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For all you homeowners out there (including myself), the median home price plunged by an astounding 15.3% year-to-year from December 2007 to December 2008 according to the National Association of Realtors. This is the largest annualized decline since the Great Depression. However, the focus for...

Following-up - Wow...very difficult trading day. Lots of whipsaw. Have not done a single trade since my last post so defintiely missed this little rally, but at least I didn't lose any of the earlier gains.

I was early, simply put, but more than held my own and the market is indeed down now. I warned it'd be choppy and more difficult than any day last week and certainly for me, it has although I have come out OK as of this writing. As far as bad trades on that last of symbols, I shorted GERN...

There has been talk of a “financial-transaction tax” which would be assessed on trades of stocks. It is at the point where it has been discussed in Congress according to various newspapers and Internet sites. The tax would be 0.25% of the value of both the buy and the sell side of the...

In the last few days, the CEO’s of Bank of America (BAC) and JP Morgan (JPM) both bought a significant amount of shares of their own company. There are many reasons to sell shares of your own company’s stock if you are an officer of said entity. You may want to diversify your holdings by...

Trader 2K- love your disclipline Other derviative offshoots are things like RIMM ( a competitor play) and PALM. And since I will clearly be wrong on my market forecast today, I hark back to the schpiel I wrote out- seat of your pants day. For instance, SYNA may well prove correct as...

You know, I was all jazzed up to do a column on one of seven topics I have in mind (all of which will come out over the next few days), but I am going to take a pause from the economic and financial aspect of this space to devote a paragraph to something that is very important- an aspect of...

The worst news of the day yesterday on a very bleak day for the financial markets was something stunningly barely mentioned amidst all the inauguration coverage. Let’s reiterate this: it was the worst possible news that was out there the entire day much less the scariest and worst piece of...

I keep the past data in my mind, but quite honestly, I just use that day's numbers to trade off of as my time horizon is so immediate-term.

Thank you. Unfortunately, I (like most) learned that lesson the hard way, but it could not be truer. There is little point in questioning why things are happening if trading for an immediate-term move in particular. It's so much easier to go with the trend than to think "enough is enough" and...

Starting today, the next three weeks will be the heart of earnings season. Typically, trading on earnings/news flow tends to be very profitable for day traders who diligently study the earnings numbers. A very good pattern tends to be to fade good earnings reports and buy stocks with bad...

Sorry for the old example, but this is just a passage I cut and paste...an example today is PALM from 7.65 down to below 7 to above 7.65 Frequently, a pattern occurs which has been referred to in this space as an “A-B-A2” action. As this blog gains a bit of a following, this pattern-...

Well, first, keep in mind that my avergae hold time last year was about 2 minutes 40 seconds per trade (and oftentimes much less). So, I do one of two things...say XYZ opens at 7.50, up 2 on great earnings, goes to 7.25, and goes back to 7.50...I am a buyer at 7.51 thru the new high (unless it...

The only way I know how to respond is with facts. What I'd do if I were you is to spend some time self-analyzing your trading rather than talking down to me. Goodness knows I self-analyze every single day- as a trader and as a human being. In any case, I learned a long time ago that the best...

In the midst of another downdraft for the markets, the worst performing sector in this young year has been the financials- specifically the banking stocks. So, what exactly is going on? Four little letters: TARP. Lawrence Summers, arguably Pres.-Elect Obama’s top economic adviser penned a note...

BAC- (that's just it For me)- you probably have twice the IQ points and 25 times the wallet I do. But none of it matters (for me) since iam playing only for the day (and more specifically for 2 1/2 minutes average). On the macro, every stock getting TARP money is getting diluted. So, you may...

One of the wonderful features of day trading is the ability to find what I like to call ‘niche’ trades –trades that allow me to make use of whatever common sense we as day traders have. Such a niche trade was created on New Year’s Eve. With the takeover of Wachovia Bank and Merrill...

When we were kids, if we got a good report card, we could not wait to show our grades to our parents. When I got the report card that cemented my valedictorian of my middle school status in 8th grade, I could not wait to gleefully show it to my Mom and Dad…much less rub it in the face of my...

When the Golden Globe for best motion picture went to “Slumdog Millionaire” on Sunday night, it cemented the status of Bollywood as a legitimate worldwide entity. As much as I want to see this movie (heck, I even bet someone the day after Thanksgiving that it’d win a Golden Glove) when I...

Very fair. What I meant re the .the 'unforeseen' part is something like a terrorist act. I did not phrase it well at all. However, I do not appreciate the "people have a way of demonstrating they have nothing to add." I've been doing this a long time and writing a long time as well; I am...