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

Date	Number of Shares	Profit/ Loss
7	1200	-130
8	1100	-40
9	1900	-12
10	1100	206
11	1600	76
Total	6900	100

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.

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".

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.

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)

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.

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.



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).

My Trades on 3, 4 April 2008

Trades on 3 April 2008

Trades	Number of Shares	Position	Gross P&L/share	Gross 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

Trades	Number of Shares	Position	Gross P&L/share	Gross 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.

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.

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

Date	Number of Shares	Profit/ 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.

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:-


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.

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.

Trades	Number of Shares	Position	Gross P&L/share	Gross 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.

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.

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.

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.
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.

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.

Trades	Number of Shares	Position	Gross P&L/share	Gross 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.

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. Today 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.