I was fairly bullish going into today because the overseas markets looked good yesterday and our futures were up nicely pre-open. Although the market was going to open higher, the leaders up were oil and minerals.Not necessarily the industry groups you want to see lead. I would much prefer the financials and technology to lead the charge. Around 10:30 AM there was chatter from some overseas hedge funds concerning Blackrock and the possibility of $ 8 to 10 billion in write offs due to CDO exposure/sub prime. The financials again reacted negatively and proceeded lower. Two, maybe three hours passed with no denial from Blackrock and the financials were still acting lethargic, to down. I was short Blackstone, up about three points when the company came out and finally denied the rumor. I immediately went to cover but my keys locked, because the rest of the planet was trying to cover as well. My trading platform sometimes does this. My 3 point short gain is now a 1 point short gain and I proceeded to go long the name for about 3 points up. Phew!! Crazy freaking morning and a crazy freaking trade.
The rest of the day was slow until we started looking heavy in the afternoon. I bought the SDS and QID, the ultra short etf’s for the S&P and NAZZ ,and I did ok there until the close. I put out about five names yesterday that did fairly well with the exception of one:
SIGM- down $4.50-i thought it could explode-it ended up being a wet firecracker
CREE- down .30 cents,its getting ready though
AKS- up $ 2.50-the group was hot
ATW-up $3.03-the group was hot
PVH- Short idea-was down $1.08
I’m not all impressed with this market and it was just another miserable close. I am so rooting for a swoosh, a washout, a capitulation, because this is a tough man. Volatility reigns.