What really made me mad this morning is the longs I hung on to when the S&P's started going up went the wrong way. I had dumped almost all of my shorts and as the SPU's rallied KO, PG, DOW, and JNJ went south. What's up with that
what envelope they were using on IBM friday ? or how they tried to play it pre market / post market? I did not think it would gap so high and got caught short pre market with it ... turned a winning week into a losing week for me
I did not enter an order for IBM on Friday because of news. But if I had, my sell price would have been $59.00 based on a previous close of 57.58, 0.92 beta and the market opening 1.58% above fair value. I obviously would have been filled, and it looks like there was plenty of time to get out with a profit as it traded below the opening price for most of the first 30 minutes of the day. I don't see how you have an edge by taking a position pre-market. The idea of opening orders is to try to ride the coat tails of the specialist by taking advantage of his edge by opening the stock too far away from where it 'should' open.
mr lescor I usually am profitable with my premarket trading as I am doing arb .... but sometimes when news hits ... its hard to judge the extremes that stocks will swing ( gappers)
Monday, blah's....3 fills, about a scratch (-2 cents or $40). I widened the envelope to 1 percent today and was concerned about the Auto sector, and the bonds being closed. After 2 big days, I'm a little more conservative....are we in the beginning of a "real" rally, or simply a "bear market burp"...?? Who the heck knows?? Tuesday will be a pivotal day again, when everyone is back at work....earnings coming out....I told "bootcampers" to "preserve capital" today, and to not get "opinionated" ....(tough to do).. Don
4 fills (all long) all winners. I was concerened about this morning and took my profits pretty quick. I did OK, +.57, but my concerns lead me to get out of my positions earlier than I normally would have. Left about $2 on the table.
Second best day of the year, almost eclipsing what I made all of last week. 9 longs, 3 shorts. Only two losers, caught on the wrong side of ABT and WYE, but I had reduced the size in them because of sector news. Grossed $2.34, but had big size in some little guys that only gave me 10-15 cents. Just lucky to be mostly long and have the market move up right away. Tried to let things ride a little more than usual, but was still flat by 9:50.
Good job you guys....!! I will report on the bootcampers tomorrow, I have to head to the DR's office.... Don
Another very dicey day. Caught PEG long right off the bat. As you can see, it immediately delt me some pain. Before I could blink, I was showing -.70. Crap.. so what to do. If I hesitate I could easily see the bid drop another .50. All the a****** specialist was showing was a constant 1 at the bid (which was dropping out of sight) Well, I held out, and it did recover some. I got out at the top of that first little retracement. The question is.. if it does like HRB the other day, I am going to be eating -1.00 or more again. I sure would like to know how the more experienced OO guys are handling trades like PEG was today. On a brighter note, I caught THC long and picked off a fairly quick +.50. Sure left a lot on the table there, but I wanted to make sure I balanced out my PEG trade. Pulled my order for PPL after it delayed opening for quite a while. Should have left it on.. it would have paid off nicely too. PEG -.26 THC +.50
Not only was there big news in that sector today (TXU), but they are a crazy bunch to trade, just all over the place. I've had AEP and D on my list for over a month now and I think I've pulled D every single day because of news or the chart pattern. You can make good money trading the opening print on news stocks, but the drawdowns and losses can give you ulcers. Just know what you are getting yourself into and size your positions accordingly.