Weekend thread

Thursday afternoon

Thursday morning

I thought about putting up a 60min SPY chart, but it looks like a Rorschach test.

Wednesday evening

surprise ;-)

Wednesday afternoon

BIDU Daily Chart (11:45 AM)
(Click chart for better view)

Looks like the bottom is in.  BIDU is now making higher highs and higher lows. Volume is up today and will easily surpass yesterday's mark.  It is chewing through short term resistance now.  The 20 day sma is 87.89 and a close above that level bodes well for a continued move toward the 50 day.

Wednesday morning

How many ships could a ship ship ...

Tuesday evening

Leonard Nimoy is 82 today

Tuesday afternoon

And it's somewhere east of the Atlantic Ocean

The market gapped up and ran to levels touched yesterday and lost momentum. There are some shipping stocks that have been making moves and a little bird told me that Cramer will be featuring Fitz' work in the "Off the Charts" segment tonight.  I don't know what the stock(s) or sector will be but it would not surprise me to see shippers since JJC wrote about some over the free weekend at Real Money.  (I did not go there so I don't know any more than what I read on Algo Fighters.)

Tuesday morning

And so are the Russian deposits ...

If Zero Hedge is correct, the deep pockets of the oligarchs will not be picked to save the Cypriot banks.  Seems that subsidiaries were left open with no limits on withdrawals so ..... poof!  On the bright side (assuming there is one) if they have no deposits then they should not get any ownership in the recapitalized banks.  That would mean the folks that could not get their money out and suffered the big hit could come out OK in 5 or 10 years and ... uh Gator ... put down the bowl, son. That's a pipe dream.

Monday afternoon

Passover begins at sundown today.  Back in the days when humans actually traded the markets, we could expect a slowdown in volume in the afternoon as traders knocked off early for the festival.  Computers are probably not observing, however.

Monday morning

So, you had money in a bank in Cyprus ...

Weekend thread

Measure your medicine carefully.

Market was a bit of a roller coaster this week.  Hope none of our bloggerz lost their lunch.  If you went home long (I did) then I hope the outcome in Cyprus causes no pain.  Only the gods (or maybe a Russian with a surprise) know how this one turns out.  (I thought the Russians would take future nat gas leases for capital infusion now but that fell through.)

Josh, it was good to see you stop by.  Thanks again for giving us a place to share ideas and help each other out.

Friday afternoon

Don't look, Southern ;-)

Friday morning

Thursday afternoon

Poems are hard. Pork is easy. Just watch congress.

Congress has avoided any more budget showdowns for this fiscal year.  The continuing resolution is passing by a wide margin with a bipartisan vote.  It does include the sequestration budget cuts (a pittance) and it also permits some leeway in how various parts of the affected agencies (think DoD) cut their budgets.  Just my opinion but I think that is good.

Markets are recovering after a gap down this morning.  Opportunities were there and fast traders took advantage.

Thursday morning

Christine Lagarde could solve this Cyprus thing ...

But she has her hands full dealing with the gendarmes.  Her residence was raided today as the authorities investigate embezzlement of public funds.

Back home in the US of A it looks like congress is passing another continuing resolution so our government won't have to shut down.  It should be ready for the POTUS' signature when he gets back from charming the Israelis.

I may start drinking again ...

Continuing the Russian theme ...

Get it?

I do think the Russians will save Cyprus ... at a high price.  I would never suggest that Mr. Putin has a vested interest (or big bank accounts) there.

Wednesday morning ... The Russians are Coming

It's all about Cyprus of course but the players and solutions are getting weird.  The Russians are talking about loaning 5 billion euros ... the Arch Bishop of Cyprus is offering to open the coffers of the church and the ECB is mumbling about other options.  It's quite a stew and the chef needs to use spices carefully.

Tuesday after market ...

Yeah, baby!!! Three more days.

The markets are once again held hostage to the shenanigans in Europe. Recognize it. Appreciate it. Deal with it.  If you can't figure out how to make money in these conditions then take a break. You are not required to participate. It's your choice. Things will get back to normal soon enough ... you know ... when Ben's printing press and black helicopter trips drive the market.

Tuesday afternoon

I hadn't thought of that ...

