December 31, 2010

I sold Crocks $CROX today for about a 4% loss in Jody's account. I then bought CSX for $64.74. This stock has a 1.6% dividend and has been on a pretty steady uptrend for a while. The market has been really volatile this week, and I wanted something big and steady.

Also, I need to start taking some profits when I'm up. I was up 10% on LULU a week ago, and now I'm only up 4%. With CMG I was up 3% at one point but ended up losing 3% on that trade. There's a saying on Wall Street. "Bulls win. Bears win. Pigs get slaughtered." On Etrade you can put a trailing stop order in when you get up on a trade. You can do it by dollar amount or percentage. If you're up 3%, you can put in a 1% trailing stop so that if it ever drops 1% it will sell automatically. If it drops 1% right away it will sell, if it goes immediately to 10% and then drops 1% it will sell then. If you want to learn more, go to etrade and watch the tutorial.

I'll try to update the scoreboard this weekend because it's the final one for the year.

December 30, 2010

I sold American Express $AXP today and bought Mips technologies $MIPS for $15.25. AXP dropped below its 50 day SMA by going sideways since I bought it. I didn't lose anything on AXP, and it may still go up, I just like MIPS better right now. I know I've been repositioning my portfolio alot lately, but I really feel like these stocks will move come the first of the year. Everyone is more optimistic at the beginning of the year. I like where these stocks are on the charts.

After yesterday the scoreboard reads:

Me 26.33%
S&P 12.98%

December 27, 2010

I sold CMG today for a 4% loss. It dropped below the 50 day SMA, so I got out. I bought Ford (F) for $16.68 with my Chipotle money. It's right on the 20 day SMA. The first two weeks of 2010 Ford jumped 20%. Hopefully it'll come close to that this year as well. I'm not holding my breath on that one though. I'm also watching CROX very closely.


I also bought Apple (AAPL) today for $324.70.

After the last trading day the scoreboard reads:

Me 28.05%
S&P 12.71%

December 23, 2010

I sold Jody's Netflix stock today at $184 for a 62% gain since July 7. I then bought Crocs $CROX for $18.09.

After yesterday the scoreboard reads:

Me 28.40%
S%P 12.89%

December 22, 2010

The funds from my retirement settled in Etrade today. The first thing I bought was American Express (AXP) for $42.68 just before market close. This is a short term buy. It looks like it's found support on its 50 day SMA. The 50 day SMA is also crossing overtop of the 200 day SMA. This is a bullish signal. This stock pays a dividend of 1.68% if you own it on Jan. 5, 2011. I'm not too worried about that though. I'll probably buy something else tomorrow also.

The scoreboard after yesterday reads:
Me 28.73%
S&P 12.51%

December 17, 2010

I've been thinking alot about how far I've come since I became serious about the stock market almost two years ago. If the market hadn't tanked in 2008, there's no way I would be where I am today. Watching my retirement get cut in half really made me want to be more hands on with it. When I started to educate myself at the beginning of 2009, I had no idea where to begin. There's so many "experts" claiming to have the answer it's overwhelming. I'm glad I found "The Market Guys" on Etrade. From them I've developed a simple strategy that I'm very comfortable with. Nothing is easy with the stock market, but if you can keep from making the big mistake, you can do really well. I'm transferring my entire retirement to etrade. It can't get there soon enough. It feels great to be in control of my financial future. Thank you Etrade. Thank you recession.

After yesterday the scoreboard reads:

Me 25.87%
S&P 11.46%


I thought I'd update my postitions today since I've repositioned quite a bit in the past week. Figures are as of around 2:00PM today.

Scoreboard account:
Lululemon (LULU): 9.50% since 12/10/10. Shares purchased for $66.35 now trading at $72.75.


Chipotle (CMG): 3.73% since 12/14/10. Shares purchased for $229.68 now trading at $238.91.


Other account:
Deckers (DECK): 6.63% since 12/14/2010. Shares purchased for $79.99 now trading at $85.54.


Amazon (AMZN): -1.41% since 12/7/10. Shares purchased for $179.58 now trading at $177.86.

