Archive for July, 2006

Ugly Picks

Wednesday, July 26th, 2006

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

Dear Diary,
The website was messed up overnight because my internet went out when I was trying to edit the layout.
The following alpha stocks are opening up:

TIE Basic Materials Industrial Metals & Minerals
ATI Basic Materials Steel & Iron
OS Basic Materials Steel & Iron
BGC Industrial Goods Industrial Electrical Equipment
WIRE Industrial Goods Industrial Electrical Equipment
RBAK Technology Business Software & Services
WFR Technology Semiconductor - Integrated Circuits

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

42 stocks closed at all-time lows

Tuesday, July 25th, 2006

“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

Symbol Price Volume Avg. Volume % Vol. Increase
VSGN 0.29 4673191 2718400 %71.90
CMOS 2.74 3086889 2700300 %14.31
ALTU 12.79 1977626 0 %N/A
GTOP 5.65 665558 338248 %96.76
SOLD 6.27 500276 230253 %117.27

– Click here for today’s full list –

149 stocks closed at all-time highs

Tuesday, July 25th, 2006

“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

Symbol Price Volume Avg. Volume % Vol. Increase High Alpha
XOM 65.74 18497900 21488600 %-13.91
BAC 50.81 15076700 13515500 %11.55
MO 80.05 9479800 9168450 %3.39
CVX 66.95 8344200 9783570 %-14.71
KMI 102.25 4544400 1518980 %199.17

– Click here for today’s full list –

Peabody Energy Corp. (BTU)

Tuesday, July 25th, 2006

Today was both good and bad. I like to look at the glass as half full. I went long BTU at exactly the right spot and would have made 7R on the trade, but I closed the position too soon for only 0.5R.
BTU
That was the bad part. The good part is that I have learned a valuable lesson. I have made a new rule for myself. From now on I am done trading at 1pm - done for the day. Whatever trades I have going at 1pm will remain open until either they hit their stop or they are closed at the end of the day. I will check back in after the close at 4pm to see how the day ended up. Looking through my journal, I see that there are many trades that I closed too early. The profit I missed with these trades is much larger than any profit I kept from closing a position early.
Plus, it will be nice to finish the day at 1pm so I have the rest of the day to do other things.

Ugly Picks

Tuesday, July 25th, 2006

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

Dear Diary,
It seems like my internet is out only every morning and then it works fine in the afternoon and evening. Back at the coffee shop… I just commented that, without my usual second monitor, I was surprised to find that it actually makes things simpler and less distracting. It makes trading a little more difficult, but this is actually a good thing when you are prone to overtrading.
The following alpha stocks are opening up:

TIE Basic Materials Industrial Metals & Minerals
TNT Basic Materials Oil & Gas Refining & Marketing
PEIX Basic Materials Specialty Chemicals
HOLX Healthcare Medical Appliances & Equipment
USG Industrial Goods General Building Materials
NVDA Technology Semiconductor - Specialized

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

Q & A

Monday, July 24th, 2006

When do you exit a winning trade? Do you use trailing stops?
This is a good question that I don’t exactly know the answer to - I’m still trying to figure it out. Currently, I will sometimes move my stop to breakeven, or close 50% of the position at a point that I think may be a peak - but I will often hold at least half until the close. The thing that seems to work best is holding until the close. Letting your winners run is important to remember. I am trying to pay close attention to my winning trade exits in my trading journal to see if I can come up with the best solution.

43 stocks closed at all-time lows

Monday, July 24th, 2006

“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

Symbol Price Volume Avg. Volume % Vol. Increase
REV 0.87 13030000 3310750 %293.56
VSGN 0.2911 4983695 2635470 %89.10
ZHNE 1.33 2795158 878442 %218.19
IPIX 0.56 783453 243403 %221.87
ISON 0.409 589222 504483 %16.79

– Click here for today’s full list –

121 stocks closed at all-time highs

Monday, July 24th, 2006

“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

Symbol Price Volume Avg. Volume % Vol. Increase High Alpha
XOM 65.36 22395900 21401200 %4.64
BAC 50.57 13094900 13478100 %-2.84
PEP 63.35 3831700 4443120 %-13.76
USB 31.99 3618000 4724650 %-23.42
CVS 32.66 3575400 4753900 %-24.79

– Click here for today’s full list –

NPR on the Singularity

Monday, July 24th, 2006

NPR had a 2-3 minute piece on the Singularity yesterday.

You don’t have to be Einstein to make money on Wall Street

Monday, July 24th, 2006

A bundle of 3,500 pages of letters, papers, postcards, and other documents belonging to Albert Einstein were unsealed at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem a couple weeks ago. They revealed that he lost most of his nobel prize money in bad financial investments:

The newly released papers reveal that he invested three-quarters of the money, about $24,000, in long-term bonds via the Ladenburg and Thalmann Bank in New York. Mileva was supposed to receive the interest. But the value of the bonds was wiped out in the Depression of the 1930s and Mileva’s income dried up.