Aug

10

Covered SPF short

August 10, 2007 | 2 Comments

This afternoon I decided to cover my short position in SPF at $11.70. I decided to cover the trade for two reasons–one subjective and one more objective. First, my subjective reason for covering the trade is because I will be away from the desk for the next week and will be unable to keep track of the markets. After suffering from being away from the desk a few weeks ago, I am not about to repeat […]

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Aug

10

Covered CHC, extending my SPF short

August 10, 2007 | Leave a Comment

This morning I decided to use some weakness in CHC shares to cover my small short position at 13.45. After listening to yesterday’s conference call, it appears to me that although the company has a potentially dangerous liquidity position with less than $200 million of liquidity, the fact that much of their portfolio is composed of commercial real estate means that this liquidity crunch will have to endure for quite a lengthy period in order to seriously threaten the […]

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Aug

10

Friday morning thoughts

August 10, 2007 | Leave a Comment

First, I just want to update the portfolio on two moves made yesterday. I doubled my position of BSIC at $1.33, and I also doubled my short position in SPF at $12.35. BSIC really is one of the only stocks I feel comfortable going long on, as oil prices remain high and we know from recent press releases that production should increase further in Q3. Both Q2 and Q3 results look like they will be very solid […]

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Aug

9

NINE looks to be dead money…taking my loss

August 9, 2007 | Leave a Comment

This morning I decided to use the small bounce in NINE to take my loss and sell my holding at $3.11. This was clearly one of my worst trades of the year, as I fell into the value trap of looking at the company’s balance sheet without identifying any near term catalysts to drive the stock higher. To put it frankly, I didn’t to the required research, and I paid the price to the tune of a 21% […]

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Aug

8

Daily Market Wrap 08AUG07

August 8, 2007 | Leave a Comment

It is obvious that I am completely out of sync with the market right now. My shift out of a predominantly long position into a more balance approach has led me to miss today’s bounce and get caught holding some short positions that fared rather badly today. My timing is just plain off right now.

About the only thing that I’ve done right in the past week has been to limit the dollar amounts of my trading so that […]

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Aug

7

Moving further to the short side on the Fed’s no decision

August 7, 2007 | Leave a Comment

Today I decided to scale back my long positions quite heavily by cutting both HRBN and NTRZ from my portfolio. It is certainly a disapointment to watch my 30% profit in HRBN turn to a small loss in a matter of weeks, but nevertheless I must remain disciplined and take my medicine. Therefore, I’ve sold my position in HRBN at $12.55. In an effort to further raise capital, I also liquidated my holding in NTRZ at $2.80. […]

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Aug

4

Weekly Market Wrap 04AUG07

August 4, 2007 | Leave a Comment

The credit crunch continues to roil the markets, and for the time being, there is very little in the way of positive news for the market. However, we are faced with a pivotal moment next Tuesday with the Fed meeting, which promises to be the most important Fed meeting of the year. Based on the trade in the dollar (which sank hard against the yen and euro Friday on some weak economic data) and the dip in yields, […]

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Aug

3

More rebalancing–Taking profits on CHCG, shorting KFED

August 3, 2007 | 1 Comment

In light of the current market weakness, I decided to take more off the table and close my position in CHCG at $6.47. This has been one of my better performers, and certainly has the ability to move back to old highs, but with the market firmly slanting to the downside, I thought it best to book profits and take a wait and see approach.

I have also decided to take out a small short position in KFED at $13.13. […]

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Aug

3

Market thoughts

August 3, 2007 | Leave a Comment

Needless to say, the market has continued to be punishing in the last few days. Although I significantly lightened up my positions early this week, the weakness in the general market is certainly testing my resolve to hold through this difficult period.

In particular, my increased stake in HRSH just before earnings has cost me a significant amount of money. As it represented about 8% of my portfolio, I have certainly taken a major hit from this […]

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