Tuesday, April 29, 2008

I have paper Profit of more than $30k from Apple and Apple Call Options!

Apple (AAPL) close price on April 29, 2008

Apple was up $5 in 2 days and I have paper profit of more than $30k! This is amazing! I guess Apple will stay above $170 for a while. I will not take any chance, if Apple comes down below $170, I will take half of the profit. I might put a sell stop at $169.90 for 50% of my Apple shares.

Profit from Apple Mother shares: 36.18% or $4651.00
Apple Profit on April 29, 2008

Total Profit from Apple Call Options: 156.47% or $29,025.00
Profits from Apple Options on April 29, 2008

Apple is trading comfortably above Support of $170 right now. It will stay at the price level as long as there is no bad news from the company or any so-called analysts downgrade the stock with stupid reasons. In my opinion, it will trading upward all the way to $200 again before the end of this year. Let's see if I am right.

Well again, I really hope that the above trades are in real money.

Sunday, April 27, 2008

Profit from Apple Call Options, Look at That!

Profit from Apple Call Options
I have bought Apple Call Options when Apple was almost at the Bottom. At one time, I was losing more than $10k and now I have paper profit of $22k! With this money, I can buy a few IPhones and also may be change my current Dell Laptop to a MacBook Air! I also have bought 100 Apple Mother shares at the $128.54 an Now I have paper profit of $4,119.
Apple (AAPL) $4k Profits
I think that Apple could go higher. I will feel comfortable as long as it is trading above $160 and $150. If it is really come down below $160, I think I might take half of the profit and let the other half goes. Now, the resistance is at $170, I hope next week it could break it convincingly.

How I wish that the above trades are real money. :-)

Tuesday, April 22, 2008

Tips for procrastinators: How to be punctual for work or school

Are you always late for work or school? Are you always set your alarm 30 minutes earlier for yourself to have time to clean up yourself, but you hit the snooze button so that you continue sleep another 15 minutes. Next,it turns out that you have to rush to clean up yourself and late for work/school. I bet you come to the right place. I rarely late for work/school as a result of a thing that I do to make myself punctual - "Set all my clocks to be running on a future time"

I have this weird habit since high school to make myself to be punctual for any events. The time of my clock and watch during high school was 30 minutes ahead of the actual time. About 2 years back when I was still in University, I set the time of my clock and watch an hour faster. So, I always be the first one who arrived at the lecture hall. Sometime when I reached the lecture hall and I saw no body was inside, I would have confused myself that I saw the wrong time table. After I called my friends for time table, then only I realized that the time of my watch was an hour faster. Usually, I used the EXTRA time to do self study inside the empty lecture hall.

However, this technique will only be useful if you are able to make yourself forget that you set your time ahead of the actual time. It will not be useful if you set time of your clock 30 minutes faster but you hit the snooze button and continue to sleep for another 45 minutes. This is normal and it happened to me during university when I got used to the time I set and my mind would auto-deduct an hour from the current time and I became late for my classes. But after a short while, I found a remedy for this problem - "Make myself not to get used to the time that I set". Once a while, I will set my clocks back to normal time and then I will set the time ahead after one or two weeks. With this way, I will not get used with the advance time that I set on my clock or watch.

Steps of this technique:-
1. Set all your clocks time to a future time (all depends on how much time you need to continue procrastinate, FYI, now I am 20 minutes ahead of the actual time)
2. Set all your clocks time back to normal time after about a month
2. Set all your clocks time to a future time again.

I have been practicing this for years and it works well for me. Try it out yourself and let me know if this works for you.

Sunday, April 20, 2008

Google Blows past Estimates, Apple above 160 support

For the past few months, Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) has been hammered resulting from the rumors of its decreasing click-through rates and its market share might be grabbed back by YAHOO! (NASDAQ: YHOO) and it was further fueled by some so-called analysts to downgrade the stock which continued the burning of the stock. Google has reported its first 1Q earnings of 2008 on last Thursday after market close which blew past estimates and the stock was eventually up 20% on Friday!
Google (NASDAQ:GOOG)Blows past Estimates
Google(NASDAQ:GOOG) downgrades on 1Q 2008

Another stock which has been hammered by so-call Analysts was APPLE (NASDAQ:AAPL) for the rumors of less revenue resulting from unlocked IPhone and the saturation of the IPod market. Apple share was comfortably closed above support of 160 on Friday, thanks for the Google Earnings. Apple will release its earnings on next Wednesday (23 April 2008) after market close and I am waiting Apple to prove that those so-called Analysts wrong again.
Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) closes above 160 on April 19, 2008
Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) chart on April 19, 2008

It is surely an exciting week ahead.

