It could be time to go short the S&P 500, it looks like the advances have stalled
around the 1080. Give it another couple days to see if they're buying the dips.
I am considering going short financials as they have been rising on false numbers. How are we having a jobless recovery?

It could be time to go short the S&P 500, it looks like the advances have stalled
around the 1080. Give it another couple days to see if they're buying the dips.
I am considering going short financials as they have been rising on false numbers. How are we having a jobless recovery?

:dissapointed The market cannot be played and read like a textbook or we would all be rich by now. You must use your own intuition, street smarts, educated guesses... and even then it's all a gamble.

The stock market is not the only indication on how the economy is doing, although it is undoubtedly a significant part of it. Housing sales, unemployment numbers, etc. all play a part in how well the economy is actually doing. The stock market only measures peoples overall CONFIDENCE in the market... not actually how well it is doing.

When it comes to any sort of investment you should think about sticking with it for the long haul (circa-retirement) rather then trying to figure out when you can short the market. Sure, there might come a time where your investments tank - then just cut your losses and withdraw - afterall the market is a gamble by nature. Don't want to participate anymore? Then you should probably pack your shit up and leave. Spreading hysteria and trying to build up hype won't work in your favor either way...

Good Morning to ya :lol

:dissapointed The market cannot be played and read like a textbook or we would all be rich by now. You must use your own intuition, street smarts, educated guesses... and even then it's all a gamble.

When it comes to any sort of investment you should think about sticking with it for the long haul (circa-retirement) rather then trying to figure out when you can short the market. .

Good Morning to ya :lol

Good morning:)
Just checking if theres any traders on the board.
If you eat, breath, sleep & study the market, you can get an edge to trade for profit.
70% of my portfolio is in long term holdings, I day trade the other 30%.
I called that it could be a good time to go short the S&P 500. Today it looks like that would have been a profitable trade.

Update,
The selling continues, as can be seen on the chart. This week has shown a steady loss on the S&P as confidence wanes.
Last week the S&P showed a "blow off top" (http://www.investopedia.com/terms/b/blowofftop.asp)when it hit 1101 on wed. the 21rst.
At those levels traders begin to get nervous about profit takers that rush the exit doors, thus precipitating a sell off.
I think that tomorrow we may see a turn around & the buyers take control again.

I'm still waiting for the first response to my standing challenge to market timers: show me the results. Not the "see, I told ya so", I'm waiting for no kidding "my annualized rate of return over the last 5, 10, 15... years is XX%". After taxes, after trading costs, the whole story. No one has ever taken me up on it because most "active traders" simply don't pay any attention to whether or not they are actually outperforming the market over a sustained period. They love to regale us with stories like the above when things turn out they way they say. When things turn out just the opposite, they have plenty of ready-made reasons for that too. Plus, they say, as everyone knows, it's all about hedging, disciplined trading, stops, puts, calls, options, collars and a dozen other techniques that can theoretically be used to protect you from your bad guesses. Problem is, it's one thing to understand that there's a way to hedge against losses, it's quite another to always have that setup in place, because most of those strategies are expensive and have time limits. You don't get to play both sides of a trade for very long. Even if you do, what have you accomplished?

Someone on this board has an excellent way of looking at it: "A man is walking up a hill playing with a yo-yo. The wise man looks at the hill, the trader looks at the yo-yo.". Or words to that effect.

because most "active traders" simply don't pay any attention to whether or not they are actually outperforming the market over a sustained period. They love to regale us with stories like the above when things turn out they way they say.
I spend nearly 6 hours a day studying the market, trying to gain an edge in my trades. Due diligents pays for a small percentage of day traders.
Sure its good to hold your positions for 10 years but I'm taking a pro active approach to stock trading gains. I've had $3000. days & some $2500. losses. I'm still ahead of interest or mutual funds.
Its like any other sport, you pour yourself into it hoping to succeed.

