QQQQ - Short Sold

Short sold QQQQ at $28.43.

QQQQ - Sold

Sold QQQQ at $28.78 for a gain per share of $0.96 and a return on investment of 3.5%.

RECAP:

B QQQQ @ $27.82
S QQQQ @ $28.78

CAKE - Sold

Sold CAKE at $9.70 for gain per share of $ 0.37 and a return on investment of 4%.

RECAP:

B CAKE @ $9.33
S CAKE @ $9.70

QQQQ - Bought

Just bought QQQQ at $27.82.

DRQ - Sold and Bought to Cover

I sold DRQ and Bought to Cover at the same time at $18.30 which proved to be a bad idea. I'm currently negative and will wait until later today or tomorrow to determine what to do. Currently, had I stayed in the Buy position I'd be at a profit, but alas we have these bad trades every-now-and-then.

DRQ - Bought

I bought DRQ at $18.95. I believe its going to go up today for a bit.

IPAR - Bought to Cover

Just Bought to Cover IPAR at $5.23 for a gain per share of $0.14 and a return on investment of 2.6%. I'd been negative in IPAR for quite a while, I was happy to sell this for a profit. Now I just have a couple remaining negative holdings that I'll continue to wait out - in the meantime I intend on finding some profitable short-term trades.

RECAP:

SS IPAR @ 5.36
BC IPAR @ 5.22

AGU - Sold

Sold AGU at $38.99 for a gain per share of $0.33 and a return on investment of .9%. It was a small win, but again given the market climate and the fact that I still have a few negative trades, I decided to continue to pad my monthly returns with as many small wins as possible near the end of the month. This was a day trade.

This will probably be it for me for February unless one of my negatives turns positive before the close of the month. I'm very pleased with this month's returns over all and can't wait to begin again in March.

B AGU @ $38.66
S AGU @ $38.99

AGU - Bought

Bought AGU at $38.66.

Current Strategy

I'm having to adjust this year as I recently increased my account a great deal when I consolidated a few of my investment accounts into my trading account. This is my third year trading and I'm excited that I now have a significant sum to work with. I've always managed just fine and have yielded great returns, but a 50% return on a small amount of money is still a small amount of money.

I was always a bit nervous about managing more money when I started out a few years ago with $2,500. I didn't think it would be as easy and I'd get lost in the decision-making process when I'd consider how much money is on the line. Even though my overall goal is to amass as much as I can it still seemed like I'd have to change my entire strategy. However, I find that it's not harder to manage more money at all - but instead, quite a bit more fun!

I've been buying more shares per trade and its been working out quite well. Naturally, one's losses are equally as large if they get away from you, but on the positive side I've been meeting my monthly goal a lot faster and with a lot less stress and worry (knock on wood). Buying more shares per trade is essentially saving me time and making my wins so much more enjoyable!

M - Bought to Cover

Bought to cover M at $7.62 for a gain per share of $0.18 and a return on investment of 2.3%. I believe this will continue to go down, but I wanted the win considering I currently have a number of trades that are not going my way. Just an extra little win to pad my monthly returns. This was a day trade (17 minutes, to be exact).

SS M @ $7.80
BC M @ $7.62

M - Short Sold

Short sold M at $7.80. Given the market conditions I would be satisfied with a less than 5% return.

BJS - Bought to Cover/Bought

Well, I should have gone with my instincts - perhaps BJS will still go down in the next few days but I've reversed my holdings and I am now going long in BJS. That was a loss per share of $0.22 and a return on investment of -2%. This was a day trade and I cannot day trade again for five days - 2/17/09.

RECAP:

SS BJS @ $11.14
BC BJS @ $11.36

B BJS @ 11.36

CAKE - Bought

Bought CAKE at $9.33.

BJS - Short Sold

This might backfire but I short sold BJS since it looked like I could get one more down day out of it as the morning went on. Short sold at $11.14.

Watchlist & Stock Picks 2/11/09

I'm looking at some longs now as I think the minor pullback we just experienced is over:

QQQQ
IBM
AGU
GOOG
SYMC
BJS
CAKE
DAR
SDXC
M

I still have one short:

EPIQ

QQQQ - Bought to Cover

Bought to cover QQQQ at $30.30 for a gain per share of $0.42 and a return on investment of 1.4%. This was a day trade - I have one more day trade I can make between now and Tuesday 2/17/09.