Profit/Gain on Week 3 of April 2008

I am still negative for this week, I guess I need sometime to gain back my momentum on March and February. I am looking forward to do better next week which has more earnings than this week.
Week 3 of April 2008
DateNumber of SharesProfit/ Loss
14
2200
27
15
1800
-144
16
1300
61
17
2400
-102
18
1800
21
Total
9500-137


Preview on next week (4/21/2008 to 4/25/2008)

Monday, April 21, 2008

Economic
None seen
Events
9:30am Fed's Evans gives remarks on Smart Money Week. 1:30pm Fed's Kroszner speaks on community development in Minnesota. 2:30pm Fed's Evans speaks to high school students in Illinois. Deutsche Bank Latin American Client Conference, MAGIC International Conference. Trades Ex-dividend: BBY $0.13, BK $0.24, EOC $0.798, PSD $0.25.
Earnings
Before the Open: ALDN, AME, AMLN, ACI, BAC, BOH, CNB, LLY, GCI, HAL, HBI, HAS, LEE, MAT, MRK, NVS, QXM, DGX, SAY, TNB, WFT. After the Close: ALB, BSX, BRO, CVTI, CR, DAC, DST, EFX, ETH, RE, FDG, FWRD, HPC, HXL, KRC, LNCR, LOGI, MSPD, NBR, NFLX, NVLS, OMCL, OMI, PKG, PTP, PLXT, SLG, SFG, STLD, TXN, USNA, VRTX, VNUS, VLTR, WCN, WGOV, ZRAN.

Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Economic
10:00am March Existing Home Sales (last 5.03M, m/m 2.9%), Feb House Price Index m/m (last –1.1%), April Richmond Fed Manufacturing Index (last 6)
Events
AFSA International Fixed Income Investors Conference. ICSC/UBSW Chain Store Sales (7:45, last +0.9%). Redbook Retail Sales (8:55, last +2.0%). ABC Consumer Confidence (last -39). Trades Ex-dividend: CL $0.40, ENI $0.39.
Earnings
Before the Open: AKS, AXE, ARB, ASTE, T, AUO, ALV, AVY, BHI, BKRS, BJS, EAT, CP, CSL, CE, CNC, CME, COH, CPO, CFC, DD, ECA, FITB, FMER, GNTX, HSC, HBAN, IEX, IIVI, JEC, JEF, JBLU, JRN, KELYA, KMB, KCI, KVHI, LAB, LXK, LMT, MCD, MDP, MICC, NCC, NS, OMC, OXPS, PCAR, PH, BTU, PNR, PAS, PTEC, RYN, ROH, SSW, SHW, SII, SNA, STI, TCB, TLAB, UAUA, UNH, USG, WDR, WAT, WU, WTNY, WYE. After the Close: RNT, AMSG, ANAD, ANEN, BRCM, CHRW, CDNS, CLMS, CLZR, CRI, CEC, CERN, CREE, CSGS, CYMI, DFG, EGP, EW, WIRE, ENTU, FCFS, FBC, FULT, HBHC, HGIC, IBKC, ILMN, INFN, IVGN, LDSH, LDIS, MANH, MOLX, NARA, NETL, NSC, NUVA, ODFL, ONNN, ORLY, PXLW, PPDI, RJF, RCRC, RHI, SEAB, SIAL, SIMG, SWKS, SSCC, TCO, TER, TRMK, TUP, VFC, VMW, VOCS, XL, YHOO, YUM, ZHNE.

Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Economic
4:30am Bank of England Minutes released
Events
JP Morgan China Conference. MBA Mortgage Applications (7:00, last 2.5%).
Earnings
Before the Open: AMG, APD, ATI, ABK, ABC, ABFS, ARW, ATMI, BDX, BHP, BIIB, BA, CPS, CXG, CEG, CFR, CYBI, DAL, DOV, DSL, EMC, FCL, FCX, GD, GENZ, GSK, GRP, HMA, HST, LII, LVLT, LECO, MPX, MNI, MNC, MCO, MWRK, NWA, NYB, PMTC, PBG, PFCB, PNW, PX, PDS, RGS, RIMG, ROK, RES, R, SGP, SEIC, SRP, SLGN, SPNC, TDY, TRA, SNAK, MDCO, UGI, UPS, WLP, XTO, ZBRA. During Trading Hours: BUD, EGN. After the Close: AEA, AEIS, AFL, ACL, ADS, ALL, AMZN, ECOL, AGP, AAPL, ARNA, AXYS, BEZ, BBSI, BCR, CLDN, CHIC, CMG, CTXS, CNS, CVGI, CLB, EXBD, CSGP, CVA, CCI, DSCM, EFII, EPIC, EPIQ, EQIX, EXTR, FFIV, DAVE, FNF, FADV, FR, FMC, GDI, GGG, GSIC, HLIT, HTZ, HRH, ICO, KEX, LHO, LSI, MTSN, MCGC, MRCY, MEOH, MOBE, MTSC, NFX, NE, NTRI, PTV, PRXL, PNSN, PLXS, PHM, QCOM, STR, QDEL, RMBS, RJET, RSG, RYL, SANM, SCSS, SKX, SOV, STMP, SRDX, TEX, TSCO, TQNT, TYL, UB, VARI, VAR, WOOF, VIGN, XLNX.

Thursday, April 24, 2008
Economic
8:30am March Durable Goods Orders (last –1.1%, ex transport –2.4%), Initial Jobless Claims (last 372K), Continuing Claims (last 2.984M)
10:00am March Help Wanted Index (last 21), March New Home Sales (last 590K, m/m –1.8%)
10:30am Natural Gas Inventories
Events
8:30am FDA Ophthalmic Devices Panel. Trades Ex-dividend: WPO $2.15, AXA $1.593, CHA $1.091.
Earnings
Before the Open: SMLC, FLWS, MMM, ABH, AET, AAI, ALK, MO, AEP, ABI, AIT, ARTG, ABG, AZN, AGIX, AN, AVT, AVX, BLL, BDC, BHE, BDK, BMY, BC, BW, BBW, BG, CCMP, CRR, CSH, CHINA, CRA, CBR, CNH, CCE, CNMD, COP, CNX, CBE, DLX, DO, DRAD, DTG, DDE, DVD, DOW, ELNK, ELON, ECL, ELN, EME, ESV, SSP, EXC, EXR, FLIR, FRPT, F, FO, BEN, GMT, GR, HSY, HUB.B, IKN, IMN, IMCL, IPCC, IART, IDC, IMA, IVZ, ESI, JAKK, JNS, JRC, KDN, KSU, KBW, KEI, KMT, KLIC, FSTR, LLL, LH, LTM, LIFC, LYTS, MDC, MEDE, MLNM, MKSI, MOT, MWIV, NAFC, NWL, NEM, NIHD, NJR, NOC, NCX, OXY, ORI, OHI, OVRL, PTC, PTI, PCCC, PENN, PEP, PLUG, POT, PCH, PLD, QUIX, RHD, RDN, RTN, FRZ, RGC, RSTO, COL, RCL, SWY, SCG, POOL, SHPGY, SI, SPAR, SPR, SWK, HOT, STFC, SSYS, SU, SXCI, SY, SNV, BRLC, SYNT, SYPR, TROW, TASR, TTEC, TNC, TEN, TMO, TRAD, TRV, UNP, USAP, LCC, UST, VDSI, WAB, WCG, WMAR, WST, WHR, WRLD, XMSR, ZMH, ZOLL. During Trading Hours: AIMC, BPL, HTLD. After the Close: ABAX, AFFX, AYE, AMX, AXP, AFG, ACF, AMGN, ARBA, ARTC, AJG, ASIA, AVID, BIDU, BKUNA, BJRI, EPAY, BTUI, BUCY, BLDR, BLG, CLS, CX, CENX, CF, CTHR, CHRT, CAKE, CHE, CB, CCU, CCO, CNET, COBZ, COHR, COHU, COLM, RIO, DVW, CW, DDUP, DCT, DECK, DV, DDR, DXPE, EMN, ELX, EXAR, EZPW, FALC, FIS, FMD, FDRY, GNW, ROCK, HITT, HME, HUBG, IKAN, INSP, IM, INSU, IDTI, ISSI, IBKR, IOM, IRBT, ISTA, XXIA, JJSF, JNPR, KLAC, KNX, LSCC, MEE, MFE, WFR, MELI, MMSI, MTD, MCRL, MSCC, MSFT, MTX, MCRI, MRT, NCI, NTGR, N, OPWV, OPLK, OSIP, OSG, PKTR, PCTI, PKI, PFWD, PRAA, POWI, PWER, RACK, RMTR, RRC, RVI, RVBD, ROP, RRR, WINS, SCSC, SCRX, CKH, SIGI, SMTL, SIRF, PCU, SPF, STNR, SRCL, SWN, SYNA, TNL, TMA, TZOO, TRMB, GROW, UHS, VSEA, VVUS, VLCM, WRB, WDC, WGL, WLL, WMGI, YRCW, ZIGO

