Trade History

Below is a summary of all of my closed positions since I began writing this blog:

  • TLT–I shorted a large position at $97.72 on 23JAN. I covered the position on 06FEB at $94.65 for a nice profit. With oil coming down, it should lessen inflationary fears over the short term, and I don’t want to pay the yield on the TLT while it marks time here.
  • BOLT–I bought a small position at $26.33 on 23JAN. Adjusted for the split, my basis is now $17.55. I sold the position at $18.85 on 06FEB to cut my exposure to all things oil.
  • XTO–I bought a small position at $49.20 on 24JAN. I sold the position at $50.97 for a small profit. The energy sector in general is not looking good, and I want less exposure to all things energy.
  • PKX–I bought a small position at $132.62 on 24JAN. I sold the position at $126.68 on 06FEB. Trying to fight the economic cycle is not working here, so I’m taking my 4% loss and getting out of the way lest it cause me more pain.
  • VGZ–I bought a small position at $5.15 on 28NOV. I doubled the position at $4.85 on 07DEC07. I doubled the position again at $4.37 on 24JAN, and then sold half the position at $4.68 on 25JAN. I doubled the position again at $4.40 on 01FEB. I sold half the position at $4.59 on 05FEB, and I closed the position at $4.86 on 06FEB. Small incremental profits here, but profits nonetheless.
  • MCD–I bought a small position at $50.65 on 28JAN. I sold the position at $53.82 on 05FEB. Decent profit on a pretty easy trade.
  • POT–I bought a small position at $132.98 on 31JAN. I sold the position on 01FEB at $142.08 for the same reason as my MOS trade below.
  • MOS–I bought a small position at $90.59 on 30JAN. I sold the position on 01FEB at $91.51 after seeing gold plummet on 01FEB. I like the agricultural inflation plays longer term, but we might get a better entry point.
  • NVT–I bought a large position at $71.67 on 22JAN in order to play the arbitrage. I sold the position on 31JAN at $74.01 in order to take on more risk. This was a perfectly executed trade and a very nice, almost riskless profit.
  • BEAS–I bought a moderate position at $18.46 on 15JAN in order to play the arbitrage. I sold the position at $18.45 on 24JAN in order to take on more risk.
  • SPY Feb 130 puts–I bought a sizable position at a premium of $2.35 on 18JAN. I sold half the position at $6.50 on 22JAN and sold the rest of the position at $4.25 on 23JAN. This was another monster gain.
  • XLB Mar 37 puts–I bought a moderate position at a premium of $2.05 on 16JAN. I sold the position at $2.45 on 23JAN.
  • EWZ Mar 60 puts–I bought a moderate position at a premium of $2.30 on 16JAN. I sold the position at $2.75 on 23JAN.
  • LEH–I shorted a modest amount at $57.57 on 16JAN. I covered the position at $51.69 on 22JAN.
  • USO–I shorted a small position at 71.39 on 16JAN. I covered the position at $71.65 on 18JAN.
  • GLD–I shorted a moderate sized position on 15JAN08 at $90.00 I added to the position by 50% at 87.72. I covered the position at $87.73 on 18JAN.
  • SPY Jan 136 puts–I very nice daytrade. I bought a sizable position at $2.07 on 16JAN, and closed the position less than an hour later at $2.63. Well planned, decently well executed, a nice trade.
  • QQQQ Mar 49 calls–I bought a moderate sized position at a premium of $1.35 on 15JAN. I sold the position on 16JAN at $1.01 as it became clear that my timing was wrong. This was a moderate sized loss, but certainly not a killer.
  • HRBN–I bought a modest position at $21.21 on 15JAN. I sold the position at $20.05 on 16JAN. My timing in getting long the market was wrong, so I reversed the position.
  • WB–I bought a small position at $34.65 on 15JAN. I sold the position at $33.67 on 16JAN. Once again, I was wrong in getting long the market, but I reversed in time to make this essentially a negligible loss for the overall portfolio.
  • MBI–I entered a small short position at $32.63 on 11DEC07. I covered the position on 11JAN08 at $13.95 for a pretty huge 57% gain in just one month. Those kind of gains on short positions don’t come around too often. I may re-enter this position later if the price spikes following MBI’s expected capital raise.
