iBankCoin
I turn dials and fiddle with knobs to hone in on harmonic rotations
Joined Oct 26, 2011
4,121 Blog Posts

A Hot Summer Drive Through Detroit

First off you need a hot ride:

donkedthefuckout2

Then there’s nothing like driving into Detroit on a politically heated summer night, a night just like this in fact, and being greeted by the hot stench of incinerated garbage.  It’s a mix of death and cheese that says, “Stay the fuck out of here unless you’re ready for some shit.”

The bond holders are descending on our fair lady sporting fresh pocket protectors.  Their pens are their pistols in the bloody turf war to come.

Most residents I’ve spoke with have an, “it’s about time” consensus on the situation while others are much more titillated.

I’m mostly worried that my urban safari days are numbered.  I quite enjoy early mornings surveying the endless blight.

Here’s one of my favorite scenes, captured earlier this spring.  I call it, Making Lemonade:

cat

That cat really captures the Spirit of Detroit more than The Spirit of Detroit or the giant black fist on Jefferson. He’s down for whatever.

Like any desolate dump, it is surrounded by communities so incredible, bubbles if you will, only a stone’s throw away. This stark contrast and the endless winters are only a few components that make up the talent foundry that is Detroit. We will always work harder as a people.

May the pensions be gutted, the institutions privatized, and the streets gentrified

I’m off to cruise the hood 10 MPH under the speed limit, Corojo in hand.

http://youtu.be/03YUgHAshSo

Comments »

Stupid Launch Pad – Didn’t Even Make Money

When you build a launch pad, delicately attending to every detail, and then it doesn’t make you any moneys – you want to take a bulldozer and smash it to bits.

Like when your do-it-yourself plumbing job goes surprisingly well until the end when you over torque a pipe and break everything.  Your inner monkey emerges and chucking the channel locks through the mirror seems the only logical reaction.

It’s better to tidy up your work, retool everything, and have another go at it.

GOOG and MSFT both disappointed after hours and are down.  QQQ and SPY are both pressing up against your favorite overbought indicator, and leaders are lagged all day.

We may see a down day or two…

The Philli Fed pumped up the market with vigor, only for us to spend the remainder of the day giving it back.  I suppose I state all of this because I’m near fully vested and only holding FXY as a pseudo-hedge.

My swing portfolio is red on the day, championed by TPX getting poleaxed.  Everything else did nothing fun.

I get a long on in the futures at a decent bargain and then the momentum vanishes and I sit around, not eating, waiting for like $100 more in profit.  Then I finally settle for my pittance and go eat a taco.

I’m still trading within the confines of my plan and I’m mildly profitable 4 out of 4 days as a result.  Somebody has to hold me accountable and that somebody is me.  Hell, I’m used to talking to myself what with the twitter and the blog, so self-enforced discipline feels normal.

I bulked up on ENPH and closed out DDD and Z.  I’m convinced the best way to play DDD is to buy some every quarter and never sell, but that doesn’t fit my fringe lifestyle.

Comments »

Building a Launch Pad

Buyers are letting it be known they mean business between the range of 1672.75 – 1671.75 which is the price zone right above Monday’s long liquidation.  There is a perception that the market is a bargain at this price and below until there isn’t.

It’s my cue for today and if the auction remains tight, it’s my cue the remainder of the week.

Up above the bulls must contend with 1678.25, this price represents the peaks of the shoulders on the intraday head and shoulder pattern yesterday, just below the aggressive seller’s reaction at the all-time highs.  Any acceptance of price above this level will preclude a move higher.

The 24-hour profile has been building up since early Tuesday morning as price remains high and tight.  It does give us a clue, a cave in pricing that we may back-and-fill prior to launch.  Trade into the cave should be monitored for either a sharp knife though or a firm buyer rejection.  This range is from 1676 – 1673.50.

I’ve highlighted all of these dynamic characteristics in the following profile charts:

ES_MarketProfile_07182013

 

Comments »

Buying These Deals Now

INTC revenues came in a bit weak and the stock printed a wild electromagnetic pulse after hours but is mostly unchanged.  IBM is up afterhours and SNDK reported great numbers ripping bears to shreds and storing the gif for future enjoyment.

Clearly technology stocks are a store of value.  Be sure to ignore EBAY, the home of porn stars and packrats, they’re getting crushed after hours after guiding lower.

