In 2009, I hope I never have to hear or see any of these people when I turn on my TV or read in my paper:
Tyra Banks Not everything is about you!
Dr. Phil Not everything's about you either!
Kathy Griffin Only if she comes out w/ new material instead of just talking about her run-ins with ACTUAL celebrities
Paris Hilton The face of STD
Britney Spears I used to like her but one day I woke up and discovered good music is not engineered on a soundboard and what beautiful woman should look like
Chris Crocker I'll leave Britney alone if you go away and never post a video on YouTube.
P.Diddy What he lacks in artistic and musical talent he makes it up in marketing second class products like clothing, vodka, and reality TV shows.
J.Lo Please stop making movies even the Chinese don't want to bootleg: Monster-in-law, Anaconda, Maid in Manhattan, The Wedding Planner, Gigli and you ruined Jersey Girl for me! I will never forgive you for that. That movie was actually pretty good after the point you died in the script.
Donald Trump Seriously, enough w/ the hair and pink ties
Jessica Simpson The year you break up with Romo is the year Cowboys win the Super Bowl
Amy Winehouse Get out of the pub and get back in the recording studio
Jonas Brothers Disney puppets w/ purity rings. Are you guys even actual brothers? Because one of you is not even good looking at all
George W. Bush Wake me up if he chokes on a pretzel and actually dies this time
Rosie O'Donnell The fat, obnoxious and not funny version of Ellen
The Hills and anyone associated with it Especially Heidi and Spencer, unless it's about their tragic death
Kardashian Sisters It's not like we've never seen a sex tape before...
And pretty much all the reality TV shows out there. Oh, and if your sister is famous and for whatever the reason your parents decided to capitalize on it even more by putting you on TV or in front of the press, do us a favor and just disappear already. We're not interested in you even if you do remotely look like your sibling in bad lighting. You hear that? Ashlee, Haylie, Ali
Friday, December 26, 2008
Friday, December 12, 2008
My Long Term Trades
I've been wanting to make more long term plays for a while except I can never quite lose the fear and I constantly look to see where the stock is trading at and that interfers with my short term trading. Personally I feel the general market is still in a down trend so I've been looking for things to short. Although, I do have to say that it does feel a lot more positive than before and it could be the potential of gov't stepping to help out the auto industry. There are a lot more political factors driving the market instead of just fundamental earnings. It's in a bit of a no mans land right now. I don't feel comfortable getting long when I can see some clear resistance meanwhile there's no point getting in front of the train trying to short. Because of this I've only taken some very small positions in my long term trading account.
I shorted ITRI on Monday after it shot up. It looked through out the day but it got pretty painful in the afternoon when it made another up move for couple of points. It did look like the sellers came back into control on this stock and the general market so I figured that I'd hold on to this and if it doesn't gap down the next day I'll cover it. Fortunately it did gap down the next day, except I was late to the office so after things turn sour again I covered it for a much smaller loss.
On top of that equity short, I actually sold some naked call options as well for the 60 strike price. When it looked like it wasn't going to work out I covered those and lost about $75 total, which isn't all that bad for my first option trade. The reason I said it's not bad b/c it could've been totally disastrous. I sold naked calls which means my risk could be unlimited. Also on top of that I didn't quite consider the time to expiration and how much this ITRI could move. I was only looking at the short term chart, which I do believe is going to consolidate here but surely a 10 point in a day is nothing surprising for this guy.
I actually got a call from the Pit on Friday asking about this trade and what my rationale was. I was really looking at this as three separate trades, the two options contracts I sold and equities short and I've calculated the amount that I was willing to lose. Obviously somebody in the backroom thought I was taking on too much risk and I don't blame them for thinking that; I thought so a little bit myself, which is why I covered my positions. Anyway, I need to be more careful with time to expiration and a stock's delta if I'm trading options from now on.
MELI was another short I had and like ITRI I looked for reasons to stay in the trade but I eventually covered it for a small profit after it hit my pullback. I got into CX short and it looked really good until the next day that I covered before it went to a new high. Sadly Wednesday, CX came out with negative news and drove the stock down. I got into HURN and it's the same story... hold on as long as I can but eventually cover for a small profit after a pullback.
