NEW THINGS NEEDING YOUR OPINIONS

Vote "Best Business Blog"!:

Hi, if you like my blog, please vote for it for "Best Business Blog". If I helped you make money this week (there's a few of you), then you BETTER vote! Click the Blogger's Choice Awards button to the left.

Master Reading List - Recommended Books:

I also added a "Master Reading List" as the first section in my "link library". The number of books may overwhelm you (133 so far) and I am not finished added them in. I have 3 bookcases stuffed with books, all of which I will recommend. Books are/will be divided into categories and sub-categories. It's your responsibility to find books that may suit you by previewing the book's contents. This list will be updated as I get more time.

Managing Money:

Some of you have inquired if I am able to manage your money for you. No, but we'll keep in touch.

Newsletter Full of Stock Picks:

I may be creating a premium newsletter that will be completely separate from my regular weekly commentary. This will be a membership-based service where every Sunday night, I will manually comb through over 2,000 stock charts and find the best long and short trades for the week. My aim is to provide both quality and quantity. Obviously, due to time and profitability, this will be fee-based. What are your thoughts, readers?

Daily Private Coaching Program

I would have never considered doing this because of time, but I think it may be beneficial for a few of you. I am considering accepting a max. of 10 individual traders who will have live, daily access to me via instant messenger. Members will know when I enter and exit the general market, some of my own specific trades, my opinions throughout the day, and identifying chart patterns as they appear. I will also answer questions on member's own trades and give my own recommendations in real-time. All trades will be based 100% on TA, no fundamentals needed!

This program will cost quite a bit because of my time commitment, and will only be suitable for individuals with accounts of more than $25K. Just to make a point: I made 71% for the week of Oct 13th-17th and 112% for the month of October so far. If you can match that then you don't need this. There is no guarantee, but I'm sure this will be beneficial to most. What are your thoughts, readers?

Why am I doing all of this? Well, obviously generating revenue from the blog (which takes me 2-3 hours per day), but equally, to help traders make money in a time where most people can't make a dime! Confidence in yourself is key to success and I know that if I'm holding your hand, you'll achieve your trading goals. I've already made several traders thousands of dollars this past week, but realized that it shouldn't be taken for granted, or free for that matter. Time is my most valuable commodity, so don't waste my time and I won't waste yours.

Both the newsletter and the private coaching program will most likely be launched on November 3rd. I am still working on the details, but your feedback and interest level is much appreciated. Leave a comment or e-mail me: JCLee84@hotmail.com. Thanks!

WEEKLY TECHNICAL COMMENTARY

Hi! This week's issue will be posted in the wee hours of Monday like they have been (around 6-8AM). It's been a quiet weekend so far, so expect it to be a very short issue. In the meantime, try out the Free Trend Analysis and tell me what you think.

THIS IS WHAT CONSOLIDATION FEELS LIKE

BEST AG/FERT STOCK TO SHORT

For the more intermediate-term trader...have fun. Monsanto (MON) just joined the party and has a looooong ways to go.

Here was my OCT 1 post on going short. Reader's would have made a killing: http://tinyurl.com/6krp9u. 12 trading days later, most of these names dropped by over 50%. Now that's a GREAT short trade!

Don't forget to try the Free Trend Analysis. It's FREE, so give it a shot!

WEEKEND BREAK FROM TRADING!

I went to Panama in April of this year for vacation. I really wanted to see what the country was like, so this is where the market gods took me. It was an exciting adventure on one of my many trips all over the world:
Yup. That's approximately 98 plane tickets and 38 hotel room keys in a 12-month period. $DAL, $CAL, $UAUA, $AMR, $NWA, $LCC, $LUV, and especially $AAI must love me! Even $ALK got some business.

We (myself and friends) started off in the countryside/small towns and then we ended at Panama City so we could catch a flight to Houston. It was my idea to see the rural areas because I wanted to see how they live, and so this is what I found:

I did not eat here!

