I bet American International Group, Inc. [[AIG]] wishes the government did this a few weeks ago, no? However, I suppose the government mug fuckers were interested in a little nationalization. Nothing wrong with communism, considering how dumb everyone is.
Listen up, this is not time to short stocks. As you know, the SEC has banned short selling in 799 financial stocks, in order to save the United States from certain death. I know this sounds insanely silly, but today may turn out to be one of those epic days when everything changed.
Taking the toxic shit off the banks’ balance sheets and putting it on the tax payers laps is ludicrous— but likely necessary. The government has a choice: they can spend $500 billion now, or trillions later on a Armageddon type melt down.
I am not going to switch my philosophy on the gayness of U.S. equities. However, I am not going to get in the way of this run away train. I rather hop on it for a joy ride.
Top picks: Citigroup Inc. [[C]] , Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. [[FCX]]
Loophole UPDATE: Banks that ARE NOT on the SEC’s short sale ban list will get boot stomped. Go look for them. CIT Group Inc. [[CIT]] and Annaly Capital Management, Inc. [[NLY]] are NOT on the list. And, neither are the reits, making [[SRS]] an incredible buy down here. Food for thought.
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I’m making money and I still think this is the stupidest thing I’ve ever seen. I want to hit Erin Burnett in the face for her giddyness.
I saw your buy of C yesterday and put my cash to work immediately. Turns out to be the best move of the year for me.
Like Warren Buffet has said, (I paraphrase) you stand with the bat on your shoulder for long periods and wait for your pitch.
Option spreads are fucking insane.
LM heading back down.
Bloomberg guy saying buy “good” financials on a pullback next week.
He’s not hot like Erin, so he’s on ignore.
Is today not the opportunity of a lifetime to re-enter shorts?
Well I’m done with this market. I’m putting my money in the total return fund and going to focus on my career. This market just broke me! I’ve never been so pissed.
We’ve never had a +1,000 day on the DJIA…
Yeah, that’d be cool…
BIDU down 5%. What’s going on?
The Fly called it man! What an amazing reversal!
What happens to SKF – trading seems to be halted. Should it be bought, and at what level, if at all?
“Is today not the opportunity of a lifetime to re-enter shorts?”
exactamundo.
I want to hit Erin Burnett in the face too… with my jizz.
Short COF ..its not on the list!
it has been decided SKF is un-American. Surrender all your shares at once.
Short the gap up, buy the gap down. Get in and get out. Like candy from a baby. It’s amateur hour.
I just entered an order to buy 10,00 SKF at a price of $.01, what’ll happen?
This is fucking CRIMINAL!
SKF has been halted! No getting in or out!
Does this halt last for the duration of the short sale ban?
Shorting LM 18 minutes ago = spooj in the face of skf
C Today 09:47am
Citigroup Inc UPDATE: Goldman Sachs Raised C to Neutral from Sell- Removed from “Conviction Sell” list
btw Fly -did you sell it all already?
Bought 2k DUG @37.30.
I ALMOST always win.
is the skf halted?
Can’t even get a decent bid/ask quote on MYY (inverse SP 400 ETF).
Also can’t log into my online brokerage account, fortunately I think I got everything done that I absolutely needed to do, bought some KRE to hedge my SKF, and took profits on some of my GLD.
My few longs like NOV, TSO, WFR and KFT seem to be doing well so I guess I’ll just try to chill while I check out the action.
I just punched a baby!
How are we doing? Everybody happy now?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-phsX3VUQic&feature=related
adding, I think my online broker site is too busy, causing me to not be able to log in.
I got SKF trading again.
I’ve been on HOLD for 30 minutes with my broker.
Sorry. SKF not trading yet, but level 2 is updating now. Close to 100
TD Ameritrade logged me off yesterday and today multi times. Gridlock in The Matrix, I guess.
sniper, I decided to enter in a buy order for a ton of shares at 1 cent also… If all of us try to buy a ton at .01, when there aren’t any other buyers, maybe some ahole market order panics will sell it to us.
Bogus prints all over the place
Market makers are having a field day.
Boomer, try Fidelity they are always on, no waiting,some decent-good charting, options, etc
thank God we have the government here to help us.
I can see us ending today down 3%. everyone is selling into strength and nobody will want to be long over the weekend. this is blatant market manipulation by the government. there is no long term value in these stocks. we’re not out of the woods yet.
hope so. That’s the type of moves some of these fund managers have been making all along anyway
Nice buy in Citibank.
:cheering:
I really picked a great time to become an active trader, now didn’t I???? Pass the kool-aid and cyanide please.
Boomer, go to izone. That’s another way to get into ameritrade.
https://wwws.izone.com/cgi-bin/apps/Main
Hey, Donny is the man ………….if he held UYG yesterday.
i tend to stay as low risk as possible, since i can’t watch the market all day.
only thing i did yesterday was buy some RIMM.
FCX holding 69 again. looks good. i sold mine too early, clearly.
thinkorswim is working beautifully. Couple days ago Sosnoff said they got up to 700,000+ events per second with no latency. E*TRADE, however, is a stupid piece of shit.