  • AUY Jan 2009 $10 calls–I bought a moderate position at a premium of $4.40 on 06DEC. I sold the position on 11JAN08 at $7.20 for a very nice 64% gain in just over a month. I may look to re-enter this position on any weakness in the stock.
  • SPY Feb 2008 $144 puts–I bought a sizable position at a premium $3.10 on 28NOV07. I sold 40% of the position at $4.70 on 04JAN08. I sold half the remaining position at $6.00 on 08JAN07. I closed the position at $4.60 on 10JAN08. The aggregate gain here was about 65%, a very sizable gain given the rather large overall size of the position.
  • SDS–I bought a small position at a premium $52.75 on 12DEC07. I added to the position by 50% at $55.45 on 18DEC. I sold the position at $61 on 09JAN08 for a nice 13.5% gain.
  • SIJ–I bought a small position at a premium $57.61 on 17DEC07. I sold the position on 08JAN08 at $65 for a nice quick 13% gain.
  • SPY Jan 2008 $146 puts–I bought a moderate position at a premium $3.45 on 28NOV. I sold the position at a premium of $1.94 on 28DEC and took my loss.
  • MS–I entered a sizable short position at a basis of $49.10 dating from 17DEC. I closed the position at $52.96 on 28DEC. This was a case of being right on the story but not anticipating the market’s positive reaction to poor earnings.
  • HZO–I entered a moderate sized short position at a basis of $15.53 dating from 11DEC. I covered the position at $15.17 on 28DEC.
  • AYSI.OB–I initiated a small position at $0.56 on April 2nd. I tripled the position on 05JUL at $0.40. I cut the position in half on 30JUL at $0.41. I sold 40% of the position at $0.56 on 28SEP07. I sold 70% of the remaining position at $0.68 on 11OCT. I closed the position at $0.785 on 20DEC as my limit order executed on the earnings news. I definitely left money on the table due to the limit order.
  • USO–I shorted a moderate position at $69.25 on 07DEC. I doubled the position at $74.04, and then took half the trade off at $71.84 on 19DEC. I closed the trade on 20DEC at $71.80 as it became clear that oil was starting to gain momentum to the upside.
  • IBIN.OB–I bought a small position at $1.90 on 28NOV. I sold the position on 18DEC at $1.99 in order to focus more on core holdings.
  • AVAV–I bought a small position at $23.42 on 28NOV. I sold the position on 11DEC at $25.60.
  • KONG Dec $5 calls–I bought a very small position at a premium of $0.60 on 19NOV. I sold the position on 11DEC at a premium of $0.50.
    • SDTH–I bought a small position at $6.80 on 19NOV. I sold the position on 11DEC at $9.45.
    • HRBN–I bought a small position at $15.75 on 28NOV. I sold the position on 11DEC at $20.20.
    • CY Jan 2008 $30 calls–I bought a moderate position at a premium $6.50 on 06DEC. I took a small loss and sold the position on 11DEC at $5.80 after the Fed debacle.
    • EMC Jan 2008 $17.50 calls–I bought a moderate position at a premium $2.45 on 06DEC. I sold the position at a premium of $2.65 on 12DEC as the market turned downward.
    • FNLY–I sold short a small position in the stock at $3.85 on 21NOV. I covered the position at $2.73 on 07DEC for a very nice 29% gain in two weeks.
    • GOOG–I bought a very small position in GOOG Nov 670 calls at a premium of $4 on 14NOV. These calls expired worthless.
    • CGLD.OB–I added a large position at $0.57 on 26OCT. I added substantially to the position on 02NOV at $0.66. This is my largest holding. I sold the position at $0.72 on 06DEC after learning of a big secondary offering by insiders. A very solid 18% composite gain in a little over a month.
    • KWBT.OB–I added a small position at $0.11 on 29OCT. I added modestly to the position at $0.115 on 02NOV. I sold two-thirds of the position at $0.16. I closed the position at $0.14 on 24NOV.
    • BTJ–I added small position at $36.80 on 08NOV. I doubled the position on 09NOV at $37.40 on 09NOV. I sold the position on 15NOV at 35.71. Again, oil is looking toppy.
