The Market:
Today was a scary day for anybody who is holding onto long positions, and it was tempting for me to jump out of my position in BLUD. However, we have to keep in mind that, over the past few months, every big sell off has been a buy the dip opportunity. As I type, no major support levels have broken, so we must treat the market accordingly. Tomorrow will be telling. If support levels do break, I will look to get out of longs and start shorting.
Sectors on my radar for possible shorts include paper, semis, airlines, biotech, healthcare and utilities. Of these, paper looks the most promising, as it already has broken below it’s 50 and 200 day moving averages. Biotech is sitting right at it’s 50 day MA. The airlines have come back to earth, and CAL looks to be setting up as a nice short play.
Resolutions Revisited
Here is an update of my six New year’s resolutions.
1. Read a book every week:
So far, so good. After three full weeks, I have completed three books.
Tao of Bruce Lee, was an autobiographical account of a scrawny, loser kid who used Bruce Lee’s teachings to become a success in life. It also has some little known tidbits on Bruce Lee’s life.
Week two was a book that will be of interest to anybody reading this blog, Enhancing Trader Performance by Brett Steenbarger. This was a great book that I will review shortly. It motivated me to work harder to be a better trader.
I just completed Pat Riley’s Winner Within. It’s an enlightening self help book that uses his experiences coaching the Lakers to bring home his philosophy on management. An added benefit is the amount of inside info dished out the 80s Lakers.
2. Define my risk, stop and target before every trade and let those preset parameters work for me.
This has become such a habit now that I probably don’t even need to keep this on the resolutions list.
3. Review my trading journal on a monthly basis (I already do this), integrate my findings into my trading style, and report my finding on this blog.
While it has not been a month yet, I am taking my trading journal reviews much more seriously. These reviews have lead me to research specific setups much more closely. My findings have me trading a few setups more than I normally would, such as the cup and handle and head and shoulders patterns. I also have been reviewing not only my trades, but my watchlist as well, as shown in this review of the SINA non-trade.
4. Become an early riser.
I have not even attempted this one yet. Having kids is makig this one tough. I would really love to wake up at 4 or 5 every morning though. As I found out last year, it makes a huge difference in my productivity.
5. Workout goals:
A) Run three miles 4 x/week (currently don’t run at all)
B) Bench press 250 x 5 (currently at 205 x 5)
C) Barbell curl 135 x 8 (currently at 95 x 5)
D) Squat 250 x 5 (don’t know current ability)
I’ve been keeping up with my workouts, and have increased in A-D. I’m up to running 2 miles/day. My bench press is 215 x 5, curl is 105 x 5 and squat is 185 x 5.
6. Try something new every month.
I was supposed to snow board this month, but it doesn’t look like that will happen. However, I did watch my first hockey game. I am a huge sports fan, but I’ve never watched a hockey game and usually change the dial when ESPN shows hockey highlights. A buddy at work got me to watch the NHL All Star Game, but honestly, I’m not hooked. BTW, why is it that when hockey players fight, it’s considered a beautiful thing, but when NBA players throw down, it’s portrayed as a tragedy? It smacks of racism, if you asked me . . .
I also tried a new Chinese restaurant, called Big Bowl. It was terrible. I’m not a fan of westernized chinese food, a la PF Chang.
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