Window Dressing...

GreenDog · Jun 30, 2003

How bout that! The window dressing effect was completely nonexistent today. I'm a little surprised. Apparently fund managers were more interested in locking in a little profit towards the end of the quarter as opposed to dressing up their portfolios.

I rarely try to buck the trend -- but I admit I had a "long bias" this afternoon and made several stabs at it. Unfortunately I ended up pissing away a nice morning gain.

dog

AAAintheBeltway · Jun 30, 2003

I was a little surprised as well. Perhaps the Russell rebalancing had an effect.

Biog · Jun 30, 2003

Quote from GreenDog:

How bout that! The window dressing effect was completely nonexistent today. I'm a little surprised. Apparently fund managers were more interested in locking in a little profit towards the end of the quarter as opposed to dressing up their portfolios.

I rarely try to buck the trend -- but I admit I had a "long bias" this afternoon and made several stabs at it. Unfortunately I ended up pissing away a nice morning gain.

dog

What needed to be "dressed up"? Most fund managers had a wonderful quarter!

GreenDog · Jun 30, 2003

Quote from Biog:

What needed to be "dressed up"? Most fund managers had a wonderful quarter!

So naive...

Fund Managers are notorious for playing catch-up -- hence the term "window dressing!"

WDGann · Jun 30, 2003

I thought you were talking about peeping windows...

stock777 · Jun 30, 2003

Also, the SEC and Nasdaq are looking at phony markups more closely lately.

Probably more to do with the lack of gaming than any other factor.

nitro · Jun 30, 2003

Quote from AAAintheBeltway:

I was a little surprised as well. Perhaps the Russell rebalancing had an effect.

From the chat log today:

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nitro (Jun 30, 2003 2:05:19 PM)
eastside

nitro (Jun 30, 2003 2:05:51 PM)
if the Russell Rebal plays out like the last time, this thing is going to do a 180 in about an hour

eastside (Jun 30, 2003 2:06:20 PM)
you are right

eastside (Jun 30, 2003 2:06:39 PM)
it is all played out

nitro (Jun 30, 2003 2:06:44 PM)
yes
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nitro (Jun 30, 2003 3:19:13 PM)
eastside

nitro (Jun 30, 2003 3:19:17 PM)
is this funny or what?

eastside (Jun 30, 2003 3:19:30 PM)
yes, you called it right on

nitro (Jun 30, 2003 3:19:37 PM)

nitro (Jun 30, 2003 3:19:38 PM)
LOL

eastside (Jun 30, 2003 3:19:40 PM)
just like last year

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nitro

GreenDog · Jul 1, 2003

good call -- I thought that since this year had a relatively low number of Russell additions (288) compared with a 10 yr ave of 495 -- that the effect would be largely muted. In addition, since the market has been on such a tear this year, I expected the lagging funds to scramble a bit to add the high-fliers to their portfolios before the end of the Q (I suspect this DID happen, but obviously earlier in the month).

... "thinking" too much cost me a bit of change yesterday.

I took preventive measures to prevent this from happening again today -- I'm hungover like a big dog this morning (plan on keeping "thinking" to a minimum, while focusing solely on "trading.")

dog

Jeffo · Jul 1, 2003

Window dressing hasn't been in effect for quite a while but people still look for it for some reason.

GreenDog · Jul 1, 2003

Quote from Jeffo:

Window dressing hasn't been in effect for quite a while but people still look for it for some reason.

is a very real phenomenon. That's why people look for it.

But of course, some prefer to follow astrological cycles and other esoteric indicators -- but hey, whatever works!