It’s been a rather mild first inning of earnings, has it not?  Where’s all the fire and brimstone I heard so much about?  There’s a lot of baseball left I suppose…

We’re trading along rather quietly amongst the all-time highs this week in many names.  My favorite 52 week high is Zillow, printing a very sexual 69 high water mark.  Leave it to the real estate folks…

The SPY printed a pronounced head and shoulders pattern intraday, but it never followed thru.  It tried once, but was pinched higher after a lack of follow through was presented in the form of selling.  We did have a very aggressive seller reaction at the highs this morning.  It resulted in me staying long in the futures market all session long, missing lunch, and eventually closing the position for small, stupid gain.

I have so many longs set up well, I had to sell a few shares as sacrifice to the rally gods.  I scaled off some FB and some IMMR.

This also gave me some much needed cash, which I promptly placed into GRPN.  I know I like today’s action and I’m one to put money where my mouth is.  Beyond that I abhor Groupon mainly because I’ve only actually used 2 of the 10 coupons I bought.  My assistant buys most of his lunches via their ‘Now’ service, but he has much more time on his hands.

For the day, I’m up on all accounts, albeit modestly.  I still want my space launch.

Comments »

No Follow Thru By the Sellers

Late yesterday morning we saw longs liquidated on the break of 1674.50 which happens to coincide with the value area low of our uppermost distribution.  The long liquidation that followed built the familiar b-shaped profile although the meat of the ‘b’ is a bit wider than in ideal pictures.  Nevertheless, it’s a general concept not a concrete rule.  It suggests the downward development failed to attract new initiating sellers into the market and a buying force greater than the sell flow stopped the downward action.

We have a few key upside levels today, the aforementioned 1674.50, the lower low on yesterday’s session which thus far held overnight at 1672.50, and the high VPOC at 1677.50.

Below we have a still incomplete profile, and trade down to 1664 should come as little surprise.  Bulls however want to see 1662.50 hold as support should we trade down to those prices.

I’ve highlighted these levels and more in the following profile chart:

 

ES_MarketProfile_07172013

Comments »

We Planned For This

First and foremost, I’m happy to report I’ve managed to stick to my trading plan since last Wednesday and it has resulted in green days (no alt rock).  The market isn’t giving me much to work off of, but it’s offering setups and I’m executing them without much thought.  This is good, as almost all the thinking should occur before a trade, fortified with six months of statistics, and cemented in place with the experience of trading it 100s of times.

Then you just do it live.

I can already smell the full-bodied aroma of a cigar pared with the sharp smell of pool shock and sunscreen.  Heaven

Second, didn’t the morning profile analysis fully embrace the thought of a pullback?  That helps me be a cool daddy-o.

Finally, I hit an all-time high this morning in my swing portfolio, but ended the day red.  My only two actions were cutting PRLB and buying more ENPH.  I want to buy my PRLB back already but there’s a problem: I’m fully invested.

100% long at the swing high of the year, pressing for a break higher.

I’ve uploaded my positions into Finviz and sorted them by their respective earnings date to prevent any ‘surprise sex’ check it out:

http://finviz.com/screener.ashx?v=161&t=ENPH,IMMR,OCZ,AIXG,FXY,YGE,FB,O,BPZ,TPX,Z,INVN,CREE,FSLR,DDD,F&o=-earningsdate

It’s a pretty great feature if you’re running lots of positions at once during earnings.

I don’t have much else to say this eve, my positions are listed in that link in the spirit of full disclosure.  And my top pick is ENPH.  Enjoy your evening.

Sincerely,

Raul

Comments »

They Want Your Solar Shares

Don’t you know forces exist much greater than ours and they are determined to derail your momentum trade?  GUY!  You don’t want to play momentum trades too tight up here, at the precipice.  You’ve got to be cool, relax, get hip, and get on their tracks.

As I type, TAN, FSLR, YGE, and ENPH are well off their lows, and you’re without solar stocks.

Time to play catch up, because they’re the best momo show in town.

Catch up

Comments »

Navigating the Highlands

One of the marquee characteristics of climbing to new heights in the market or atop a mountain is small progression.  Think of a climber reaching uncharted territories: her steps become smaller, her moves more calculated and thought out.  The familiar trek below (profiles) gave a navigational map and experience to build progress on, now we’re taking measured moves.

The squatted range yesterday took time to break the initial balance, finally doing so to the upside.  We left an incomplete auction below and we’re likely to eventually fill out the 07/11 profile down from 1667 – 1664.  When this occurs, the treatment of the prices by the market could be a major sentiment piece.

Overnight we’ve been mostly balanced with a top-heavy profile.  A rotation down to 1674 early on would not surprise me.

There’s potentially market-moving data out ahead of the bell, but so far we’re set to open within yesterday’s value.  I’ll be eying the following levels and potential developments in market profile:

ES_MarketProfile_07162013

Comments »