Does anyone know if the shorts are being forced to cover in the next 10 days or if they just can’t initiate new sales?
what if we close on the lows today…..
Fly, check out the short covering in HL…
Got tell ya Fly. Good calls of late.
The US government action is really very gay isn’t it.
Question…
So VIX is going up pretty hardcore, does that means that people are shorting financials through puts?
I got my SKF filled @ .01. What are the chances it will be busted.
Seriously though, one has to be nuts to be daytrading now with spreads at who knows what.
It’s knd of like driving in a car with Stevie Wonder at the wheel around a mountain curve.
FUCK THIS! Ameritrade is a piece of shit.
Explain why your top pick is citi, Fly? Last week you were touting C as one of your gayest picks. In fact, you thought it was so gay it was one of your Chap 11 predictions at the beginning of the year. What happened?
TRIN over 1, VIX still high. Put on some Paulson shorts.
Since SKF was locked, I shorted UYG on the open.
Will UYG gap up again on Monday when the new gov’t cheese is announced? Long UYG into the close?
Trader caddy when spreads are so wide why not put in a bid and offer. Be patient and don’t over pay or under sell.
Anon,
Discipline is key in a market like this. Don’t second guess me ever again, otherwise I will summon a freight train to rollover your ass.
Good luck on your trades.
TC – Switch to IBKR. They have been very good so far.
Can anyone tell me if thats or misprint or did ZION trade as high as $131 today. I feel bad for the fucker that covered up there. This is fucked up. This was not the bottom. We will have a crash within 30 days.
Wow…acording to the CNBC talking heads I’m going to make money on this bail out…NOT!!!
I pulled a Ragin Fly today, sold 90% of my longs.
I see that several market centers are having trouble, not just the brokers.
On another note, write your reps.
http://www.house.gov/
http://www.senate.gov/
Gapping, I’m having the same problem with TDAmeritrade.
TC, it will be interesting to see if they fill that order, somehow I doubt it.
Sniper6, good luck with your trades. Anyway you can salvage something or put on a hedge? I know I’ve been there before, it sux but you will make it through.
Today feels like October 19 1987 but in reverse.
CAP, exactly.
thanks Boca. I’m working it out as best I can.
TC do you mean to say you successfully executed a buy of SKF @ $.01??
How many mutual funds were caught under-invested?
Should make for an interesting afternoon.
Donny, we are all right ……and sometimes wrong – the problem of course is that you cannot pick the correct calls from the bad until the market closes. I just bought some UYG.
There is no activity on the options for SKF, anybody know what’s going on? I have account with IB, there is no bid or ask. I wonder if this has something to do with short selling ban on financials.
10/19/87 was a one way street-down. Quotes were running about an hour behind. People were staring at their screens like a deer in the headlights. We lost 23% on 10/19/87. Today, it is a two way street. Much $$ made shorting the gap and later it could reverse back up. Much easier today.
No just joking about SKF. Even if it happened it would be busted.
I had a little trouble selling my C oct. 17.50 calls this morning on TDAmeritrade, It took several tries with sell orders. Worked out after a few minutes. I have a 100% rule so I had to sell. Thanks Fly.
Also I wrote my senator on Wednesday
Bennet Sedacca
09:40:00 AM
No positions in stocks mentioned.
The Pain Trade
The Federal Government just declared war on short sellers.
Will it help the real economy? No sir.
Will it help the value of my house? Nope.
Will it blow up hedge funds? Yep.
Is it a selling opportunity? You betcha.
Will the rally last ? No.
Will earnings increase? Actually I think they will fall.
My conclusion? The pain trade, after this burst, is a crash in October.
Yes, a crash.
I am not talking my book as my firm is delta neutral.
What makes me ill is that folks in the media are the mouth pieces of irresponsible Government officials.
I am sick to my stomach watching Socialism take over.
And with that, I head to the Ryder Cup.
Todd Harrison
10:17:14 AM
No positions in stocks mentioned.
Gate Sniffage
* While I’ve put on alotta brave faces through the years, I can honestly say I’ve never felt such a deep need to dig deep. Old school Minyans can appreciate the magnitude of that statement.
* Why? I feel like an old friend died. An old, close friend I’ve spent 17 intimate years with. It is profoundly sad and truly historic, despite what mainstream America will say when they turn on the tube and see the Dow 1000 points higher in 24 hours.
* What am I doing? Nothing, in part because my trading systems are down, which is unfortunate considering I was gonna take a stab on some S&P puts up 60 for a pure trade. I suppose it’s symbolic.
* While in the shower this morning (where I always have my best thoughts), I wondered how Hank could do this. It would cripple the option markets and freeze the system.
* Then it hit me. That is precisely what he’s trying to do. He knows the derivative machination better than anyone. Why? He helped create it while helming Goldman Sachs (GS). Nice sale on that stock, boss. Tax free to boot.
