Wednesday, April 2, 2008

Drunken Bulls Run Amok

You know, I expected another rally but 391 DOW pts? Really? The S&P and Nasdaq were both up better than 3.5%. Jeez. Shit's insane.

So it appears to be a double bottom on the indexes. The bullish contingent is all lathered up and breathing heavy. It's the bottom! I say maybe for now. The DOW needs at least another hundred points for confirmation of a true double bottom.

We should expect more of these violent whipsaws going forward. No question, bear markets are difficult to trade. I feel confident though that we have not seen the lows for the year.

As for my personal trading, it's fair to say it's been bumpy this year. Yesterday I was under attack again but worked early in the day to limit exposure to the short side. I consider yesterday a success insofar as it could have been much worse than it was. I just need to stay in the game. I banked a lot of coin off of the declines we've seen thus far and I can envision a much greater opportunity not too far down the road.

Monday, March 31, 2008

Here We Go Again

Today is the last day of March. I'll be glad when it ends. I spent the greater part of March getting whipsawed via insane volatility. As usual it was not my powers of prediction that failed me so much as my trading ability or lack thereof. My powers of prediction are just fine thank you and as a result I will enter April with confidence.

Looking at the futures early this morning it looks like a flat open which is nice considering the headlines over the weekend. The Fed apparently will be granted new powers to regulate, pending congressional approval. Makes me want to vomit. The Fed needs to be stripped of it's power not given more. To me this news smells like a regulation shell game. There is absolutely no genuine intention by this administration to regulate anything especially financial concerns.

The whole idea to give the Fed more power reeks of an Orwellian air and scares the shit out of me. We are well on our way to becoming the Socialist States of America.

As for the market, I still think we consolidate some more before ultimately heading lower. Commodities are correcting here and I intend to wait before viewing it as a buying opportunity. Once I see some stability I will be a buyer of gold and agricultural commodities. Somewhat agnostic on oil though- the supply/demand picture is favorable but I expect demand destruction as a result of the recession.

Keeping an eye on technology as I think the sector will offer some nice shorting opportunities in the near future. The idea that investors can hide out in technology names as we enter a recession is pure fallacy.