Friday, August 10, 2007

Bring Out Your Dead

Today's market was fairly tame once the beginning a.m. jitters were resolved. The Fed came in on their white horses to inject liquidity. Good that they did; terrible that they had to.

I have this vision of Ben Bernanke pushing a wheelbarrow through the muck chanting, "Bring out your dead.". I imagine an investment banker or two may have a hedge fund manager hoisted on his back screaming, "I'm not quite dead yet". I do think that there are dead bodies out there--dead bodies in the form of blown up hedge funds and investment managers having to answer to whomever regarding WHY some of this $hit is sitting on their balance sheets.

Do we have an overdone selling panic. I think that some would have you believe that. While I truly do not know, I don't think that it is over yet. I think that there will be more unpleasant surprises.

My shorts did fabulously today. I am quite pleased with this week's work. Though I say that I'm not a day trader, I am trying to scrape up enough money from making considered trades so that I can justify my existence within the confines of my home. My family adores my being at home; but, I have to be productive in the economic front. Thankfully our needs are modest, but I have to earn my keep so to speak.

It's hard work, though, making money in the market. But I'm going to try to make this work.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

i think dedicated day-traders are few and far between for the simple reason they don't last long. in a volatile market, however, the risk to reward ratio plummets, and if you're prepared, there is a lot of money to be made. you try to game the psychology, (usually) clear the tables before market close to eliminate overnight risk, and wait for a better time to stake longer-term positions. i do not in any way consider myself to be a good trader, simply an opportunistic one (and of course, it helps to have luck on your side)...

congratulations on honing your shorting skills....

2nd_ave

Anonymous said...

There were consecutive Hindenburg Omens again Wed and Thur, making a total of 10 since the trouble started. I'm betting this is the beginning of the worst of the three down legs in this major correction.

russell1200 said...

"Bring out your dead."

I hope your dogs don't read your blog, or their going to be digging up the tree again.

What is odd is how quickly the paradigm has shifted. Those who (presumably) got a nose bleed are already trying to chat up the market, but the tenner is much more defensive.

Leisa♠ said...

2nd_ave: yes, shorting can be deadly--particularly if the stock is taken out in an LBO--and for the reasons that you note.

DaveB: Frank Barbera feels like this week was a wave 2 prior to a wave 3. He feels like there is more to come. But there will be divergent opinions on where the heck that we are. I think that we might have a hint of stabilization this week so long as Asia/Europe do not lose all of their marbles.

Russell: My home visit person had her 6 month buried dog dug up by one of her foster dogs (I relayed my story as I showed her my red buds sheltering my two sweeties.) The foster dog was running around with her dog's leg. She was mortified.

The market is definitely being chatted up. I pulled out my Marty Zweig book. I'll post a couple of things later.