    • GLBL–I added small position at $25.65 on 09NOV. I closed the position at $23.71 on 15NOV. Energy not looking good here.
    • SDTH–I added a moderate position at $7.19 on 02NOV. I added to this position by 30% at $6.70 on 06NOV. I sold the portion I added at $6.87 on 07NOV. Looking to buy it back lower. I sold the position at $6.76, then bought it back at $7.25 and doubled the position at $7.70 on 12NOV. Got burned a bit by trading it because I failed to buy it back at the 50 day MA. I sold the position at $7.15 on 15NOV. Any way you slice it, one of my worst trades of the year. Adding on news when I should have taken half off was the first of many mistakes.
    • NTRZ.OB–I added a small position at $1.32 on 22OCT. I tripled the position at $1.20 on 25OCT. I sold two-thirds of the position at $1.18 on 07NOV. I closed the position on 09NOV at $1.22.
    • AVAV–I added small position at $24.14 on 01NOV. I closed the position at $24.01 on 02NOV in my complete revamp of my portfolio.
    • CHME.OB–I added small position at $3.65 on 12OCT. I closed the position at $3.57 on 02NOV.
    • SUOT.OB–I added small position at $6.90 on 11OCT. I increased the position by 300% on 17OCT at $5.96. I closed the position at $5.98 on 02NOV.
    • STV–I entered a small position on 10OCT at $50.32. I increased the position tenfold on 11OCT and lowered my basis to $45. I sold have the position at $45.98, and cut the position in half again at $48.67. On 15OCT I sold November 55 calls against the position at a $6 premium. I added to the position by 60% at $39.99 on 31OCT. I closed the position at $39.15 on O2NOV.
    • KFED–I entered a small short position on 18OCT at $13.96. I doubled the position at $13.77 on 23OCT. I covered half the position at $12.69 on 31OCT. I covered the rest of the position on 01NOV at $12.70.
    • BC–I entered into a short position at $20.84 on 18OCT. I tripled the position at $20.46 on 19OCT. I increased the position a further 33% at $20.15 on 22OCT. I doubled the position again at $21.98 and closed the position at $22.03 on 02NOV. I got burned by earnings a bit, but may re-enter the position later.
    • COF–I entered into a small short position at $64.28 on 31OCT. I covered the position at $62.30 on 01NOV.
    • BTJ–I entered into a small position at $43.20 on 31OCT. I doubled the position at $41.47 on O1NOV. I sold the position at $41.75 on O2NOV.
    • SWSI–I entered into a small position at$20.49 on 31OCT. I sold the position on 02NOV at $19.82.
    • NGS–I entered into a small position at $18.52 on 31OCT. I sold the position at $18.58 on 02NOV in my portfolio revamp.
    • HZO–I entered into a large short position at $14.16 on 26OCT. I covered the position at $14.21 on 31OCT. A bit of nervous trading ahead of earnings.
    • EGO–I entered into a small position at $6.84 on 26OCT. I sold the position at $6.92 on 31OCT based on the Fed’s hawkish comments.
    • AUY–I purchased a small position at $13.95 on 19OCT. I sold two-thirds of the position at $13.75 on 21OCT in an effort to reduce my overly high gold exposure. I re-instituted my original position on 26OCT at $14.11 and sold the entire position at $14.90 on 29OCT.
    • UXG–I added moderate position at $6.33 on 19SEP. I increased my position by 300% on 12OCT at $5.04. I sold the position at $4.92 on 26OCT. Bottom line, I failed to realize that the discouraging initial drill results would continue to weigh on the stock here.
    • NLY–I added moderate position at $15.67 on 12OCT. I increased the position by 80% at $15.63 on 15OCT. I sold half of the position at $16.52 on 19OCT. I closed the position at $17.09 on 26OCT. Nice short term 8% gain. I may look to re-enter after the Fed meeting if we get a cut.
    • MO–I bought a moderate position in MO at $72.22 on 24OCT. I sold the position on 26OCT at $72.42 on 26OCT. I’m using MO as a bank here to store extra cash.
    • VGZ–I added large position at $5.15 on 19OCT. I sold half the position at $5.26 and the rest at $5.39 on 24OCT.
    • ABX–I added moderate position at $41.43 on 19OCT. I sold the position on 23OCT at $41.23. Quite simply, I had too big of a gold position and needed to chop it. No harm done.
