The Beatles, "Julia"

Dedicated from "Trader Z" to his late mother, for her birthday.

The RO Report, "Election Jitters" Edition

People ignored the stock market today, as they awaited the outcome of tomorrow's Presidential election. The market did shit, on shit volume, and if you traded it, chances are, you made shit.

It's funny, in the room today, early on, I said "Today feels like the kind of day where you can either make $600 or lose $3,000" and apparently, taking a look at our sad office stats, I wasn't too far off.

We just got over 1 billion shares traded on the NYSE. It was the lowest volume day since August.

Tomorrow should be more of the same. Preserve your trading capital. Take tomorrow off, go vote, hug your loved ones and be happy you're here.

The RO had a crappy day. Out of 24 traders today, 10 finished gross positive, or 42%. One trader made over $1,000 gross, while 5 traders lost over $1,000 gross. I was #4 of 24, or, bossy (kind of).

The Manservants get top billing, since they beat down the RO with their bad trades.

"Chambermaid" - Trader A, -$6,540 on 159k shares traded.

2. Trader I, -$2,016 on 23,400 shares traded.
3. Trader N, -$1,814 on 31,400 shares traded.
4. Trader B, -$1,092 on 215k shares traded.
5. Trader E, -$1,088 on 24,400 shares traded.

And here are the Bosses:

"Lucky Pierre" - Trader Z, $1,036 on 18,800 shares traded.

2. Trader C, $936 on 17,700 shares traded.
3. Trader J, $741 on 22,000 shares traded.
4. Trader S, $280 on 8,200 shares traded.
5. Trader R, $251 on 6,421 shares traded.

NOTE: Only 10 hours left to vote in the DT Presidential Poll!!!

Sarah Pailin Pranked

Issues With McCain's Site

There are always some last minute shenanigans and "irregularities" but this is different.

RO Cumulative Performance In October

Thanks to "Shortbus" we have this wonderful chart that really demonstrates the difference between the "Lucky Pierres" and the "Manservants."



Look at "Trader B" and "Trader D" practically holding hands and skipping their way to riches, while the hordes of the RO suffer their upper-middle class existences far below.

Of course, "Shortbus" produced these charts with only limited information, but still, I bet even with all the data added in, the results would be similar. Thanks again, "Shortbus."

I'm Like, So Tough.

I have a head cold. Actually, I've had it for 4 or 5 days.

But check this out... I can hardly breathe through my nose right now. Nonetheless, I am breathing through my nose.

It makes a thin whistling sound inside my head, and if I suck in really hard, a sliver of air seems to reach my brain.

Last night, while I lay in bed in the dark, receiving only trace amounts of oxygen, I imagined that I was a rubble-covered earthquake victim. In fact, I was an 8 year old named "Weisheng" and my school had just collapsed due to a 6.8 magnitude earthquake and poor local construction standards.

Anyway, I imagined that my mouth was smushed shut by a concrete cinder block and that my arms and legs were trapped, preventing me from moving. All I had, was an air-pocket created by the space under my desk and the barely existent nasal passage in my left nostril. The right nostril was completely blocked. Sometimes, (because I wasn't receiving enough oxygen) I'd get a little panicky, and think about opening my mouth to gasp for air, but then I'd remember that I couldn't, because of the cinder block.

I thought to myself, imagine this was it, and I had to remain calm and breathe like this while waiting for the authorities to dig me out. I couldn't move at all, and the only thing that separated me from life and death, was that thin little air passage through the thick mucus in my nasal passage.

The point is, I do little "exercises" like this all the time. They make me tougher. Ultimately, the cumulative effect of all these little "exercises" is victory in the stock market, because I can handle the pain, far better than you can.

Pussy.

Art

I've decided to take "the Fly's" advice and just not give a damn about my readership anymore.

That's right. Fuck you. Right there, you.

How does that feel? Know what? I don't care, mostly because I'm being artistic right now.

I don't care about you. In fact, if you were here, standing next to me, I'd probably freak out and throw this laptop at you and then run upstairs to protect my daughter. Why? Because Internet people are scary and also, because I don't give a fuck about you.

Another thing, you fucking idiot... on Tuesday, I want you to vote for John McCain.

Furthermore, go and pick up the latest album by the Rolling Stones, I bet it's great.

Off to masturbate.

NOTE: Since my newest tool to gain more traffic is to not care about my readership, (the irony doesn't bother me... shut up) I'm going to ignore the comment section forever.

TV On The Radio, "Wolf Like Me"

"Trader C" suggested I post Michael Jackson's "Thriller" tonight. But I couldn't find an embeddable copy. After a somewhat disturbing conversation I had with "Trader L," I nearly posted "I Am The Walrus." In the end, I've decided on a very creepy video to a great song. Have a safe Halloween and a "bangin'" weekend.

The RO Report, "Monsters Are Gay" Edition

I have to go fill a fire extinguisher with urine and spray old ladies. The RO post will be up later. The office did well.

UPDATE: Okay, back from hordes of screaming children and I'm still alive. My daughter has already worked out which piece of candy she'll be eating each day from here until Christams. Not a bad take...

Anyway, it was kind of a crappy trading day early on. We muddled around on little volume and melted higher. But the last 20 minutes were insane. We traded nearly a third of the entire day's volume in the last 20 and were treated to a nearly 200 point tank, followed by a 150 point rip.

Many traders were down before that last 20 and managed to finish the day significantly higher. "Trader P," while not on the boss list, made back a 6k loss. "Trader Z," made back a 5k loss and worked his way high onto the boss list.

It proves a lesson of trading... you gotta stick with it. You should never go on tilt and overtrade, but lately, the market normally gives you a chance to get it right. This isn't a market to give up on.

Anyway, out of 25 traders, 19 were gross positive or, 76%. The top 10 traders all made over $1,000 gross, while the bottom 3 all lost over $1,000 gross. That's a pretty solid way to finish the week. I was #10 of 25, or very happy considering my lame morning.

Here are today's Bosses:

"Lucky Pierre" - Trader B, $19,985 on 408k shares traded.

2. Trader C, $14,282 on 119k shares traded.
3. Trader Z, $14,276 on 117k shares traded.
4. Trader F, $11,120 on 123k shares traded.
5. Trader E, $8,922 on 176k shares traded.

And the Manservants:

"Chambermaid" - Trader T, -$1,313 on 4,100 shares traded.

2. Trader D, -$1,107 on 164k shares traded.
3. Trader X, -$1,097 on 26,000 shares traded.
4. Trader 3, -$616 on 6,800 shares traded.
5. Trader R, -$68 on 0 shares traded.

Bill Kristol Eviscerated On The Daily Show

If only other talking heads on Fox would smack him down so effortlessly. Great interview.

Deus Ex Machina

That means your computer is fucked by a ghost or some shit... I learned it in the second grade.

Anyway, today, my computer was indeed, fucked by a ghost. Fitting, since it's Halloween.

As one would expect, I hate Halloween, mostly because I hate crazy screaming children and their annoying "sugar highs." I also hate "emo teenagers" throwing eggs and playing with shaving cream.

But the real reason I hate Halloween today, is that my computer got fucked by a ghost and I wasn't able to trade the open. When I can't trade the open, I lose my entire feel for the day. Now, I'm sitting here watching the market "rip higher, yo" (according to Trader B) with no positions and I'm more bitter than usual.

So I guess I'll have to wait until the close.

My Halloween Costume

That's me walking by the smoldering remains of our economy dressed as a homeless Jim Cramer. Pretty scary, eh?

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