Ideas for short-term trades? Where are markets headed?

[socrattt]

I think the confidence is all but gone in the markets. ST, I think you made a poor decision in selling gold at $810/oz, although nothing wrong with a little profit taking. I have a sneaky suspicion we are going to start seeing the markets make some heavy corrections in the near term because there are very few strings left to be pulled by our government and corporations will have little to cheer about for quite some time.

I am loading up again on silver and gold as I feel we truly are now at a time where the Fed can no longer take action to stop this crisis. What will unfold in the next 6 months will be quite alarming and my belief is gold and silver won’t see many more of these recent downward corrections.

I also believe that some gold and silver mining stocks could also have some incredible potential. It really interesting to see how the markets now react to rate cuts and infusion of funds into our failing system. It is a matter of time before unemployment hits 15% and our currency becomes worthless or at lest worth less!

Welcome home!

[Chris Scoreboard Johnston]

I shorted Gold last night at 809 and covered that short at 771 today, just so much money so fast I had to take the profit. I would love to see it rally more for a longer term short, Gold has never been a good hedge against weak stock markets. That is an old wives tale being peddled by people selling gold coins. These are probably the same people who were selling houses a couple of years ago saying they will never go down again. This market is in a downtrend so all rallies should be sold.

I also agree on these 2 and 3 times leverage funds. If you really want that much risk play futures, they are way more liquid on the fills and you can get out in the night sessions if you need to.

I did short the SP 500 last night but was surprised by the magnitude of todays drop as I am expecting a little bit of a larger bounce moving into January. The seasonal strongly suggests this should happen. However, the trend is down so suprises normally occur in the direction of the trend.

Big picture I think most all markets are shorts on bounces, there are still a bout 90 billion dollars worth of futures positions in the large funds that need to be unowound before this debacle ends. This does not mean we cannot have 2 to 4 week rallies in things. I hope we get them to create good shorting opportunities.

I know the person who started this thread likes to trade alot in and out which is fine. These comments are more directed towards catching larger moves that will last a bit longer. The opportunity to make money in futures has never been what it is now, and it will not last. We will move into an extended sideways market in most of these things once the free fall stops. That might create a very good opportunity to write options against the range extremes.

[Chris Scoreboard Johnston]

I shorted Gold last night at 809 and covered that short at 771 today, just so much money so fast I had to take the profit. I would love to see it rally more for a longer term short, Gold has never been a good hedge against weak stock markets. That is an old wives tale being peddled by people selling gold coins. These are probably the same people who were selling houses a couple of years ago saying they will never go down again. This market is in a downtrend so all rallies should be sold.

I also agree on these 2 and 3 times leverage funds. If you really want that much risk play futures, they are way more liquid on the fills and you can get out in the night sessions if you need to.

I did short the SP 500 last night but was surprised by the magnitude of todays drop as I am expecting a little bit of a larger bounce moving into January. The seasonal strongly suggests this should happen. However, the trend is down so suprises normally occur in the direction of the trend.

Big picture I think most all markets are shorts on bounces, there are still a bout 90 billion dollars worth of futures positions in the large funds that need to be unowound before this debacle ends. This does not mean we cannot have 2 to 4 week rallies in things. I hope we get them to create good shorting opportunities.

I know the person who started this thread likes to trade alot in and out which is fine. These comments are more directed towards catching larger moves that will last a bit longer. The opportunity to make money in futures has never been what it is now, and it will not last. We will move into an extended sideways market in most of these things once the free fall stops. That might create a very good opportunity to write options against the range extremes.

[Chris Scoreboard Johnston]

I shorted Gold last night at 809 and covered that short at 771 today, just so much money so fast I had to take the profit. I would love to see it rally more for a longer term short, Gold has never been a good hedge against weak stock markets. That is an old wives tale being peddled by people selling gold coins. These are probably the same people who were selling houses a couple of years ago saying they will never go down again. This market is in a downtrend so all rallies should be sold.

I also agree on these 2 and 3 times leverage funds. If you really want that much risk play futures, they are way more liquid on the fills and you can get out in the night sessions if you need to.

I did short the SP 500 last night but was surprised by the magnitude of todays drop as I am expecting a little bit of a larger bounce moving into January. The seasonal strongly suggests this should happen. However, the trend is down so suprises normally occur in the direction of the trend.

Big picture I think most all markets are shorts on bounces, there are still a bout 90 billion dollars worth of futures positions in the large funds that need to be unowound before this debacle ends. This does not mean we cannot have 2 to 4 week rallies in things. I hope we get them to create good shorting opportunities.