    • EGO–I added moderate position at $6.74 on 19OCT. I doubled the position at $6.39 on 20OCT. I sold the position on 23OCT at $6.56, also to cut my overall gold exposure.
    • AVAV–I added large position at $22.97 on 27SEP. I sold half the position at $26.30 on 09OCT. I re-entered my original position by doubling the position at $25.06 on 15OCT. I sold the position at $23.87 on 19OCT.
    • BIIB–I added a small position at $78.13 on 17OCT. I sold the position at $80.02 on 19OCT.
    • CEUA.OB–I added moderate position at $3.27 on 11OCT. I sold the position at $3.57 on 19OCT.
    • EGMI.OB–I added a small position at $0.70 on 17OCT. I sold the position at $0.82 on 18OCT.
    • CAGC.OB–I added a small position at $5.00 on 17OCT. I increased the position five-fold at $4.45 on 18OCT. I sold the entire position for a nice profit at $4.75.
    • SDTH–I added large position at $7.61 on 12OCT. I sold 20% of the position at $8 on 15OCT. I increased the position by 70% at $7.58. I sold 40% of the position at $7.93 on 18OCT. I sold the position at $7.83 on 19OCT. Decent trading profits but a lot of work for the money.
    • BSIC.OB–I added a small position at $1.40 on 31JUL. I doubled the position at $1.33 on 09AUG. I sold the position at $1.145 on 11OCT. I still like the stock, but it remains to be seen whether the stock can finally get some momentum. In the meantime, there are other opportunities.
    • TWOC.OB–I added a moderate position at $4.30 on 30JUL. I sold the position on 11OCT at $4.49. I may re-enter this position.
    • HRSH–I purchased a moderate position at $4.50 on 14MAY. I sold half the position at $5.07 on 31MAY. I doubled the position on 30JUL at $3.46. I tripled the position at $2.38 on 09OCT. I cut the position by two-thirds on 10OCT at $2.46. I sold the position at $2.55 on 11OCT.
    • PUMGF.PK–I purchased a small position on 17APR at $1.18. This is my smallest position in the portfolio. I sold the position at $0.57 on 11OCT. Although the loss is bad from a percentage perspective, this was a tiny position and didn’t really hurt my overall performance.
    • HZO (short)–I entered a small short position in the stock at $14.64 on 28SEP. I doubled the position at $15.74 on 08OCT. I sold the position at $15.20 for essentially no gain. I may re-enter this position at a later date.
    • CSPI–I established a small position at $7.63 on 09OCT. I sold the position at $7.50.
    • VRGY–I entered a moderate position at $22.49 on 09OCT. I sold the position at $23.40 on 11OCT.
    • NVT–I entered a moderate position at $75.79 on Oct 3rd on speculation of a hostile bid. I closed the position on 09OCT at $75.81 for no gain.
    • CMTY–I established a large position in the stock at $31.09 on 08OCT. I sold the position at $31.08 for no gain on 09OCT.
    • CHCG.OB–I added moderate position at $5.13 on 30AUG. I doubled the holding on 20SEP at $3.80 and added a further 75% to the position at $3.83 on 27SEP. I sold 45% of the position at $4.50 on 03OCT. I closed the position at $4.77 on 04OCT. Thanks to my averaging down, this ended up as a very solid 12 percent gain over the short term.
    • GS–I added large position at $198.11 on 19SEP. I sold the position at $211.54 on 27SEP for a solid 7% gain in 8 days.
    • GM–I added a moderate short position in GM at 35.22 on 25SEP. I closed this position at the market close on 25SEP at $34.75 for a small daytrade gain.
    • EGY–I added large position at $4.51 on 19SEP. I sold the position on 21SEP at $4.84 for a solid 7% gain. I may look to re-enter the position on weakness.
    • KFED–I added a small short position at $13.13 on 04AUG. I tripled the position at $12.97 on 07AUG.I covered at $13.89 on 18SEP, taking a manageable loss and eliminating my short exposure on the Fed rate cut of 50 basis points.
    • SPF–I added a small short position at $10.36 on 07AUG.I doubled the position at $12.35 on 09AUG. I closed the position on 10AUG at $11.70. This was another issue of poor timing in shorting the housing sector at the point of maximal fear.
