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Dr. Fly

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.

Racing into 2024

I’m trading defensively to cap off the year, relegating myself to about +60% for the year. I am sure you think that I think it is a great achievement and that I am boasting. But it isn’t true. Although I know +60% is technically a good year and better than most, I feel mediocre and have felt subpar since 2021. I really could have done a lot better, made less mistakes — capture more rallies.

I think it’s fair to say that I made 60% whilst missing out on 80% of the big rallies this year. My gains were milled out — mined with my own hands — subjugated to inclemate weather and poor working conditions. Back in 2020 and 2021 my fastball was unhittable, curve ball broke the legs of people trying to hit it.

Nowadays I am relegated to pedestrian levels of greatness — not superhuman. Do you understand?

As the calendar continues, I am cognizant of the fact that this is a younger man’s game. To be a good trader is to be sharp and to be sharp is to be young, completely aware of your surroundings. I know for sure that I was a better risk applier when I was 25, but also woefully inadequate in managing risk. It is a fair assessment to say that I have never been better, although I’d like very much to enjoy the level of greatness achieved back in 2020-2021.

After all, the NASDAQ was up more than 50% this year. I know ordinary stocks didn’t do much — but with a market up that much — a great trader should be up triple digits this year.

I blame myself, entirely, always on the defensive, schizo, afraid of the fires to come. I had many distractions and it wasn’t a typical year, with geopolitical events truly making things hard to decipher. But I will continue to head out there in FULL BATTLE GARMENTS, sticking swords into people, dropping hot tar and lighting them aflame. For 2024, I intent to introduce a battering ram for my enemies, break into their castles and pillage it.

For the session, I’m +33bps, really just getting into trading for the day right now.

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Merry Christmas

Statistically, a lot of people go crazy ’round the holidays, most likely the result of their expectations not matching with their realities. I’ve always been fond of the Christmas season, the sentiments being to be generous and thoughtful — cheerful and celebratory with the people you love.

When I was a young boy, Christmas meant secret presents under the tree, letting my mind run wild with expectations. I was almost always disappointed after opening my gifts — but the next year I’d renew the aspirational excitement and hoped Santa got it right that year.

When I was around 10, I finally learned Santa Claus wasn’t real and it shook me to my core. A part of me was destroyed, the magic of Christmas would never be the same…until I had kids of my own.

With my kids, my wife and I really went above and beyond to give them that magical feeling that, unfortunately, is fleeting for a very brief period during a lifetime. We’d leave the cookies for Santa, carrots for Rudolph, and hope to receive whatever we had wished for in the months and weeks heading into the holiday.

It’s true to say I was an active participant in forgetting the true meaning of Christmas, something I complain about now as an older man. The consumerism I decry as being “evil” is something that I’ve partaken in ever since I hoped and dreamed to receive the gifts of my dreams back when I was 6. Alas the nuance of life and the varying degrees of hypocrisy laid bare for all the world to see.

We’re all hypocrites, to some degree. There are things that I want in theory but perhaps would loathe in practice. Idealism is really something that is best practiced inside one’s mind, sort of like communism. It sounds nice for everyone to be happy and healthy — but would it ever work in real life — especially given the innumerable ways humans tend to fork one another?

My Grandfather used to stick decorations around the house and sing songs in his eloquent deep baritone voice and make struffolis and adorn the table with a Christmas feast of the very first order. He’d build a hundred paper airplanes for me and shoot them around his 6th floor apartment for me to chase around all day, telling me tall tales about past Christmases and when he once saw Santa in a sled from his Brooklyn window. I’d hang onto every word and never knew someone as creative and intelligent as he was, even though I’d notice, from time to time, his temper burned pretty hot. My Mother and Uncles never knew this person. They knew someone far worse, who was now reformed and the same could be said about my Grandmother.