I'm glad I took these trades b/c I'm applying the discipline of defining my risk reward prior to getting into the trade and adjusting my pullback as the trade goes in my favor. I got into small positions just because I don't want the P&L to affect my other trading and the market isn't quite setting up like I'd like. I don't know if there's a particular reason that I've traded almost all Nasdaq stocks in these long term, it's probably just b/c they're what came across my tickers at the time.
On a slight side note, I've been somewhat whining about the fact that I paid for a new monitor right before the new policy go into effect that if you yahtzee you get a second monitor for free. Well, another way to get a monitor for free is if you hit certain profit level. I was almost there so I sent in a request anyway and I was very happy to see that it got approved. Starting sometime next week I hope, I'll be trading with three monitors. I know the Pit is trying to get me set up so that I could at least see options quotes, which will be important come expiration date on this coming Friday. I plan to use my third monitor for options but other than that I'm not sure...
A friend of mine that's been trading part time contacted me about Kershner and we went out to lunch on Tuesday and I showed him the floor a bit afterwards. Funny enough another guy just messaged me on Facebook. I'm getting close to the HP status and I hope to earn the trust of the company soon to allow me take on students but that's probably still a good 6 months away. However, if I do have friends applying to Kershner at that time I sure would love to have them on my team. It's a bit of a wistful thinking at this time but I'm definitely making it a goal to improve my trading, make more money, and become a coach.
It's only December 12th and I've already met my profit goal for the month. Let's kick some ass the rest of this month, finish out the year strong, and build momentum heading into 2009. There's a Fed meeting next week. Happy trading!
I shorted ITRI on Monday after it shot up. It looked through out the day but it got pretty painful in the afternoon when it made another up move for couple of points. It did look like the sellers came back into control on this stock and the general market so I figured that I'd hold on to this and if it doesn't gap down the next day I'll cover it. Fortunately it did gap down the next day, except I was late to the office so after things turn sour again I covered it for a much smaller loss.
On top of that equity short, I actually sold some naked call options as well for the 60 strike price. When it looked like it wasn't going to work out I covered those and lost about $75 total, which isn't all that bad for my first option trade. The reason I said it's not bad b/c it could've been totally disastrous. I sold naked calls which means my risk could be unlimited. Also on top of that I didn't quite consider the time to expiration and how much this ITRI could move. I was only looking at the short term chart, which I do believe is going to consolidate here but surely a 10 point in a day is nothing surprising for this guy.
I actually got a call from the Pit on Friday asking about this trade and what my rationale was. I was really looking at this as three separate trades, the two options contracts I sold and equities short and I've calculated the amount that I was willing to lose. Obviously somebody in the backroom thought I was taking on too much risk and I don't blame them for thinking that; I thought so a little bit myself, which is why I covered my positions. Anyway, I need to be more careful with time to expiration and a stock's delta if I'm trading options from now on.
MELI was another short I had and like ITRI I looked for reasons to stay in the trade but I eventually covered it for a small profit after it hit my pullback. I got into CX short and it looked really good until the next day that I covered before it went to a new high. Sadly Wednesday, CX came out with negative news and drove the stock down. I got into HURN and it's the same story... hold on as long as I can but eventually cover for a small profit after a pullback.
I'm glad I took these trades b/c I'm applying the discipline of defining my risk reward prior to getting into the trade and adjusting my pullback as the trade goes in my favor. I got into small positions just because I don't want the P&L to affect my other trading and the market isn't quite setting up like I'd like. I don't know if there's a particular reason that I've traded almost all Nasdaq stocks in these long term, it's probably just b/c they're what came across my tickers at the time.
On a slight side note, I've been somewhat whining about the fact that I paid for a new monitor right before the new policy go into effect that if you yahtzee you get a second monitor for free. Well, another way to get a monitor for free is if you hit certain profit level. I was almost there so I sent in a request anyway and I was very happy to see that it got approved. Starting sometime next week I hope, I'll be trading with three monitors. I know the Pit is trying to get me set up so that I could at least see options quotes, which will be important come expiration date on this coming Friday. I plan to use my third monitor for options but other than that I'm not sure...
A friend of mine that's been trading part time contacted me about Kershner and we went out to lunch on Tuesday and I showed him the floor a bit afterwards. Funny enough another guy just messaged me on Facebook. I'm getting close to the HP status and I hope to earn the trust of the company soon to allow me take on students but that's probably still a good 6 months away. However, if I do have friends applying to Kershner at that time I sure would love to have them on my team. It's a bit of a wistful thinking at this time but I'm definitely making it a goal to improve my trading, make more money, and become a coach.