I know the person who started this thread likes to trade alot in and out which is fine. These comments are more directed towards catching larger moves that will last a bit longer. The opportunity to make money in futures has never been what it is now, and it will not last. We will move into an extended sideways market in most of these things once the free fall stops. That might create a very good opportunity to write options against the range extremes.

[Chris Scoreboard Johnston]

I shorted Gold last night at 809 and covered that short at 771 today, just so much money so fast I had to take the profit. I would love to see it rally more for a longer term short, Gold has never been a good hedge against weak stock markets. That is an old wives tale being peddled by people selling gold coins. These are probably the same people who were selling houses a couple of years ago saying they will never go down again. This market is in a downtrend so all rallies should be sold.

I also agree on these 2 and 3 times leverage funds. If you really want that much risk play futures, they are way more liquid on the fills and you can get out in the night sessions if you need to.

I did short the SP 500 last night but was surprised by the magnitude of todays drop as I am expecting a little bit of a larger bounce moving into January. The seasonal strongly suggests this should happen. However, the trend is down so suprises normally occur in the direction of the trend.

Big picture I think most all markets are shorts on bounces, there are still a bout 90 billion dollars worth of futures positions in the large funds that need to be unowound before this debacle ends. This does not mean we cannot have 2 to 4 week rallies in things. I hope we get them to create good shorting opportunities.

I know the person who started this thread likes to trade alot in and out which is fine. These comments are more directed towards catching larger moves that will last a bit longer. The opportunity to make money in futures has never been what it is now, and it will not last. We will move into an extended sideways market in most of these things once the free fall stops. That might create a very good opportunity to write options against the range extremes.

[Chris Scoreboard Johnston]

I shorted Gold last night at 809 and covered that short at 771 today, just so much money so fast I had to take the profit. I would love to see it rally more for a longer term short, Gold has never been a good hedge against weak stock markets. That is an old wives tale being peddled by people selling gold coins. These are probably the same people who were selling houses a couple of years ago saying they will never go down again. This market is in a downtrend so all rallies should be sold.

I also agree on these 2 and 3 times leverage funds. If you really want that much risk play futures, they are way more liquid on the fills and you can get out in the night sessions if you need to.

I did short the SP 500 last night but was surprised by the magnitude of todays drop as I am expecting a little bit of a larger bounce moving into January. The seasonal strongly suggests this should happen. However, the trend is down so suprises normally occur in the direction of the trend.

Big picture I think most all markets are shorts on bounces, there are still a bout 90 billion dollars worth of futures positions in the large funds that need to be unowound before this debacle ends. This does not mean we cannot have 2 to 4 week rallies in things. I hope we get them to create good shorting opportunities.

I know the person who started this thread likes to trade alot in and out which is fine. These comments are more directed towards catching larger moves that will last a bit longer. The opportunity to make money in futures has never been what it is now, and it will not last. We will move into an extended sideways market in most of these things once the free fall stops. That might create a very good opportunity to write options against the range extremes.

[stockstradr]

OK, so here is my update on trades. I went to ALL CASH at the recent market top (S&P500=900) , but I am crying because I should have turned that money right into shorts on the indexes…had I done that last week and bought something like SDS, I would be up 12% with today’s downturn in the S&P500.

However, I can’t complain too much.

My portfolio is now at a high for the last eighteen months. Both my 401K and my wife’s 401K (which I manage) are now both up 48% net including commissions, since the Oct 2007 market top. A couple months ago I reported correctly we were up about 38% since Oct ’07, so in the last two months I have inched our way step-by-step up another 10%.

I’m very glad I dumped all my gold and oil positions last week. Both oil and gold are getting hammered and coming down fast, which is exactly what I want them to do, because I’m looking for another buy opportunity at lower pricing.

I think the smart move now is to wait for what looks like the bottom (on oil and gold) then just dump my entire portfolio 50/50 into physical gold, and oil stocks. Then just hold them long.

[stockstradr]

OK, so here is my update on trades. I went to ALL CASH at the recent market top (S&P500=900) , but I am crying because I should have turned that money right into shorts on the indexes…had I done that last week and bought something like SDS, I would be up 12% with today’s downturn in the S&P500.

However, I can’t complain too much.

My portfolio is now at a high for the last eighteen months. Both my 401K and my wife’s 401K (which I manage) are now both up 48% net including commissions, since the Oct 2007 market top. A couple months ago I reported correctly we were up about 38% since Oct ’07, so in the last two months I have inched our way step-by-step up another 10%.

I’m very glad I dumped all my gold and oil positions last week. Both oil and gold are getting hammered and coming down fast, which is exactly what I want them to do, because I’m looking for another buy opportunity at lower pricing.

