tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-278390862011-09-12T09:34:43.041-04:00The mad ravings and musings of a full-time engineer with a part-time trading problem.Cliffynatorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04475531469449450760noreply@blogger.comBlogger1441100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27839086.post-91201109685600372122011-03-29T08:09:00.004-04:002011-03-29T08:20:29.891-04:00

I'm going to start posting at SharePlanner.com. They already have membership and a good forum started, so I expect to get more feedback from my posts. You can find me listed as, "Edgy".Click here to jump.

Cliffynatorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04475531469449450760noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27839086.post-75759025519124239802011-02-13T21:25:00.004-05:002011-02-13T21:30:31.325-05:00

I've been looking at some mutual funds for a buddy at work. I figured I might as well post them for the sake of keeping up with this blog.In short, this week looks like it's setting up to be flat or down for the big Indices. But the POMO has proven me wrong over and over again.

Cliffynatorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04475531469449450760noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27839086.post-35576809669982556872010-12-15T10:26:00.002-05:002010-12-15T10:36:24.527-05:00

I'm already stopped-out of ANH, and just got in NTRZ.KKD is looking good, and the indices already did a headfake this morning.Here's to an even lower-volume Christmas rally!!!

Cliffynatorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04475531469449450760noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27839086.post-42259570038678170682010-11-12T12:59:00.003-05:002010-11-12T13:05:14.807-05:00

I recently discovered Chris Martensen's Crash Course lecture series. Here's an excellent explanation on how the Fed creates money:

Cliffynatorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04475531469449450760noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27839086.post-18837556748018361242010-11-09T14:37:00.007-05:002010-11-09T15:06:20.525-05:00

I was watching the following video at work when my neighbor asked me if this was another Onion News Video. I don't know if that's more scary than the news itself! This news clip reminds me of the beginning of some of those movies where they would show the news footage back "before it all happened", if you know what I mean.I couldn't get the video to embed, so CLICK HERE FOR VIDEO. It's the one

Cliffynatorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04475531469449450760noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27839086.post-68089427141573225072010-11-01T21:06:00.005-04:002010-11-01T21:32:37.444-04:00

Can you spot the differences between the two images below?I have never seen so many long-tail doji days all together like that, with decreasing volume to boot! This Market is hellbent on indecision, and is going to have to be dragged into making a decision, up or down.I'd say they just "pulled a Congress", referring to the guys who just refused to pass a Budget before adjourning for Election

Cliffynatorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04475531469449450760noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27839086.post-50982900964924202232010-10-27T19:51:00.006-04:002010-10-27T20:22:41.091-04:00

So, I was looking at the blog and how often I have NOT been posting the past year. It's been very stressful with the combination of market ups and downs, President Obama and Congress officially cancelling my job, the Constellation Program, and the passing of my dear grandmother.I come across a year-old chart of UUP that I posted, and almost thought that I was looking at today's chart! We're

Cliffynatorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04475531469449450760noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27839086.post-44075820065522645672010-10-26T22:23:00.003-04:002010-10-26T23:40:35.722-04:00

The past two months of monster stock price rises are being attributed to inflation of stocks due to the falling dollar. The Fed has been pumping money by the billions daily into the world economy through POMO, and you can compare the inverse relationship between the Dollar Index to the S&P 500.Traders are talking about just staying out of the market, and blaming all the noise on high frequency

Cliffynatorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04475531469449450760noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27839086.post-14297942048629052392010-10-26T10:34:00.002-04:002010-10-26T10:36:20.610-04:00

I found this video on etf-central.com recently. It shows that China is actually not THE big holder of our debt, but one of three. The "Other" category is supposed to be the rest of the world outside of the U.S.Holders of Treasury Securities, 2004-2010 from Computational Legal Studies on Vimeo.

Cliffynatorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04475531469449450760noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27839086.post-32255770086880173692010-10-22T11:05:00.002-04:002010-10-22T11:08:42.824-04:00

I thought I'd come back from the shadows to post this link to a very concerning video. It explains how I've been feeling for the past year or so, and how I have been approaching my investing. I am currently bearish, but cautious of the rising trend in the Indices due to POMO hand-pumping.

Cliffynatorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04475531469449450760noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27839086.post-56467998108272677622010-05-19T14:56:00.003-04:002010-05-19T15:01:43.421-04:00

How I Made $2,000,000 in the Stock Market by Nicolas Darvas is my latest read. I just came across this line at the end of Chapter 3, and wanted to repeat it here:"What, I asked myself, was the value of examining company reports, studying the industry outlook, the ratings, the price earnings ratios? The stock that saved me from disaster was one about which I knew nothing. I picked it for one

Cliffynatorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04475531469449450760noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27839086.post-13775993976613660242010-05-17T22:49:00.003-04:002010-05-17T22:57:20.217-04:00

My godmother recently passed away, leaving me with her interest in several assets. If given the chance to liquidate some of these assets at actual, par value, then I may finally get a chance to start that full-time investment company (a.k.a. hedgefund) that I've been planning. If that ever happens, I'm going to make my traders dress up like superheroes and work in a spacious office surrounded

Cliffynatorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04475531469449450760noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27839086.post-84583166775695690552010-03-02T12:11:00.004-05:002010-03-02T12:27:37.371-05:00

Guess what I got for Christmas? Here's a hint:Now that I've got first Prestige, level 70, and Fall camo for the Intervention, I figured I'd look at the charts again to try and make heads or tail of what's going on. Ok, ok, I've been watching the whole time. So, here's where I am right now:I recently bought the dips on AVF, DMND, and ETW. I tried to get KKD on a second dip to 2.51, but it

Cliffynatorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04475531469449450760noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27839086.post-23311421450028461942009-11-18T02:14:00.002-05:002009-11-18T02:29:47.759-05:00

Ok, ok... so I'm not a whiz with Photoshop; you get the point. It's after 2 AM and I finally finished the image I had in my head this weekend.I've noticed other traders are talking about throwing their hands up in disbelief in this rally. We all know it's tied to the dollar, and all the money that's getting conjured up and thrown into Treasuries. I've been in and out of UUP and some other

Cliffynatorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04475531469449450760noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27839086.post-6036020086947303802009-11-12T22:15:00.005-05:002009-11-12T22:40:51.198-05:00

Looks like the Dollar is trying to make a comeback en force. Today's move bounced it off the 20MA and punched through the 50MA. Last time, it was stopped by the 100MA, which now stands at 23.12. Rising past this barrier and continuing on may spell doom for the local markets as long as the Dollar-Stock Market inverse relationship continues.But if it does go though, I'll be interested in

Cliffynatorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04475531469449450760noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27839086.post-90217328651162657592009-11-11T22:58:00.003-05:002009-11-12T00:22:33.155-05:00

We don't have an XBox, and I surely can't afford $80 for COD6:MW2. So, I have time to work out some more trading techniques.I've been starting with the weekly charts to find patterns, since my schedule prevents me from trading more frequently than daily. I've stuck my toe in the water with the following four tickers, and the charts are shown daily for a little more clarity.UUPBoy, looks like

Cliffynatorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04475531469449450760noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27839086.post-76552676345756170432009-10-28T23:23:00.003-04:002009-10-28T23:41:53.827-04:00

I've been getting itchy to find a solid point to jump into this market. After getting burned over and over again, I've held back to observe the 'pros' and see if I can learn something. Well this recent over-the-top action in the indices is looking ripe for action.To work with my busy schedule, I've zoomed out to daily charts to look for patterns, but will zoom in for details. It looks like the

Cliffynatorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04475531469449450760noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27839086.post-28898388078624598652009-10-15T23:10:00.005-04:002009-10-15T23:58:13.580-04:00

As I sit in my makeshift lab, the sun long gone and the children in bed, I have come to the conclusion that the most reasonable explanation for this insane (an inane!) increase in our beloved Stock Market is inversely related to the falling Dollar. But I AM biased: I stay emotionally bearish because I don't see or hear about any of the true problems getting fixed. All it seems is that the

Cliffynatorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04475531469449450760noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27839086.post-14207242804371312652009-10-12T00:33:00.003-04:002009-10-12T01:14:53.405-04:00

Here's what I'll be watching tomorrow and the next few days to see how they play out. I'm all cash right now.DSU (+3.63 BREAKOUT [BO])AIS (1.06-1.25 CHANNEL [CH])AVII (1.52-180 SYMMETRICAL TRIANGLE [SM])CFW (1.15-1.16 CH)FLOW (2.73-2.91 CH)HILL (2.01-2.38 CH)KERX (2.17 SUPPORT [SP])MNI (3.11 SP)LVLT (1.22-1.58 SM)SRZ (TARGET ~6.00, BREAKING OUT)SYMX (1.12-1.36 SM)TPI (3.65 SP)UIS (TARGET 3.10)

Cliffynatorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04475531469449450760noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27839086.post-7223717559452041532009-10-08T22:10:00.005-04:002009-10-08T22:51:02.999-04:00

Good rally today, but this SPY chart feeds my pessimism. Looks like S&P resistance is around 1070, low support around 970. But I'll respect a breakout.I'm still overall Bearish. Pro's on Bloomberg are saying with confidence, "the Recession IS over!" What bothers me is that volume has been falling since the beginning of the year, and long before this recovery started...until now. Volume is

Cliffynatorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04475531469449450760noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27839086.post-12092036366657789742009-10-06T23:19:00.003-04:002009-10-06T23:52:50.613-04:00

I've closed out all positions and am now in cash. My brother is winning our trading game with a nice win in FAZ a few days ago before pulling out just in time. That dropoff in AONE killed me yesterday, and I've made a little back today with a quick trade in FAZ, and by pulling out of everything else before it fell off.Around 11:30 today, I had a feeling that the S&P was getting tired, and

Cliffynatorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04475531469449450760noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27839086.post-60078876240829274202009-10-05T23:18:00.002-04:002009-10-05T23:29:58.937-04:00

AONE just lost half of a week's gains in one friggin' day. I didn't see it coming, and only a stop would have saved my (play money) losses. I didn't have any stops in place because I didn't anticipate a drop like this, and I wasn't watching the Markets today.. still had to take care of that day job, ya know.I haven't found any news yet to explain why the drop. And since this stock is still

Cliffynatorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04475531469449450760noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27839086.post-22999490856020089952009-10-04T23:11:00.003-04:002009-10-04T23:57:01.525-04:00

First of all, hats-off to India for discovering water on the Moon a week before LRO does. At first I thought NASA slipped-up to play some politics... trying to influence the Administration's decision for the future of the Space Program. But, now that I know India made the discovery, I will forgo any further political commentary.I jumped on a few of the stocks I was watching, and I have a few in

Cliffynatorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04475531469449450760noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27839086.post-49261807856397200962009-09-30T22:33:00.002-04:002009-09-30T23:15:28.546-04:00

I went through some patterns found through ThinkOrSwim's ProphetCharts. These are the ones that look promising in the near future:SYMBOL (SUSPECTED SUPPORT LEVEL)AONE (20.90)APAC (5.84)CPST (1.30)CBAK (4.70)DPTR (1.72)HAFC (1.61)LAVA (1.70)I'm not finding a lot of good stuff out there right now, but what do I know?

Cliffynatorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04475531469449450760noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27839086.post-12538181262533292092009-09-29T22:30:00.006-04:002009-09-29T23:55:57.994-04:00

I've been trying to get a feel for the big picture of the economy these days. I was listening to Bloomberg talk bonds, commodities, and FOREX, trying to piece it all together and figure out what hand is moving this market.The way I figure, the Fed is printing money to buy government debt (even if it's only 20 days old) as well as everybody's mortgage. To do this, it is printing money by the

Cliffynatorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04475531469449450760noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27839086.post-70493933074467951322009-09-21T22:52:00.002-04:002009-09-21T23:10:36.532-04:00

The pizza joint I bought a few years back might finally be getting liquidated this week, and I'll have almost nothing left but bad memories and a LOT of debt. Work's been full of deadline after deadline as we race to a finish that we wonder might never come (pending Congress cancels the whole #$!#@ program). And then there's that family to tend to...I've been spending my few quiet moments

Cliffynatorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04475531469449450760noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27839086.post-59308995359932938432009-09-09T22:01:00.004-04:002009-09-09T23:11:17.196-04:00

What? Nothing to say for weeks at a time? But of course!I have a job, you know!It's been 6 months since the triple-6 bottom, so where are we now?Remember when we had a rising wedge back in May/June and we thought that the rally would finally end? Bought FAZ and lost more money? Yeah, I remember now. It appears that this was a smaller wedge within a larger wedge that should be nearing

Cliffynatorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04475531469449450760noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27839086.post-27440155041714481562009-08-21T08:38:00.002-04:002009-08-21T08:38:43.386-04:00

Cliffynatorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04475531469449450760noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27839086.post-56827035493804288022009-08-18T22:11:00.004-04:002009-08-18T22:51:21.163-04:00

So.... I'm catching up on Bloomberg Surveillance and listening to two different people regarding the Retail numbers that just came out on August 13. And I hear two different analysts discuss how great Wal Mart is these days, that they have better selection, new brands, and are poised for growth in the Mid-West and Western States. The idea is that they'll get you in with good grocery prices, and

Cliffynatorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04475531469449450760noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27839086.post-53737398388387480902009-08-10T23:37:00.004-04:002009-08-10T23:58:50.857-04:00

100% Cash. Made small gains today on ZIXI offset by losses in CY. Dropped CY shortly before it made a wonderful comeback into gains for the day. Oh well, I don't like the way the tape is moving right now. I'm seeing ascending triangles and upward channels getting broken on the bottom (failing). I'm starting to feel a bearish sentiment, or maybe just consolidation.But after looking at the

Cliffynatorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04475531469449450760noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27839086.post-83992331992688989442009-08-05T22:37:00.003-04:002009-08-06T00:02:09.262-04:00

Despite my real job deadlines looming near, my 'customer' decided to move up my due date to today. But then stated an understanding if everything is not quite in tonight. I had to break the excitement with a few peeks at the boring, ho-hum, droning stock market charts to keep my sanity.I thought I had JAZZ with a wide enough margin to avoid the stop sweep, but I got knocked out early in the day

Cliffynatorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04475531469449450760noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27839086.post-52338109072151008102009-08-03T22:26:00.005-04:002009-08-03T23:08:10.073-04:00

Over the weekend I heard bits of Obama's announcement that 2nd Quarter performance of US GDP was, quote, "...better than expected." I immediately thought of all the government intervention that seemed to pull the S&P unrealistically out of the hole it was in back in March. During the whole rally I was in disbelief, and was even financially rebuked for my beliefs until I set myself back on the

Cliffynatorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04475531469449450760noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27839086.post-86325022438973034572009-07-30T23:49:00.003-04:002009-07-31T00:20:29.453-04:00

Here's a couple of trades that didn't turn on me already, KLIC and ZIXI.KLIC has just completed a big move up past resistance, and I'm looking to hold it while it shows promise. Fibonacci retracement looks like resistance around 6.13.ZIXI looks to be completing a wedge, as shown in the graph, and I bought near the support. This wedge still has a few days before it ends, but I'm not confident in

Cliffynatorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04475531469449450760noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27839086.post-39611732069659133302009-07-28T21:50:00.007-04:002009-07-28T23:27:19.792-04:00

First I had overtime for a couple of weeks in a row, then I got sick with a fever and a wicked cough. The fever left but the cough wouldn't. The doctor said it was "Walking Pneumonia" and gave me some antibiotics. I still have the cough and have been back at work for a week, but everyone avoids being around me. Heh, don't blame 'em, something's been going around.All this time, I have been out

Cliffynatorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04475531469449450760noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27839086.post-80651410647236656492009-07-15T09:20:00.004-04:002009-07-15T09:42:12.160-04:00

I've been laid-out with a fever and annoying cough for a week now. It's been nothing but bedrest, fluids, hot flashes, and the kids on summer break all day.But, I decided to check in on the SPX this morning, and I see we've popped up over the past few days. But we're still within the down-channel that began in mid-June. The index has appeared to enter a narrowing trading range that starts

Cliffynatorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04475531469449450760noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27839086.post-12082248867318169402009-07-06T23:24:00.004-04:002009-07-06T23:43:38.588-04:00

Who's Bad?Man, what a ride these past few weeks have been! And I've been out of all of it the whole time, trying to make deadlines for the day-job. But looking back on what's going on, it's very tempting to see a head & shoulder's pattern forming in the SPX.However, a wise trader once said (actually, he won't stop saying it) that the 200 day MA is a force demanding respect for that index. And

Cliffynatorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04475531469449450760noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27839086.post-54841826674017412212009-06-23T23:39:00.002-04:002009-06-24T00:04:23.522-04:00

Still working overtime this week, trying to meet deadlines. In my "spare" time I've looked on the markets and saw the Indices had a Doji day. It's look pretty bearish for many of the popular names (go FAZ, TMF), but a couple of dollar stocks are showing strong interest while the prices still remained flat.I'll be keeping an eye on ABAT to continue it's runup, AXL, CENX, UIS, VSH, and ZIGO. On

Cliffynatorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04475531469449450760noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27839086.post-45972811083747031902009-06-22T00:33:00.005-04:002009-06-22T01:15:19.749-04:00

Can someone tell me why my Prophet chart in ThinkOrSwim's trading platform will not show volume data for the S&P 500 or NASDAQ indices? Before exploring TOS, I've been a regular on Prophet.net to use their Java charts, and I've noticed their volume data for the S&P started to be missing around the time of the March rally. There's a little in April, then it's gone again.Here's the TOS chart,

Cliffynatorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04475531469449450760noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27839086.post-27217836521275492602009-06-18T22:29:00.003-04:002009-06-18T22:49:03.122-04:00

The Atlas V carrying NASA's LRO/LCROSS missions took off this evening at 5:32 pm EST. I went out to the parking lot for the building where I work across the bay to watch it. I couldn't see it because of the low cloud cover, but BOY! was that thing LOUD! The rumbling just kept going...and going... I could definitely tell the difference from Shuttle launches that I've seen from even up

Cliffynatorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04475531469449450760noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27839086.post-10784725538034613362009-06-16T22:09:00.004-04:002009-06-16T22:28:05.468-04:00

Ok, second chance to drag the family to go see the Shuttle launch tomorrow morning. I say, "drag" because the launch is now at 5:40 AM, I have to be inside the gate within an hour before launch, and it takes almost an hour to drive there. Soooo.... that means getting up around 3 AM or so and loading up the car. At least this should count as a night launch and the sun won't be in our eyes like

Cliffynatorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04475531469449450760noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27839086.post-54111025433597689252009-06-11T09:30:00.003-04:002009-06-11T10:12:11.332-04:00

I just scored front row seats for me and my family to watch the STS-127 Shuttle Launch this Saturday morning. Since I work here, I usually get to see these launches up close, but now I get to bring the kids. Here's the approximate location:http://tinyurl.com/l6wabzThe pad is about 3 miles NE of this spot. If you look around, you can also see the crawler with an empty mobile launch platform

Cliffynatorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04475531469449450760noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27839086.post-1377817651856479652009-06-10T00:16:00.003-04:002009-06-10T00:37:21.697-04:00

Random Comic, courtesy XKCD. Hint: If you go to the website and read the real comics, then mouse-over the image to get an extra punchline.I hate it when work gets in the way of my trading. We have a big deadline at the end of this month, and it's crunch-time to get everything looking good; I might be looking at some overtime. Meanwhile, the wife is going crazy at home with the kids out on

Cliffynatorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04475531469449450760noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27839086.post-66913796496230424012009-06-08T23:17:00.004-04:002009-06-08T23:51:39.134-04:00

I got nervous this morning as everything stumbled and fell. All my holdings were down about 2% but still "within tolerances." No stops were triggered, and all my holdings seemed to stabilize after the morning session. A few of my holdings even rose back up, and I got confident again, even enough to get back into my 30-year Treasury Bond, triple-short ETF: TMV. I even managed to get it near an

Cliffynatorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04475531469449450760noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27839086.post-79419089758793285932009-06-06T23:35:00.006-04:002009-06-07T00:10:19.585-04:00

I spent Friday away from the computer, so I was unable to trade all day. I managed to check the pre-market action and adjust my stops, then tried not to worry the rest of the day. When I got back I saw that no stops were triggered, so my 5 holdings still exist. Here's the update:ABATIs still creeping up the triangle support. I have two lines of resistance, the triangle peak at 4.10, and a

Cliffynatorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04475531469449450760noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27839086.post-76234733132509964422009-06-04T20:34:00.003-04:002009-06-04T21:46:07.740-04:00

I made 5 buys yesterday, and they made me 5.75% today.STKL @ 1.84It paid off nicely today; I see next resistance around 2.08, and later at 2.30. Today's close was up on light volume, and I'm pretty sure that's a good sign of continuation.ILMN @ 39.54I had been watching this stock for weeks from a tip by RevShark, when it was nearing 38.50 for the second or third time. After failing to break

Cliffynatorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04475531469449450760noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27839086.post-60625621271967899422009-06-03T08:49:00.003-04:002009-06-03T09:15:05.736-04:00

Been busy with the full-time job, so I've been inactive in the markets this past week. Despite all my pessimism since March, I'm finally starting to accept that this rally could continue. I don't see another pivot point for the S&P 500 until about 1014. Here's what I'm watching:I expect STKL to hover around the 1.84 level all day Wednesday, where it should hit upward support (not shown). I'm

Cliffynatorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04475531469449450760noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27839086.post-3325033097984922412009-05-27T21:29:00.002-04:002009-05-27T21:34:44.102-04:00

This was hard to follow at first, but when it dawned on me I just got pissed. I suppose we can't entirely blame Tax-Cheat Tim, I believe the Bush Admin started this "throw all our money at the banks" plan on their way out the door last year.Thanks to Bruce Chastain for showing me this.I think it's only fair to add this little gem on how we got here in the first place:The Crisis of Credit

Cliffynatorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04475531469449450760noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27839086.post-82559945168158159492009-05-26T00:17:00.004-04:002009-05-26T00:39:29.330-04:00

I hope every American took a moment to show some kind of appreciation for our Veterans today. I called my dad, who served in Viet Nam, and now lives 3000 miles away.Back to stocks, I'm starting to feel more comfortable with the ThinkOrSwim platform. I thought I'd post a couple of charts with it while I try to figure out what the Market is going to do tomorrow.Here's a weekly of the S&P 500:Even

Cliffynatorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04475531469449450760noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27839086.post-80630171046913407342009-05-23T00:17:00.002-04:002009-05-23T00:34:53.267-04:00

This day started with a quick jump overboard from the sinking FAZ ship. After checking out the charts, I rode FAS for a small gain and then got back off (9.04 up to 9.10). The banks (XLF) are really wishy-washy right now. I looked at the charts for C, WFC, BAC, and GE to get a feel for what the banks wanted to do. They all looked like they were breaking down out of patterns, or about to. But

Cliffynatorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04475531469449450760noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27839086.post-19299635263847660452009-05-21T23:20:00.003-04:002009-05-21T23:38:07.478-04:00