Friday, April 25, 2008
Economic
8:30am March Final U of Michigan (last 63.2)
Events
Trades Ex-dividend: GS $0.35, AEG $0.417.
Earnings
Before the Open: ACPW, AXL, BPO, CSUN, SUR, CCUR, CVH, CVTX, ETR, GT, IDXX, ITT, LNCE, ERIC, MBFI, NNI, GAS, OPTR, PPCO, QLTI, SAIA, VVI, WEN. After the Close: ABMD, BFAM, DHOM, ENTR.

What does weekend mean to you?

How do you spend your weekend? Weekend is a time for most people to rest, relax and have more time with family members. This weekend, I have wasted my time on computer games and movies. In this world, there are only 3% of people who are very successful. They use their weekend differently. They work harder in weekend compare with weekdays, so that they can plan well for the week to come. The only time they rest/relax is the time they close their eyes to sleep. They are so motivated that they can't wait to wake up on the next day so that they can continue what they were doing yesterday, even it is on weekend.

I tell myself, if I want to join the top 3% most successful people of the world, I must follow what they are doing. The followings are the things that I MUST do for the next weekend.

I MUST do the followings 5 things on the next weekends:-
Weekend is the time for me to review what I have done right and wrong for the passed week.
Weekend is the time for me to reward myself or punish myself.
Weekend is the time for me to plan for next week.
Weekend is the time for me to do more self study on investment, trading, charting, technical analysis to improve on my trades.
Weekend is the time for me to work out, so that I will always have a strong and healthy body.


Let me test out the things I need to do on the next weekend and I will slowly add more weekend tasks so that I will be on the right track to join the Top 3% Most Successful People Club.

3 things that I tell myself

I always tend to lack of self-discipline especially during weekend as I have so much free time. I do not follow the plans that I set for myself. I always waste time on playing computer games and watching movies. I tend to sleep more than I have to.

I do not think that successful people will spend their time on computer games and movies. I believe they always spend their every minutes and seconds on productive things. That's the reason they are able to earn 10x or may be 100x money than me. They may just have the same intelligence as I am, but the way they use their time make them the top 3% most successful people in the world.

I have a choice to make: Join the club of the top 3% most successful people in the world or the 97% crowd of not so successful people.

I choose to join the top 3% most successful people club, So I tell myself 3 things:-

I tell myself: "If you want to be succeed, Do productive things every minute, every second!"

I tell myself: "If you want to earn 10x or 100x of what you earn right now, Do productive things every minute, every second!"

I tell myself: "If you want to have a better life, Do productive things every minute, every second!"

I promised myself to use my time productively from now on and this is the promise of a life time.

Tuesday, April 15, 2008

My Trades on 14 April 2008

Today was a very thin market, not much volume. I only up gross $27 today.
My best trade for today was JCI. I shorted it because last week, it has been downgraded. But my entry point was not good enough (32.31) and I could have entered the trade since (32.60) as I know about the news.
Short JCI on April 14, 2008

Another trade that I should have made money but I did not was RHT, I shorted it at 19.50 but it went against me once I entered the trade. I hold on that until I see the MACD turned a slightly bullish trend then I got out. The MACD was a little bit deceiving on this trend. I should have hold it a little bit longer and if I did, I would have made more than $100 today.
short RHT on April 14, 2008

Friday, April 11, 2008

Profit/Gain on Week 2 of April 2008

After a big loss on last week, I reduced my share sizes to gain back some momentum. This week, I am positive which I gained 2 last days. Next week will be a big week! There are many earnings released and there are a few economic numbers also. I will set a few rules and I think if I have disciplined to follow, I believe I should make a big gain.