RECAP:

SS QQQQ @ $30.72
BC QQQQ @ $30.30

M - Bought to Cover

Bought to cover M at $8.76 for a gain per share of $0.46 and a return on investment of 5%. This was a day trade.

RECAP:

SS M @ $9.22
BC M @ $8.76

QQQQ - Short Sold

Short sold QQQQ at $30.72.

CRA - Sold

Sold CRA at $9.74 for a gain per share of $.30 and a return on investment of 3.2%.

RECAP:

B CRA @ 9.44
S CRA @ 9.74

M - Short sold

I just short sold M at $9.22.

Watchlist & Stock Picks 2/9/09

I'm going to be looking to go short on my recent wins:

GSIC
DRQ
SYMC
SDXC
AGU
CAKE
BJS

DRQ - Sold

Sold DRQ at $26.15 for a gain per share of $1.34 and a return on investment of 5.4%.

RECAP:

B DRQ @ $24.81
S DRQ @ $26.15

GSIC - Sold

Sold GSIC at $10.17 for a $0.33 gain per share and a 3.4% return on investment.

RECAP:

B GSIC @ $9.84
S GSIC @ $10.17

CRA - Bought

Bought CRA at $9.44.

Watchlist & Stock Picks 2/2/09

I'm liking the following for a long:

IBM
CSCO
DRQ
QQQQ - careful on this one as its been channeling for a number of weeks.
GOOG - if I buy I'd buy a very small number of shares, simply because its too expensive for me!
DF
BLUD

DRQ - Bought

Just bought DRQ at $24.81.

DRQ - Buy to Cover

I just bought to cover DRQ at $25.11 for a gain per share of $0.15 and return on investment of .5%. I sold when I did because as the day went on, I wasn't keen on the small volume for this down day - meaning there wasn't a lot of interest in short selling this stock today. Sometimes that's an indicator that tomorrow's going to be an up day. Let's watch and see what happens - nevertheless its nice to make a little cash here and there! The big winners are coming up soon, I'm sure of it!

RECAP:

SS DRQ @ $25.26
BC DRQ @ $25.11

DRQ - Short Sell

Just short sold DRQ at $25.26 - looks like it's trending up pretty reliably so I probably won't go for a particularly large return on investment on this one.

Watchlist & Stock Picks 1/29/09

I'm watching the following for a short today:

CRA
DF
APOG
QQQQ
BJS
CAKE
FARO
AG
SSO
DRQ - like this one for a long after the pullback.

OHI - Sold

Just sold OHI at $15.55 for a gain per share of $0.22 and a return on investment of %1.4. Not the best return on investment but I'm happy because I bought a large number of shares.

That's seeming to be the best strategy in the current market conditions for me - something my trading partner has been doing for a while and has managed to retire on! Buy lots and sell with a small return on investment. Certainly something to think about.

RECAP:

B OHI @ $15.33
S OHI @ $15.55

DF - Sold

Sold DF at $19.23 for a gain per share of $0.15 and a return on investment of .7%. Not a sale to write home about but, I was ready to get out of this trade.

RECAP:

B DF @ $19.08
S DF @ $19.23

Watchlists

Well, not much of anything has been pulling on the scans lately therefore, I've been watching the same stocks for the last few weeks. I'm glad that I have the watchlists saved seeing as I wouldn't have anything to trade otherwise.

It is relatively expected since the market has been a bit wishy-washy lately, but that doesn't mean we can't make some money!

Wish I had something new to report! Eventually, I'll begin making new watchlists as I get some results on the scans - this is certainly a lesson for any future droughts we might have!

CAKE - Sold

Sold CAKE at $9.07 for a gain per share of $0.46 and a return on investment of 5.3%.

Recap:

B CAKE @ $8.61
S CAKE @ $9.07

SDXC - Bought to Cover

Bought to Cover SDXC at $6.65 - most certainly not what I wanted in terms of returns but my one consolation is that I purchased a relatively large number of shares.

SDXC - Short Sold

I short Sold SDXC at $6.70 - I could really use a win about now!

CAKE - Bought to Cover/Bought

Well, I waited too long and didn't buy to cover while I had a profit so I bought to cover for a loss as well as bought long at $8.61. Quite messy but we'll watch and see how it turns out! Loss per share of $.15 and a return on investment of -1.7%.