Looks like the GM bet is holding out well so far. It closed at 1.92 today up 32.41%, and up to 2.14 in aftermarket trading. That would be a 100% gain so far.Sooo..... since I was feeling a bit Extra Edgy today, I took a look at FAZ around lunch and bought some more at 5.38. I had a little time to watch it today, and thought about selling around 5.68 (the top!). But I took a look at C, WFC,

Cliffynatorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04475531469449450760noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27839086.post-84161566952485354782009-05-19T20:27:00.002-04:002009-05-19T20:36:32.620-04:00

I'm looking into switching my broker. I've heard several referrals to ThinkOrSwim, so I've been checking them out. This platform allows access to Stocks, Options, Futures, Forex, and has a built-in pattern scanner. It's quite a bit to take in at first, like drinking from a firehose. But, they have online tutorials, demos, webinars, and a paper trading account to help get warmed up.I don't

Cliffynatorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04475531469449450760noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27839086.post-75910344345591427382009-05-17T01:14:00.005-04:002009-05-17T01:30:14.507-04:00

Book of the week:This is the book I am currently reading. I've picked up some new ideas that I haven't heard of before, which I find interesting since the version I'm reading was published in 2002. I've read a few TA books since I got serious in 2004, but I'm getting some great ideas from this one so far.I've spent a few hours tonight doing some research on her methods, particularly the art of

Cliffynatorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04475531469449450760noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27839086.post-6878045771748503402009-05-14T21:22:00.006-04:002009-05-14T22:06:06.223-04:00

Sucker's rally for the Bears? After three days of falling, many of the major stocks/indices bounced off support and confirmed a slim trading range. I've got lines all over my charts from all kinds of time frames: 20 day, 6 month, 2 year, etc... This is getting messy.I think it's going to be a Trader's Market for the time being, something I won't have much time for. I dropped all my stocks

Cliffynatorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04475531469449450760noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27839086.post-74611154794597383662009-05-14T08:32:00.002-04:002009-05-14T08:41:47.330-04:00

If today's the end of the rally, it sure didn't mess around. The past few days was "sideways action", while today was when prices crossed support left and right. I saw pattern breakdowns across the board on Wednesday. All four of my stocks fell out of their ascending triangles and I got out. Only my casino stock, GM, went up (+5% I might add).FAZ had also gapped-up and held. I bought in,

Cliffynatorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04475531469449450760noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27839086.post-90544546136087581902009-05-13T11:56:00.002-04:002009-05-13T12:15:00.079-04:00

Had to add this for the NASA reference.From Barack Obama's Teleprompter's Blog:Twitter Updates Twitter Updates Big Guy says stars aligned for healthcare reform, but NASA says those stars are actually meteors headed for Earth. #BOTeleprompter 2 minutes agoOk, so it's actually from Twitter, see BOTeleprompter.************************************************************************************In

Cliffynatorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04475531469449450760noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27839086.post-28829020027316468192009-05-12T23:28:00.002-04:002009-05-12T23:40:45.850-04:00

My GNK position was stopped-out at 18.20 today. The stock dwindled down to 18.14 and then shot right back up, closing at 19.00, and is now up to 19.48 in aftermarket hours. %@#$ stop sweep! On the other hand, the stock has been channeling down for the past 3 days, so I fought the urge to jump back in as the price recovered. I'll check it out tomorrow to see if this stock was jerking me around

Cliffynatorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04475531469449450760noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27839086.post-17008408305025017492009-05-12T07:39:00.002-04:002009-05-12T07:51:56.602-04:00

"If Citigroup wasn't too big to fail, I would have failed them."Tim Geithner

Cliffynatorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04475531469449450760noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27839086.post-54844187458669708692009-05-11T23:24:00.007-04:002009-05-12T00:07:17.245-04:00

Apologies to Ice Cube.The Shuttle launch was definitely the highlight of the day. I forgot my camera, but there will be enough professional-quality photos circulating around that I won't miss much. I got to watch from the parking lot of the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB), exact location below:Anyone can access the NASA website to view any shuttle related info, including photos and video of the

Cliffynatorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04475531469449450760noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27839086.post-11054124990475465412009-05-11T08:27:00.003-04:002009-05-11T08:33:27.088-04:00

Click for live coverage on NASA TV at NASA.com.STS-125, Atlantis to service Hubble Space Telescope.

Cliffynatorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04475531469449450760noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27839086.post-23341436921309428322009-05-09T15:46:00.003-04:002009-05-09T15:50:16.782-04:00

I've noticed the price of gas has been going up in leaps and bounds again. So, I thought I'd check on the June contracts for Light, Sweet Crude. Here's the chart:Looks like we're hitting a line of resistance. We might see a correction..most likely forming into a wedge or flag for a few weeks. What it means is that the price of gas might stay the same for the next month. Guess I won't try to

Cliffynatorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04475531469449450760noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27839086.post-53521045070032857602009-05-09T01:59:00.002-04:002009-05-09T02:04:35.688-04:00

While researching my last post, I came across this article quoting Bill Gross of PIMCO. He predicts that the FED will step up Treasury buying in an attempt to keep agency mortgage rates at 4%. What the #$%@ is an "agency mortgage rate?" Beats me, I'm guessing it's a 30-yr mortgage on a house."...the Fed will likely have to step up its daily purchases of Treasuries and focus more on the longer end

Cliffynatorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04475531469449450760noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27839086.post-18381720112670180192009-05-09T00:21:00.010-04:002009-05-09T01:38:25.188-04:00

Ok, I've never really been too good at comparing two people who reminded me of each other. But I saw this recent image of PIMCO's Co-CIO, Bill Gross:And I couldn't stop thinking about this guy:If you can guess who this is and where the picture is from, you can have the next two days off. Maybe if his hair was combed over a little...Anyway, I've been listening to Bill Gross' "Investment Outlook"

Cliffynatorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04475531469449450760noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27839086.post-23444471341931757092009-05-08T18:37:00.004-04:002009-05-09T01:59:51.126-04:00