December 14, 2010

I sold LVS today for a 5% loss in my other account. I then bought Deckers (DECK) at $79.99. I might be getting in a tad early, but I like this stock as more of a long term play. They recently signed Tom Brady to endorse their products. I like DECK and LULU for my super aggressive growth stocks.


Also, in the scoreboard account I sold AAPL for a 4.5% gain so I could buy Chipotle (CMG) at $229.68. I still like Apple, I just think Chipotle is in a good spot to buy as it appears to be bouncing off its 50 day SMA.

After yesterday the scoreboard reads:

Me 24.15%
S&P 11.24%

December 12, 2010

Friday I sold Ford for $16.70 and a little over 3% gain. I did this so I could buy Lululemon (LULU) at $66.35. I'm already up 3.4% on this as LULU closed at $68.70. I don't normally buy a stock after such a big jump, but this stock is really hot right now and some people think it could hit $100 in no time. With the huge spike in volume the past two days, it appears that alot of people want LULU. I think this stock will have a lot of momentum over the next week or so.

I also bought 2 March options puts on Citigroup at .49 a piece. It's had a nice run and I'm making a small bet that it will hit resistance and come back down. We'll see.

Scoreboard after Friday reads:

Me 22.86%
S&P 11.24%

December 9, 2010

I sold CMG again today so that I could buy Las Vegas Sands (LVS). I got in at $46.93. This will be a short term trade. I still want to own Chipotle, I just think this is a better oppurtunity for now. This is in my other account.

The scoreboard after yesterday reads:

Me 20.85%
S&P 10.15%

December 7, 2010

I sold the GLD today so I could buy Amazon (AMZN) in my other account. As you can see in the chart it looks to be bouncing off of support. I wish I had caught it when it was bouncing off its 50 day SMA, but that's how it goes sometimes. I still want to be in gold, I just want a more aggressive play. I may buy a gold mining stock like AEM if I ever catch it on a bounce.

After yesterday the scoreboard reads:

Me 20.55%
S&P 9.69%

December 6, 2010

I bought Chipotle (CMG) today at $240.84. When I sold Friday I was afraid that it would drop all the way to its 50 day SMA. It looks like it's gonna bounce off its 20 day so I'm back in. I was able to buy a couple more shares also. This is in my other account, so it won't affect the scoreboard. My plan in the near future is hopefully to sell Ford for a nice gain as I catch Netflix and Amazon on a bounce. We'll see. Netflix is up 4% today, and this may be the bounce. My plan is to wait and see if it hits that support trendline that I showed in the December 1 chart.

Also, I sold my Citigroup option for a 25% gain. However, I only wagered $78. It felt more like a football bet than a stock buy.

After Friday the scoreboard reads:

Me 20.84%
S&P 9.83%

December 3, 2010

Today was a sad day because I had to sell Chipotle (CMG). The CEO sold 20,000 shares causing the stock to drop almost 7% as I'm writing this. I got out at $237.24 and kept a 40% gain. The chart above shows where I bought the stock on 9/24. The last red candle is today. As you can see it is dropping below the 20 day SMA. I still like this stock long term and will look to get back in when it finds support.

My aggressive move with Netflix and Ford is working out so far. Netflix is down 7.5% since I sold it and Ford is up 1.6%. That's a 9% swing.

I probably will wait until next week to buy something with my Chipotle money. All the stocks I like right now are either getting hammered or not doing much. The SPY is still struggling to break that $123.00 barrier. Let's hope it can punch through next week.

An update on the stocks I own.

Other account:
GLD: .71% since 11/30/10. Shares bought at $135.63 now around $137.24.

Scoreboard account:
Apple: 3.12% since 10/28/10. Shares bought at $306.42 now around $316.61.
Ford: 3.00% since 11/24 and 12/01/10. Shares average price $16.16 now around $16.70.
C Mar 19 '11 $4.00 call: 25% since 11/30/10. Contracts bought at .39 now around .56.