We all take lessons from previous generations and if we’re paying close attention we can become better. My hopes for my children is to be better and live a happier life than me, hopefully passing down this trait to future generations and live peacefully with people who love them.

Cheers to you and your families and thank you for your patronage and the attention you’ve given me all these years. I am grateful.

Fly

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Here Are the Top 10 Rated Stocks in Stocklabs, YTD

These aren’t the top 10 stocks based off technical scores now — but the aggregate scores year to date. I’d normally apply a volume filter for trading purposes but removed it for the sake of the exercise and it produced some names I was unfamiliar with. It was a great year for many stocks and specific sectors. If recalcitrant in the losing areas of the market, you were offered very few periods of respite, as the anointed places of bullish fervor constantly ebbed higher.

#1:M/I Homes Inc. ($MHO) +189% = M/I Homes, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, operates as a builder of single-family homes in Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, North Carolina, Florida, and Texas, the United States. The company operates through Northern Homebuilding, Southern Homebuilding, and Financial Services segments. It designs, constructs, markets, and sells single-family homes and attached townhomes to first-time, millennial, move-up, empty-nester, and luxury buyers under the M/I Homes brand name. The company also purchases undeveloped land to develop into developed lots for the construction of single-family homes, as well as for sale to others. In addition, it originates and sells mortgages; and serves as a title insurance agent by providing title insurance policies, examination, and closing services to purchasers of its homes. The company was formerly known as M/I Schottenstein Homes, Inc. and changed its name to M/I Homes, Inc. in January 2004. M/I Homes, Inc. was founded in 1976 and is based in Columbus, Ohio.

#2: Limbach Holdings Inc. ($LMB) +327% = Limbach Holdings, Inc. operates as an integrated building systems solutions company in the United States. It operates in two segments, Construction and Service. The company engages in the design, prefabrication, installation, management, and maintenance of mechanical, electrical, plumbing, and control systems, as well as heating, ventilation, air-conditioning (HVAC) system; and maintenance, and equipment upgradation, emergency service work, automatic temperature control, specialty contracting, and energy monitoring services. Its facility services comprise mechanical construction, HVAC service and maintenance, energy audits and retrofits, engineering and design build, constructability evaluation, equipment and materials selection, offsite/prefabrication construction, and sustainable building solutions and practices. The company serves research, acute care, and inpatient hospitals; public and private colleges, universities, research centers and K-12 facilities; sports arenas; entertainment facilities, and amusement rides; passenger terminals and maintenance facilities for rail and airports; government facilities comprising federal, state, and local agencies; hotels and resorts; office building and other commercial structures; multi-family apartments; data centers; and industrial manufacturing facilities. It operates in Florida, California, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Washington DC, Virginia, West Virginia, Ohio, and Michigan. The company was founded in 1901 and is headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

#3: Fortress Transportation and Infrastructure Investors LLC ($FTAI) +174% = Fortress Transportation and Infrastructure Investors LLC owns and acquires infrastructure and related equipment for the transportation of goods and people in Africa, Asia, Europe, North America, and South America. It operates through three segments: Aviation Leasing, Jefferson Terminal, and Ports and Terminals. The Aviation Leasing segment leases aircraft and aircraft engines. As of December 31, 2020, this segment owned and managed 264 aviation assets, including 78 commercial aircraft and 186 engines. The Jefferson Terminal segment engages in the development of a multi-modal crude oil and refined products handling terminal in Beaumont, Texas; and ownership of various other assets for the transportation and processing of crude oil and related products. The Ports and Terminals segment operates Repauno, a 1,630 acre deep-water port located along the Delaware River; and Long Ridge, which is a 1,660 acre multi-modal port located along the Ohio River. The company also owns and leases offshore energy equipment and shipping containers. It serves operators of transportation and infrastructure networks comprising airlines, offshore energy service providers, energy providers, and shipping lines. The company is externally managed by FIG LLC, an affiliate of Fortress Investment Group LLC. Fortress Transportation and Infrastructure Investors LLC was founded in 2011 and is headquartered in New York, New York.

