These headlines are nuts, am I supposed to be bullish? Is this rally just a bounce with bigger declines coming or do we just resume the long term bullish uptrend?

May 8 2008 Headlines - Dow 12866

• Market Rally Signals Stocks Looking Past Recession
  We're of the opinion that the market has likely seen the worst, says Standard & Poor’s Chief Investment Strategist Sam Stovall. He's not alone.
• Thain: Credit Crisis Easing
• Greenspan: Worst Is Over
• AIG Loss Wider than Expected; Shares Plunge
• Citi Mulls Up to $400 Billion Asset Sales
• Jobless Claims Post Surprising Decline of 18,000
• Buffett Real Estate CEO Sees Housing Comeback

Here is what I see out there if we go down a bit... feel free to note any setups you see and perhaps we can make this into something. No trading for me till Monday.

• Short DECK 136
• Long FXP 66
• Short WFR 61
• Short WYNN 101

• Holy moly FSLR, what a move, I caught some small size, look for all time highs today.
• HUM long break 48, 48.40 or so, this puppy is back to the highs of the major gap down.
• GS long break 194
• MTL short break 140

• POT is weakass today and yesterday, looks like it will visit 170 man.
• GOOG break 540 and it will be searching for support.
• DECK break 140 and the shoe may just drop.
• FSLR break 280 and the sun may set.
• PBR break 120 may drop a few.

Course this market hardly ever goes down, so keep the stops on and tight.

GS acted well today breaking 183 and running. I guess V will go in the am with earnings on deck. DECK is nuts. Looks like AAPL is off to a good start. Everything is going right back up where it was, yet I think the US still has a major housing and lending issue? Is this just a wicked bear rally or is it a sustained bull run, who knows.

If the market ever decides to go down again, ISRG break 270 short. Also keep an eye on MTL break 146, that thing drops like a rock when it goes down.

Long 200 AAPL for a swing at 163.28 into earnings.

I thought about it and AAPL rules, the products are loved, it's a great company, and over the long run the stock value should increase. If I am wrong, AAPL visits 130 - 140 again where I will wait for a bottom and add to my position. If I am right, we visit 200 in no time.

A big ass 2008 CnH on the daily helps too.

SWING NOTES...

4 shorts, 2 longs, my shorts and longs all suck with a few in pain to say the least.

Not sure why I am bearish, but I am sure wrong for now, the market seems invincible. I think once I get out of my shorts I will become a permabull, it seems easier.

Three times now in '08 ISRG will be testing the 200 MA, will it hold? Doubt it. I'm not a very good bull.

AAPL reports AMC, not sure what to do, last time I held I got killed, come to think of it that is the first time I held during earnings and the first time it tanked on earnings, ya thanks ass wall street.

If the bull run continues GS is setting up for a ride break 183

More often than not I seem to be on the wrong side of a trade on news events or earnings. It be nice to get lucky just once in a while.

I'm up nice this month so far, need to keep it going, closed small trades of late... AGU, CHK, PBR, V, AAPL, LVS, ANF.

It's early on the left coast, I am up nice and am shutting down for the day. It is extremely hard to shut down early, I don't want to miss anything, I want to make more money, I like trading, I like working, when I am doing well it is fun. But, because I break my rules at times and often give back my gains, I need to, I have to stop trading when I am up. That is the way it will be until I can follow my rules 100% without fail, because if I don't do that I will never ever succeed in this business. And I want to succeed.

So tricky to be short, day trading or swing trading even in a down market. I am net short in 5 swing positions and all acted well today and nicely in the money. Now with the slightest good news like INTC reporting ok numbers against a lowered forecast and issuing a healthy future. This means the frick'n bulls will be running, gapping everything up, and basically f'ing my healthly gains. I'm staying the course as long as I can.

As far as daytrading goes, I pretty much build up my account and then blow it all with a few bad days, rinse and repeat. So I am tired of sharing how lousy I do for now. I still share my PnL over at the Virtual Office. One thing I am trying right now is to trade less and trade the am only, especially if I am up. I can't even count how many times I give up my gains in the afternoon. The other day I was up $800 30 minutes into the session, I shoulda stopped right there. I went for a few more, got in trouble and gave it all back. So I will trade less and stop when I am up, even a few hundred is fine, that is all I want.

Nice to be long the FXP right now as of a few days ago, as China is down 4%. I am 100% short in my swing account now, 5 positions total which I think is plenty and if they continue to work I will just add as many shares as I can at the best points.

MICC break 87 looks ready for a nice ride which I will take if it triggers.