After yesterday the scoreboard reads:

Me 20.84%
S&P 9.54%

December 1, 2010

I decided to sell NFLX today at $201.50 and took in a 14% gain. I still love this stock and will look to get back in when it comes back down to support. As you can see in the chart below I'm just trying to follow the trend. It appears to have hit the ceiling again and is on the way back down. It keeps making higher highs and higher lows. That's great. Hopefully the trend continues. This may come back to bite me, but I'm trying to grow as a trader/investor.


I'm doing this as an aggressive move because I then bought more Ford stock at $16.42. It appears to be on the move as it is up 3% today. The bottom chart is Ford. I guess we'll see.




After yesterday the scoreboard reads:

Me 17.95%
S&P 5.87%

November 30, 2010

I bought an options contract on Citigroup (C) today. I'm still trying to figure out options. They say the more you do them the more you'll understand them. I only bought two call contracts for $0.39 at the $4.00 strike price in March of 2011. So $4.39 is my break even point. It appears to be bouncing off its 50 day SMA. If anyone knows options and wants to put their two cents in on this transaction, feel free.

Also, I may sell INTC in my other account today to buy something else. I'll update if I do.



I sold INTC in my other account for $21.11 and a near 7% gain. I bought the GLD at $135.63.

If Apple doesn't start to take off, I'm gonna sell half my Apple shares and buy Amazon with it. I wish I would have done that when Amazon was bouncing off its 50 day SMA two weeks ago. It's up about 10% since then. Now I have to wait for it to come back down.

After yesterday the scoreboard reads:

Me 17.96%
S&P 6.52%

November 24, 2010

I thought today would be a good day to go back and review the worst trade I ever made. The chart above represents where I bought (8/2) and sold (8/25) ISSI back in August.

Looking back, I sort of understand why I bought where I did. It had broken through resistance a little bit and I was probably hoping that as quickly as it dropped two days before that it would go back up just as fast. However, when a stock breaks through resistance I'm definitely going to wait and see if it has a role reversal where resistance becomes support. Below is an example of this with NFLX. The horizontal line shows the role reversal. The left arrow is where it breaks through resistance. The right arrow is the entry point.




The horrible mistake I made is not selling when it dropped below the 20 and 50 day SMAs. If I buy a stock because I think it's bouncing off of a moving average, I need to sell that stock if it drops below it. I can remember when it punged below the 200 day SMA talking to the chart on Power Etrade Pro saying "Bounce !&#%@ Bounce! If you ever find yourself saying that, you needed to sell that stock a long time ago. Lesson learned.

The market is up today as I'm writing this, but the SPY seems to have hit resistance right at its 20 day SMA. Hopefully it can break through and coninue on through that $122.00 level of resistance that it hit a couple of weeks ago.

INTC is also coming up on resistance at $21.80. It's at $21.41 as I'm writing this. It hit resistance at $21.81 on November 12, came back down to bounce off its 20 day SMA, and hopefully can break through this time. The chart is below.





An update on my investments. Return is as I'm writing this.

Other account:
Chipotle: 45.33% since 09/24/10. Shares bought at $169.65 now around $248.00
Intel: 8.02% since 10/20/10. Shares bought at $19.73 now around $21.41

Scoreboard account:
Apple: 2.65% since 10/28/10. Shares bought at $306.42 now around $315.00
Netflix: 6.17% since 11/10/10. Shares bought at $176.02 now around $187.40
BFR: -5.5% since 11/11/10. Shares bought at $12.65 now around $12.03.

After yesterday the scoreboard reads:

Me 14.03%
S&P 5.89%

Have a good Thanksgiving.

After writing this entry, I decided to sell BFR at that 5.5% loss. I then added some more money to my account so I could buy Ford (F) at $15.87. It seems to have found support on its 20 day SMA. Normally I would wait for a bigger green candle, but I'm willing to risk getting in a little early. Here's the chart I was looking at.


Apple is about 40% of my account, Netflix and Ford each about 30%.

November 16, 2010

Today there is cause for concern. I was hopeful after the S&P closed just above its 20 day SMA yesterday that it would bounce today. Instead it has plunged below. Hopefully the buyers will move in as it nears its 50 day SMA. If not, we might be in for the double dip that some people fear.

