The steep drop of the markets in May was a sort of test. I heard somewhere it was the steepest drop since 1994 or something like that. I passed the test because I was profitable for the month, but I would only give myself a C- because I could have done a lot better with such a strong move. Anyway I am learning from the new twists of the market as they play out.
I was planning on increasing my R value to 1.2% for the month, but I decreased this value during the steep drop and towards the end of the month, so I didn’t really risk that much most of the time. For June I will try to use 1.2% for my average R value.
Starting in June I am going to hold some positions overnight while continuing to daytrade. I decided on this because I think it will take advantage of the extra leverage that I have access to. So far, since I started trading at the end of January, I have not used more than 600% of my equity at a time (I have access to 1000%). I am hoping that this will allow me to increase my profits with little added risk. I’m starting out small just to see how well it works. I am excited about it, though, because this is more like the type of trading I did before.
I have slacked on my journal-keeping and I plan to be more diligent with this from now on. I didn’t think I needed it as much as I do and was lazy about it.
I am also planning on meditating for 30 minutes before the market opens each day. It seems to help me focus and trade without fear or greed. It also reminds me of the importance of what I am doing.

“It is one of the great paradoxes of the stock market that what seems too high usually goes higher and what seems too low usually goes lower.” - William O’Neil

– Click here for today’s full list –

“It is one of the great paradoxes of the stock market that what seems too high usually goes higher and what seems too low usually goes lower.” - William O’Neil

– Click here for today’s full list –

A Princeton study has found that in the short term, stocks with easy to pronounce monikers perform better than less fluent ones. It seems that the biggest effect is at the IPO:

To prove the point, the pair finally analysed how well companies performed on the basis of their three-letter stock ticker code, which a company doesn’t determine itself. Amazingly, pronounceable codes such as KAR still tended to do much better than unpronounceable ones such as RDO. Once again, the pair invested their fictitious $1,000, and found that the fluent codes were $85 up on the first day, although the portfolio was just $20 ahead after a year.

Good morning, my name is Ugly, and I am a loser. I have it in me to do serious financial damage to my account.

What a sell-off yesterday.
Let’s finish this month on a positive note.
The following alpha stocks are opening up:

The following alpha stocks are opening down:
(more…)

“It is one of the great paradoxes of the stock market that what seems too high usually goes higher and what seems too low usually goes lower.” - William O’Neil

– Click here for today’s full list –

“It is one of the great paradoxes of the stock market that what seems too high usually goes higher and what seems too low usually goes lower.” - William O’Neil

– Click here for today’s full list –

Today was a day for the shorts. AMR had a nice dummy-style setup this morning:

When it broke down $25, I put in an order to short it at $24.99, but it never filled. I could’ve easily shorted it at $24.95 - as you can see, worrying about pennies cost me dollars.

Speaking of the Seven Samurai, it looks like there is going to be a remake of the film with George Clooney and Hong Kong action star Donnie Yen. It was already remade as the 1960s Western, The Magnificent Seven. It looks like Harvey Weinstein will be the producer.
George Clooney? I’ve got to see this.

I saw Sanjuro again this weekend. It is one of the greatest samurai movies of all time and one of my favorite movies. Directed by Akira Kurosawa and starring Toshiro Mifune - the dynamic duo of Samurai films - it is a must-see for the samurai genre lover. As samurai movies go, it is the Old School Reel Deal - like the more well-known Seven Samurai. Don’t miss this one!