iBankCoin
18 years in Wall Street, left after finding out it was all horseshit. Founder/ Master and Commander: iBankCoin, finance news and commentary from the future.
Joined Nov 10, 2007
23,471 Blog Posts

I May Be Wrong About January

I had time, while freezing my ass off this weekend (I am warm and rich now), to think about market psychology. After all, that’s what short term moves are all about.

Then I saw someone throw a couple of shoes at President Bush and it dawned on me: holy shit, people are going to celebrate like it’s 1929 when he gets kicked out of the White House.

Last January was different. We were at very high levels and people were still in denial. Today, people know everything sucks, but yearn for better times.

Basically, we could be heading into a period when the market melts up, for no good reason, causing bears to shoot howitzer shells into their faces. Without a doubt, EVENTUALLY, all of the bad news will crush the spirits of the true believers. However, in the interim, Obama lovers, coupled with New Years fools, might gun this fucker another 10-15%.

One of my new strategies for 2009 is to avoid 2x and 3x etf’s. They have proven to be mathematical absurdities. In their place, “The Fly” will get back to good ol’ fashioned stock picking.

At the moment, I have a very large cash position. Upon executing my “Don’t Let the Door Hit Bush on the Way Out” strategy, I might buy the following:

INTC, RIO, AMKR (dice roll), UN, AYE, LNN, CMP and APOL.

NOTE: In the event the market just dives off a cliff, sometime very soon, I will shelf the thoughts written above, indefinitely.

If you enjoy the content at iBankCoin, please follow us on Twitter

63 comments

  1. Woodshedder

    Fly, those 2x ETFs will be whispering to you, whilst your white robe trails silently behind you. You cannot resist the siren song.

    • 0
    • 0
    • 0 Deem this to be "Fake News"
  2. Dogwood

    Resistance is futile. 2x ETFs must be traded.

    • 0
    • 0
    • 0 Deem this to be "Fake News"
  3. cheesefries

    Great read from Naked Capitalism-

    “Is a GM Bankruptcy Inevitable”

    http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2008/12/is-gm-bankruptcy-inevitable.html

    • 0
    • 0
    • 0 Deem this to be "Fake News"
  4. Anthony Brown

    That sounds great, staying away from the 2x and 3x etfs, but you know you’re loving those moves! I’m going to wait for the volatility to subside before abandoning those lovely super-movers! But I agree, these things were not built to last.

    • 0
    • 0
    • 0 Deem this to be "Fake News"
  5. j

    Why Rio and not BHP, Fly?

    You think the debt issue is overdone?

    • 0
    • 0
    • 0 Deem this to be "Fake News"
  6. The Fly

    Yeah, I’m loving the moves in FXP.

    Please.

    In 2009, I would like to be able to sleep.

    RIO, BHP, same shit.

    • 0
    • 0
    • 0 Deem this to be "Fake News"
  7. Woodshedder

    Well hell. Who made you stick around in FXP? You’re throwin’ the baby out there Fly.

    • 0
    • 0
    • 0 Deem this to be "Fake News"
  8. j

    I thought a point interesting move of last week was that the TeD spread move below 2 and held there despite the Friday debacle.

    I am long gold .

    I also bought some euro and Aussie this morn. If Ted holds down and the Fed move down rates accompanied with dovish fed babble, the Euro could take off in this environment. Aussie is a liquidity play and have no hesitation in blowing it out if it doesn’t work.

    • 0
    • 0
    • 0 Deem this to be "Fake News"
  9. The Fly

    Wood:

    You’re a two bit pirate.

    • 0
    • 0
    • 0 Deem this to be "Fake News"
  10. Woodshedder

    That’s why I trade with RRRRRRRRRRRSI

    • 0
    • 0
    • 0 Deem this to be "Fake News"
  11. Obi-Wan-Jakobi

    Fly, I have searched my feelings and have come to the answer.

    Neither the Giants or the Titans are as good as they thought they were.

    But the Crackboys still suck, and Homo will choke once again, much to the Sleestak Jones’s chagrin.

    ________

    Very sorry to hear about your heating difficulties. I never know when you are putting us on or no. It appears this episode was not a put on, however. Hope the kids stayed warm.

    _________

    PPS — thanks for seeing it Wood and Eye’s way, again.

    I just hope no one follows you out of the funnel.

    ___________

    • 0
    • 0
    • 0 Deem this to be "Fake News"
  12. gio

    Quietly pay attention to this post guys. I aquiesce with Fly on this one. Vix to 40s.

    -gio-

    • 0
    • 0
    • 0 Deem this to be "Fake News"
  13. Lady Guenevere

    Mr. Fly I am sorry to hear about you and Mrs. Fly’s heating problems. Remember I suggested you should take a Caribbean cruise right about now….