As you can see from the chart above the last time the SPY hit resistance at $122.00 on April 26, it dropped 17% over the next 2 months until it finally found support on July 1 at $101.13 . On November 9, it reached a high of $122.95 followed by 6 consecutive down days and is currently trading around $118. So from April 26 to today the S&P is down 3%.



I will now compare those highs and lows of the S&P with Apple and Netflix. Above is the chart for Apple. On April 26 it hit a high of $272.46. On July 1 it hit a low of $243.22. On November 9 it hit a new high of $321.30 followed by 6 down days to around $302. If you were in Apple since April 26, you would be up about 10%.




Above is the chart for NFLX. On April 26 it hit a high of $109.70. On July 1 it was hit $103.27, but it's low point came after an earnings announcement on July 29 at $95.33. On November 9 it hit $174.90 and is now trading around $164. If you were in Netflix since April 26 you would be up 45%.

So what is the play here? I guess I'll wait and see if the SPY, NFLX, and AAPL bounce off their 50 day SMA. If they don't, I'll probably keep NFLX and start shorting the S&P by buying the SDS. We'll see.

After yesterday the scoreboard reads:

Me 10.59%
S&P 7.41%

November 11, 2010

I bought BFR today at $12.65 right after the market opened. Hopefully I won't have to post for a while as I plan on keeping these stocks for a while. After yesterday's trade the scoreboard reads:

Me 15.68%
S&P 9.29%

November 10, 2010

I sold ISLN today at $26.39 and a 6% loss. It was still above it's 50 day SMA and actually resting right on the support trendline. I'm sure that it'll bounce tomorrow since I'm selling it. I'm doing this because I really want to be in Netflix (NFLX) and now is a good time to get in. It had a big green candle today and appears to be bouncing off it's 20 day SMA. I bought shares at $176.02 and plan on keeping them as long as it keeps bouncing off it's 20 day SMA. The chart is above.

I added some money to my account so that I could buy BFR today, but couldn't get the order in before the market closed. It closed at $12.60 and is bouncing off it's 20 day SMA with a big green candle.

I'm now happy with the four stocks that I own on Etrade. Apple and Netflix in the account I'm keeping score on. Chipotle and Intel in my other one. Here's my return on those other three stocks as of today.

Apple: 3.6% since 10/28/10. Shares bought at $306.42 now around $318.00
Chipotle: 38% since 09/24/10. Shares bought at $169.65 now around $235.50
Intel: 6% since 10/20/10. Shares bought at $19.73 now around $21.00

I'll update the scoreboard tomorrow.

November 8, 2010

Me 18.02%
S&P 9.93%

November 5, 2010

I sold SUP today for $17.79 and a 3% loss on about 35% of my account. They announced earnings today which caused a big red candle and also me exitting this trade. I then bought ISLN for $27.98. It's bouncing off its 50 day SMA with a big green candle as shown above.

I'll update the scoreboard tomorrow.

November 2, 2010

I bought SUP today at $18.37 about 45 minutes before market close. It appears to be bouncing off of its 20 day SMA. The chart above shows what I was looking at.

After yesterday's trade the scoreboard reads:

Me 17.13%
S&P 6.21%

November 1, 2010

I sold TGH at $25.98 today for a gain of over 5%. I put in a 1% trailing stop order and it got triggered. I may buy something at market close. I'll update the scoreboard tomorrow.

October 29, 2010

As of yesterday I am now up 30% for the month of October. I'm pleased about this, but I'd be happier if I had limited my losses in August and September.

Me 16.17%
S&P 6.04%

October 28, 2010

I sold FFIV today for $117.00 and a 19% gain. I immediately bought Apple (AAPL) for $306.42. I might be getting in a tad early, but because it's Apple, I'm willing to risk it. It touched it's 20 day SMA today and I plan on keeping it as long as it stays above it. Really, you're supposed to wait for a green candle to form a pivot point, but it's Apple and I plan on holding this stock for a while.