Got stopped-out of TMV on a sharp dip, right before it channelled back up. I'll hold of for now, and see what happens Monday. Took a chance on FAZ during what I thought was a dip, but quickly gave all that money away and got stopped-out right away.Bought some GNK at 19.71 and ILMN at 38.90. ILMN just hit the bottom of an ascending triangle, if it breaks down I'm out. GNK recently broke

Cliffynatorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04475531469449450760noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27839086.post-30829976392452310442009-05-07T21:55:00.004-04:002009-05-07T22:16:59.252-04:00

First of all, I have a disdain for conspiracy theorists. Second, I think bloggers who just parrot other blogs or news articles to comment on them are mostly worthless. But since I have a strong desire to get this latest tidbit of news out, I'm just going to put it out there and leave it at that. Here's a link to The Big Picture blog on the latest update on the GS conspiracy (make what you want

Cliffynatorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04475531469449450760noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27839086.post-11566416139241462942009-05-05T23:34:00.003-04:002009-05-06T00:06:43.292-04:00

This market is unrelenting, conspiracy theories or not. It's been a bit choppy lately, but I think I can finally see a nice pattern forming:Looks like another Judgement Day in about two weeks or less. Is this an Ascending Triangle, or a Rising Wedge? Perhaps a rising wedge embedded within an ascending triangle? Ok, ok, I made that last one up.Talk of the day has been about the S&P hitting

Cliffynatorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04475531469449450760noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27839086.post-72454262494387952862009-05-05T13:21:00.005-04:002009-05-05T22:41:18.046-04:00

And by "Good" I mean "not good." Click on the picture for full article.Nation Ready To Be Lied To About Economy Again"For the first time in my life I know who the secretary of the treasury is," Harrington continued. "And I don't like it."Sherpa Who Led Neil Armstrong To Moon Dead At 71"...Phurba was as much a member of that team as anyone. Probably more than [Michael] Collins was."

Cliffynatorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04475531469449450760noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27839086.post-1242408081227822382009-05-05T09:15:00.005-04:002009-05-05T09:43:23.411-04:00

Listening to Barry Ritholtz on Bloomberg Surveillance. He says that retail discount broker (Etrade, Ameritrade, etc...) trading volume is up while institutional (GS, JPM, etc...) volume is down. This means that us mom & pop, individual, little guys are trying to cash in on this rally while the big dogs are standing off. It also means that this is only a bear market rally, and not the big

Cliffynatorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04475531469449450760noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27839086.post-45069483748728268662009-05-05T08:29:00.002-04:002009-05-05T09:05:30.745-04:00

First thing in the morning, I'm stopped-out of TMV for a small gain. GSI is rocking to new highs, along with FAS, STM, SCHN, and the rest of the Market. I was watching to get on FAS. But it gapped-up and kept going, so I didn't move in. I prefer to buy on pullbacks or early starts to what I percieve as long moves up. FAS was riding just under the line of support and I was waiting for a

Cliffynatorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04475531469449450760noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27839086.post-44909927417975255802009-05-03T00:54:00.003-04:002009-05-03T01:01:45.522-04:00

I checked out the GoldmanSachs666 site and happened to find an article from today talking about the same thing; find it here. Either the conspiracy theorists hang out (wouldn't be surprised), or the Small Smart Money is figuring it out at the same time.In fact, in the comments section for another post on GS666, I found this gem mentioning the Zero Hedge article:smalltownlawyer on

Cliffynatorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04475531469449450760noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27839086.post-54992942571734095272009-05-02T23:28:00.006-04:002009-05-03T00:06:52.636-04:00

I have mentioned that I've heard rumors of how Goldman Sachs could be controlling the markets these days. No, I didn't get it from GoldmanSachs666.com, never actually been to the site...yet. I've heard mention of this from several different sources, but a recent article by Zero Hedge explains a lot. So much that I had to read it 2 or 3 times to digest all the big, hard words like "Pricipal

Cliffynatorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04475531469449450760noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27839086.post-42319596148084545722009-05-01T15:25:00.002-04:002009-05-01T15:30:06.087-04:00

FASFAS didn't really find an opportunity to jump in today. The chart started looking more like a breakdown, and I'm not going to hold it over the weekend. Wait til Monday.

Cliffynatorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04475531469449450760noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27839086.post-60491651188922974882009-04-30T20:47:00.001-04:002009-04-30T20:56:45.432-04:00

Thanks to Evil Speculator for explaining the rules for bear markets and bear market rallies:Bear market rallies continue on bad news and reverse on good news. Chrysler is filing for bankruptcy. Normally, that is bad news... but my GM stock went up in sympathy. Uhhhhhhhh, Y-e-e-e-e-a-a-a-a-h-h-h...I also discovered another conspiracy theory: that the bank stocks have been going up so that the

Cliffynatorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04475531469449450760noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27839086.post-91606582134805049912009-04-28T21:29:00.002-04:002009-04-28T21:42:16.444-04:00

The smartest thing I've done this week is dump my 30-yr treasuries that I've held for 4 years. The dumbest thing I'm probably going to do is go nuts against those bonds further by putting some of that newly-freed cash into a 3x ETF going against those same bonds: TMV. If the banks won't give me what I want, then perhaps TMV will...Still holding FAZ overnight for small gain as of now, but that

Cliffynatorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04475531469449450760noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27839086.post-56210008441336762042009-04-27T22:04:00.002-04:002009-04-27T22:31:18.536-04:00

I learned a new term today: 'stop sweep'. KKD opened up and then spiked-down big time this morning. It dropped just enough to kiss my stop, and then shot back up. More market f*ckery by the Market Makers, I assume. They've learned a new trick: sell sell sell to kick out all the preset stops placed out there, then flip the price back up and get the suckers to jump back in.KKD is almost back

Cliffynatorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04475531469449450760noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27839086.post-59630303631032549532009-04-27T21:30:00.002-04:002009-04-27T22:04:08.818-04:00