    I am glad you are going to ‘come up with a new writing style’ that will be good for your Turrets syndrome…hopefully you now taking your MEDS.

    No 2x or 3x ETF eh? I dont believe it. In no time you will be going NUTS waiting on the market to ‘ do something’ and you will dive right into those 3x ETF’s

    I LOVE THEM- for the moment. One day we can all go back to picking stocks and actually ‘ walking away’ from our computers for a couple of hours.

    See you Monday

    • 0
    • 0
    • 0 Deem this to be "Fake News"
  14. ChinaMan

    Just load up on TBT. “Easiest” play out there.

    • 0
    • 0
    • 0 Deem this to be "Fake News"
  15. Aris

    i think the weak dollar trade is the only one with any traction right now.

    • 0
    • 0
    • 0 Deem this to be "Fake News"
  16. Small Fry

    Anyone see 60 Minutes tonight? Anyone who saw it is on the phone selling at the open tomorrow. It was a Class-A scare job. It was a well-produced piece designed to make even someone like DEVILDOG say “Whoa, it’s gonna be bad!”

    • 0
    • 0
    • 0 Deem this to be "Fake News"
  17. j-daddy

    Shouldn’t the euphoria after the election of the anointed one have caused a rally? Instead the market to one in the nards.

    I agree the market is stupid. It’s so slow to catch on to reasons to sell that is dithers long enough for another ill-advised reason to buy shows up. It doesn’t change the trend.

    • 0
    • 0
    • 0 Deem this to be "Fake News"
  18. StarscreamPowerPlay
    StarscreamPowerPlay

    2-3x ETFs (when does the 8x start up?) are a great way for the personal investor to increase risk and holding them is a great way to take huge losses if markets gap down overnight.

    If the dollar starts to fade and the Yen continues to crush, then gaps will be down overnight probably across all asset classes.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eFNdAmvpaKs

    • 0
    • 0
    • 0 Deem this to be "Fake News"
  19. hmmmm

    Fuck 60 minutes. Their show is only like 44 minutes sans advertising. They lie. We built this city on rock and roll, not debt. Money managers and traders move the market not losers who get their news from major television networks. God forbid the plastic on their sofas doesn’t stick to their fat asses when they get up to open their portfolios to find a fucking moth orgy only Buffalo Bill would be jealous of.

    • 0
    • 0
    • 0 Deem this to be "Fake News"
  20. hmmmm

    The fly is high from sniffing gas fumes and freezing his dick off all weekend. The fact that everyone expects this rally is exactly why it will not happen. I fully expect The Fly to think clear thoughts and retract that post once his gas hangover is gone.

    • 0
    • 0
    • 0 Deem this to be "Fake News"
  21. aristotle

    The system is collapsing

    http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601109&sid=aGvwttDayiiM&refer=home

    • 0
    • 0
    • 0 Deem this to be "Fake News"
  22. HaywoodJablowme

    christmas will not be cancelled, end of times can wait till January. Folks will get giddy, what with the shoe ducker leaving office soon., and Obama cononation. Avoiding that shoe might have the been fastest thing he’s done since he was sniffin’ booga sugar at the SAE house with Marv at UVa.

    • 0
    • 0
    • 0 Deem this to be "Fake News"
  23. hmmmm

    Hey hmmmmm imposter. Fuck you. I will command Meredith “Ursa Major” Whitney to greet you with the most deceptive bear hug. She’s polishing her championship belt as we speak. Then she’ll steal your Arby’s coupons from your velcro wallet. The Fly does not get high and neither do I. Your comment is bullshit. We will be lead by deaf hipsters (ANF), John Denver airplanes (ALK) in the coming days, and also by Howard Lindzon of CEC.

    • 0
    • 0
    • 0 Deem this to be "Fake News"
  24. aumana

    Bears are singing “if you love someone set them free” from their yoga mats. Having come upon a flaw in their business plan – that there will be no banks to hold their winnings, they are left with only 50% of the market cap for now. A melt up is good horse sense hank har.

    But, half a bear can break this thing, damn, why give up now?

    • 0
    • 0
    • 0 Deem this to be "Fake News"
  25. john

    hmmmm: I dont know how your name added to my post. That was an accident. Arby’s must be delicious when your high.

    • 0
    • 0
    • 0 Deem this to be "Fake News"
  26. Mushroomz

    I must say, SDS is a great trading tool. It has massive amounts of volume and that is what I look for in a good ETF, and its not as volatile as SRS. The SPX is whats really important anyway.

    • 0
    • 0
    • 0 Deem this to be "Fake News"
  27. Juice

    In the spirit of FXP, SRS may get cut in half before its more than a 1-3 day trade to the long side. When this relief rally runs its course, maybe by April Fools Day, wouldn’t that just make sense? An April Fools Day Market Massacre … then those FXP’s will print money to the stratosphere.

