The day started off awfully quiet, with investors waiting for the FOMC minutes to come out at 2:00 pm. Just as I expected we saw a sharp decline in all indexes, then a correction back up, then a mini rally immediately following the announcement. It didn’t matter if the news was good or bad- what mattered was that there was news, and that set off a trigger that told people to buy. Funny how it works.
Take a hint
I was heavily bearish yesterday ahead of the consumer confidence data this morning, but when I saw that my shorts (FRG, FTEK) were actually green, I had to cover before the next set of data came in at 2 pm. Turns out that was a good move considering that FRG closed even higher. Meanwhile, I entered long positions in steel (STLD), and transportations (ACLI… got this pick from Fly). I’m seriously considering taking early profits and rebuying next week… but then again, I was wrong when I decided to sell OMCL two days ago at $17.46 thinking I would get it cheaper today, which is now at $18.00. Anyway, I’ll keep it simple and use the Dow as my indicator- if the Dow can breakout above 11,400 I’ll hold my longs, if it retraces, then I’m out…….. that’s just me trading in the summer.
Bullish Stocks I used to Short…
Take a look at these stocks I’ve been shorting. When I quit shorting them, usually that means I’m afraid of a breakout. Keep them on the radar, because if we see a good rally during the Fall, these stocks may take off too. If not, I’ll short them again:
- People Support (PSPT)
- FuelTek (FTEK)
- Fronteer Development Group (FRG)
- Rentek (RTK)
- Omnicell (OMCL) , well I never shorted this, but I did cash out my long thinking it would fall.
- Alaska Communications (ALSK), here’s another stock I never shorted, but sold early thinking it would move down a bit…. ouch.
- CTC Media (CTCM) – a good company with good fundamentals and technicals. I shorted thinking that the IPO investors were ready to cash in. Well, hasn’t happened yet.