Microsoft

One for the road.

Party Like It's 1999

Just let it go. When will people realize disco is dead, and so are these two 10,000 lb gorillas? These are 10 year charts and I think they both trade down to long term support and maybe lower. The market will turn, these guys just won't lead anymore Don't e-mail tomorrow that the targets weren't hit.
CSCO reports after the close tomorrow and the options are priced for about a buck move in either direction

MSFT

The chart is telling me that folks are just tired of the same old "over promise and under deliver" approach at Mr. Softee.

Wicked Volatile

I covered some financial shorts early before they rallied. I was lucky. I shorted MS pre open and covered for a point and a half within the first half hour. UYG, WB and LEH were covered from yesterday basically at the lows of the day. FDX started the day off with a bad number and a gloomy outlook. This is a company that is quite a tell for how the economy is doing. I caught CHK for a beautiful trade before it decided to roll over with the rest of the sector until it strengthened later in the day. I caught a little name, ABAT, from $5 to 5.50. The chart was amazing until it gave up the ghost in the afternoon. I will be watching this one in the days to come. If it can get through $5.70 with volume it should explode. It' s a China name that makes batteries. I know, the hair is up on your neck from the excitement. Oil went away near the high of the day and the financials tried their best to rally. The only reason I covered the financials was because I caught the gift of a bad open. I still think they go lower. The XLF breached the March low that I have been watching for weeks but quickly recovered. The DOW also broke 12000 for a short period. All in, it's hard to be bullish right here. It really is all about the oil bubble popping, and when it does we will see a rally of enormous strength. The question is when? Stay liquid so you can play when it does.

PS The steel stocks came on strong at the end and I caught AKS for 2 pts. I forgot about that one. I almost took it home but it's not the take home market for longs yet. Keep an eye on it though.

The Worst Over?

What I meant to say in my last confusing post, is that it seems like yesterday that I posted the chart of the XLF(see June 1 post). The intra day low in XLF occurred on June 11 at around $22.33, the prior low was the March low of $22.29 which has not been broken yet. My bet is that this time it will get cracked and where she finds support I have no idea. Goldman Sachs was out with a report that they think the banks will need to raise an additional $65 billion. What's 6.5% of a trillion between friends. I'm short UYG since the mid morning and WB. I am also short LEH for a retest of the lows. I think some investors were looking for GS to save the day but it didn't, which goes to my practice and theory that owning a weak stock in a "strong" group is far superior to owning a strong stock in a weak group.

I traded some SOLF early on and made some loot with NIHD. Keep and eye on the latter as the chart looks good but it needs more volume.

We have triple witching on Friday and I don't trust the eps from MS that will be coming out tomorrow before the open

Bored To Tears

There were great trading opportunities today in solar and shippers. I traded some AIS,WTI,MS and BZP. half heartedly as I just didn't have the fire at all and spent the day watching the U.S. Open. Oil exploded then rolled over and if you're a trader it just had to leave you confused. Sure, it's option week and things can get funky but this is getting ridiculous. We have LEH,GS,MS and MER over the next couple of days and I could not care less than I do. The solars rallied and the shippers had a nice pop. This is going to be a very volatile week with oil futures and triple witching on Friday, we also have PPI (much more powerful than CPI) tomorrow, and I believe housing numbers are on the docket. In no way do I even think we are out of the woods and I am staying real liquid to take advantage of opportunities long or short for the rest of the week.

I was rooting for Rocco today, what a classy guy. He was working for the Golf channel last year to make ends meet. Today's second place finish should help pay a few bills. Can't help but like the man.

Morning Look

Copper is hitting all time highs which is good for PCU and FCX in pre market. I think we are do for a giveback in the market this week and will be looking at more shorts than longs. YHOO is getting crushed as expected and MSFT is up about a buck. The financials could come in a bit this week and it is a light week for economic data. I will be watching oil for any signs of a breakdown. A couple names I will be watching today:

EJ,BOOM(possible bounce candidate) CHNR(over 23.50 on volume)SKF(if financials come in)PCU(on pullbacks)

Mr. Softee Pulls Yahoo Bid

What a nice trade long MSFT short YHOO would have been. There were some pretty nice option strategies on this outcome that I chose to ignore. Well, can't get them all. The street hated this deal from day one. MSFT is free to move higher now and YHOO is free to-----freefall.