Last Trading Day of 2011 - After Market Thread

Paige's last catch. Note the Gator cap on the deckhand.
(I told you the guy was the ugly one.)

Last Trading Blog of 2011 - Afternoon Thread

Paige is keeping the deckhands busy.
(This is the ugly one.)

Last Trading Day of 2011 - Morning Thread

Paige last year. She may top it today.

She's 20-30 miles out in the GoM.  With the satellite uplink we may get pictures.

Evening Thread

1987 New Year's eve

Afternoon Thread

3 AHA moments for me about why listening to CNBC in hopes of stock tips is hazardous to your bottom line:

(1) came from twitter of all places. Herb Greenberg tweets about an hour ahead of time to watch and he and "Sully" will have a staged disagreement/discussion about some stock ... an hour from his tweet. A couple of times he has a twitter discussion about what he should wear ... So - fake as wrestling. There's a concept.

(2) these matchups between analysts - one of whom is bullish and another who is bearish on a particular stock - this is how they set them up according to Dan who let the cat out a couple of times: the show producer sends out mass emails to everyone on their guest list asking if they have a take on DMND or GMCR or NFLX (last year it was BP and HAL and RIG) and would they appear on a wrestling match - though they don't call it that of course!

(3) They interview alot of people every hour, 24 hours a day pretty much. (ok some re-runs and I exaggerate, but you get the point.) Anyway, the perpetual question is: what are you buying right here right now? or sometimes: what are you selling right here right now? The implication of this - you should be buying or selling something all the time.

Those guys standing around talking on TV and tweeting all day are not trading all day. Do the Najarians ever really trade?

Right now when CNBC is asking for predictions. Mass email from show producer to everyone on their guest list: do you have a prediction for 2012 and do you want to be on TV?

They have a program to fill. We need to get Toes in the guest list. Does Toes have email?

Morning Thread

Well, the Italians managed to sell a boatload of bonds but maybe not as much as they wanted to.  At least those that they sold were at lower rates than the last time out of the chute.  Yields then traded higher but have come back down as the day progressed.

We have the jobs number coming and it could move the markets if there is a surprise.  The more likely market movers continue to be Europe and Iran.  At least that's the way I see it.  Maybe it will be different after I get some more coffee.

Evening Thread

SPX Daily Chart

The bears had the edge today... pushing back down from the top of what appears to be tough resistance on the daily chart. The big question is... where do we go from here?

Afternoon Thread

Someone sent out the signal and he responded

Although the Italian bond auction appeared to go well with yields about half the rate of the previous sale and the bid to cover also improved the Euro has fallen below the 1.3000 level and the $US is very strong. 

The U.S. market indexes are at critical junctures and with trading very light it's easy for the the big boys to push them where they want them to go.

News from the middle east is also causing concern.  The Straights of Hormuz are critical to the flow of oil and while the US Navy can handle whatever Iran throws at it conflict is likely to spike oil and send the markets sharply lower. 

Morning Thread

Amen

Evening Thread

The SP-500 traded in a 7 point range today.  I had expected to see a bit more volatility.  Maybe tomorrow.

CONFESSION IS GOOD FOR THE SOUL,

And also for the trader. Let's face it, not every trade we made in 2011 was a winner. Let's look over our list for 2011, fess up the worst (leave out all the gory details PLEASE - we really don't want to know!

Where I am aiming to go with this, is to look at what did work in 2011 next, and then let's look at strategies behind those good trades, and what would we do to improve on them ...

So let's start the ball rolling with our biggest losers for 2011. For me personally, I am not trading NFLX again for a long time.

OK, I tried to attach a chart and I totally messed up something - I can't even talk about NFLX. The ban is working.

My second worst trade was GS - and I bring this up only because I thought I traded GS well all year. I had some good trades - but alot of terrible ones ...

So - go through and see what you did , fess up - then we will move on to something even more constructive!

Nap-Time Thread

Morning Thread

May your trading be as profitable.

Holiday Thread (Monday 12/26/2011)

Instructions for posting charts from freestockcharts.com (or TC2000) are on the previous thread.  They can be found here.  http://tinyurl.com/7fntvkb

Merry Christmas Cheer

Peace and Joy to all the Bloggers this Christmas Season!