Note: When I post these candlestick charts, the last candle on the right represents the day I bought the stock.

I'm also up 3% on my TGH trade as I'm writing this. I'll update the scoreboard tomorrow.

October 27, 2010

Well October has been great. As of yesterday I'm up 20% for the month. That's not including FFIV being up another 15% as I'm writing this.

I bought TGH for $24.59 today. It's got a big green candle bouncing off the 200 day SMA.

Me 6.01%
S&P 6.33%

October 26, 2010

I sold BFR today for $11.94 and a gain of over 12%.

Also, NFLX is up almost 7% and CMG is up another 4% as I'm writing this.

I'll update the scoreboard tomorrow.

October 25, 2010

BFR gained another 6.78% today so that will score me some points after this post. I'm up 17% on that trade in 6 days. FFIV gained 2.71% today also.

After Friday's trades the scoreboard reads:

Me 2.81%
S&P 6.10%

October 22, 2010

I sold AXP today for a slight gain at $39.01. It had a big red candle today and I wanted to get out before I had a loss. Also I think there is an opportunity with FFIV which I bought at $97.95.

BFR is doing well as it is already up 9%.

I'm happy to see Chipotle (CMG) up 15% today. Now I start fretting over whether or not I should sell it since it has went so vertical. Google did the same thing the other day and has held steady so I think I'll hold on to it for now.

I also bought Intel (INTC) on the 20th at $19.73 but it hasn't move much since.

CMG and INTC don't affect the scoreboard. They're in my other account.

I'll try to update the scoreboard sometime this weekend.

October 20, 2010

Time to update my trades. Sorry I haven't posted in awhile. Thanks for the article on Netflix. That was educational. I'll try to do a better job of keeping this updated.

DSTI really bailed me out. I'm waiting for it to find steady support again so I can get back in.

After my last post on Sept. 24, I was at -8.47%. The S&P was at 3.01%

On Oct. 12 I sold DSTI at $2.27 for well over a 20% gain. I then bought AXP for $38.65. Unfortunately I had only used about 60% of my account on that trade. The other 40% was used on CRM. I like being invested it two stocks instead of one though.

Yesterday I sold CRM at 103.25 for a substantial loss. I then bought BFR for $10.46.

The mistake I made with CRM is that I didn't sell when it dropped below the 50 day SMA. I didn't stay disciplined and do what I was supposed to do. Looking back I was just bummed about the ISSI trade and wasn't paying enough attention to what was going on. I can't let that happen again. On the bright side, everything I have right now is up. It's nice to see some green numbers again. In my other account I bought Chipotle (CMG) on Sept. 24 for $169.65. As I'm writing this it's up over 6% at 181.20.

After yesterday's trades the scoreboard reads as follows:

Me -.08%
S&P 4.56%

Sept. 24, 2010

I sold SDS at 29.44. The buyers moved in today and I moved out of the trade. I think from here on out I'm gonna stick with the stocks I mentioned in my last post and keep them until they fall below the 50 day SMA. That's what I'm doing with Jody who is up 40% the last two months with Netflix. That's what I did with Google and Ford which did very well for me. I'm getting my ass kicked with these short term trades. I guess it's just too aggressive an approach for someone that actually works and can't watch the market 24/7. I did buy some DSTI stock. I got in at 1.83. I also bought CRM at 120.85. This has been very educational. Somewhat painful, but educational nonetheless. I'll update the scoreboard sometime this weekend. I know I'll be losing, but I'm still confident I can beat the S&P before the year is over.

Sept 7, 2010

I bought SDS today at $32.39. If the market keeps going sideways, I'm probably only going to trade SDS and the following 4 stocks: NFLX, CRM, VMW, and FFIV. Their charts are picture perfect and they've all been rising steadily while the rest of the market goes sideways.

The scoreboard after my last trade is:

Me 3.58%
S&P -.95&

Sept. 3, 2010

Sold NFLX today for $138.66 at an 8.5% gain. I got some of my money back. The problem with losing 15% of your money is that you have to make like 20% to get it back. I'll update the scoreboard sometime this weekend. I'll probably wait until next week to buy something else.