Week 2 of April 2008
DateNumber of SharesProfit/ Loss
7
1200
-130
8
1100
-40
9
1900
-12
10
1100
206
11
1600
76
Total
6900100


Preview on next week (4/14/2008 to 4/18/2008)

Monday, April 14, 2008
Economic
8:30am March Advance Retail Sales (last –0.6%, ex autos –0.2%)
10:00am Feb Business Inventories (last 0.8%)
Events
3:15pm Fed's Warsh speaks about financial markets in New York. Trades Ex-dividend: EOG $0.12, GGP $0.50, MGRC $0.20, KWR $0.23, TOC $0.318.
Earnings
Before the Open: ETN, WERN, GWW. After the Close: AMLN, ELS, INFY, JBHT, STLY.

Tuesday, April 15, 2008
Economic
8:30am March PPI (last m/m 0.3%, y/y 6.4%, ex food & energy last m/m 0.5%, y/y 2.4%), April Empire Manufacturing (last –22.2)
9:00am Feb Net Long-term TIC Flows (last $62.0B), Feb Total Net TIC Flows (last $37.4B)
1:00pm April NAHB Housing Market Index (last 20)
Events
CIBC Energy Conference. RBC Platinum Group Metals Conference. SunTrust Institutional Conference. ICSC/UBSW Chain Store Sales (7:45, last 0.7%). Redbook Retail Sales (8:55, last 0.8%). ABC Consumer Confidence (last -34). Trades Ex-dividend: RRD $0.26, AYI $0.13, DLM $0.04, DMND $0.045, ABV $0.862.
Earnings
Before the Open: ADTN, BKRS, BHP, FRX, GMTN, IIIN, JNJ, MTB, MI, NTRS, PII, QXM, RF, STT, USB. After the Close: CHB, CSX, HCSG, INTC, LLTC, RLRN, RUSHA, STX, SORC, WM.

Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Economic
8:30am March CPI (last m/m 0.0%, y/y 4.0%; ex food & energy last m/m 0.0%, y/y 2.3%), March Housing Starts (last 1.065M), March Building Permits (last 984K)
9:15am March Industrial Production (last –0.5%), March Capacity Utilization (last 80.4%)
10:30am Crude Oil/Gasoline/Distillate Inventories
2:00pm Fed Beige Book
Events
11:45am Fed's Yellen speaks in Alameda, CA on US outlook. 12:30pm Fed's Plosser speaks on monetary policy in Pennsylvania. 8:30am FDA Pediatric Oncology Subcommittee. MBA Mortgage Applications (7:00, last 5.4%). Trades Ex-split: BBD 3-2. Trades Ex-dividend: PKI $0.07, LOW $0.08.
Earnings
Before the Open: ABT, AMB, AMR, ASML, BMI, KO, ITW, JCI, JPM, NITE, LUFK, MTOX, MTG, EDU, PJC, SSW, STJ, WFC, WWW. After the Close: ALTR, ATR, AVCT, CAVM, CNW, CCK, DTLK, EBAY, GILD, GKK, IBM, ISIL, KMP, KNX, KNL, LEG, PLCM, RMBS, SOV, SPSN, TER, UFPI.

Thursday, April 17, 2008
Economic
8:30am Initial Jobless Claims (last 357K), Continuing Claims (last 2.94M)
10:00am April Philadelphia Fed (last –17.4), March Leading Indicators (last –0.3%)
10:30am Natural Gas Inventories
Events
9:45am Fed's Kohn speaks at conference on credit markets and banking. 10:30am Fed's Prescott speaks on Fed panel. 2:00pm Fed's Fisher speaks in Chicago to the Council on Global Affairs. 3:00pm Fed's Lacker speaks to the media at the Charlotte Credit Conference. 3:15pm Fed's Calabia moderates panel on credit risk. Small & Mid Cap Financials Conference. Trades Ex-split: CHDX 3-2. Trades Ex-dividend: CVS $0.06, OEH $0.025, SHLM $0.15, FFNW $0.075.
Earnings
Before the Open: SMLC, AOS, AMFI, ECOL, AM, APH, ASPM, BK, BAX, BBT, BGG, CHINA, CHKP, CIT, CMA, CAO, CY, DHR, DSL, FCS, FHN, FRPT, GPC, HOG, HSY, HNI, RX, IART, IGT, JRC, KEY, LSTR, MAR, MMR, MEG, VIVO, MER, MLAN, NYT, NOK, NUE, ORB, PFE, PNC, BPOP, PPG, RS, RSTO, SGP, SHW, SLM, SON, LUV, SPNC, SPWR, SVU, SXCI, BRLC, AMTD, TTEC, TXT, UTEK, UTX, USAK, WSO, WCG. During Trading Hours: HTLD. After the Close: AMD, DOX, ARNA, BKUNA, COF, CX, GRRF, CYN, CTCT, CPSS, CBST, CYBS, CYT, ETFC, ESLR, FNB, FCF, GOL, GOOG, HIFN, ICUI, INFA, INPC, ISRG, KKD, LHO, MCGC, MELI, MHK, MGI, PKTR, PNFP, LGBT, PMCS, PGI, QMED, RLI, SNDK, SEP, SYK, SRDX, TPX, TMA, VASC, ZION.