Total Net +$441.58

Net +167.30 on 6216 shares
Net +274.28 Swing

I did it again, one lousy trade out of a bunch where I lose more than I should, then I revenge trade trying to get it back losing all my gains. Not even waiting for a setup, just going long then short then long the same stock losing on each trade, which I know never works, yet I do it. I was up $1200 on some nice trading, it's painful to give it all back so quickly. Ugg.

Net -$321.84 on 6570 shares

Up over 1k in the am session, had a few losers to deal with and they got worse, then when I finally got out, I got sloppy and lost all my gains and more. Ruins my day, I hate trading.

Total Net +$4975.36

Net -$575.64 on 7150 shares
Net +$5551.00 Swing

Today was challenging, I held onto a few losers too long, let way too many winners go red and did not take profits quick enough.

Swingwise, seems like I sold everything as we moved down but still hold three positions. I really needed to lighten the load anyway, if we had tanked last week I would or could have been in trouble. I am going to try and stay with 3 or less positions for a while.

AAPL +11.67, DO +2.70, FDG +6.74, V +0.78, GS -0.18

Long 25 FSLR at 263.85, exit 10 at 282.99 (changed my plan) and 15 at 277.99 for +16.14 avg. The only reason I longed 25 and not 100 was I was in other crap at the time. Selling at 283 was more of a joke than anything, I never imagined it would run that far.

Here's the trade on video before it hit 283

Real people, real money and in my backyard.

Angry investors risk losing savings

Victims' money 'commercial paper'

John Bermingham, The Province
Published: Thursday, April 03, 2008

After selling her home, Victoria paralegal Jill O'Hara put $250,000 in a 90-day investment vehicle that would return 4.25 per cent per year and was guaranteed.

It was called a "structured-investment vehicle." But what O'Hara didn't realize was that her money had gone into commercial paper.

"A lot of us were not told what it was," said O'Hara, who was among 200 small investors from around B.C., many of them seniors, who packed into a Vancouver hotel yesterday -- demanding their money back.

Victoria paralegal Jill O'Hara fears she may lose the $250,000 she invested in asset-backed commercial paper.

Some 2,000 investors across the country -- more than 1,000 from B.C. -- who invested $270 million in asset-backed commercial paper (ABCP), have had their funds frozen since last August when the U.S. subprime crisis collapsed the $32-billion market.

They must vote later this month whether to accept a rescue plan, and risk their investments falling 40 or 50 per cent in value when trading resumes in May.

Investors also give up the right to sue the banks, brokers and rating agencies if they vote yes.

By voting no, investors will have to sue to get their money back, and their investments may end up becoming worthless.

"Nobody told me it was a risky investment," said Angela Speller, 61, a retired homemaker from Victoria, who invested more than $1 million with her husband.

"I was told it was AAA rating."

"All our savings are gone," Speller told the angry meeting. "I want my money, plus interest."

"Here I've been investing for the old age. Here it is, and I can't get my money," said 80-year-old Geoff Hopkins from West Vancouver, leaning on his cane, and looking for his $139,000 back.

Bay Street lawyer Purdy Crawford, who chairs the rescue-plan committee of big institutional investors, said he's heard the same story across the country.

"We have sympathy and empathy and wanted to do everything we can to help all investors," said Crawford.

Small investors, Crawford said, "have a lot of clout" because the plan can only be approved by a majority of individual investors and they account for 99 per cent of those.

"I think there's sunshine over the hill for you," he told them.

But Crawford admitted he doesn't know how much the ABCP will be worth on the day that trading resumes, or how much they will ever get back.

Many small investors are clients of Vancouver-based brokerage Canaccord Capital Corp., or Credential Securities Inc., the credit unions' investment dealer.

Canaccord and Credential were not available for comment.

I lost another wack load today, 6k in the last six sessions giving back my whole month. I did not really blow any stops, I just got chopped up like never before. I felt like I have been caught in a bad downward spiral and I can't seem to get out. I am going back to a system I think will work in the am.

Monthwise I was really happy untill last week. I was doing well both daytrading and swing. I need to improve my daytrading obviously as this is where I want to really do well.

Total Net +$13,812.95

Daytrading +$179.34
Swing +$13,633.61

I'm taking a short break from here, it is very difficult to share when doing poorly. Thanks for visiting as always.

P.S. LVS break 70 looks like a good bet.

Total Net -$1650.76

Net -$1502.32 on 6940 shares
Net -$148.44 Swing

A difficult day and week as my good month erodes quickly.

5:36 - I sold 300 TSRA yesterday at 16.20 for a small gain which I had ever since it dumped a few weeks ago. I got out for almost even, today it's up 10 points. Umm, fme.