I'm finding that more and more daytraders, who have been blogging and vlogging for several years now, are going "pro", they have decided to start charging for their services. They have rightfully earned their status, with a regular population of followers, so they can get away with adding the extra income. More power to you guys.But it's an interesting sign of the times: more daytrading

Cliffynatorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04475531469449450760noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27839086.post-4174735449824954772009-04-24T00:03:00.002-04:002009-04-24T00:15:53.093-04:00

Some of the buzz I caught today is more confusion on which way the markets are going. The Bears expected a big move down today based on technicals. But volume was relatively low today, and at key points...nothing happened. So, the door was left wide open for the market movers to decide the day. And since most of THOSE guys work at the banks/financials, guess which way it went at the end of

Cliffynatorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04475531469449450760noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27839086.post-72864522803070316952009-04-23T13:59:00.002-04:002009-04-23T14:05:02.964-04:00

Treasury Department Issues Emergency Recall Of All US DollarsI see short-term down days ahead, but I am long a select few favorites that have been scraping bottom: KKD, SIRI, GSI, GM, and LVLT. I'm keeping an eye on all these with tight stops, along with yet another FAZ entry.Lots of chop right now, and I'm guessing the government's Stress Test announcements are being timed to try and keep

Cliffynatorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04475531469449450760noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27839086.post-18955571110833531822009-04-18T00:53:00.002-04:002009-04-18T01:09:33.575-04:00

Options expired today, and earnings are about through. All the banking information released is total bunk, yet I still don't get tired of getting burned by FAZ. Direxion triple ETF's have now earned the term, "Devil's ETFs". Now is not the time to make a deal with the Devil, but soon....soon.S&P 500 is reaching a critical point of decision: a rising wedge starting to touch a fairly decent line

Cliffynatorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04475531469449450760noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27839086.post-4850210423847507812009-04-13T23:37:00.004-04:002009-04-14T00:19:14.155-04:00

Goldman Sachs reported earnings early today. I didn't know that because I was reading the news, I found out because the professional traders posting on the decent blogs that I frequent were posting in disbelief. I hear ("read") terms such as, "WTF?!?!", "..how brazen,", and "huh?" Apparently, is was premature for GS to announce today. Maybe they had to one-up Wells Fargo with their premature

Cliffynatorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04475531469449450760noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27839086.post-84551358781243406652009-04-12T23:31:00.004-04:002009-04-13T00:27:12.651-04:00

Thanks to Evil Speculator for this cry of doom & gloom, here at the peak of this Bear Market Rally.Things have been going well, and the charts look like we're piercing through resistance lines left and right. But I still can't stop feeling that this whole rally is artificial, and it just won't be enough to float us until the fundamentals catch up. Creeping inflation is still hitting us while

Cliffynatorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04475531469449450760noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27839086.post-32662074600261486902009-04-08T22:17:00.004-04:002009-04-08T22:51:59.712-04:00

This is what I'm looking at tonight:Yes, yes, very busy, so, let me explain.I divided the chart into four segments, based on where the MACD lines crossed (Orange circles, boxes, and vertical lines). I placed a mess of trendlines to see if there were any correlations between the various indicators and price action.The easy thing to spot is where the market bottomed in early March. Leading

Cliffynatorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04475531469449450760noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27839086.post-70866182454510179492009-04-04T23:20:00.002-04:002009-04-04T23:36:11.690-04:00

Ever since the bottom, I have been bearish. This is why I'm my own, best contrarian indicator. I am so sick of this rally because I see no logical reason behind it. This rally feels like a bottom because of the relentless recovery, and yet I am very cynical about the efforts being made by the decision makers (both public and private) to turn the economy around.The technicals point to this

Cliffynatorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04475531469449450760noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27839086.post-41962969963662648892009-03-29T04:06:00.006-04:002009-03-29T13:53:23.546-04:00

Haven't even looked at the market since Wednesday. I've had problems with my dog, and then with my grandmother out of town. I've missed all this churn for the past week, thankfully.We can see a bullish, rising wedge forming for over a week now. It appears that XLF may be falling through support, but it's still within tolerance, and the aftermarket moved back up to 9.19. This pattern should

Cliffynatorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04475531469449450760noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27839086.post-20351346492465698142009-03-24T21:01:00.004-04:002009-03-24T21:33:49.727-04:00

Hey guys! I just found this cool, new thing! It's called, Moving Averages!!! It's SOOOOOO cool!Ok, seriously. I've been placing EMA's in my charts for years, now, but never really used them. I just put them there because some big-shot money-makin trader told me to a while back. Now, thanks to dshort.com, I've realized a little better how to use them to time entries and exits. Also,

Cliffynatorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04475531469449450760noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27839086.post-4104692748045136032009-03-19T21:23:00.004-04:002009-03-19T22:40:21.197-04:00

Never, EVER, stand in the way of a trend for so long. I broke all the rules, bet too much, pulled the stops, and denied losses in an emotional fury.So, where do we go from here? Markets finally pulled back from this week-long, insane rally today, but there is SO much conflicting information to try to figure out a trend right now.1) Financials have led the rally, possibly because they reported

Cliffynatorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04475531469449450760noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27839086.post-2434600091345727372009-03-18T00:00:00.003-04:002009-03-18T00:05:54.745-04:00

Today moved as predicted, although a little more pronounced than expected. I've heard a little buzz here and there that this week's price performance may be influenced by the fact that this Friday is Expiration Day for March options. I don't really understand HOW that affects stocks right now, so I hope to get more info as the week unfolds.The rally today seemed fairly strong, especially since

Cliffynatorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04475531469449450760noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27839086.post-74403573689901055972009-03-16T20:55:00.004-04:002009-03-16T21:38:22.550-04:00

Still riding the FAZ for the first up-day since I got in. Volume was good for a turnaround, we'll see tomorrow. I also got a Regulation-T notice from my broker. It basically means I can't day-trade with a cash account, which is what I'm working with, unless I trade small enough to have cash on hand to settle the trades 3 days later. So, I couldn't pop out of those FAZ trades as soon as I had

Cliffynatorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04475531469449450760noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27839086.post-63734488601944331402009-03-12T20:47:00.003-04:002009-03-12T21:08:47.517-04:00

Had another shot at dumping FAZ at a decent price (high 59.50) in the opening minutes. But again held on to see if it would go higher. Today wasn't that day, and the words, "wealth destruction" keep entering my head. Still confident that the rally will end soon, and will be watching price action closely again tomorrow.What did we learn today? When that voice in your head tells you to shoot,

Cliffynatorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04475531469449450760noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27839086.post-71602615334059225092009-03-11T19:00:00.003-04:002009-03-11T19:25:28.290-04:00

During a break at work this morning, I check out Stewie's blog to see what's new. He had just put in a post that states that FAZ and SKF are in good, short-term positions for the upside. I check it out and figure I could tell what he was talking about.Looking at the 5-day, I see FAZ is bouncing off a lower channel and the overall rally is expected to be short. Price action was showing a swift

Cliffynatorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04475531469449450760noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27839086.post-28399256436267506022009-03-10T23:42:00.002-04:002009-03-11T00:01:10.245-04:00

After getting my rear handed to me in some short-term trades, I've remembered to better log my trades. I've mostly stayed away from the markets through all this downturn, and have read about daytraders getting washed out of the Game over the past few months. I'll be watching the S&P as a primary indicator of what's going on in the markets in general. The financials are also volatile, which

Cliffynatorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04475531469449450760noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27839086.post-87479167991823785232009-03-09T20:42:00.002-04:002009-03-09T20:47:01.394-04:00

...like France.Good beat, I like the guy with the 'fro.

Cliffynatorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04475531469449450760noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27839086.post-59165073203528299142009-03-09T19:47:00.006-04:002009-03-09T20:13:43.505-04:00

A trader who goes by 'Stewie' is one of the best traders I've met online. I frequent his blog often and recently commented on what I'm doing with my retirement money. It took another guy to help me realize that I might be a contrarian indicator for the full-timers out there. How's that for confidence?In other news, here's something I put together today to relate to my real job.I used to read

Cliffynatorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04475531469449450760noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27839086.post-65820270338439697992009-03-08T21:27:00.002-04:002009-03-08T21:33:36.569-04:00

Hey, I found my old blog! It will be nice to record my thoughts and musings again, now that I've sold the restaurant and returned to my old ways again. So much has changed since my last entry, but I'm just going to pick up where I left off for now.The markets are in the middle of a "death spiral", and I'm starting to see signs of blood in the streets. We're certainly not there yet, but I

Cliffynatorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04475531469449450760noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27839086.post-1162550201203907342006-11-03T05:31:00.000-05:002006-11-03T05:36:41.210-05:00

It's official, I have bought my first business. Not just a piece of stock, but the whole thing. Got a great deal on an Italian restaurant in South Daytona, about the price of the equipment. This is what has been distracting me from all the stock research I was doing only months ago, but I'm hoping to find a new routine soon.I never saw the sudden drop in stocks that I was waiting for in

Cliffynatorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04475531469449450760noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27839086.post-1162167841145063102006-10-29T19:18:00.000-05:002006-10-29T19:24:01.153-05:00

Whew! Over a month since my last post, and nobody noticed. Oh well, there's been so much going on in my life that I haven't had much time to look at investing, let alone write about it.Meanwhile, my virtual stock game at VSE is showing my getting ripped a new one from betting agains Google. All I can say for myself is, "ow." I'm keeping the short for now because I'm getting some change back

Cliffynatorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04475531469449450760noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27839086.post-1158376559901676382006-09-15T23:10:00.000-04:002006-09-15T23:15:59.980-04:00

As I peruse throught the various stocks and indices out there, I notice that volume has been gradually decreasing for months and more. It's like more people are either sitting on their bets, pulling out of the markets, or just aren't sure where to go (uncertainty). Sure, a few stocks here and there are moving around, but I sure am noticing a lot of volume trailing away. I suppose whenever the

Cliffynatorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04475531469449450760noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27839086.post-1158239562812588312006-09-14T08:59:00.000-04:002006-09-14T09:12:42.820-04:00

My last post addressed how the news and gossip that I read sound very upbeat and positive about the markets. This is a good sign that the smart money might be ready to take some profits. Correct me if I'm wrong, but this rally/correction to the bear-correction may soon be ready for its own correction.Some say that the bond market contains the 'adults' of the markets, and bond prices are rising.

Cliffynatorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04475531469449450760noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27839086.post-1158201526945495602006-09-13T22:31:00.000-04:002006-09-13T22:38:46.963-04:00

It's been a while since my last post. My excuse is that I haven't had much to say the past few days. I've been busy with work and family, and really haven't been able to keep up on the markets.This has cost me in my trading as well as my blogging. I've been hammered the past few days, losing gains while not keeping on top of them. Tonight I begin to scan the indices, news, and other blogs

Cliffynatorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04475531469449450760noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27839086.post-1157549208955697612006-09-06T09:05:00.000-04:002006-09-06T09:26:49.033-04:00

Well, the 'adults' are back in the markets, as CNBC put it yesterday. And trading is supposedly back to serious trading, as everything closed way up on Monday.It's good to see an up-day, but I feel that the recent end-of-summer rally is a bit overbought. In particular, I noticed Ford's chart was showing a weeker slope with possible signs of a turnaround. I shorted yesterday, right before

Cliffynatorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04475531469449450760noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27839086.post-1156886287404353492006-08-29T17:04:00.000-04:002006-08-29T17:18:07.486-04:00

Tropical Storm Ernesto didn't gather enough strength in the waters between Cuba and Miami to attain hurricane strength. Still, a large storm is about to roll over the state and officials have decided to shut it down. The image below states that max sustained winds will be 45 mph, while the evening news is all over Central Florida (where I live) covering those who are stocking up on ice and

Cliffynatorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04475531469449450760noreply@blogger.com0