#4: NVIDIA Corporation ($NVDA) +234% = NVIDIA Corporation operates as a visual computing company worldwide. It operates in two segments, Graphics and Compute & Networking. The Graphics segment offers GeForce GPUs for gaming and PCs, the GeForce NOW game streaming service and related infrastructure, and solutions for gaming platforms; Quadro/NVIDIA RTX GPUs for enterprise design; GRID software for cloud-based visual and virtual computing; and automotive platforms for infotainment systems. The Compute & Networking segment offers Data Center platforms and systems for AI, HPC, and accelerated computing; Mellanox networking and interconnect solutions; automotive AI Cockpit, autonomous driving development agreements, and autonomous vehicle solutions; and Jetson for robotics and other embedded platforms. The company’s products are used in gaming, professional visualization, datacenter, and automotive markets. NVIDIA Corporation sells its products to original equipment manufacturers, original device manufacturers, system builders, add-in board manufacturers, retailers/distributors, Internet and cloud service providers, automotive manufacturers and tier-1 automotive suppliers, mapping companies, start-ups, and other ecosystem participants. NVIDIA has partnership with Google Cloud to create AI-on-5G Lab. NVIDIA Corporation was founded in 1993 and is headquartered in Santa Clara, California.

#5: Abercrombie & Fitch Company ($ANF) +305% = Abercrombie & Fitch Co., through its subsidiaries, operates as a specialty retailer in the United States, Europe, the Middle East, Asia, the Asia-Pacific, Canada, and internationally. The company operates through two segments, Hollister and Abercrombie. It offers an assortment of apparel, personal care products, and accessories for men, women, and kids under the Hollister, Gilly Hicks, Social Tourist, Abercrombie & Fitch, and abercrombie kids brands. The company sells products through its stores; various wholesale, franchise, and licensing arrangements; and e-commerce platforms. Abercrombie & Fitch Co. was founded in 1892 and is headquartered in New Albany, Ohio.

#6: Meta Platforms Inc ($META) +193% = Meta Platforms, Inc. develops products that enable people to connect and share with friends and family through mobile devices, personal computers, virtual reality headsets, wearables, and in-home devices worldwide. It operates in two segments, Family of Apps and Reality Labs. The Family of Apps segment’s products include Facebook, which enables people to share, discover, and connect with interests; Instagram, a community for sharing photos, videos, and private messages, as well as feed, stories, reels, video, live, and shops; Messenger, a messaging application for people to connect with friends, family, groups, and businesses across platforms and devices through chat, audio and video calls, and rooms; and WhatsApp, a messaging application that is used by people and businesses to communicate and transact privately. The Reality Labs segment provides augmented and virtual reality related products comprising virtual reality hardware, software, and content that help people feel connected, anytime, and anywhere. The company was formerly known as Facebook, Inc. and changed its name to Meta Platforms, Inc. in October 2021. Meta Platforms, Inc. was incorporated in 2004 and is headquartered in Menlo Park, California.

#7: PulteGroup Inc. ($PHM) +125% = PulteGroup, Inc., through its subsidiaries, primarily engages in the homebuilding business in the United States. The company acquires and develops land primarily for residential purposes; and constructs housing on such land. It offers various home designs, including single-family detached, townhouses, condominiums, and duplexes under the Centex, Pulte Homes, Del Webb, DiVosta Homes, American West, and John Wieland Homes and Neighborhoods brand names. As of December 31, 2020, the company controlled 180,352 lots, of which 91,363 were owned and 88,989 were under land option agreements. It also arranges financing through the origination of mortgage loans primarily for homebuyers; sells the servicing rights for the originated loans; and provides title insurance policies, and examination and closing services to homebuyers. PulteGroup, Inc. has a strategic relationship with Invitation Homes Inc. The company was formerly known as Pulte Homes, Inc. and changed its name to PulteGroup, Inc. in March 2010. PulteGroup, Inc. was founded in 1950 and is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia.