It's so nice to be trading on news from a financial powerhouse like Cyprus. Remember the "You are here" diagram?  It's back in play.

Have a nice day. :)))

Tuesday morning

Monday evening

Thanks Beagle ;-)

Monday afternoon

Monday morning

The national flag of Cyprus

Cyprus is a tiny little island nation just east of Greece, whose GDP is probably less than that of Mississippi.  However, they borrowed a lot of money from the European Union (i.e. Germany).  And now the banksters want their money back.

Proposals are afoot to confiscate 6.75% of Cypriot bank accounts less than 100,000 Euros ... and 9.9% over that.  Expect drama and rumors over the next few days.  Or weeks.  Or riots.  Or "suicides".  And there might be contagion issues.

... just in case you were wondering why the markets are, uh, upset.

Weekend thread

Blog Issues

Some people are still having problems seeing blog comments or posting new comments.  Here's what I know or suspect and a couple of  fixes :

I am using the following browsers :

Google Chrome version 25.0.1364.172
Firefox version 19.0.2
Internet Explorer version 9.0.8112 (latest is 9.0.13)
Safari (iPad)
Nook Color

1.  AUTHORS : I haven't had any trouble creating blog posts with any of the 3 Windows browsers (haven't tried Safari or Nook).  If you're having difficulty, please let me know the particulars.  Chrome seems to work best for me (no surprise since Google owns Blogger).

2.  Comments seem to be in no particular order, or re-arrange themselves.  This is because the Disqus 2012 update changed the default comment order to "Best" (most liked).  There's a simple fix for this, but it's hidden pretty well.

Look under the comments box and find the "Discussion" label.  If you click on that, it will open a dropdown box.  Select "Newest" to have new comments show up at the top (except replies, which are embedded).  Select "Oldest" if you like the newer ones at the bottom.  Here's a pic of the dropdown :

3.  Cannot see comments or cannot post a comment.  As far as I know, this only happens with IEv9 (and probably v10).  If you're having comment problems with any other browser, please let me know.  I think v8 is ok.  Version 7 or below probably will never work .. you really need to upgrade that anyway if possible.

Disqus is aware of this problem and is supposedly looking into it.  Hopefully, I'll hear back from them soon with word that they have fixed it on their end and/or I need to make some change to the blogger code.

In the meantime, here's a workaround for IEv9 (and probably v10) :

While on one of the Algo Fighter pages, press the F12 key.  This will open a developer window at the bottom of the IE page.  Here's a pic :

Click on "Browser Mode" and set it to "IE8".  The "Document Mode" should already be set to "IE8 standards".  Once you have done that, the page should refresh and comments should work ok.  You can close the developer window by using the "X" at its top right, or by pressing F12 again.

The mode might need to be reset depending on where you wander on the net.  Repeat from "F12" step above.  ( I think it will remember for that tab as long as you leave the tab open )

4.  IE seems very, very slow.  It does not seem to be handling the Disqus code very well.  I suspect that there's some junk in there (probably Javascript) that IE does not like.  Maybe Disqus will straighten something out someday.  Or you could use a better browser ;-)

These are the only problems of which I am aware (other than the new Disqus version kinda sucks, lol) .. so if you're having any other difficulties, please let me know.  Maybe I can help, maybe not ;-)

sysin3 at gmail dot com

(let's leave this post up for a while in hopes that most people will see it)

Friday morning

It's Triple Witching

Investopedia: An event that occurs when the contracts for stock index futures, stock index options and stock options all expire on the same day. Triple witching days happen four times a year on the third Friday of March, June, September and December.

This phenomenon is sometimes referred to as "freaky Friday". 

trying

Firefox extensions

Some useful extensions for Firefox browser
Links should take you to install page

Adblock Plus ***
blocks most ads

Flashblock ***
blocks Adobe Flash elements (unless you click)

Ghostery *** (careful with this one, see below)
blocks trackers, beacons, web bugs

IE Tab 2
open a Firefox tab which uses IE engine.  Useful for sites which only work well in IE

Image Zoom
zoom in and/or rotate images

NoSquint
adjust font sizes, remembers settings by site

Theme font and size changer
change the global font size and font family used for the user interface in Firefox

Thumbnail Zoom Plus
Shows full image when you hover over a thumbnail

Aeon Big Theme
makes browser icons bigger

*** Note that Adblock, Flashblock and Ghostery can block some elements which are required for a web page to work properly. They can be disabled temporarily if necessary, and sites can be whitelisted.