Friday, April 18, 2008
Economic
None
Events
8:30am Fed's Lacker, Rosengren speak on liquidity, systemic risk. 10:45am Former Fed Chairman Greenspan, EU's Barrosso speak at a conference in Turin, Italy. 11:30am Fed's Schuermann speaks on banking. Credit Suisse Russian Utilities Conference. Trades Ex-dividend: APA $0.15.
Earnings
Before the Open: ACO, CAT, C, HON, MAN, NVR, PRSP, SLB, WB, WL, XRX. After the Close: WIT.

Wednesday, April 9, 2008

Apple (AAPL) on 7,8 April 2008

On April 7, 2008. Apple (AAPL) was up 2.81 to 155.89 after it was upgraded by Thomas Weisel from "Market Weight" to "Overweight".
Apple (AAPL) chart on April 7, 2008
The next day which is on April 8, 2008. Apple (AAPL) was downgraded by Morgan Keegan from "Marker Perform" to "Under Perform" and Apple was down 3.05 to 152.84.
Apple (AAPL) chart on April 8, 2008
This is not the first time Analysts have mixed opinions about Apple. On January 23, 2008. Needham & Co has upgraded Apple from "Buy" to "Strong Buy" but Caris & Company has downgraded Apple from "Buy" to "Above Average". It is really amusing to see such a thing happened. The bottom line is analysts can not be trusted and there might be some hidden agenda for upgrading or downgrading the company (eg: downgrade as the company is holding short position or vice versa)
Mixed Analysts Opinions on Apple

Sunday, April 6, 2008

Carnival of Equity Trading

Carnival of Equity Trading
What is Carnival of Equity Trading?
After I browsed through http://blogcarnival.com, I did not find any carnival for Equity Trading. So, I have decided to host one. Carnival of Equity Trading is mainly about sharing ideas on Equity Trading. No matter if you are a day trader or swing trader, what is more important is you are willing to share your experience, thoughts about Equity trading to people so that they can learn from you. You might want to let people your software setups, good trades, bad trades, your way of risk manage the trades, money management, positions sizing and more. I believe that if you share, other Equity Traders will also share to you and you can learn from them as well.

The first edition of the Carnival of Equity Trading will be published on 12pm EDT 13 April 2008 and the submission deadline is 12am EDT of the same day.
If you would like to join the Carnival of Equity Trading, please join http://blogcarnival.com and search for "Carnival of Equity Trading" and submit your entry over there.

Saturday, April 5, 2008

Good news! Apple (AAPL) broke through 150 on 3 April 2008

Apple was able to break through 150 on 3 April 2008 and It was up 1.47 to 153.08 on 4 April 2008. It was indeed for the loyal Apple Shareholders who held on the pain when there was a sell off on early January 2008.

Apple Broke through 150 on 3 april 2008

Next, Apple will have to test the resistance at 160 and 170. I believe that it will stay at this level for a while, before the earning on Apple on 23 April 2008 (unless there is a very positive news or a very negative news on Apple before its earning).
Apple Chart Resistance at 160 170

My Trades on 3, 4 April 2008

Trades on 3 April 2008
TradesNumber of SharesPositionGross P&L/shareGross P&L
Dis
200
Short
0.0
0.0
GPS
200
Short
0.04
7
HD
300
Short
-0.11
-33
MAR
100
Short
-0.21
-21
MU
500
Short
-0.13
-65
S
300
Short
-0.07
-21
STX
300
Long
-0.17
-52
Total
1900


-185

Trades on 4 April 2008
TradesNumber of SharesPositionGross P&L/shareGross P&L
CVC
100
Short
0.14
14
GPS
200
Short
-0.02
-4
JEF
300
Short
0.06
19
TXN
400
Short
0.15
60
Total
1000