#8: Fair Isaac Corporation ($FICO) +96% = Fair Isaac Corporation develops analytic, software, and data management products and services that enable businesses to automate, enhance, and connect decisions in North America, Latin America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Asia Pacific. The company offers analytical solutions, credit scoring, and credit account management products and services to banks, credit reporting agencies, credit card processing agencies, insurers, retailers, healthcare organizations, and public agencies. It operates through three segments: Applications, Scores, and Decision Management Software. The Applications segment offers pre-configured decision management applications designed for various business problems or processes, such as marketing, account origination, customer management, fraud, financial crimes compliance, collection, and insurance claims management, as well as associated professional services. The Scores segment provides business-to-business scoring solutions and services, including myFICO solutions for consumers that give clients access to analytics to be integrated into their transaction streams and decision-making processes, as well as associated professional services. The Decision Management Software segment offers analytic and decision management software tools through FICO Decision Management Suite, as well as associated professional services. Fair Isaac Corporation markets its products and services primarily through its direct sales organization; indirect channels; subsidiary sales organizations; and resellers and independent distributors, as well as online. The company was formerly known as Fair Isaac & Company, Inc. and changed its name to Fair Isaac Corporation in July 1992. Fair Isaac Corporation was founded in 1956 and is headquartered in San Jose, California.

#9: BellRing Brands ($BRBR) +116% = BellRing Brands, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, provides various nutrition products in the United States and internationally. It offers ready-to-drink (RTD) protein shakes, other RTD beverages, powders, nutrition bars, and other products primarily under the Premier Protein and Dymatize brands. The company sells its products through club, food, drug, mass, eCommerce, specialty, and convenience channels. BellRing Brands, Inc. was incorporated in 2019 and is headquartered in Saint Louis, Missouri.

#10: Vertiv Holdings Co ($VRT) +257% = Vertiv Holdings Co, together with its subsidiaries, designs, manufactures, and services critical digital infrastructure technologies and life cycle services for data centers, communication networks, and commercial and industrial environments in the Americas, the Asia Pacific, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. It offers power management products, uninterruptible power systems, thermal management products, integrated rack systems, modular solutions, and management systems for monitoring and controlling digital infrastructure that are integral to the technologies used for various services, including e-commerce, online banking, file sharing, video on-demand, energy storage, wireless communications, Internet of Things, and online gaming. The company also provides lifecycle management services, predictive analytics, and professional services for deploying, maintaining, and optimizing these products and their related systems. It offers its products primarily under the Liebert, NetSure, Geist, and Avocent brands. The company serves social media, financial services, healthcare, transportation, retail, education, and government industries through a network of direct sales professionals, independent sales representatives, channel partners, and original equipment manufacturers. Vertiv Holdings Co is headquartered in Columbus, Ohio.

Bonus #11: CymaBay Therapeutics Inc. ($CBAY) +267% = CymaBay Therapeutics, Inc., a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, focuses on developing and providing therapies to treat liver and other chronic diseases. Its lead product candidate is seladelpar (MBX-8025), a selective agonist of peroxisome proliferator activated receptor delta for the treatments of autoimmune liver disease, primary biliary cholangitis (PBC). The company also develops MBX-2982 for the disease/condition of hypoglycemia in type 1 diabetics. It has a license agreement with ABW Cyclops SPV LP to support development of seladelpar for the treatment of PBC; and holds a worldwide license from Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Inc. to research, develop, and commercialize compounds with activity against an undisclosed metabolic disease target. The company was formerly known as Metabolex, Inc. CymaBay Therapeutics, Inc. was incorporated in 1988 and is headquartered in Newark, California.