August 26, 2010

Bought Netflix today at $127.46. It's chart is ideal and it just bounced off of its 20 day SMA.
Here's the latest score.

Me -4.44%
S&P -5.36%

Ausust 25, 2010

I sold ISSI today at $7.11. Worst trade I've ever done. Not sure what I'll do now. I'm still beating the S&P, but not by much. Everything I made this year I gave back in 3 weeks. I'll update the scoreboard tomorrow.

August 12, 2010

I'm taking a beating on this latest trade. Now is when I should be looking to get into ISSI. Not when I got in on the 2nd. It seems to have found support today at its 200 day SMA. If it plunges below that line, I'm going to have to get out and lick my wounds. I still like this stock. On another note, Jody's Netflix stock is also kicking my butt. Even after it dropped to $95 on the 29th, it's now risen to $132 as I'm writing this.

August 2, 2010

I bought ISSI today right before market close for $8.62. It appears to be on the upswing. Also, the S&P bounced off of its 50 day SMA so that's a really good sign that the market will continue its upward trend. Hopefully it will stay that way. Entering this trade the latest score from Friday is:

Me 16.14%

S&P -1.21

July 29, 2010

For the next couple of days I will have my eye on two stocks. Integrated Silicon Solution (ISSI) and Mindspeed Technologies (MSPD). I'm waiting on one of them to bounce. MSPD has bounced off of its 200 day SMA twice this month and is approaching it again. ISSI is down 10% today as I'm writing this, but it's still up 14% since July 20th. It's also nearing its 20 and 50 day SMA. The Market guys say to buy on a green candle that creates the pivot point so that's what I'll do. With their strategy, you don't get the bottom price on the buy, or the top price on the sell, but you should get a big chunk out of the middle. It's like cutting a pineapple before you eat it. At the end of yesterday the scoreboard reads:

Me 16.14%

S&P -.80%

July 28, 2010

I sold Apple today for $260.44. I did this partly to lock in my small profit of 2% before it has a chance to drop like my last trade, but also because I want to wait and see if the market is hitting resistance or just going sideways before it goes up again. I've done much better (and worse) on previous trades. I know 2% doesn't sound like much, but if you made 2% every week you'd end up with a 104% return on the year. A small victory is a victory nonetheless. I will update the scoreboard tomorrow.

July 22, 2010

Well, my 13% ytd yield included my purchase of SDS that lost money on the 15th. On the 14th I was actually up 15.57%. I'm glad Etrade has charts in my account to keep track of this. It makes things much easier. As of yesterday, July 21, the scoreboard reads:

Me 13.57%

S&P -4.08

July 21, 2010

Well, I exited this trade at $33.41 when the market opened today. A loss of a little over 1%. In hindsight, I should have put in my trailing stop order when I was up 3% to lock in my profit. I was trying to be patient because I really believed the market was going to drop more than it did. The S&P is rising up to the 50 day SMA. If it can break through resistance, the market will have a much more positive outlook to me. I may enter another trade later on today. I will update my yield tomorrow, because it takes a day on Etrade to update.


I ended up buying Apple at $254.87 right before market close. I've had pretty good luck buying this stock around $250. I've never bought stock when the chart looks like this one does. It gap opened today 5% higher than yesterday's 4% gain. However it came back down to close only 1% higher. My thought is that the reason it came back down was because lots of people were selling to take their two day 10% profit. I'm banking on it going back up the next few days. We shall see.

July 16, 2010

They say that the goal of every investor should be to outperform the S&P 500. If you're not doing that, then you may as well invest your money into the S&P 500 exchange traded fund (symbol: SPY). As of yesterday my YTD yield is 13%. The S&P 500 is at -1.67%. So far, so good. After each trade is completed I will update my yield vs. the S&P.

Yesterday, I bought shares in a fund that is short the S&P. I am expecting the market to continue its downward trend. I plan on keeping these shares until the market finds support.

Symbol: SDS at $33.80 per share purchased on 7/15/10