It's only December 12th and I've already met my profit goal for the month. Let's kick some ass the rest of this month, finish out the year strong, and build momentum heading into 2009. There's a Fed meeting next week. Happy trading!
Sunday, December 7, 2008
My Saturday
I think I spent just about the entire day shopping... I don't remember exactly when I left the house, somewhere around 11am or noon and I didn't get back until 7pm.
Stop #1: Home Depot. I went to see if they have the washer and dryer I want on sale, looked at different materials and colors for the blinds, and compared a few different light fixtures for outside of the house.
Stop #2: Ethan Allen. Looking for office desk and bar stools.
Stop #3: The Domain. I think I'm going to get a PS3 for the Blu Ray, can't quite decide what TV to put in my room. I don't need a big one since I plan on mounting it to the wall; 30" at most. Looked around some stores for wine glasses and stuff for the kitchen.
Stop #4: Z Gallerie. Technically still in The Domain but I spent a lot more time here. Looking for bar stools, bed covers, shams, and other accessories. Picked up two photograph prints by Alan Blaustine. Couldn't find the other two that I was looking for so I might go back and see if they have them back in stock or ask the store to try to ship it.
Stop #5: Sam's Club. Looking for a TV.
Stop #6: Costco. TV again and other furniture stuff. They also have the charging valet station I like for a lot cheaper.
Stop #7: Pier 1. I think I found the bar stools and office desk I like here, plus a few other decorative items.
Stop #8: Crate & Barrel. Finally decided on the wine glasses, looked at some shams and coverlets
I was planning on staying at Crate & Barrel longer but I bought some pork products that need to be refrigriated at Costco so I cut it short. Otherwise I was gonna go to Target and Restoration Hardware as well. There's also Pottery Barn still.
Maybe all this wasn't necessary but I wanted to see all what's out there and what might work well together and fit into my budget. I'm not quite sure why but a lot of stuff are more expensive than I thought it would be. It's probably best that I don't go on The Price is Right any time. For example, I thought I could get a pretty good office desk for under $400, $500 at most but Ethan Allen had one for like almot $1500. Bar stools I was hoping I can get some real steals at below $100 but I saw some for $300, $500+... I don't know if anybody felt this way but since I'm making my own money instead of relying on my allowance I've definitely been more concerned and aware of my budget.
Speaking of budget... Costco was ridiculous. There were almost no parking at all available. Some other stores and shopping malls were all pretty full, too. People are definitely out looking at stuff but I'm curious to see how many people actually bought. The retail industry has gone all-in betting on the holiday shopping season. Just looking at Austin is an isolated, blip of the big picture, but if you ask me I probably wouldn't mind longing some Costco stocks at the right price. Ethan Allen I'd have to go short. I should've gone to Best Buy. I'm going to try to find time for that.
My dad seems to think some of my photos are good enough to be framed and put up in our house. I do want to get photoshop and process some of them. It would be nice to have more of a personal touch in the house.
Stop #1: Home Depot. I went to see if they have the washer and dryer I want on sale, looked at different materials and colors for the blinds, and compared a few different light fixtures for outside of the house.
Stop #2: Ethan Allen. Looking for office desk and bar stools.
Stop #3: The Domain. I think I'm going to get a PS3 for the Blu Ray, can't quite decide what TV to put in my room. I don't need a big one since I plan on mounting it to the wall; 30" at most. Looked around some stores for wine glasses and stuff for the kitchen.
Stop #4: Z Gallerie. Technically still in The Domain but I spent a lot more time here. Looking for bar stools, bed covers, shams, and other accessories. Picked up two photograph prints by Alan Blaustine. Couldn't find the other two that I was looking for so I might go back and see if they have them back in stock or ask the store to try to ship it.
Stop #5: Sam's Club. Looking for a TV.
Stop #6: Costco. TV again and other furniture stuff. They also have the charging valet station I like for a lot cheaper.
Stop #7: Pier 1. I think I found the bar stools and office desk I like here, plus a few other decorative items.