* Focusing (I’m trying), lemme again offer to ye faithful that the consumer non-durables–one of our ten themes from January–are vulnerable after hitting 52-week highs in recent days. Those are names like General Mills (GIS), Coca Cola (KO) and Campbell Soup (CPB).
* I just said to Pep, “I’ll tell you one thing, bro. They BETTER hold ’em today.” I think they will, so you know, but profound consequences–structural, financial, societal consequences–are building.
* Breathe. And yes, I’m talking to myself.
R.P.
Fil Zucchi
10:07:38 AM
Positions in CSE, long bond, SRS
“Other than THAT, how was the play Mrs… Boo?”
Since I don’t know where to begin expressing my thoughts about what we have seen over the last 4 days, I won’t. Entire new storage systems will be purchased to save the trillions of bits that will be typed to explain, rationalize and excuse what has happened, but in the fullness of time, and after the United States financial system snaps out of this socialist cycle, you can rest assured that something similar to what we have seen unfold over the last 3, 5 and 10 years will repeat itself, and despite all the proclamations of the geniuses who got us to the edge of yesterday’s abyss, the next time will not be different either.
Now onward and forward on how we may be able to make some money and some first hand lessons;
*
My sense is that at yesterday’s highs the U.S. long bond may have seen a secular top; I’ve been early on this one but in the scheme of things there is plenty of time to still be right; any rally below yesterday’s high will be a good short opportunity in my book.
*
Professors Warner and Shartsis may explain this better, but my sense is that until short selling is allowed again, buying puts will be a waste of money as prices will guarantee that the buyers’ odds of making money will be almost nil.
*
This bear enema may last a LOT longer than people think, so I won’t be in a hurry to sell longs here. I think it is perfectly conceivable that the bids wanted liquidations we saw in the last few weeks may make room for forced covering which will precede “dozens” of entities being put out of business;
*
On a risk/reward basis mezz lender CapitalSource (CSE) is now my favorite long; see the archives for the rationale behind that.
*
After the euphoria fades, the cost of capital for Real Estate Investment Trusts will still result in major underperformance for years; my insurance policy on the UltraShort Real Estate (SRS) will be faded sooner than later.
*
When (not if) yesterday’s lows are breached there won’t be any more safety nets, keep that in mind if you start getting a bit too giddy;
*
I am not ready to jump full boar on the gold bandwagon, but energy/commodities could have the mother of all rips.
*
If you are short nickel and dime options before expiration, do yourself a favor and cover them.
Stay calm Minyans, the ride ain’t over yet by a long stretch.
I can’t figure out if this market is setting up for a bear trap or a bull trap right now…I think I will just take my huge gains from yesterday and sit this out.
ZION traded 131. Have a nice day shorts.
TDAmeritrade CEO was on CNBC today while his platform dies. AMTD to zero.
The London Stock Exchange is reporting that there is a streetwide delay in market data. LSE to zero also.
Call me crazier than this market but my thoughts on SRS is that it truly is a buy here, if not for a position atleast a hedge.
Long YHOO?
http://gawker.com/5052086/is-getty-images-buying-flickr
skf halted until oct 2 (assuming ban gets lifted)
CNBC: SKF officially halted. No reason known.
Market manipulation is perfectly legal if it’s done by the government. Fucking criminal.
Thanks for posting that Zenprofit. I had just called the NYSE to see if trading in SKF was halted or not… and the guy hung up on me after putting me on hold. I also couldn’t get through to anyone at Proshares.
hahaha yeah, ameritrade fucks up constantly. i remember talking to a girl that worked in their IT dept, and she was constantly stressed to the maximum level of endurable human suffering.
the crying on tv about the anti-short selling nonsense is silly. they’re not going to permanently ban short selling, and the fact is the banks weren’t buying back their own stock, because they had no available capital for that, thanks to the ratings agencies. that’s like the cowboys scoring touchdowns repeatedly, and then inviting the crowd from the stadium to do the same, because the commissioner decided that he was going bench the defense, due to the fact that deshawn jackson is a moron.
SKF trades on the Amex, not the NYSE.
I think you should get your genius tech/photoshop guy(s) to create a picture of Paulson with a billion pound bazooka on his shoulder.
Don’t fuck with America, bitches!
thanks Pinfin I don’t know what I was thinking…
Due to the emergency action announced by the Securities and Exchange Commission on September 18, 2008, temporarily prohibiting short sales of shares of certain financial companies, Short Financials ProShares (SEF) and UltraShort Financials ProShares (SKF) are not expected to accept orders from Authorized Participants to create shares until further notice. Unless notified otherwise, shares will be available for redemption by Authorized Participants as normal. The shares of these ProShares are expected to trade in the financial markets today, but may trade at prices that are not in line with their intraday indicative values. (SKF, SEF and RFN are currently halted)
I’d start accumulating SKF if I were sure the SEC wouldn’t completely halt trading in it. It should be trading at at an egregious premium to NAV in a couple of weeks if it isn’t banned. Banning SRS sales might also be on their “to do” list.