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Just About Wrapping Up 2023

It’s over. You cannot make it all back and the ideas of grandeur you had heading into 2023 are what they are now: either superb or shit. I doubt many traders had middling years. Given the volatility and the rhetoric, you were either tricked and fooled all year long or basked in the glory of a rigged market at the latter end of Pax Americana.

Before it all collapses and the transgendered bull is crucified upon the altar of vengeance, we might have a party — adeptly adored with flags of the rainbow varietal — hosted by the the cherry marines at the US government.

I can wax poetic about the fires to come — but there is a time and place for everything. After all, ’tis the Christmas season and we all do enjoy the paganised bastard version of the birth of Christ transmorphed into a sick and perverse exhibition of wanton consumerism and vacuous celebratory exercises all for the sake of, but not limited to, stupidity.

Then again, I shouldn’t be too harsh, since the years left to all of us are finite and some times some things help reduce the pangs of misery twisting inside of our guts — surveying the landscape of knuckle-dragging submentals enjoying grotesque sized hot dogs and cheesed burgers — filling their fat faces with hot chocolate and sweet drinks from the orient.

All I desire is for quiet and toil — the rest you can have.

I closed the week DOWN 195bps because I was mostly retarded. When juxtaposed against my longer term account, which was +322bps — you can really get the sense of how bad I was out there — like Babe Ruth in the latter days striking out with the Braves.

At any rate, I look forward to closing out the year in style. I haven’t any hedges, so fingers are indeed crossed for a fucking melt up come Monday.

Have a nice weekend catamites.

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Another Reason Why China is Uninvestable

As world markets steam to fresh highs, the Hang Seng is pinned to 15 year lows. China is communist, after all, even though they pretend to be a capitalistic command economy. Yesterday, out of nowhere, China proposed a bill to limit in game spending. On the surface, this is a good thing because fuck games. It rots the brains of children. On the other hand, there is freedom to contend with. There are some schools of thought that a benevolent government is useful to help its people remain on the right track. We can see the opposite of that here in America, where they indoctrinate children to hate how they look, feel and think.

I’m not sure if the Chinese approach is right — but I know our approach is wrong. Nevertheless, it would BEHOOVE you to glance over at shares of Tencent, $NTES and other China related names and say “this is ok” for an investor. China is a black box and no one knows what’s inside of it.

For the year, $PDD is the star in China, +75%. $BABA used to be the star, until Jack Ma got out of line and was disappeared. They truly had enough of his shit and made sure to make him fuck off for life. Shares of $BABA are down 14% for 2023.

Even so, seasonality is great for Chinese stocks in January and I was thinking about loading up on some of those fuckers before 2023 ended. But I have to admit, the chicanery inside that country gives me pause. This is the reason why, in Stocklabs, I label all companies from China “Chinese Burritos”, as they are some sort of mystery meat — obscure and suspect.

China might be on the move higher as a nation — but their stock market fucking sucks.

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MARKETS SCREAM HIGHER: I made 18bps

Motherfucker.

Everyone but me made back all of their losses from yesterday. But unlike everyone else, I had a net short position into the morning melt up and had to press longs into the final hours to extreme measures to make any money for the entire ribald session.

The NASDAQ cut off the dicks of the bears and I made back a rounding error of my losses from yesterday. I am, of course, hugely long into tomorrow and look forward to the gap down and collapse — placing me into an environ of pain — akin to having my face stuck in a plastic folding table as it collapses onto the floor.

These are my trials and tribulations and I expect to endure pain before I get to enjoy my life. As a matter of fact, now come to think of it, I haven’t enjoyed my life in quite some time and truly relegate my existence to toil and conflict.

THAT BEING SAID, I look forward to tomorrow’s fuckery and subsequent battles, where I intend to attend in full Teutonic Knight battle garments to sever the heads of all of my enemies.

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The Important Matter of Fine Dining

Last night after my extreme bogging in the markets, I ventured off to dinner for my wife’s birthday. I had talked about the place we were going to dine for weeks, perhaps even months. I showed everyone pictures and told them of the highfalutin status of this esteemed establishment. Expectations were sky high.

