The Market
- After saying yesterday that day-trading made me cranky I spent the day, day-trading! AIG, Citi and Bank of America were all extremely active. This allowed for easy entries and exits. Am sure I have never traded so actively as today. Quite a rush.
- With Fed actions the S&P quickly flew past yesterday’s target of 800. That quickly failed as traders took profits. It closed at 794.
- Deep in the Fed statement was ominous news they felt the recession is deepening.
- Government bonds responded to the quantitative ease. Quantitative easing occurs when the central bank actually buys from dealers, thereby removing the issues from circulation. As suggested repeatedly here it was the feeling that similar actions by the UK as well as the Swiss was pressuring our Fed to follow. I had trades set up for such an event and quickly bought TLT, the surrogate bond ETF. Much of the bond rally may already be in the price. My TIP (Treasury Inflation Protected) bond position, which I have been holding for months, rose enough for me to show a small profit. Finally.
- Buying toxic positions from banks had the predicted result. Bank shares soared.
- I sold my inverse ETF’s about 11am as they stubbornly declined. They served their purpose but insurance is expensive.
- My General Mills position soured an otherwise cheerful day. I’ll hold it for a bit and see if it can shake the bad-news quarter. Volume was very high as everyone wanted out. Ouch!
- I used the Fed bump to jettison the Alcoa position at a 10% loss. A small position, but a loss nevertheless.
- After the close Oracle (ORCL) reported better than expected earnings and initiated their first dividend. Shares are up.
- On balance, a very nice day.
Sidebar
- The saga with Barron’s/Wall St Journal continues. Yesterday I renewed my Barron’s subscription using the on-line site and it cost hundreds less. Today I will renew the WSJ. The mailed noticed had a price of $364, yet when I went on line I renewed for $99! Mr. Murdoch, are you awake?
- How many plumbers does it take to fix a toilet? In Wilmington, the correct answer is three. They arrived in their huge white truck and all three came to the door. But even with the truck they had to go to the local hardware store for a part. Hard to believe.
Hope to carry on the good feelings at tonight’s poker game. We have recently raised our buy-in to a whopping $20. On a day like to day I’m thinking of suggesting we bump it up to a $40!
Have a terrific evening!