89

1. My best trade on 4 April 2008 was TXN. It looked weak when the market opened. I shorted 200 shares at 29.72 when it came down below the 144 Exponential Moving Average and when MACD showed bearish trend. I sized in another 200 shares when the trend confirmed by MACD at 29.58. I put a limit buy at 29.50 to take profit before the trend changed.
Short TXN on 4 April 2008
2. Another good trade JEF. JEF has been killed from previous day close at 17.12 to the low of the day at 16.23. It bounded back to near 144 at about 1 pm and it never broke though 144 to climb higher. I took the opportunity to short JEF and put a stop a little bit about previous open at 16.91. JEF has tested at the 144 a few times but never broke through. I sized in more when I saw the MACD confirmed the bearish trend and when it broke though the previous low. However, the exit was a bit premature as it bounded at the Bollinger band.
Short JEF on 4 April 2008
Summary
This week has been the worst week ever for me. I was very careless on 3 April 2008 and It was a choppy market and every trade that I got into was against me. I have traded very carefully on 4 April 2008 with lesser shares to slowly gain back my momentum and that was my only positive day at the first weeks of April 2008.

Week 1 of April 2008
DateNumber of SharesProfit/ Loss
1
6900
-371
2
1400
-203
3
1900
-185
4
1000
89
Total
11200-670

Overall, the first week as a full time trader, I am -670 and I am not happy with it. I will have to do more homework and be more careful on my trades and do not trade on crazy stocks. I have to be patient to wait for nice setup before getting into a trades.

Thursday, April 3, 2008

Apple (AAPL) could not close above 150 on 2 April 2008

Apple opened at 149 and down 2.04 (1.36%) from previous close of 149.53 to Today close of 147.49. However, Research in Motion (RIMM - sister stock of Apple) released its earning and it beats earning and has upside guidance. In after Hours trading, RIMM up 5.46 (4.72%) and Apple also up 1.39 (0.94%) to 148.88.

Please look at the After Hours trading for RIMM and AAPL as below:-
After Hours Trading for RIMMAfter Hours Trading for AAPL

There were rumors about the possible release of the new Iphone (3G Iphone) which also mentioned in Fast Money. I will be waiting patiently for the release of the 3G Iphone and get one on my hand in future.

Wednesday, April 2, 2008

My Trades on 2 April 2008

Today was not a good day for me also. I had software problem early in the morning and I could not trade until 11 am something.

TradesNumber of SharesPositionGross P&L/shareGross P&L
BIG
200
Long
-0.1
-20
CA
500
Long
-0.08
-38
JEF
500
Short
-0.17
-85
LDK
200
Long
-0.20
-60
Total
1400


-203


1. The first trade that I was entered was CA which kept hitting High yesterday and today. I tried to Long it and I was killed in the pull back.

2. The second trade that I got into was JEF, most financial stocks were positive at about 1 pm but I saw that JEF turned negative and kept on coming down. I think that will be a good short. I gave it a try and put a stop at 17.41. Obviously, my stop is too tight and it triggered mt stop and go down further.
Lesson learned: I must give it some more room and do not put my stop too tight.Short JEF on 2 April 2008

3. The reason I Long BIG was simple. BIG was positive in the morning and It pulled back starting from 12 pm. To short a stock that is still positive is not a good idea, so I was just watching BIG. It bound off at 144 at 5 minutes charting and it made another attempt to go up by breaking the Previous High. I long it after it broke previous High and put a stop a little bit below the previous High. I was in the money like 10 cents but I never take profit and it just came back hard after the news about the increase of crude oil price by $4.Long Big on 2 April 2008

4. My worst trade of the day was LDK. It was a crazy stock and it started to ripped to the moon at about 1:20 pm and I Long it but too late, I was in the money about 10 cents and it just suddenly tanked in front of my face.
Lesson Learned: Do not get into a crazy stock. LDK will be removed from my list today and I will never look at it again.

Tuesday, April 1, 2008

Apple (AAPL) on April 1, 2008

Apple (AAPL) was not left behind on this bullish market also. Apple was trading upward for the whole day and it filled up the Gap between 22 January 08 and 23 January 08. This means that it has broke through the Gap resistance and it is another confirmation that the stock will be moving higher. It is up 6.03 (4.2%) to 149.53 during the trading hours.Apple up 6 bucks on April Fool 2008
In the same time, the after hours trading was bullish also, it was up 0.67 cents to 150.20. So, tomorrow Apple will open above 150 and 150 will act as support level. We will have to see if this support is sustainable or not. If Apple is able to close above 150, this will be another confirmation that Apple is in bullish trend and it will go all the way to test the next resistance at 160.
Apple After Hours Trading on April 1, 2008