When we entered this esteemed establishment, we were greeted coldly by 3 women awkwardly positioned behind a desk — as if they were security guards. In the adjacent room was a Christmas party, the raucous type in what must’ve been an ALL BLACK company. We were seated in the main dining room, which was entirely empty bedecked in 1980s decor. We sat down and were left to rot at the table for a good 10 minutes and then a haggard waiter came over to us and asked if we “wanted anything to drink.” My impression of this middle aged black man was negative. We later found out it was his first day on the job and I suspected it was his first day inside of a restaurant.

After I informed him we hadn’t received our menus — he brought over a cocktail menu and gave it to me alone, the patriarch of the table. I should’ve walked out at that point — but it was 8pm and my wife’s birthday, so options were limited. Plus anyway, we had all dressed up for the fancy dining experience.

After he took the drink orders he turned to me about 15 paces from the table and told me “let me know when you want to see a food menu.” My wife and I locked eyes, bewildered by what he just said. I shouted out “you can bring them now.”

I peered over to the bar and saw his manager teaching him how to wait a table, basic stuff. Soon after he came back with drinks. My daughter was quite parched and took a large gulp of her lemonade, which, incidentally, was seasoned with SALT instead of sugar. I called the waiter over and asked him to take it away and then followed him with my eyes back to the bar, where his manager then took out the pitcher of lemonade and tasted it and then spit it out.

My youngest and most rebellious son, ANTIFA FLY, came back from the bathroom and said “some stupid waiter was in there blasting his YouTube video while taking leak and he didn’t wash his hands.”

I said “was it our waiter?”

He shot back coldly “no.”

Dinner was served by what must’ve been every employee at this shit hole — a very promising sign of professionalism in what was, thus far, a ridiculous experience.

My eldest son ordered fish and one of the waiters offered to “clean it” for him table side. I think he meant “debone” but was too stupid to use that word. He then proceeded to mangle the fish in his plate until it was completely mush — leaving at least half the bones in it for what seemed like an eternal struggle session. My wife was holding in her laughter.

As my son took his fist bite of the mangled fish, ANTIFA FLY yelled out to my eldest “hey remember that waiter I told you about in the bathroom? He just mashed up your fish.”

ANTIFA FLY took one bite of his filet mignon and said it tasted “like fish” and refused another. My food, on a scale of 1-10 was a zero. When the bill came I figured I’d exact some sort of petty revenge via the tip — but a 22% gratuity was added to it and I didn’t want to make a scene with everyone there, especially on my wife’s birthday, so I swallowed my manhood and paid it with a mean smile.

Oh, and when I got home, I was entreated to two dogs with food poisoning, which kept me up all night with walks at 2am, 3:3am, 5am, 7am, 9am 11:30am and 30 minutes ago.

As you well know, I was the chef in the kitchen for the dogs yesterday.

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The Bogging Continues

What a wonderful open. All of the stocks that were beaten yesterday are up sharply this morning — with upside breadth pinned above 70%. Unluckily for me, I had too much $UVIX and $SQQQ into the open and have once again pillaged myself — down 44bps. I had to close out the hedges and keep whatever longs I had left — but then be careful as to not lean in too heavily into what could be yet another market calamity.

I tested the water a bit, bought two stocks since the open and I am down two stocks since the open — solidifying the idea that I am out of sync and perhaps cursed by the Gods. No matter, as I do not intend to barrel in any further and this time will just sit here until the end of time staring into and through the screen, angry at myself for all of those stupid dance moves I just pulled.

My strategic account was +210bps at the open, but now +143bps — so we have sellers. How long can this weakness persist?

There are two plays here.

The sellers mount and trample over each other causing a rout.

The bears get cocky and walk heavily into an ambush of landmines and we bust loose higher.