I think the smart move now is to wait for what looks like the bottom (on oil and gold) then just dump my entire portfolio 50/50 into physical gold, and oil stocks. Then just hold them long.

[stockstradr]

OK, so here is my update on trades. I went to ALL CASH at the recent market top (S&P500=900) , but I am crying because I should have turned that money right into shorts on the indexes…had I done that last week and bought something like SDS, I would be up 12% with today’s downturn in the S&P500.

However, I can’t complain too much.

My portfolio is now at a high for the last eighteen months. Both my 401K and my wife’s 401K (which I manage) are now both up 48% net including commissions, since the Oct 2007 market top. A couple months ago I reported correctly we were up about 38% since Oct ’07, so in the last two months I have inched our way step-by-step up another 10%.

I’m very glad I dumped all my gold and oil positions last week. Both oil and gold are getting hammered and coming down fast, which is exactly what I want them to do, because I’m looking for another buy opportunity at lower pricing.

I think the smart move now is to wait for what looks like the bottom (on oil and gold) then just dump my entire portfolio 50/50 into physical gold, and oil stocks. Then just hold them long.

[stockstradr]

OK, so here is my update on trades. I went to ALL CASH at the recent market top (S&P500=900) , but I am crying because I should have turned that money right into shorts on the indexes…had I done that last week and bought something like SDS, I would be up 12% with today’s downturn in the S&P500.

However, I can’t complain too much.

My portfolio is now at a high for the last eighteen months. Both my 401K and my wife’s 401K (which I manage) are now both up 48% net including commissions, since the Oct 2007 market top. A couple months ago I reported correctly we were up about 38% since Oct ’07, so in the last two months I have inched our way step-by-step up another 10%.

I’m very glad I dumped all my gold and oil positions last week. Both oil and gold are getting hammered and coming down fast, which is exactly what I want them to do, because I’m looking for another buy opportunity at lower pricing.

I think the smart move now is to wait for what looks like the bottom (on oil and gold) then just dump my entire portfolio 50/50 into physical gold, and oil stocks. Then just hold them long.

[stockstradr]

OK, so here is my update on trades. I went to ALL CASH at the recent market top (S&P500=900) , but I am crying because I should have turned that money right into shorts on the indexes…had I done that last week and bought something like SDS, I would be up 12% with today’s downturn in the S&P500.

However, I can’t complain too much.

My portfolio is now at a high for the last eighteen months. Both my 401K and my wife’s 401K (which I manage) are now both up 48% net including commissions, since the Oct 2007 market top. A couple months ago I reported correctly we were up about 38% since Oct ’07, so in the last two months I have inched our way step-by-step up another 10%.

I’m very glad I dumped all my gold and oil positions last week. Both oil and gold are getting hammered and coming down fast, which is exactly what I want them to do, because I’m looking for another buy opportunity at lower pricing.

I think the smart move now is to wait for what looks like the bottom (on oil and gold) then just dump my entire portfolio 50/50 into physical gold, and oil stocks. Then just hold them long.

[stockstradr]

I would stay away from the 3x ETF’s for several reasons.

Ha! I’ll reply to that.

The reason I’m also staying away from the newly available 3X leveraged ETF’s is that, while I am darn good (at predicting markets) I’m not THAT good!

I figure sometimes my predictions are worthy of wagering with 1X leverage, sometimes with 2X leverage, but never with 3X leverage!

🙂

[stockstradr]

I would stay away from the 3x ETF’s for several reasons.

Ha! I’ll reply to that.

The reason I’m also staying away from the newly available 3X leveraged ETF’s is that, while I am darn good (at predicting markets) I’m not THAT good!

I figure sometimes my predictions are worthy of wagering with 1X leverage, sometimes with 2X leverage, but never with 3X leverage!

🙂

[stockstradr]

I would stay away from the 3x ETF’s for several reasons.

Ha! I’ll reply to that.

The reason I’m also staying away from the newly available 3X leveraged ETF’s is that, while I am darn good (at predicting markets) I’m not THAT good!

I figure sometimes my predictions are worthy of wagering with 1X leverage, sometimes with 2X leverage, but never with 3X leverage!

🙂

[stockstradr]

I would stay away from the 3x ETF’s for several reasons.

Ha! I’ll reply to that.

The reason I’m also staying away from the newly available 3X leveraged ETF’s is that, while I am darn good (at predicting markets) I’m not THAT good!

I figure sometimes my predictions are worthy of wagering with 1X leverage, sometimes with 2X leverage, but never with 3X leverage!

🙂

[Author]

Posts