The Gains Are Hard Fought

The tape we’re navigating continues to be tough on me, hesitating to grant me generous sums of money.  I came into the day a little over 60 percent long, as where I was more like 80 percent long on the way down, so I’m not recapturing my losses.

Plus I own some overpriced AAPL.  I’m afraid this stock lost its momentum a few weeks ago and is now destined to drift lower until a catalyst presents itself.  And here I am, -6% on the name.  I suspect we’re seeing profit taking by the huge funds who have called AAPL home for many years.  After a lousy quarter, who wants this name on their books?

My only action today in the portfolio was taking a ½ scale on my ZION shares.  Regional banks continued their strength today and we reached my initial destination.

I’m sick of solar stocks and I own YGE and ENPH.  I thought about selling both no less than three times today but I wanted to give them a chance to regain their mojo.  Perhaps they would think about how cool it used to be when they would run hard.  I don’t know.  Put yourself in a business owners shoes for a moment.  Would you rather build gigantic solar panels on your roof to generate a fraction of the energy you need, or cut your lighting expense by 75 percent?  Lighting which in most business settings accounts for 25 percent of the electric usage.  If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a thousand times, “The easiest was for a business owner to place themselves in the graces of Premier Obama is to upgrade their lighting to CREE bulbs.”  CREE should have been accumulated on the dip…that’s your hindsight trading tip of the week.

I wanted to add to SODA all day and then I didn’t.  It just never convinced me.

Today was one of those sessions in the futures where I grind out all day long to compensate for two mistakes I made.  Then, sitting on a beige-green day, fairly confident the HOD was in, I got cocky and went long again and gave back my daily gains.  I made 1500 in profitable trades and 1650 in losing trades.  The lessons keep coming.

I’m off to tend to other business then swim no less than a mile.