    • 0
    • 0
    • 0 Deem this to be "Fake News"
  28. Dinosaur Trader

    I love this post. DT wins again!

    -DT

    • 0
    • 0
    • 0 Deem this to be "Fake News"
  29. Eye No Stuff

    Fairfield to sue Madoff … right. Got it. That should do a world of good.

    Strange that the markets perform OK in the face of a $50 Billion swindle, no?

    • 0
    • 0
    • 0 Deem this to be "Fake News"
  30. j

    Eye

    Is it a $50 billion swindle or $17 billion? I keep hearing that the capital was $17 billion while the 50 bill figure has been mentioned once and seems to be the accepted amount now.

    I would bet the loss is closer to $17 billion and still call it a home run as far as flip out stories go.

    • 0
    • 0
    • 0 Deem this to be "Fake News"
  31. TraderCaddy

    Next thing you know Hampton Inns will join the suit.

    • 0
    • 0
    • 0 Deem this to be "Fake News"
  32. Stocastix

    The 2x, 3x etfs are absurdities because they have to do daily rebalancing. I have a degree in math and computer science and have studied them and these things will grind lower in times of volatility. I can see SKF going down to $20 and SRS going down to $20 when nothing much happens but just volatility.

    They are extremely dangerous instruments and the Fly is 10000% right that you need to stay away. I have held them in the past and can tell you that sooner or later someone is going to investigate these instruments as they are not properly formulated. For e.g. SRS is down (yes, you heard right, DOWN 20+% this quarter while real estate has cratered).

    • 0
    • 0
    • 0 Deem this to be "Fake News"
  33. Madoff Jackoff

    I am fading you bitches and sending my white leotarded plumber to your houses to blow up your heating systems.

    I like lots of cream in my coffee too, asshole.

    • 0
    • 0
    • 0 Deem this to be "Fake News"
  34. Big Mike

    You do know, Chanos is shorting those private education entities?

    Reason, why FXP is getting killed; Hong Kong is up like 40% since lows. How much more upside is there? Makes me say…hmmm; Brazil index (in case you are thinking of buying RIO) is also about something like 30% from lows.

    I think oil at $40 is a bottom…

    • 0
    • 0
    • 0 Deem this to be "Fake News"
  35. Big Mike

    I feel like a gambling man, and I will GO LONG Goldman Sachs into earnings…

    • 0
    • 0
    • 0 Deem this to be "Fake News"
  36. Bob Brill

    FWIW if it fits your style, you may want to short the ETFs, to be on the winning side of the house. I had tweeted:

    ETFs fall faster than they rise. swing (one to four days) trade them. @steenbab ETFs better for trading than investing http://rurl.org/18qd

    Text from that link: “the answer might result in the decision to go short the Short ETF, when you intend to go actually long or Short the Long ETF, when you want to short.

    That way you would trade the fund side of the ETF investment game and no longer the investor side. Investors buy either long or short ETF’s, the Fund sells them and is therefore always Short.”

    • 0
    • 0
    • 0 Deem this to be "Fake News"
  37. The $50 bill mostly changed hands? – Bernie probably just skimmed off some millions – the rest was used to pay the 13.5% return? Or, maybe Bernie tried his hand at investing and lost his ass?

    • 0
    • 0
    • 0 Deem this to be "Fake News"
  38. scum bucket

    On the eve of ARMageddon, and all through the house, not a creature was stirring, except for Fly playing for a bounce. I always wondered why a pro would play ETFs especially considering the bite those bastards take.

    • 0
    • 0
    • 0 Deem this to be "Fake News"
  39. T MOE

    The Oils keep going higher and higher. XOM close to a 20 day high. Has it gone too far too fast? I realize that it is benefiting from run up in oil with OPEC saying they will cut production. But with the continuing demand destruction and the current over supply is XOM getting ahead of itself?

    • 0
    • 0
    • 0 Deem this to be "Fake News"
  40. Eye No Stuff

    j – $17 B under Madoff’s mgt according to SEC filings earlier this year. $50 B in losses according to what Madoff told his sons. Who knows where it winds up. Probably somewhere in-between. Still, it’s a shit pot full of money. The nice thing though is that it won’t lead to a ton of forced selling. There aren’t assets there to be sold. It’s just an evaporation of fabricated wealth.

    • 0
    • 0
    • 0 Deem this to be "Fake News"
  41. T MOE

    More people on TV calling the end of NOV the bottom. this makes me even more bearish as the herd gets sucked in

    • 0
    • 0
    • 0 Deem this to be "Fake News"
  42. charlie

    Watch out bulls

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ob_oD1IsYbE

    • 0
    • 0
    • 0 Deem this to be "Fake News"
  43. The Fly!