    • CHC–I added a small short position at $12.39. I covered the position at $13.45 on 10AUG for a loss of 8.6% . Plainly put, I entered this position at the worst possible time, when the market selloff was at its height and subprime fears at their worst.
    • NINE–I purchased a moderate position in NINE at $4.00 on 03JUL. I closed the position at $3.11 on 09AUG for a 22% loss. This was not a well conceived investment, plain and simple. I got caught by a nice looking balance sheet.
    • NTRZ.OB–I re-entered part of my original position at $3.76 on 01MAY. I doubled the position at $3.26 on 29JUN. I increased the position by 50% on 05JUL at $2.95. I closed the position at $2.80 on 07AUG.
    • HRBN–I purchased a large position at $13.20 on 15MAY. I cut the position by 15% on 30JUL at $14.05. I closed the position at $12.55 on 07AUG.
    • CHCG.OB–I purchased a moderate position at $5.46 on 29MAY. I sold half the position at $7.98 on 15JUN. I closed the position at $6.47 on 31JUL. A solid gain of 32%. I still believe there is further upside here, but market risk dictates prudence.
    • KSW–I re-entered this former position at $7.35 on 03MAY. I doubled the position at $7.75 on 14JUN. I increased the position by 50% at $7.29 on 20 JUN. I cut the position in half at $7.89 on 30JUL and closed the position on 31JUL at $8.08. Overall the gain amounted to about 9%, which is certainly not horrible given the state of the market at present.
    • CSPI–I entered this position at $9.85 on 07MAY. I doubled the position on 08MAY. My basis is now $9.33. I cut the position by 40% at $9.25 on 30JUL. I closed the position at $9.91 on 31JUL. Overall, a small profit amounting to about 4%.
    • URME.OB–I purchased a small position in URME at $4.05 on 07JUN. I sold this position at $3.48 on 30JUL for a reasonable loss.
    • BSIC.OB–I purchased a moderate position in BSIC.OB on 27APR at $1.41. I sold 30% of the position at $1.58 on 15MAY. I tripled the position on 15JUN at $1.40. I sold the entire position at $1.415 on 03JUL for an overall small gain of 2 percent.
    • UXG–I purchased a medium sized position in UXG on 24APR at $6.16. I doubled the position at $5.05 on 27JUN, putting my basis at $5.61. I sold the position at $5.79 on 02JUL, a small gain of just over 3 percent in 9 weeks (although half the capital was only invested for 5 days).
    • NWTMF.OB–I initiated a small position at $0.79 on April 9th. I added to the position on April 10th at $0.73. My basis was about $0.76. I sold 25% of the position on 15JUN at $0.99. I sold 40% of the position on 18JUN at $1.07. I closed the position on 02JUL at $1.01 for an overall basis of $1.03. A solid 35% gain in just under 3 months.
    • TGA–I purchased a moderate position at $3.85 on 29MAY. I sold the position on 29JUN at $4.52, representing a 17% gain in a month.
    • SXRFF.PK–I initiated a medium sized position on April 9th at $15.74. I sold the position on 31MAY at $15.35, giving me a small loss of 2.5%.
    • ARTW–I purchased a small position at $8.56 on 23MAY. I sold the stock at $9.52 on 29MAY for an 11% gain in a week.
    • GSCP.OB–I purchased a moderate position at $2.25 on 15MAY. I sold the stock at $2.75 on 29MAY, a very nice 22% gain in 2 weeks.
    • GORO.OB–I established a sizable position on April 11th at a basis of $3.14. I sold the position at $3.50 on 15MAY for a solid 12% gain in just over a month. All in all a good gain here.
    • URRE–I purchased a moderate position in URRE on 18APR at $9.20. I added to the position at $9.96 and then sold the position at $9.99 on 09MAY. The overall trade resulted in a very moderate gain of 4 percent compared to my basis of $9.58.