HOLIDAY POST

Is it time to be a lion. The week had that positive holiday bias.

Photo apparently taken with an auto timer.

Afternoon Thread

Moments later the impala returned to the herd and the cheetahs ran off to play.  The photographer had been documenting the three cheetah brothers since birth.

Morning Thread

This is not a bird dog ... it's a bear dog.

Evening Thread

We think the sow liked it too.

Afternoon Thread

Morning Thread

S&P futures are attempting to hold near the highs of the overnight session. Euro futures have struggled to hold above 1.3100... which appears to be what's keeping a lid on equity index futures. The seasonality chart above indicates we enter the "Santa Rally" period starting tomorrow.

Our thoughts and prayers go out to Julio for a healthy and speedy recovery.

Evening Thread

Mr. Joshin4u ... what is your ticket number?

Afternoon Thread

Morning Thread

Bob Saget

Mario Draghi

Could it be .... is it possible .... I've never seen the two of them at the same time.

Evening Thread

Today the fat lady sang for the bulls.

Afternoon Thread

I'll just tap that HFT feed and beat 'em at their own game!!!

Morning Thread

It's panther's jewelry thief hiding the booty.

Evening Thread

A late "surge" kept the S&P500 above the 100 day moving average (@1204). Otherwise trading today started strong and finished weak, closing 19 points below day's high and 3 points above days low (seen in last 10 minutes).

Steel and banks and transports were quite weak. In fact the DJ Transports were the weakest average on the day. Airlines including FDX were all quite weak.

Traders still looking for Santa Rally.

Afternoon Thread

Toes is getting in the spirit of the season 



After a positive open and shaking off concerns in North Korea the markets have turned decidedly negative as Europe once again comes to the fore.  On the bright side ... Toes bulbs are glowing.

Morning Thread

Be thankful.  It could be worse.



After finishing weakly on Friday and continuing to move down Sunday night the futures turned around at midnight.  We look like we will have a positive open as Europe is moving higher.  France is leading the way as I write this and is up almost 2%.

Weekend Thread

Earlier this week Art Cashin suggested traders might post Santa's picture on a milk carton, which prompted:

Y'all rest up this weekend and get ready for the holidays.

Afternoon Thread

Internet security: Delivering the latest in firewalls

Morning Thread

Market: Due for a bounce. Just don't be stupid.

Evening Thread

These kitties need some jewelry for Christmas ...

Afternoon Thread

Toes in his "revolutionary" days.

Morning Thread

Toes!!! Is that you in there?

Evening Thread

Dollar up. Most other stuff down. We closed somewhere between the lows and the highs, depending on what you are looking at.

Why is Santa's suit red and the Grinch's skin green?

Afternoon Thread

The market: summarizing Josh's posts just before this new blog: NAZZ futures buyers @ 2220-ish and SP futures bulls trying to keep a bid under 1204. Fitzpatrick 3 day "guideline", and he is first to say that market rules and not his rules. (3 day thing: smart money moves on first day, not so smart money on second day, and you know who on the third day - don't be that guy.)


Since we work to eat, let's talk food: Onion soup was popular in Roman times as a soup of poor people as onions were plentiful and easy to grow. Try cooking onions slowly and bringing out the flavor with some sherry. And you get some of those phyto-nutrients for your health in the tasty bargain.

Morning Thread

Good Morning early birds....

Evening Thread

Traders wanted to join in the Christmas spirit, but in keeping with the wacky trading year, there was a sell-off to support on the SP500 after the Fed statement today.

Afternoon Thread

Julio taught me: triple double reverse, or was that double triple reverse? Whatever. Wild ride most likely this afternoon.

Morning Thread

Evening Thread

Your caption is funnier ...  go ahead ... say it.

Afternoon Thread

Could he rally the market too?

Morning Thread

Buckle up folks.  Confusion abounds.

Weekend Thread December 9th

This cute guys has been protesting for months. He's ready to hold out for the winter or until Europe gets it's act together

Don't get upside down on your trades

Morning Thread

Party hearty!!! Somewhere in there is Evan and his lady

Evening Thread



Student of european financial discussions