I had promised that I was going to start my own thread regarding stock investments and the markets. So many things have happened since last time I was here and I really do not feel like sharing my knowledge. But a promise is a promise and there have been few people that have emailed me and supported me.

This thread will deal with investing in the stock markets. I will not discuss individual stocks but discuss ETFs like SPY, DIA, IWM and QQQQ. The one good thing about trading ETFs compared to individual stocks is the the ETFs provide instant diversification among similar companies within the same sector.

I will post more as we go along, regarding entry-price, profit-target and stop-losses. I do not think that any ETF is good or bad. It is good only if I'm making money and bad if I'm losig money.

If you have not been in the market so far, please read this as an information piece only rather than my recommendations. There is risk involved and you should know how much risk to take on any position.

Any suggestations, comments and criticisms are welcome as long as it is market related. If this thread gets out of hand and we start discussing off-topics, I'll stop posting.

Have a happy new year!!!! May 2007 bring you and your family lots of joys and riches.

exited off s&p with tiny tiny gain and got stopped out of royl is just a piece of scrap junk..

only holding nasdaq long....

i think im going to stay in cash for a while now.

How about going high on POT?

Latoboy, I'm not sure what you are trying to do here. 1240 in S&P is a strong support and when we bounced off 1240 with ease, this was the time to put a big bet and ride it. If you are taking small profits you can't last long in this game. My magic 8 ball says that we will see 1380- 1400 in S&P and another leg down. I think oil is done for now.

emini,  i had made a great call to go long yesterday afternoon, and today i panicked...too much intraday volatility.

but wow ... what a reversall today... very impressive for the bulls :)

just something you experienced traders know better and how to take advantage of the volatility... hopefully i will learn from todays experience.

i agree with your target of 1380-1400... it will be a nice Head & Shoulders for the S&P.

do u think its safe to buy some At the money SPY calls now ? or should i just stick with a 2x SPY ETF ?

btw thanks for advising not to buy 2010 USO calls... i was tracking them... they are down sharply.

i had instead just bought the USO etf and timing turned out super lucky... got out while it was still high on friday.

regarding s&p and nasdaq i will wait for a pullback before going long again... i feel little more confident after seeing todays rally.

i found another stock i like ERII

recent IPO that deals with desalination ... making sea water into fresh water....i like the industry they are in... definately good long term potential.

since its recent IPO, could be very volatile... could go anywhere..

Usually after such a big day like yesterday, we see a follow-through. Expecting a follow-through rally I added some this morning but when we broke after 1 est. I exited out of my positions with a loss this morning.

1240 in S&P is still important. If we don't hold that level I would not be surprised to see a crash.

this market is frustrating a lot of people... seems like its not behaving as it should.

with earnings all month long.. i can see the market go either ways...

just before close, i bought some july SPY calls late today.. im expecting a small bounce soon. i think people just panicked towards the close. market maybe oversold...

No risk no gain...

what a crazy day... up huge pre-market, then went down huge... up down up down...

i pulled the trigger and sold my spy calls at 1255... managed to make a decent profit...

if only i had the courage now i would be looking for an entry point for Puts.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac:

can't believe they are trading at 8 bucks and 10 bucks & change respectively. 

Latoboy,
hold on your horses. Let the congress get into rescuing FRE and FNM before you do your any further calculated investments.

Cheers!

Bri

 

Bhairee, as per Poole today, if conventional accounting held (instead of all the bogus we're being fed by analysts), Freddie and Fannie Mac would be deemed insolvent already.  While the WSJ reports the Fed is still mulling over what to do if they falter (an euphemism for fail). 

 

My take: Stay away from those stocks for now however cheap they may look.  Take your money and run outta those!!

 

Samsara,

if what you are saying is true in action. It is really big. 50 percent of all  mortgage loans via banks are loaned by Freddie and Fannie.

If congress owned these companies go down the drain, the housing market will have no chance of survival.

Wall St would want to find out "what next."

This is a very, very grave situation. More than what I can write in words.

I am having my fingers crossed to see how this story unfolds in next few trading days.

Best!

Bri

 

Bhairee, Fannie and Freddie still getting pounded hard!!  The Fed and the Congress may intervene to help here but NO ONE knows to what extent the "bad" loans have seeped into both entities...Its just a waiting and guessing game.  Could be much more than what anyone has anticipated so far.  Like I said yesterday, run and don't look back from these 2 stocks.  BTW, send me your email too if you want me to send you the Gartman Letter on a daily basis.

 

Samsara ji,
thanks for the offer on Gartman via email. These days I am lying low. Have monies tied up to some stocks that are really under water.

Yeah, I agree we need to have this situation of FNE and FRE under watchglass.

If one is shorting on this two stocks for short-term, it might be a good idea.

Happy Trading Days to everyone.

Best!
Bri

ps Emini ji, what are your thoughts on the market?

i dont think anybody has answers to this we are seeing now....

most indicators were showing to a rally but now its looking like it may crash. a lot of people have lost money last few months and maybe it may just be the start of a real downtrend.

the foolish gartman is buying financials right now... haha... even he has lost money... so if u are losing money dont feel bad.. i also have a few stocks for long term that are in negative.

this may probably not be a bottom.

Just wanted to be the 1000th poster. Nothing here got stopped out of longs and day-trading few days from the short side.

hey emini, i see the S&P couldnot hold 1240 its down to 1233 now, r we seeing some kind of bloodbath here..

Henery Paulson's statement on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac has nothing assuring.  May be Mr. Paulson is waiting to see " Critical capital" going down below guidelines. Rescue comes after disaster......right?

We may see Dow below 11000 today.

There is a nice article abt FRE and FNM in bloomberg.com Latoboy. Read it if u have time.