I think that tomorrow we may see a turn around & the buyers take control again.
It looks like the bulls took control today, gaining back 20 points.

Oww, thats gonna leave a mark,

The S&P started the week at a robust 1090, at which it took a steady dive to
1043 at close of trading Wednesday. Thursday gave hope as the Bulls gained back some ground with strong 23 point recovery to 1066. Fridays trading appeared as though someone yelled "fire" in a crowded building as the sellers rushed the exits as can be seen by the devastating losses posted on all indices.
S&P 500 -29.92,DOW -249.85,NASDAQ-52.44 Will the buyers be back next week or has reality set in?

Heres another perspective that shows the month of October closing approx. even,

I'm still ahead of interest or mutual funds.

If so, you're in the top 1% of investors in the United States. Sounds a little less likely when it's put that way, doesn't it?

I'll become a believer, as I said before, the first time I'm shown proof. No one cares how much time you spend studying the market. Prove you can outperform the market, and truckloads of money will flow towards you.

Prove you can outperform the market,

What time frame?
Like I stated above, 70% of my investment account is held in long term, & many of it in speculative plays like stem cell co. & bio-energy , nano-battery co.
The 30% that I use to day trade is doing better than the S&P since 9-08
The reason is I "buy the dips & "sell the rips" (http://www.barrypopik.com/index.php/new_york_city/entry/buy_the_dips_sell_the_rips_wall_street_adage/), taking short (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Short_(finance)) positions when fear causes selling, you do know that traders can make $$$ when the S&P drops?.
If you bought the S&P 500 after 2003, you are at a loss right now........

OK, so whats in store for tomorrow,
well after that brutal selloff we've seen Fri., lets look for a pop tomorrow.
I think the discount buyers will be coming back in Mon. to help recover some of the losses. Things could change if the confidence doesn't dominate the bears with conviction .
I always look at the Futures market to get an idea of the next days trading, especially on a Sun. night.
It looks as though some buyers are saying, "All is well", tonite. Does that mean we'll see a pop tomorrow morning.....? I say theres a good chance.
CNBC Futures (http://www.cnbc.com/id/17689937/) Bloomburg Futures (http://www.bloomberg.com/markets/stocks/futures.html)

This thread reminds me of Jim Cramer's Mad Money show - and we know he is always on the $$$ when it comes to market speculation... hell that's his job. Amirite? :lmao

Long term mutual funds internationally based :thumbup That's where my $$$ is right now. Examples if you want 'em........

:cheers

This thread reminds me of Jim Cramer's Mad Money show - and we know he is always on the $$$ when it comes to market speculation... hell that's his job. Amirite? :lmao

Ha, Cramer is a clown, hes front running for his buddies at Goldman Sachs.

Long term mutual funds internationally based :thumbup That's where my $$$ is right now. Examples if you want 'em........

:cheers
Good deal, if you invest with a good fund manager, you should show gains above CDs or bank interest over time.

OK, this chart shows the S&P for this week,
we got our pop I expected Mon. morning but weak conviction resulted in a sell off into the afternoon. Tuesdays trading showed a weak gain. The bulls gained momentum Wednesday & showed strength the rest of the week to close at 1069 Fri. As of now, shorts are closing their positions in Fridays after hours trading.

Good deal, if you invest with a good fund manager, you should show gains above CDs or bank interest over time.

I do everything myself through TD Ameritrade. I have 3 different accounts with them & trade online, mainly. So far, so good. Very pleased with them.

My gains are way above what any CD or bank interest could ever give me. One fund, I am up over 30%. Another fund, I am around 20%. In hindsight, I wish I would've put more into those fund. 20/20

:cheers

I do everything myself through TD Ameritrade. I have 3 different accounts with them & trade online, mainly. So far, so good. Very pleased with them.

My gains are way above what any CD or bank interest could ever give me. One fund, I am up over 30%. Another fund, I am around 20%. In hindsight, I wish I would've put more into those fund. 20/20

:cheers

Thats the best way, to manage your own investments, although it does take considerable effort on your part to stay in tune with current market movements. It looks as though your gains are worth the effort.