It’s so stupid, it almost makes me angry if it wasn’t so funny.

Speaking of which, I have a wonderful tale of woe to share with you later about House Fly at a fancy dinner party that ended up not so fancy and disgusting, as a matter of fact.

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CATASTROPIC COLLAPSE ***

This is a God damned Red Alert and perhaps it will amuse you to learn that yours truly was completely dispatched in the market place of men today. I had ideas and all of them were wrong, rooted in greed and my desire to be something or someone important. I wanted to be a winner, you know, the type of person looked up to as an ideal to others. Instead of all of that happening, I found myself in a cold kitchen cooking for the fucking dogs — down 411bps for the session.

How did it all happen, when I knew myself so well I actually warned myself in the opening blog today?

“On days like this, I often churn myself into oblivion and end up staring into the mirror blankly for stock advice that doesn’t exist.

The best course of action, at least for me, is to fuck off now and remain in 65% cash, hedged, so that I can reflect upon my errors and remember them.”

I will tell you, and much more, so that you never forget the lessons I am about to teach you.

I was having difficulty finding stocks to trade and most of my go to stocks were down for the session. But like other down days in this CLOWNISH tape, I figured we’d somehow someway ramp into the fucking afternoon and gleefully skin the bears alive.

We started to dive lower late afternoon and I saw 5 consecutive red candles hit the tape, accompanied by a massive spike in the VIX and inverse ETFs. Under normal circumstances, I’d take that as a signal to hedge and reduce long exposure. But since I was feeling adventurous, I did the opposite and bought in after that 5th red candle hit.

The odds were, after all, forever in my favour. We have seen this pattern play out time in and time again and the results were a FUCKING RAMPAGE into the close. But not today. Soon after, markets took on an apocalyptic undertone and the losses became both ribald and transfiguring. I dazed into the screen and had flashbacks of my life as a young stockbroker — punk son of a bitch know it all averaging down into the maelstrom of the dot com blow up and acquiesced  to extreme jeering inside the denizens of Stocklabs — where my enemies trounced upon me, joyous to see me taken down a notch. I had to liquidate it all and behold the specter of DOWN $53k for the session — ending up, as it would be the case, heavily long VIX and short the fucking NASDAQ into the bell.

The bigger picture here is my month to date gains have been reduced to +1%. My amateurish risk management today caused me to give back two weeks of returns all because of unchecked greed and a sinful demeanor that was rightfully checked.

In short, I deserved today’s losses and I’d like to tell you that my best days were behind me and that I was once a great trader and it’s all over now. But that’s not true, just like Pax Americana is still plodding along. I am at my pinnacle of trading success, perhaps in the top 0.5% quartile of all traders in America and this was my day — for all of you to enjoy and bear witness to my agony and shame.

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Positioned Wrong

I was entreated to losses at the open, as high as 185bps around 9:40ish due to large small cap exposure to biotech and other unsavory areas of the market. The plan was to extract just “one more day” from Mother Market and then fuck off jolly as jelly. But that didn’t happen and I has visions of a nightmare session, me long piece of shit stocks I hated spiraling lower into the clutches of Krampus.

So then I lightened up.

I wanted to prevent tragedy and I ended up selling many stocks too soon — but we do not cry over spilt milk. I’m off by 130bps with a hedge in place hurting me too. On days like this, I often churn myself into oblivion and end up staring into the mirror blankly for stock advice that doesn’t exist.

The best course of action, at least for me, is to fuck off now and remain in 65% cash, hedged, so that I can reflect upon my errors and remember them.

Sure, I’d love to be making coin now, basking in the sun amidst pomp and circumstance; but I positioned wrong in the biotechs and the medicine men are charlatans who use vaccines to kill people – so it’s not surprising.

Perhaps late on I’ll receive inside Information and I can trade off it. Unless that happens, I’m afraid, at least for today, I’m doomed.

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