Stop #8: Crate & Barrel. Finally decided on the wine glasses, looked at some shams and coverlets
I was planning on staying at Crate & Barrel longer but I bought some pork products that need to be refrigriated at Costco so I cut it short. Otherwise I was gonna go to Target and Restoration Hardware as well. There's also Pottery Barn still.
Maybe all this wasn't necessary but I wanted to see all what's out there and what might work well together and fit into my budget. I'm not quite sure why but a lot of stuff are more expensive than I thought it would be. It's probably best that I don't go on The Price is Right any time. For example, I thought I could get a pretty good office desk for under $400, $500 at most but Ethan Allen had one for like almot $1500. Bar stools I was hoping I can get some real steals at below $100 but I saw some for $300, $500+... I don't know if anybody felt this way but since I'm making my own money instead of relying on my allowance I've definitely been more concerned and aware of my budget.
Speaking of budget... Costco was ridiculous. There were almost no parking at all available. Some other stores and shopping malls were all pretty full, too. People are definitely out looking at stuff but I'm curious to see how many people actually bought. The retail industry has gone all-in betting on the holiday shopping season. Just looking at Austin is an isolated, blip of the big picture, but if you ask me I probably wouldn't mind longing some Costco stocks at the right price. Ethan Allen I'd have to go short. I should've gone to Best Buy. I'm going to try to find time for that.
My dad seems to think some of my photos are good enough to be framed and put up in our house. I do want to get photoshop and process some of them. It would be nice to have more of a personal touch in the house.
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
My Barcelona
We got to spend a few extra days in Barcelona prior to the cruise. Here are a few pictures from around the city.
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
My Nerdiness
I'll admit I'm kind of a nerd sometimes. There are things that have deep scientific or mathematical theory behind them I find them deeply interesting. So while going through my RSS feed today I came across this article about Neflix offering $1 million to whoever can improve their recommendation system by 10%. Make sure to read the New York Times article if you find this interesting... I know I certainly did. I thought this was a really cool example about Bayesian theorem on conditional probability application but after reading some other nerdy blogs it might not be... I'm kind of confused now; need to do more reading. **Sarah, if you guys learn about Bayesian in your statistics class you can show this to your prof for some brownie points.
All I remember about Bayesian from statistics class is that it uses past data and application of regression analysis to determine future probability. In the case of Netflix, it's using past ratings to determine what movies the viewer might also find interesting. Other companies like Amazon uses this application as well to see what else you might want to buy. What's funny about the article is that the movie Napoleon Dynamite is throwing off the result by quite a bit... same applies to a few other polarizing films that people either love it or hate it.
All I remember about Bayesian from statistics class is that it uses past data and application of regression analysis to determine future probability. In the case of Netflix, it's using past ratings to determine what movies the viewer might also find interesting. Other companies like Amazon uses this application as well to see what else you might want to buy. What's funny about the article is that the movie Napoleon Dynamite is throwing off the result by quite a bit... same applies to a few other polarizing films that people either love it or hate it.
While I was asking around the office to see if anybody would know Bayesian off the top of their head since it was close to the opening bell and I didn't have the time to try different searches in Google (at first I thought it was Keynesian but he's an economist so I knew I was wrong), Eric mentioned something about using that for trading... interesting; more in-depth thoughts later.
I also came across this item on a list of recommended gift for music lovers this Christmas. It's a shirt with a playable drum set on it and the sound comes through its built-in speakers. It's only $29.99... I'm really tempted to get it but I could also foresee some problems this causes, such as people coming up to touch or punch me to play w/ the drum set themselves. Nonetheless, I think it's really cool.
Monday, December 1, 2008
My Return
Back in Austin now... We got back to Houston around 9pm last night and hung out at my sister's place for a while after she picked us up at the airport. I got sick I think the second to last day of the cruise and I spent the entire trip back sneezing, coughing, and sipping on water b/c the air in the airplane cabin is really dry and it hurts my respiratory system. That's what I get for sleeping without a blanket for a few days and not dressed warm enough for those city tour buses with the exposed top deck. After being in transit for about 21 hrs I took a little nap and drove back to Austin at about 3:30 in the morning to go to work.