My Trades on 1 April 2008

Starting from today, I will post all my trades with number of shares and my Profit/Loss in blog. I will also put the reason I got into, and how I can improve from the trades. From there, I believe I can be more disciplined, stick to my rules and become more careful before getting into any trades.
TradesNumber of SharesPositionGross P&L/shareGross P&L
CA
500
Long
0.04
20
DFS
500
Long
-0.11
-53
DIS
500
Long
0.07
35
F
1500
Short
0.05
-75
GM
1000
Short
-0.02
-21
GPS
500
Long
-0.19
-95
LOW
500
Long
0.13
65
NCC
400
Short
0.09
37
NOK
500
Short
-0.28
-140
PIR
500
Long
-0.10
-49
T
500
Long
-0.19
-95
Total
6900


-371


1. One of my colleagues was calling that Nokia was hitting Low and another said that in 5 minutes charting, NOK is very far away from 144 moving average. So it might come down. I took the opportunity to short Nokia which turned out to be bad trade. It is my worst trade of the day and I am losing $140 in this single trade.
Lesson learned: I was so careless by not looking at other communication stocks like T, VZ, S as they were hitting high of the day. The whole communication sector is bullish and Nokia was just having a temporary correction.

2. After I got our from NOK, I was thinking to Long some communication stocks. My colleague was in VZ and S and he was making money in it. I compare T with VZ and it looked like T has more room to go. I Longed T and I got killed!
Lesson learned: It was about 11 am and normally this time there will be less volume as people who made money in the morning will take profit and go out for beer and lunch. I should not be so reckless to enter a position that it might made a major movement, especially after 11 am.

3. I shorted GM in the morning price: 19.39 at about 9:39 am and put a stop at 19:51. It triggered my stop. This was a bad trade. I know that today GM will release its auto sales and I did not wait for the Sales number and shorted the stock. At about 1:50 pm, the GM auto sale number was released, it was -13% compare with estimate -5.5% It was a bad number, I took advantage of that and short GM and I earned back some money. Without knowing the auto sales of Ford, I was stupidly think that F might follow as it was the sister stock and I shorted F at the same time and I lose money in it. Ford Auto sales was -7.6% versus estimate of -9.7% which was better than expected. I should have more careful and know all the information before trading any stock. I learned my lesson well.
GM short on April 1, 2008. Auto sales -13% vs. estimate -5.5%
Summary of the day
I did many bad trades today and I should be more careful. Today was a strong market and I was losing money. This is totally unacceptable! If I randomly Long any 5 stocks and don't even bother on them and close my position before the market closes, I would have made thousands of dollars.

April 1, 2008 -> My First day as Full Time Equity Trader

I did not have a good start today as I was losing money in this strong market. About 2 months ago, the 'R' word was everywhere ('R' - Recession). Since 2 weeks ago, there were talks about the worst of the credit crisis has passed and the bottom was seen. There were less appearance of the 'R' word. This made me think that when the Dow Jones Industrials index dropped 400 points on the start of the market on January 21, 2008 was the bottom. Dow Jones industrials index bottomToday the Dow Jones industrials index surged nearly 400 points, and all the major indexes were up more than 3 percent. The upside of the market was primarily of the news of Lehman Brothers Holdings. Lehman said that it was forced to raise $4 Billion in capital because of growing rumors that Lehman was facing the same kind of liquidity problems that brought down Bear Stearns. Lehman Brothers Chief Financial Officer Erin Callan said that they do not want to wait until they are in defensive mode, they raised $4 billion of capital Tuesday in a deal that could boost Lehman's outstanding share count by about 15 percent, but could also stop questions about the investment bank's stability. Lehman also suspects that short sellers were spreading rumors about the company to push its stock down. Big write down from UBS ($19 Billion) convinced some that the worst might be over for the Swiss investment bank.

The Dow rose 391.47, or 3.19 percent, to 12,654.36. It marked the eighth-biggest point gain ever for the Dow, and the third time in two weeks it came close to or surpassed 400 points. There were few more reasons contributed to the gain of the market.

There were 2 economic data released on April 1, 2008:-
10:00am ISM Manufacturing prior 48.3 est. 47.5 Real:48.6
Construction Spending MoM prior –1.7% est. –1.0% Real:-0.3%


Although the ISM Manufacturing index below 50 level signals contraction in the sector, it is still better than the forecast and the better than expected construction spending also has helped to push market to new high.