousands in minutes. I mean, everyone focuses on the money we make... never forget the other side of the equation. And no, you don't HAVE to lose tens of thousands in minutes... I'm not saying that. However, there's a certain amount of "market exposure" you need in order to MAKE tens of thousands as well... so it's a double edged sword.

Anyway, I have to go eat dinner so I can puke it up. Let's get to the numbers since we must. Out of 24 traders today, 10 were gross positive, or 42%. The bright side of that figure is that 9 traders finished up over $1,000 gross. The downside is that 9 finished down over $1,000 gross. I was #19 of 24, or smoked. There was such competition to be a Manservant today that I was spared that distinction.

Also, "Trader D" went from being "Chambermaid" at one point, to being the "Lucky Pierre." Henceforth, that feat will be known as the "San Francisco treat." Tonight's song will speak to this further...

Finally, expect a Dinosaur Trader Dictionary soon. The terms around here are beginning to pile up, and it seems like a good idea. If you have any terms that you want defined, or have some ideas, please note them in the comment section.

Here are today's Manservants:

"Chambermaid" - Trader A, -$80,383 on 605k shares traded.

2. Trader P, -$45,489 on 221k shares traded.
3. Trader Z, -$39,780 on 274k shares traded.
4. Trader E, -$14,019 on 150k shares traded.
5. Trader F, -$6,140 on 131k shares traded.

And the Bosses:

"Lucky Pierre with the San Francisco Treat" - Trader D, $39,597 on 428k shares traded.

2. Trader B, $25,796 on 574k shares traded.
3. Trader H*, $5,961 on 14,400 shares traded.
4. Trader C, $5,332 on 200k shares traded.
5. Trader T, $2,657 on 4,200 shares traded.

* denotes swing account

FED Cuts 50 Basis Points, Traders Get "Ass Raped"

Wallstrip

Truth be told, I haven't watched Wallstrip in a long time. I guess that once Lindsay left, I just felt this sense of loss and Julie wasn't able to "do it" for me...

This video below may be really old, but it brought back some memories.

Laughing With Your President, Instead Of At Him...

Look, like him or not, you gotta love Barack's sense of humor. We've had 8 years of laughing at our President and being laughed at by the world. It will be a nice change of pace... (h/t Valerie)

RALEIGH, N.C. – Democrat Barack Obama is sharpening his tone against John McCain, accusing his Republican rival of sinking low by accusing him of being a socialist based on his tax plan.

Rallying a crowd Wednesday in North Carolina, the Democratic presidential contender said McCain will soon "be accusing me of being a secret communist because I shared my toys in kindergarten."

Blitzen Trapper New Album, "Furr"

This is a band I like. They just put out a new album that received a solid review over at Pitchfork.

Check out some of their stuff here at their Myspace page.

FOMC Day. But Does It Matter?

Ever since I started this Albatross of a blog, people have been admonishing to not trade "Opex days" and to stay away from earnings stocks. I've always thought this somewhat odd and also, a touch gay.

However, if there is one day I've stayed away from consistently in my trading career, it has been the FOMC day. You can almost always expect light volume until the 2:15 announcement, and then, when the announcement is made, you can expect to get "ass-raped" immediately.

In fact, I can almost guarantee an "ass-rape" candle formation at some point between 2:15 and 2:30.

Today feels different though. After a 900 point rip in the Dow yesterday, it's clear that the market is working off of mechanics right now and nothing else. Earnings don't matter, and I doubt the FOMC matters much either. You've either been forced to puke up your losing positions, or not, and the market is moving accordingly.

That said, I still expect light volume early, but I think the late afternoon will be lots of fun.

Thursday, "Autumn Leaves Revisted"

The "Trader A" spray pick, in dedication to his brother who would be 16 today.

The RO Report, "Bottom Edition"

Okay, so the title of this report is a little hopeful, but why not be hopeful? We have a week to go before we choose a new President, and McCain or Obama, we'll be in better hands than we are right now. Meanwhile, the stock market has lost a ridiculous amount the last 2 months, but we can still pull a 900 point rally out of our nation's ass... so why not be a little hopeful?

Of course, it always helps the "hope" cause when nearly the entire RO banked good coin.