I'm not sure if it's b/c of the fact that I'm sick or that I'm still adjusting to being on land but I felt as if equilibrium is off. It wasn't a dizzy feeling; it was more like as if I'm still rocking back and forth with the motion of the ocean. Regardless, I didn't feel well at all trading today. My first trade I accidentally took about 1/3 more than the max size that I'm comfortable with and when I went to cover the position I over-covered as well. I pushed the position against myself and triggered my own stop. It's pretty stupid if you ask me. Sadly I spent the rest of the day trying to get back to even instead of catching up on my RSS feed like I intended. Pretty light volume but we still dropped 600+ point... craziness. I think I looked at a lot these index ETFs and they were only about 70% its relative volume.
Lots of stuff to do right now, not to mention the 800+ pictures from the trip I want to go through. Still a lot of stuff to do around the new house as well. Once I got the pictures ready I'll have them up in a separate post. I think I've gotten better... I dunno, I might just be spotting interesting things more readily compared to before. My dad messed with the camera and from time to time I would have problems with exposure and focusing... nothing too major though.
I got to thinking about the next step during the trip when I could get some peace and quiet. I'm going to start working on options trading strategies. I put in a request for an options account and it could take anywhere from 2 days to 2 weeks I think is what the pit told me. I'm inclined to believe the later which is perfectly fine with me. Options is still pretty foreign to me but this gives me time to read more and refine my strategy.
I also spent some time talking to my dad about our business. We're probably going to try to make a run for it in Europe although consumer behavior or habit for our specific products might be a little different compared to the US and the market might be very fragmented. We got to talking a little bit about me starting to do more as well, on the financial and sales front with the family business. I don't think I would mind picking up some Spanish or German and try to enter the European market but there's a part of me that that doesn't want to family business. Growing up I always know people murmur that I'll probably turn out to be a bum and just rely on my parents' money and that's in fact been a motivator at times. Good part of me wants to blaze my own trails and do my own thing. At the same time, I know how much my parents put into this business and how hard they've worked to get to where they are. In a way it's their legacy and it's not something you just discard easily. If I can do that and trading while maintaining the necessary focus I certainly won't mind. We'll have to see how we can phase it over to me and if we do I'd have to concentrate on a different subject when I go back for my MBA.
I'm not sure if it's b/c of the fact that I'm sick or that I'm still adjusting to being on land but I felt as if equilibrium is off. It wasn't a dizzy feeling; it was more like as if I'm still rocking back and forth with the motion of the ocean. Regardless, I didn't feel well at all trading today. My first trade I accidentally took about 1/3 more than the max size that I'm comfortable with and when I went to cover the position I over-covered as well. I pushed the position against myself and triggered my own stop. It's pretty stupid if you ask me. Sadly I spent the rest of the day trying to get back to even instead of catching up on my RSS feed like I intended. Pretty light volume but we still dropped 600+ point... craziness. I think I looked at a lot these index ETFs and they were only about 70% its relative volume.
Lots of stuff to do right now, not to mention the 800+ pictures from the trip I want to go through. Still a lot of stuff to do around the new house as well. Once I got the pictures ready I'll have them up in a separate post. I think I've gotten better... I dunno, I might just be spotting interesting things more readily compared to before. My dad messed with the camera and from time to time I would have problems with exposure and focusing... nothing too major though.
I got to thinking about the next step during the trip when I could get some peace and quiet. I'm going to start working on options trading strategies. I put in a request for an options account and it could take anywhere from 2 days to 2 weeks I think is what the pit told me. I'm inclined to believe the later which is perfectly fine with me. Options is still pretty foreign to me but this gives me time to read more and refine my strategy.
I also spent some time talking to my dad about our business. We're probably going to try to make a run for it in Europe although consumer behavior or habit for our specific products might be a little different compared to the US and the market might be very fragmented. We got to talking a little bit about me starting to do more as well, on the financial and sales front with the family business. I don't think I would mind picking up some Spanish or German and try to enter the European market but there's a part of me that that doesn't want to family business. Growing up I always know people murmur that I'll probably turn out to be a bum and just rely on my parents' money and that's in fact been a motivator at times. Good part of me wants to blaze my own trails and do my own thing. At the same time, I know how much my parents put into this business and how hard they've worked to get to where they are. In a way it's their legacy and it's not something you just discard easily. If I can do that and trading while maintaining the necessary focus I certainly won't mind. We'll have to see how we can phase it over to me and if we do I'd have to concentrate on a different subject when I go back for my MBA.
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