*** In particular, Ghostery will block Disqus if you select "all" in blocking rules. It can be unblocked individually in the "widgets" section of the rules. There are other widgets you might need to unblock.

( in case you missed the Chrome extensions post, it's here : Chrome Extensions )

Thursday morning

Happy Pi Day

Pi Day

Wednesday evening Comet

Comet PANSTARRS will be visible for the next few nights.  Might be difficult to see, being so near the horizon.  More here:

Another chance to catch the moon and Comet PANSTARRS on March 13

Wednesday afternoon SPY

SPY daily

Time for a correction ?  Looks like it, but with the Fed still printing money .. who knows.

yellow line - money flow(10)
cyan - 50sma
green - 200sma
pane 2 - DV smoothed stochastic(10,3)
pane 3 - RSI(2)
pane 4 - NYSE percent stocks above 10dma
pane 5 - volume

Wednesday morning

Tuesday after the bell

Yes the DJIA set another record but it was all by itself in the green.  The market really needs a catalyst now and I doubt that electing a new Pontiff is going to be it. Unless there is some kind of significant progress on budget talks in Washington .... forgive me .... it must be that fresh glue ...

Tuesday afternoon

Still fiddling with blogger code to make Disqus and Internet Explorer try to get along.  You may experience temporary difficulties ;-(

The short description of the problem is that Disqus code is fragile, and IE is a pain in the butt.  Chrome and Firefox seem to be relatively happy.

Tuesday morning

Palo Alto Networks can't stop this one.

Monday after the bell

I know. You'd rather see Wednesday's chart.

Something different today .... it is Monday and the market closed higher.  Could it be that the rest of the week it will close lower?  Time will tell.

Monday - JDSU Update

JDSU Daily Chart (11:30AM)

Here's a quick update to the trade I defined back on 3/6 as it bounced.

After the big gap up the stock is consolidating and will probably trade inside the box for now.  Keep it on your radar and I would recommend buying either a bounce from the bottom or a breakout through the top.  Telcos are spending capital budgets again.  No current position.

Monday morning .. hopefully

Weekend thread

Chrome extensions

Some useful extensions for Google Chrome browser

Links should take you to install page

Adblock ***

blocks most ads

Flashblock ***

blocks Adobe Flash elements (unless you click)

Hover Zoom

hover mouse over thumbnails to view images in their full size without loading a new page

Ghostery *** (careful with this one, see below)

blocks trackers, beacons, web bugs

Silver Bird

Twitter extension that allows you to follow your timelines and interact with your Twitter account

Tabs to the Front!

switches focus to new tab when created

*** Note that Adblock, Flashblock and Ghostery can block some elements which are required for a web page to work properly. They can be disabled temporarily if necessary, and sites can be whitelisted.

*** In particular, Ghostery will block Disqus if you select "all" in blocking rules. It can be unblocked individually in the "widgets" section of the rules. There are other widgets you might need to unblock.

These all seem to be well-behaved. Speak up if you know of any other good ones. I'll do a similar post for Firefox soon.

Friday morning

Thursday afternoon

Thursday morning

Wednesday after market ...

Yes, the DJIA set another record for a closing high but the transports (DJ-20) closed down and the SP-500 was up .11% and 5 minutes before the close it was looking like it would be red too.  We need to digest the recent gains and that requires time and/or retracement.  Deal with it or let your Facebook settings take care of your problems for you.

Wednesday afternoon - Transports tiring

DJ-20 Daily Chart (11:30AM)

The transports are tiring here.  Keep an eye on them as we are trying to find a short term market top.  If they move down it will be very hard for the rest of the market to keep climbing.  It could happen if funny things happen in the currency markets but generally speaking the transports are key here in my opinion.

Wednesday morning

That's not a gator. That's a croc.

Gator is busy doing other "stuff" and will not be around much for a bit longer.  Y'all be careful and as we are setting new highs don't forget to keep your stops snug.

Tuesday evening

AAPL 60min

Bottom-ish ?  I'll give it a strong maybe.  Lots of overhead junk to chew through though.

New high