RECAP:

SS CAKE @ $8.46
BC CAKE @ $8.61

CAKE - Short Sell

Short Sold CAKE at $8.46. This will probably just be a day trade, so whatever I've got at the end of the day, I'll probably buy to cover.

Watchlist & Stock Picks 1/13/09

Well, I'm still not too satisfied with what I'm seeing in terms of trends to make another commitment but here is what I'm watching nonetheless:

LONG:

M
AUO
SDXC
BPZ
QQQQ
MTH
CPWR
EK - the moving averages just crossed
FUN - the moving averages just crossed
IPAR
SYMC
APOG

Watchlist & Stock Picks 1/12/09

Well, I'm not too keen on getting in anything new until I can see a market trend. Maybe later this week I'll see something worth while!

Happy Trading.

Watchlist & Stock Picks 1/9/09

I'm going to keep looking at what I've got today. Friday is typically a less than exciting trading day...

DF - Bought

Just bought DF at $19.08. 5% goal as always!

Watchlist & Stock Picks 1/8/09

Alright, its a bit too early to tell if we're going to have an up or another downn day but here's what I'm liking for longs - this is basically my 1/5/09 list pared down:

LONG:

QQQQ
CRA
CMCO
M
BPZ
AEP
SDXC
DAR
AXA
CAKE
FARO
BLUD
AGU
DF
KELYA
SYMC
BJS

Watchlist & Stock Picks 1/7/09

Well, this morning is certainly a down morning, lets see if it holds and if it does this afternoon then I might make some shorts.

OHI - Bought

Just bought OHI at $15.33. This one will most certainly be a swing trade, as I have already used up two of my weekly three day trades and I think it will be more productive as a swing trade than a day trade.

Watchlist & Stock Picks 1/6/09

I'm still looking at my list from yesterday, but here are the ones that are particularly catching my eye:

LONG:

CHIC
BBV
OHI
CVC
ANGO
QLGC - if it us up again tomorrow it will have made the set up for a long

SHORT:

CAKE
FUQI - large rally today and yesterday, but it will have a pullback soon enough.
CPRT - not really sure about this one, but I'll watch it.

FARO - Bought to Cover

I decided to get out of FARO while I had some sort of profit because I was only aiming to get a little bit of money between rallies (true swing trading!). I'm upset because I had earned quite a bit more this morning but it spiked and never returned to its low. Additionally, its a little "dangerous" to short an uptrending stock, so I'll take the small win on this one.

I just bought to cover FARO at $16.03 for a $0.16 gain per share and a .1% return on investment. This was a day trade.

RECAP:

FARO SS @ $16.19
FARO BC @ $16.03

BLUD - Bought to Cover

Just bought to cover BLUD at $25.03 for a gain per share of $1.04 and a return on investment of 4%. This was a day trade.

RECAP:

BLUD SS @ $26.07
BLUD BC @ $25.03

BLUD - Short Sold

Short sold BLUD at $26.07.

FARO - Short Sell

I shorted FARO at $16.19.

Watchlist & Stock Picks 1/5/09

I have quite a few that I'll be watching as longs for the next set-up. Most of these won't be ready for a long for 3-7 days so I'll be watching for the set-up. In the meantime I might want to try to short these.

LONG:

GSIC

DAR

CHIC

BPZ

QQQQ

QLGC

OHI

M

KELYA

CMCO

BBV

AXA

AUO

ACN

AGU

AEP

BLUD

CAJ

CAKE

CPWR

CVC

DF

DIS - Sold

Sold DIS at $24.00 for a $0.44 gain per share and a 1.8% return. 

I decided now was the time for me to get out since I'd been negative in this stock for so long, it certainly didn't make the regular uptrend I'd been hoping for so I'm going to try it again fresh with a new stock that kept a steady pattern even throughout the Holiday trading.

RECAP:

Bought DIS @ $23.56

Sold DIS @ $24.00

SDXC - Sold

Sold SDXC at $7.54 for a $0.10 gain per share and a 1.3% return. 

Obviously, I didn't make my goal on this one either but I was tired of holding it and it seemed like the buying power was running out slightly.

RECAP:

Bought SDXC @ $7.44

Sold SDXC @ $7.54