8 As I was washing the dishes tonight, I reminisced about what I was doing 1 year ago.
My son had just turned 1. I had graduated in June 2011 with my Civil Engineering degree, but the job market in Portland for inexperienced CE grads was a **little** tight. I ended up taking a shit job 25 miles away working swing shift (2:30-11).
Most of my time was spent using a beam saw, edge bander or driving a forklift. I would reduce sheet and hardwood material into usable forms (sometimes it was cabinet parts with full edge banding, sometimes I needed to rip 3 units of 4X8 plywood sheets at 3″, other times it was cutting hardwood cabinet doors/drawer fronts to size).
The hours were tough…also my son had a proclivity for waking up at 6AM, so I was getting 5 hours of sleep pretty regularly.
Adding insult to injury, I was also a “temp”. No benefits and making a pitiful wage. I liked the guys I worked with…you always meet some interesting people working in jobs like that. Some people live hard lives…
Finally the day came for me to “get hired on”.
This portly fellow (HR Manager) summoned me to his office and proceeded to sit me down. Instead of commencing our meeting, he proceeded to continue working on some task on his computer and told me that he would “be right with me”. I thought that this was a peculiar development.
After sitting silently (well, I was…he was sucking on something from in between his teeth, which added a quaint ambiance to the room) for the better part of 5 minutes, we finally are able to get started…but not before walking down the hall to the conference room.
Once there he proceeds to regale me with tales of how it was a once great company, but since the financial crisis had to “cut back on some things”. Apparently two of these things they decided to do away with were: giving me a raise from my temp wage and immediately providing me with benefits (I was told that I would have to wait 4 months from my “hire date” to begin receiving benefits…which was not in congruence with what I was told when I was initially “hired”).
I saw red.
I didn’t hear another word for the remainder of my 25 minute meeting with this “person”. Oh, wait one…this gentleman did manage to slip in a crack about how “I was an engineer” in regard to some simple arithmetic I had to complete on a form, nice touch, FUCKFACE. Please pardon my tenor and language.
At “lunch” my wife and I decided that it would be best for me if I just quit; thus I wrote a resignation letter that evening and left it on my boss’s desk for him to retrieve in the morning. I had nothing against the guys that I worked with, so I felt kind of bad to leave them hanging…but I’m nobody’s bitch.
I had never just up and quit a job before…though the temptation had been there countless times in previous employment experiences…so it felt good.
Naturally the best thing to do when you have very little time on your hands is to trade egregiously levered positions in stocks that are going in the exact opposite direction. I bought some BAC February 6 puts in late December…then I bought more and more and more…my cost basis was 12% of account equity.
You can see where this is going, right?
Needless to say, my 2012 was off to an ELECTRIC start…digging myself an enormous hole…one in which I would never escape from. I scratched back to the surface in late July, but kept getting myself into egregious options positions throughout the remainder of the summer, fall and winter. Therefore I vowed to make 2013 different.
I’m setting a very slow pace to start out. Yes, my returns seem paltry to date, but I am also working with cash levels right around 50% and am in no hurry to “go large”. Should the market continue to climb, I will be gradually putting cash to work. Recall that my goal is to average 2%/month.
Before I sign off, some quick notes about my positions:
- AN is resilient. Again was down for the better part of the day, finished strong. That’s a bullish sign.
- I put my displeasure with CTB on hold for a minute and noticed that it found support at the 20 day MA. Will monitor.
- EEM continues to underperform…I’m interested to see how this variable affects the market.
- I can’t wait to buy more MRH once it breaks 24.
- PCL is in the “void”. Feel free to hop on at your leisure. Will buy MOAR at 48.4
- I was thinking about adding to TTM on the pullback, I think I’ll wait until it breaks 31
- WGO may be pulling into the KOA for a rest…a break below 18 would likely have me reducing my exposure.
For the day: -0.16%, month: +0.94%
My best to you all.
-EM
8 Responses to “Portfolio: 01/15/13; also Reminiscing About Years Past”
The Fly
Nice story. You should’ve become a crossing guard.
The Fly
Portland, ME or WA?
The Fly
Err, I meant OR
elizamae
Oregon
The Fly
I have a lot of family out there, in particular an uncle who regularly kills people for leisure.
elizamae
Beautiful country, I miss it.
Your uncle sounds like a friendly gent.
Mama Bird
Dahn Oragahn!
Raul3
I sometimes miss my grunt jobs, but I always quit them with panache.
Good story.
Ironically enough, that same BAC put position would be working this year with financials ripping.