January 31, 2010

I bought another year long options play with Ford. I bought 5 Jan. 2012 calls at $1.94. I have a year to be proven right on this.

I bought $DSTI at $1.52. This is a small short term speculative play. As you can see in the chart it has solid support around $1.50.

I also bought Microsoft $MSFT at $27.53. These are in my Roth IRA. I don't own anything in my 10% fund right now.

In Jody's account I bought New York Bank $NYB. I used to own this in my other account. It's a safer play as it pays a 4.5% dividend.

I took it on the chin in my two accounts with that AMZN trade, as you'll see below. It could have been alot worse. That's why you don't put more than 20% of your portfolio into one trade.

The scoreboard after yesterday reads:

Jody's Roth IRA 4.82%
Ryan's Roth IRA -2.92%
10% Fund -4.62%
S&P 1.49%

January 28, 2010

I sold Dupont and Apple today for a 3.5% gain on each. I sold LULU in Jody's account for a 2% gain. I sold everything else except GOOG. Cash is a position also. The market has been so volatile lately. I then bought 2 January 2012 option contracts on AIG at a $45 strike price. It seems to have found support on its 200 day SMA and I have a year for this to pay off. I also bought the GLD at $131.01. When the market goes to hell, people tend to buy gold. The S&P dipped below its 20 day SMA. It was down 1.5%. With so much volatility, I may buy more long term options contracts or "leaps". You can limit your risk and maximize your gains if you know what you're doing. Today was awful. First AMZN gets crushed after earnings, and then the entire market gets hammered. Oh well, I feel better having sold most of my portfolio. Even if much of it was for a loss. I'm not gonna worry about it for a few days. I'll wait and see if the market can make up its mind as to which direction it want to go.

I'm sure tomorrow's scoreboard will look alot worse after this bloodbath.

The scoreboard after yesterday reads:

Jody's Roth IRA 8.25%
Ryan's Roth IRA 1.10%
10% Fund 0.60%
S&P 3.33%

January 25, 2011

I sold CAT in Jody's account today so I could get back into LULU. I got in at nearly the same price I did back in December. $66.81.

The scoreboard after yesterday reads:

Jody's Roth IRA 4.80%
Ryan's Roth IRA -0.65%
10% Fund -1.92%
S&P 2.64%

January 24, 2011

I sold MIPS today for a near 9% loss. It dropped below its 50 day SMA and my 1% portfolio rule kicked in.

I then bought Google $GOOG at $603.71. I really don't understand earnings announcements. Apple beat expectations by 20% and their stock drops. Granted, the Steve Jobs temporary leave didn't help, but Google beat expectations by 8% and their stock has dropped 5% since. I think GOOG will bounce off its 50 day SMA. This past week has been pretty rough as you'll see on the scoreboard. Now's not the time to bury your head in the sand. It's time to roll up your sleeves and get to work.

I also sold SDS for a 1% loss. The good thing about this is that the market is still long for the time being. I ended up buying more AMZN at $177.47 as it has dipped to its 50 day SMA. The chart is below.



The scoreboard after yesterday reads:

Jody's Roth IRA 2.77%
Ryan's Roth IRA -0.64%
10% Fund -3.83%
S&P 2.04%

January 19, 2011

I sold LULU today for a 4% gain. I still like this stock, I'm just concerned that the market is headed for a correction. It was a year ago today that the SPY took a downward turn from $115 and didn't get back to that level until two months later.

Because of this fear, I then bought SDS for $22.88. The ETF that is short the S&P. I hope this trade doesn't work out. It's just a hedge to offset some losses in case the market is headed south.

The scoreboard after yesterday reads:

Jody's Roth IRA 6.61%
Ryan's Roth IRA 3.66%
10% Fund 1.48%
S&P 2.97%

January 18, 2011

I sold Citigroup $C today at break even. That really sucks because I was up as much as 7%. Earnings announcements can do that sometimes. I still like the stock long term, I'm just gonna wait until I see solid support before I get back in. I then bought some more $AAPL at $338.88. This stock dipped on the news that Steve Jobs is taking a 6 month leave. They announce earnings after market close today and everyone seems to be expecting a big number.

I also sold CSX in Jody's account for $69.14 and a near 7% gain. I then bought Caterpillar $CAT for $96.02. The chart is below.



The scoreboard after yesterday reads:

Jody's Roth IRA 7.04%
Ryan's Roth IRA 4.94%
10% Fund 4.80%
S&P 2.83%

January 14, 2011

I sold $NG today for $13.67. I made a whopping $2. At least it was enough to pay for the trade. I actually made $22 but it costs $10 to buy and $10 to sell on Etrade. $NG looks like its 50 day SMA is more of a ceiling than a floor for now. I may get back in at some point, but for now its chart is eroding. I then bought McDonalds $MCD at $73.64.


The scoreboard after yesterday reads:

Jody's Roth IRA 7.11%
Ryan's Roth IRA 5.74%
10% Fund 3.00%
S&P 2.08%

January 13, 2011

I sold Oracle $ORCL today for $31.00 and a 1% loss so that I could buy $MIPS again at $16.32.