    I may be wrong about last night. Damn gas fumes.

    • 0
    • 0
    • 0 Deem this to be "Fake News"
  44. cheesefries

    In a regulatory filing, the company [COF 26.82 -1.30 (-4.62%) ] said the annual net charge-off rate for U.S. credit cards increased to 6.98 percent in November from 6.54 percent in October, while the rate for loans at least 30 days delinquent rose to 4.70 percent to 4.48 percent.

    Net charge-offs reflect loans that a lender does not expect to be repaid.

    • 0
    • 0
    • 0 Deem this to be "Fake News"
  45. Bernie’s home at 410 North Lake Way in Palm Beach can be seen on Google maps except that it is so overgrown – it looks like a semi-tropical jungle – odd, no?

    • 0
    • 0
    • 0 Deem this to be "Fake News"
  46. weirdo j

    market may rally, but i sense somme global political warfare brewing. Israel will be in danger.

    • 0
    • 0
    • 0 Deem this to be "Fake News"
  47. charlie

    FAZ is wrecking house today. Are you sure you’re done with 3x ETFs Fly?

    • 0
    • 0
    • 0 Deem this to be "Fake News"
  48. j

    What’s his street address in NYC I know it’s E 64th street?

    • 0
    • 0
    • 0 Deem this to be "Fake News"
  49. Aris

    bah. i should have bought FAZ again on fri, but i went to all cash and didn’t wake up until well after the open today.

    the trading action right now is identical to last spring: oil/metal/seeds

    it almost appears too easy, though, which makes me hesitant.

    • 0
    • 0
    • 0 Deem this to be "Fake News"
  50. Eye No Stuff

    Market weakness a result of Bernie Madoff’s selling from his Swiss accounts. He needs to raise $50 Billion to pay the lawyers.

    • 0
    • 0
    • 0 Deem this to be "Fake News"
  51. Eye No Stuff

    President Bush won’t be making any further public appearances this week. As a joke, Cheny superglued a shoe to Bush’s nose while the President was sleeping last night. Poor George is yet to figure out how to get the shoe off his nose.

    • 0
    • 0
    • 0 Deem this to be "Fake News"
  52. Jakegint

    Shocker!

    SEC investigated Madoff in 1992, and issued him a “clean bill of health.”

    Are there any more useless “late barn door closers” than our regulatory authorities?

    ___________

    • 0
    • 0
    • 0 Deem this to be "Fake News"
  53. kochevnik

    never mind

    • 0
    • 0
    • 0 Deem this to be "Fake News"
  54. boca

    Anonymous, that’s normal for a house down here (especially if you want some privacy), my back yard looks like a tropical jungle too.

    • 0
    • 0
    • 0 Deem this to be "Fake News"
  55. scum bucket

    da dolla goin’ all kamikaze.

    • 0
    • 0
    • 0 Deem this to be "Fake News"
  56. Bob Brill

    I also tweeted info from another link:


    smarter to just short the 1X ETF like XLF or IYR rt @mreb Beware of 2x ETFs like $SRS $SKF $FXP
    http://tinyurl.com/6zce4p

    Anybody know a 1x ETF for TBT?

    • 0
    • 0
    • 0 Deem this to be "Fake News"
  57. Boca, Bernie’s neighbors are not all grown up as if they have something to hide. Palm Beach homes on the beach side even have low walls in front – I wondered why have a wall that someone could simply step over – it’s because of the view, of course – low wall does not block the ocean view.

    • 0
    • 0
    • 0 Deem this to be "Fake News"
  58. T MOE

    Jamie Dimon says that they are having a hard time unwinding the shitty assets from Bear Sterns. I venture to say that WAMU has even worse shit on their books and JPM may have a harder time with those shitty assets. JPM is weak today and it could get weaker. They may be on the road to $25 a share soon

    • 0
    • 0
    • 0 Deem this to be "Fake News"
  59. mrkcbill

    Letter to the bank
    Dear Sirs,

    In view of what seems to be happening internationally with banks at the moment, I was wondering if you could advise me correctly…

    If one of my checks is returned marked “insufficient funds,” how do I know whether that refers to me, or to you?

    • 0
    • 0
    • 0 Deem this to be "Fake News"
  60. Jakegint

    j is likely sleeping, but this is one for his side.

    ________

    • 0
    • 0
    • 0 Deem this to be "Fake News"
  61. so i herd you liek mudkips
    so i herd you liek mudkips

    closed my short iyr positions because this shit is getting boring.

    • 0
    • 0
    • 0 Deem this to be "Fake News"
  62. Bob Brill

    I tried to short TLT but no shares were available.

    • 0
    • 0
    • 0 Deem this to be "Fake News"