Johnny Stocks: The Long And Short Of It

Wednesday, February 2, 2011

The Long And Short Of It - Wednesday

P&L Summary

Trading Accounts: -0.3%
LT Accounts: +0.3%

My P&L saw some crazy swings today, but by the end of the day I basically broke even. Given how volatile some of my positions were I'll take that as a victory. My strategy today was to take some profits off the table where it made sense and raise a little cash for future opportunities.

My Trading Accounts were flat for most of the day. Losses in ENOC and WPRT longs and JASO short were offset by gains in MCP. Molycorp was a big winner for me today. In fact it could have been a bigger winner but I took profits at 50.22 and 51.47 and then watched it continue to rise and close at 53.25, up 4.65 on the day. But I can't dwell on missed opportunities - it hit my target so I took my profits and ran.

My LT Accounts were down for most of the day as early losses in SIO.V dragged down the portfolio once again. However by the end of the day SIO.V losses were trimmed to "only" 1.8% and late day rallies in HUD.V (+5.2%), NEM.TO (+3.6%) and GWG.V (+18.3%) helped result in net gains for the day. Too bad my position in GWG.V is relatively tiny relative to most of my other positions.

Activity Highlights

Trading Account:

Sold 30% of GLW @ 22.89 (+16.3%)
Sold MCP @ 51.47 (+14.7%)
Sold AMZN @ 172.70 (+3.68)
Sold EUO @ 18.98 (-1.0%)
Covered JASO short @ 7.32 (-3.1%)

New Trades:

Bought ENS @ 32.85. Looking for a break above 34 which will target 36.50. Stop under 32.

Bought COHR @ 53.64. Really like the way this one gapped up on volume last week and has shown no intention of even partially filling the gap. This is a stock that still wants higher.