The scoreboard after yesterday reads:

Jody's Roth IRA 6.25%
Ryan's Roth IRA 4.97%
10% Fund 3.24%
S&P 2.25%

January 12, 2011

I like to think of my portfolio as a garden. First, I plant seeds by picking stocks. Then, I water and feed it by adding money every week. I pull weeds by getting rid of any losing stocks. Finally, I harvest by taking profits. I'm not looking to get rich. I'm just doing my due diligence.

Position update. Figures are around 2:00 today.

Ryan's Roth IRA

Apple $AAPL 5.78% since 12/27/10. Shares purchased for $324.70 now trading at $343.95


Lululemon $LULU 10.09% since 12/10/10. Shares purchased for $66.35 now trading at $73.18


Novagold $NG 5.38% since 1/5/2011. Shares purchased at $13.61 now trading at $14.36.


Oracle $ORCL -.96% since 1/4/2011. Shares purchased at $31.24 now trading at$31.00.


Dupont $DD 1.33% since 1/11/11. Shares purchased at $48.49 now trading at $49.22.


Jody's Roth IRA

CSX Railroad $CSX 5.93% since 12/31/10. Shares purchased for $64.74 now trading at$68.75.


10% Fund

Amazon $AMZN 2.17% since 12/07/10. Shares purchased for $179.58 now trading at $184.37.


Citigroup $C 4.5% since 1/3/11. Shares purchased at $4.82 now trading at $5.05.

I'm expecting to increase our lead over the S&P substantially in tomorrow's scoreboard. LULU was up 9.3% today and NG was up 5.77%.

The scoreboard after yesterday reads:

Jody's Roth IRA 5.16%
Ryan's Roth IRA 2.76%
10% Fund 1.48%
S&P 1.34%

January 11, 2011

I sold Ford today for $18.28 and a 10% gain. I then bought Dupont $DD for $48.49. It pays a 3.3% dividend.


The scoreboard after yesterday reads:

Jody's Roth IRA 5.14%
Ryan's Roth IRA 2.68%
10% Fund 1.15%
S&P .96%

January 5, 2011

I sold a few shares of both Apple and Lululemon today. Part of this was to lock in a little profit, but mainly it was because these two stocks were my largest positions. I then bought Novagold $NG for $13.61. Jim Cramer recommends having some gold in your portfolio to help diversify it. I now have 5 stocks in my Roth IRA that each take up about 20% of it.

January 4, 2010

I sold $MIPS today for $16.11 and a 5% gain. I just wanted to lock in the profit. 12/30 was my entry point at $15.25. I was up 7% at one point, but this stock is so volatile that by the time I was able to put my order in it had dropped 20 cents. I like this stock and will look to get back in when it hits one of its moving averages again.

I then bought Oracle $ORCL for $31.24. The chart is below.


After yesterday, the first trading day of the year, the scoreboard reads:

Ryan's Roth IRA 4.08%
Jody's Roth IRA 1.58%
10% Fund .92%
S&P 1.13%

January 3, 2011

I sold Deckers $DECK for about a 1.75% loss. I really thought it would bounce today. It didn't, so I'm assuming it will drop to its 50 day SMA. I then bought Citigroup $C for $4.82. I like it much better at that price than when my old broker recommended it at $50 a few years ago.

Year End Scoreboard

Me 25.54%
S&P 12.78%


I ended up doubling the S&P's performance for the second year in a row. I'm pleased about this. However, if I hadn't held onto a couple of losing trades way too long, I probably would have tripled or even quadrupled it. I definitely will learn from my mistakes.

This year I will try to include some general thoughts on what my mindset is. My first one for this year is this:

"You are enough." It sounds simple, but lots of people seem to think that if they had more money or material things, they would be happier and more fulfilled. I'm here to tell you that if that is your mindset, you will never have enough of either, and you will never be at peace.

Also, since all of our money is with Etrade, I'll keep score on all our accounts. I can't find a yield for all of them together, so I'll do them separately.

I will now show all of our holdings going into the new year.

Ryan's Roth IRA

Apple $AAPL -.77% since 12/27/10. Shares purchased for $324.70 now trading at $322.56.


Ford $F .46% since 12/27/10. Shares purchased for $16.68 now trading at $16.79.


Lululemon $LULU 2.97% since 12/10/10. Shares purchased for $66.35 now trading at $68.42.


Mips Tech. $MIPS -.72% since 12/30/10. Shares purchased for $15.25 now trading at $15.17


Jody's Roth IRA

CSX $CSX -.47% since 12/31/10. Shares purchased for $64.74 now trading at $64.61


10% Fund

Amazon $AMZN -.23% since 12/07/10. Shares purchased for $179.58 now trading at $180.00


Deckers $DECK -.62% since 12/14/10. Shares purchased for $79.99 now trading at $79.74.


If you're wondering why I'm still holding this stock when it's clearly below the 20 day SMA, here's why: The horizontal line, to me, represents support. If it drops below this line around $77.80 I will definitely sell.