    • OPBL.OB–I initiated my position on 23JAN07 at $5. I have added to the position at $4.90, $5.25, and $5.48. After strong gains, I sold 10% of my position on 12FEB07 at $7.15 in order to rebalance my portfolio. I then decided to double the size of my position at $5.35 on 20MAR07. I sold these newly purchased shares at $6.15 on 02APR07, and sold the rest of the holding on 01MAY07 at $5.45. Despite the fact that I gave up some big paper gains, OPBL was still a very profitable holding. My composite gain was only about 18 percent, but due to the large amount of capital used in these trades, this gain netted me very good returns.
    • SOV (short)–I established a small short position in SOV on 16APR at $24.08. I covered the position on 18APR at $24.05 for essentially no gain. I still believe it to be an attractive potential short, but given the positive surprises from WaMu and Commerce Bank, the near term case for a short appears to be weak, and the trade would be better revisited in a month.
    • QID–I established a medium sized position in the QID on April 12th at $52.39. I sold the position on 17APR at 50.42, for a loss of 3.8 percent. Although I don’t like to ever take a loss, this is a very small price to pay for some downside protection through the potentially treacherous PPI and CPI reports.
    • PALAF.PK–I initiated a position at $6.86 on March 1st. I sold the position on April 11th at $8.40, resulting in a gain of 22 percent in about 6 weeks. I decided to sell on the news that Areva had acquired a stake in Summit Resources, which had me worried that Paladin would get into a bidding war for the company and ultimately pay too much.
    • EGY–I opened a position at $5.24 on April 9th. I closed the position on April 10th at $5.43 for a 3.6% gain. Despite the gain, this was not one of my better trades, because I let myself get scared out of the position and took profits too quickly.
    • NTRZ.OB–I initiated my position in Nutracea on 09FEB07 at $2.75. I have added to the position at $2.88 and $2.93. I sold 40% of the position at $2.98 (which was used to double the OPBL position), and closed the rest of the position on 10APR07 at $3.50. The overall gain for the position was about 16 percent in two months. Given that this was my biggest weighting, this trade has been very profitable. I may look to re-enter the position on weakness.
    • URME.OB–I initiated a small position at $5.90 on April 2nd. I sold the position on 09APR07 for a gain of 21 percent in 7 days. As the position was not overly large, it does not represent a massive overall gain, but it is a solid gain over a very short period.
    • ABAT.OB–I initiated the position on 16MAR at $1.43. I decided to sell the position on 02APR07 after ABAT noted that it would file its 10K late. They have done this before, but I still feel that it increases the risk to an unacceptable level. My sell was at $1.33, resulting in a loss of 7.5%. Given that this was a small part of the portfolio, it doesn’t do much to hurt my overall portfolio.
    • EGRAF.PK–intiated the position on 04DEC06 at $15.50. I sold 80% of the position on 09FEB07 at $17.40 in order to move money into NTRZ. I closed the position on 01MAR07 at $20.00. The trade represented an overall gain of 16 percent in just under 4 months.
    • BOBS.OB–intiated the position on 26OCT (before the blog existed) at $2.85. I added to the position several times in the $3’s. I took profits beginning in the low to mid $4’s, and finally closed the position on 16FEB2007 at $5.35. The aggregate gain was approximately 52 percent in just under 4 months.
    • DYSL.OB–intiated 20DEC06 at $1.65, added a small amount $1.60, basis $1.63, closed on 26JAN07 at $1.46 for a loss of 10%. This was only a small feeler position to see if DYSL would resume upward after correcting a bit. It was clear that my timing was not right and there were better opportunities, so I closed the position and moved the money into OPBL.OB. I continue to like the company and may reenter the position at a later date.
    • UVIH.OB–initiated 13DEC06, tripled the size of the position 11JAN07, basis $3.04, sold 23JAN07, closed 25JAN07 at an overall basis of 3.72, gain of 22%. A very good gain considering that I only held most of the position from 11JAN to 23JAN.
    • MDTA.OB–initiated 12DEC06 at $2.50, closed 11JAN at $2.78, gain of 11.2% in just under one month. This could have been a larger gain except that I chose to sell into the bid (the spread on this stock is routinely 20%) in order to close the trade and rotate the money into UVIH.
    • KSW–the blog did not exist when the positions were initiated. I initiated the position at $3.85 in September and closed it at $7.40 for on 03JAN07. However, because I took profits several times on the way up, my overall selling basis was $6.30, resulting in a gain of 64% in just over 3 months.