Before 3:00, I barely traded. I literally slept for less than 3 hours last night. Nerves. I woke up exhausted and thinking I wouldn't trade at all. So I didn't. I spoke with "Trader P" and listened to the guys in the chat. It was almost relaxing to just reside on the sidelines for a day and watch.

At 2pm, the market began a rally. While the RO was largely up, the numbers were relatively small, and I was somewhat surprised that people weren't up more. However, we rallied over 600 points in those last 2 hours and that helped the numbers... a lot. You can imagine how pissed I was at 3pm thinking I missed it all... but fortunately, I hadn't.

Anyway, I'm going to sleep. Here's the numbers... perhaps I'll have more juice for the blog tomorrow. Out of 25 traders today, 23 were gross positive, or 92%. 16 traders finished up over $1,000 gross, while only 2 lost over $1,000 gross. I was #6 of 25, or happy.

Congrats to "Trader A" for the big spray. The musical selection this evening, will be his. Also, congrats to "Trader P" for making back all his losses from last week and for showing real courage.

Here are today's Bosses:

"Lucky Pierre" - Trader A, $114,606 on 677k shares traded.

2. Trader Z, $57,722 on 181k shares traded.
3. Trader P, $49,304 on 209k shares traded.
4. Trader B, $47,845 on 493k shares traded.
5. Trader E, $25,845 on 123k shares traded.

And the Manservants:

"Chambermaid" - Trader I, -$2,252 on 6,800 shares traded.

2. Trader T, -$1,028 on 4,200 shares traded.
3. Trader 3, $129 on 13,200 shares traded.
4. Trader 7, $188 on 4,000 shares traded.
5. Trader 8, $306 on 4,600 shares traded.

This Blog Is Asleep

I got no sleep last night.


-Dinosaur Trader blog asleep, circa 1300 or something.

No Comment...

Arcade Fire, "Black Mirror"

The RO Report, "200 Point Swings Are Boring" Edition

The talk early on in the office, was how we expected a chopfest, and how we were all going to be careful these next two days ahead of the FOMC meetings. It was a typical Monday morning, and no one was looking forward to jumping into the market.

Then "Trader D" decided it was going to be a "market up" day and made a quick $10,000 in the first 45 minutes. That got everyone's juices flowing, but still, there wasn't a lot going on as far as widespread trading profits go. Volume was lame, the indexes were choppy.

But taking a closer look at the Dow, we had a 250 point rip between noon and 2pm, and then a 250 point tank between 2pm and 3pm. A round trip, if you will. That's amazing... we hardly noticed it.

However, we did take note of the 200 point drop in the last 10 minutes of the day... that was ugly.

It also washed out "Trader D" who, inspired by the round-trip made by the market, made the grueling trip from being "Lucky Pierre" to "Chambermaid," all in a matter of minutes. Not fun.

Henceforth, whenever a trader goes from the top of the list to close at the bottom, he will be called a "Chambermaid & Chode."

So it was a mediocre day in the RO. Again, some guys made money, but a good number also lost. It's a minefield out there. The Bosses barely took the day.

I have pumpkins to carve, so let's get to the numbers. Out of 25 traders today, 14 were gross positive, or 56%. The top 8 traders all made over $1,000 gross and the bottom 7 all lost over $1,000 gross. I was #4 of 25; Bossy. Look, these numbers are hardly confidence inspiring, be careful out there until the trade becomes more manageable again, perhaps after Wednesday.

Here are today's Bosses:

"Lucky Pierre" - Trader A, $8,584 on 277k shares traded.

2. Trader B, $6,206 on 150k shares traded.
3. Trader P, $3,547 on 87,600 shares traded.
4. Trader S, $2,741 on 20,600 shares traded.
5. Trader Z, $1,780 on 25,400 shares traded.

And the Manservants:

"Chambermaid & Chode" - Trader D, -$13,026 on 204k shares traded.

2. Trader C, -$5,420 on 171k shares traded.
3. Trader M*, -$1,631 on 0 shares traded.
4. Trader 6*, -$1,526 on 0 shares traded.
5. Trader H*, -$1,419 on 9,400 shares traded.

*swing accounts.

Fuck All Celebrities And The Media

I don't give a fuck about Kate Hudson's nephew.

Bad things happen to good people everyday.

However, the media should be focusing on more important things like, (and this is just off the top of my head), why we're in a financial crisis, and the presidential election.