This house costs approximately $10,000 and has 2 small bedrooms:Next up was the Panama Canal. You can't go to Panama without visiting the Canal:

It was boring. Nothing happened. No ships went by. So, we drove toward Panama City which was only a few miles away and I saw where most people lived:

I can't imagine living here. Be grateful for where you are living.

A view of Panama City:
There was a stark difference between the countrysiders and city folk and it was money. Notice the countless number of cranes developing new skyscrapers. If someone shows me this and I didn't know it was mine, I'd say it was Miami!Trying to get to the damn airport!
The End.

Don't forget to try out the Free Trend Analysis. It's FREE, so give it a shot!

PLAYBOY'S WOMEN OF WALL STREET

You know you're gonna take a look when it comes out. Don't even lie to me. I'll be right in line with you lol! The girls might wanna collect their WS bonuses before they pose for the world hehe.

Playboy is conducting a nationwide search for the sexiest Women of Wall Street to pose for an upcoming pictorial in both Playboy magazine and on Playboy.com. Almost 20 years ago, Playboy magazine first featured the Women of Wall Street (August 1989). Since then, the magazine has featured other economy-inspired searches including the Women of Enron (August 2002) and Women of WorldCom (December 2002).

“Given the current economic climate, we thought that Wall Street could use something to smile about right now,” stated Gary Cole, Playboy’s Senior Vice President and Photo Director.

Candidates currently must work for a financial institution or recently have worked for a financial institution to qualify. Women who are interested in posing can apply by sending one headshot, one full-body shot and a legible photocopy of a government-issued photo ID proving they are 18 or older. They also must include the following information with their submission: full name, age, hometown, phone number, e-mail address, employment location and a few sentences about themselves.

Submissions can be sent to womenofwallstreet@playboy.com.

The deadline for submissions is October 24, 2008.

Don't forget to try out the Free Trend Analysis. It's FREE, so give it a shot!

WEEKLY SECTOR WRAP-UP (Oct 13-17)

The important thing to note is that there may be considerable volatility next week. This is especially true with the XLF with a 35% consolidation range. Traders/investors who cannot stomach volatility are better off in cash. Next week will be difficult to trade because of the market's neutral stance.

Don't forget to try out the Free Trend Analysis. It's FREE, so give it a shot!

ANYTHING CAN HAPPEN IN THIS MARKET!

TODAY'S ACTION

We are consolidating in a symmetrical triangle, meaning, we aren't going anywhere for a a few days. This pattern has a 50/50 chance of both breakout of breakdown which is the reason why I'm staying in cash at least for now. Today was interesting however. The materials/industrials sectors displayed strength and formed double bottoms, but hit major resistance at their prior short-term highs. It was a good day to be long and short and another reason why you must either sit in front of the computer all day or place stops.

DJIA (INDU) - 1-Day Chart

Here's a close-up (10-day Chart):

Don't forget to try out the Free Trend Analysis. It's FREE, so give it a shot!

READER'S REQUEST - Intuitive Surgical (ISRG)

Just like most of the market, ISRG is forming an ascending triangle, a bullish consolidation phase. There is significant resistance ahead, but I think ISRG like the rest of the market will consolidate in a neutral range. There are better high reward/low risk trades, but if you must, start out in small lots and scale in rather than dump all your money all at once.

Don't forget to try out the Free Trend Analysis. It's FREE, so give it a shot!

TODAY'S BREAKOUTS & BREAKDOWNS

We rallied, but failed toward the end of the day. What we’re seeing is a symmetrical triangle form. This is one of the ultimate forms of indecision consolidation for market participants. We may be consolidating in this range for most next week which will make it not as favorable to trade. I, myself, have gone into 100% cash going into the weekend. I’m not going to risk all my gains for this week to some possible moving news that comes out over the weekend. FYI - Friday’s low and Tuesday’s high marks the range’s boundaries. Volume has been terrible and remains weak. During a consolidation, volume dries up, so that’s how I know we’ll be zigzagging for a few days. Make note of any massive explosions or serious declines in volume.

