Better Than Expected

The markets did better than expected: indicies are making mild gains. The Q's broke yesterday's resistance of 33 and has maintained some solid ground.

I decided to exit my long spread on the Q's and take my profit. I entered at 29, and sold at 33.20 on my 29/34 call spread. I could have squeezed out a little more profit by selling off most of my position and leave a small position open, but I resisted and took my gains, not trusting the last hour of the markets, especially today.

Good luck.

Halloween Pullback

Asian markets held steady for most of the trading day, but sold off in droves at the end of the day despite a rate cut by the BoJ. European markets are down slightly, but not off kilter--still watching for last hour sellers.

US futures are down. The NASDAQ futures are down just over 2%. Subsequently, the Q's are going to gap down this morning. We'll probably see some channeling, and some downward pressure.

I am optimistic though, the markets will retrace down, test prior support, and head back up to try and break the resistance that has seemed to form right around 33. If we can break that I'd be happy. I am going to stay long for now, no major news to think otherwise, and market sentiment is slowly shifting.

LIBOR and Futures

The London Intra Bank Overnight Rate has dropped below 1%. The credit markets are indeed starting to thaw. The Fed cut rates and European and Asian indicies are up. Futures are up.

High Options volume for yesterday was the QQQQ Nov 34 Call.

It appears as sentiment is changing. There are still sellers in the market, don't doubt it; but, there are signs of mild improvement.

I am still long a spread on the Q's with my original target rate of 34. I'd like to see that target hit by weeks end, but am prepared to wait it out.

Q's

The markets rallied the last two days, and with the announcement of the Fed rate cut, they jumped sharply only to be met with vicious selling.

Perhaps we'll see more selling, but I am looking for a continued move downward, and eventually a track back up.

We're still working on purging the last of the sellers from the market.

Bounce

There is a chance for a bounce, but I wouldn't expect anything dramatic. Possibly a mild retracement from the waves selling. To try and catch this, I opened a Call spread on the Q's. We'll see if anything will materialize from this in the next 60 days.

Just remember, falling down the stairs happens faster than the actual climb.

Gapping Down

The markets are gaping down as futures tumble and Asian and European markets fall in shear panic. I am looking to close out my Put positions in NOV, NE and BP this morning as they are all gaping lower in pre-market trading by about 15%.

Today is going to be another wild and crazy ride.

Long Puts

Puts on NE, BP, and NOV.

Oil continues to breakdown, a cold credit market has drilling down to a crawl. Look for poor performance among drilling contractors in Q4, as well as other service companies.

The market continues to breakdown, and I can't seem to buy Puts fast enough.

Puts on the Q's

This last week, I tried to play some shorter term Puts on the Q's, but right now the market is very volatile, and I was stopped out each time. If you are going to go long or short, make sure you have tight stops.

Hopefully these next few weeks, the markets start to calm down and behave a little more sensibly, that way I can make trades that last longer than a day.

It's not quite time to go long, yet; though I've been surprised at the drop in oil. I think that has potential for a very nice bounce in the coming months.

And the Bloodbath Continues

In N' Out

Long puts last week on the Q's, I sold them. Pure profit.
Bear Put Spread on the SMH, sold them. Pure profit.

Trying not to call a bottom. Technical Analysis has not provided enough follow through, much like the governments.

We'll see; but I still am overall very bearish. Markets remain volatile. Looking for some Vertical Call spreads for a net credit.

Bloodbath

I have puts on the Q's and a vertical put spread on the SMH index; set those up last week, because, like a shark, I smell blood in the water.