My Positions and Some Thoughts

As you likely know, I had a difficult year last year. When the account went into the negative, I pretty much quit trading. I placed only a few trades in all of November, and really did not start dipping my toes back in the markets until late December. However, now that I’m focused and have regained my confidence, every trade I’ve made has been profitable.

I’ve been trading smaller position sizes to mitigate the huge market volatility but also because I don’t want to be under a lot of pressure from my positions. The idea was to take trades based on signals that I trust, and let the trade play out. Sometimes I’m early, so I don’t want to put on a position that is too big, get under pressure from it, and then blow out of it at the low (or if short, the high). Also “trading while working” was becoming unsustainable, so I’m working out strategies that rely more on opening and closing positions in the morning or just before the close, and using more limit orders.

Since I started trading again in December, I had a huge short in [[AAPL]], which I established at $198.85, and covered at $181 and change. I also rode [[GES]] down for almost 10 points, and had a nice quick short in [[RICK]].

I took the RSI(2) pick [[ECA]] and made a couple of points on the trade. I actually closed that one out today. I also took the RSI(2) pick GFA, and made almost 4 points on the trade. I was stopped out of the remaining shares of that trade yesterday.

I established a long position in [[CPHD]] last week, and added to it yesterday. I’ve got a stop set on it to get me out at breakeven. It is probably not safe to be long much right now, but CPHD was the first stock I ever bought, so I have a romantic attachment. But more importantly, Cepheid has made a great pull back to retest a breakout level. I love that pattern, so I bought it. Plus, there is some momentum in the name due to the MRSA outbreaks and due to the fact that the company is having its first profitable quarter.

I also took the [[CHD]] RSI(2) trade last week. The stock consolidated after I bought it, but was up nicely today. The rally in it today seems to be a combination of short covering and a move to defensive names. I’ll stick with it for a few more days before taking profits or getting stopped out at breakeven.

Another huge trade for me has been in [[GLD]]. I blogged about it when it broke out, and bought it the same day. Read the post here: GLD Breaks Out of Triangle. 

Other than that, I went long [[FXP]] a couple of weeks ago, as well as [[SKF]]. I’m up almost 20 points on the SKF.

Today I blew out of my [[MVIS]]. I’m glad to be done with that position. What an Albatross it has been. Also, I established a short position in [[AAPL]] at $180.25 when it couldn’t overtake the 50 day average.

In summary, I’m only 30% invested, with it split evenly between shorts and longs. Honestly, I was waiting for one up day to establish a few more short positions, but as you know, we’ve not had an up day in some time. I’m not going to chase this market down. I’ve got enough shorts so that I’ll continue making money on the downside, but not so many that I’m worried about covering before a huge snapback. I will use any decent rally to establish new shorts.

I’m up 4% for the year, and I have the distinct feeling that this year may be my best year yet.

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