Today we had 6 new highs and 246 new lows. This is a major improvement, but in the short-term it doesn’t matter because of the consolidation and therefore, does not have any significance right now. I was able to find 5 clean breakouts, mostly from the industrials/materials sectors. They did lead the rally for most of today and the reason why I picked them in my last article is because they displayed enormous strength yesterday which was not demonstrated in price action, but volume. I always say that volume confirms price action, but price action doesn’t have to confirm volume. I advise all traders who are very short-term to be very cautious of extremely whipsaw next week.

We’ve had many breakdowns, but this time, they were harder for me to find….a good sign for longs. Before, I could have closed my eyes and randomly picked one and it would have been a breakdown. The market is easing up and consolidating from its major loss last week so I don’t expect many breakouts or breakdowns for the next several days. Like before, I’ve added my comments on how to prevent having your stock end up on my breakdown list unless you’re short.

Don't forget to try out the Free Trend Analysis. It's FREE, so give it a shot!

THE BIG PICTURE: WHERE ARE WE NOW?

So if you're a long-term investor, you've made nothing. So, what's the point? If you want to wait 5 years to make a profit, that's your choice, but you have to trade in a trader's market or get killed:

DJIA - 10-Year

NASDAQ - 10-Year

S&P 500 - 10-Year

Russell 2000 - 10-Year

Don't forget to try out the Free Trend Analysis. It's FREE, so give it a shot!

LABELS!!!

There are now labels on every post (about 175 posts)! I realized that many readers were having difficulty finding posts, therefore, here's my treat to you. These labels include all ticker symbols as well as other topics of relevance. When you click on a label, you will automatically be directed to a page that includes every post I created for that particular tag. This should make it easier for readers to find, let's say for example, every post I made on GS or the Federal Reserve or any other label.

HEDGE FUND PERFORMANCE - Sept 08

As at October 16 there have been net outflows of US$34.5bn in September and an additional US$44.5bn lost through performance, based on 65% of the asset flows reported to the Eurekahedge database. This brings the total size of the hedge fund industry to US$1.8 trillion, down from US$1.9 trillion at the beginning of the year.

• However, while there were US$45bn of redemptions in September, there were US$10.5bn of inflows as investors switched to more successful strategies.
• In Q3 2008, the industry fell US$155bn, of which 72% was due to performance.
• YTD the industry has shed US$90bn in total due mainly to performance, but net investments into the global hedge fund industry are still positive at US$21bn.

Don't forget to try out the Free Trend Analysis. It's FREE, so give it a shot!

READER'S REQUEST - Google (GOOG)

Playing earnings is a tricky proposition in this market. GOOG just happened to be my first earnings play this year. If you want an overview of Earnings Trading, I created a PowerPoint (free, PDF) located to the left in the "Past Commentaries" section. I went long GOOG at approx. 3:12PM and 3:46PM at $341.55 and $340.00, respectively.

What was the bottom line? It was that fact that GOOG was getting bid up so far and so fast within the last 15 minutes, it gave some clear guidance to which direction it'll move next. I also analyzed a 6-month chart and like almost everything else, GOOG formed a double Adam-Adam bottom. In addition, the massive volume was a no-brainer. People were buying this stock like crazy. That's it! No guessing, no reports to read, no fundamentals, no "hot tips" from friends. Technical analysis told me everything I needed to know.

GOOG Q3 2008 Conference Call Transcript

Disclosure: I am long GOOG

Don't forget to try out the Free Trend Analysis. It's FREE, so give it a shot!

YET AGAIN...ANOTHER BOUNCE

TODAY'S ACTION

We must break above 950, then 1,025 (previous short-term high) on the S&P 500. All other descriptions below:

S&P 500 (SPX) - 1-Day

S&P 500 (SPX) - 5-Day

S&P 500 (SPX) - 10-Day

Don't forget to try out the Free Trend Analysis. It's FREE, so give it a shot!