Update,
The S&P 500 looks like a roller coaster since my last post here (nov12). This volatility has been great for savvy traders who can time it right, buy the dips & sell the rips. Heres a chart to get a visual perspective. I'll be looking for the "santa rally" that happens around this time every year, perhaps bringing us back up into the 1111s

Futures up tonite, it could have something to do with the news, Abu Dhabi Rescues Dubai With $10 Billion (http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aFbBDktZXGWQ&pos=1)
This may be the blow off top week I have been waiting for, Shorts could get squeezed.

Market Update
aah, who cares, right,
Theres no traders here to match wits with anyways?,

ok, so I posted sun. nite (1106) saying that futures pointed towards a bump & we may see a blow off top this week .
Well today at 11:30 we hit 1116, that may have been the peak. You can see after every peak, theres a period of selling. I don't foresee additional exuberance at this range.
I will be shorting the banks now, I'll let you know how it worked.

The S&P 500 is up 4.3% since the OP suggested it was time to go short.

The S&P 500 is up 4.3% since the OP suggested it was time to go short.

The day after my post I went short on a day trade the 17th via FAZ the 3x financial bear ETF (http://finance.yahoo.com/echarts?s=FAZ#chart2:symbol=faz;range=1m;indicator =volume;charttype=line;crosshair=on;ohlcvalues=0;l ogscale=on;source=undefined).
I didn't mean to suggesting to stay short.
Your right though, the market has gone up quite a bit since then............on weak volume.
I think we may see another pull back, if only for a day.

Todays rather steep decline looks similar to Fridays sell off, in that it shows an attempt of recovery end of day.
Some people have speculated that todays drop was the result of Obamas PPT (Plunge Protection Team) (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Working_Group_on_Financial_Markets) ceasing for the day their manipulation or support of the markets. This was done in an attempt to feign a negative response to the election of Scott Brown, a republican, to the mass. Senate.
So much for conspiracy theories, lets look for a recovery tomorrow like we saw Tues, 19th. The futures markets are green tonight, perhaps an indication that tomorrow, the buyers will be back.

I'm new to the forum, but am into the trading ;-) ..... I'd say go short, especially after the break of 1071 today (short term target about 970-1000 before mid march). I play in and out, and would say shorting any commodity would be safe here w/ the dollar rallying. The safest in my opinion is to go short w/ an ETF rather than individual stock. (SDS, SKF, etc-if more risky, do the 300% levered ETF FAZ, BGZ, etc)

My core postions:

Short AMZN (stock)
Short AAPL (April puts) - Apple target $170ish before a lil rebound and more shorting
Short SPY (Sept and April puts)
Sold AMZN (Apr calls)

Yeah, I'm a fan of FAZ & FAS, the financial sector X3 bear & bull ETF.
FAZ did well today showing an 11.75% gain.
Direxion Daily Financial Bear 3X Shares (FAZ) (http://finance.yahoo.com/echarts?s=FAZ#chart2:symbol=faz;range=5d;indicator =volume;charttype=line;crosshair=on;ohlcvalues=0;l ogscale=on;source=undefined)

OK, just an update,
from my last post-2-04, we have seen a lot of volatility this month,
that is why I trade in the financial sector.
From the 4th ~17th a pattern of up & down days plays out.
If one were to day trade these long & short plays successfully, it could have been very lucrative.
My profits fell between a narrow window...........to the up side.
The longs took control feb12th, showing strong commitment....until today.
Futures are down sharply tonite also.
My play is to the upside, why not, look at the pattern..........after every steep decline there shows a recovery. Maybe its just the GS trading bots?

We're getting close. I truly believe it's about time to take profits and sit on some cash for a while. It may be about six months away so choose your own timing. Regardless, before the end of this year, I really think it's going to start sliding. Bad.

--Wag--