The title kind of says it all. With the portfolio bias being net long 44% and with the short commodity ETFs continuing to get creamed by oil, natural gas, and gold, the portfolio simply just did what the market did. OK, we did .5% better than the S&P500, but still down 6.2% in June in [...]
Entries from June 2008
June 28, 2008
Trading update #45; 27Jun08 … $140 oil? I know, let’s buy chicken
COMMODITIES NYET BET
For-fun paper trade till 7 July 08
Market
Qty
Start
Current
Change
Net $K
%
Aug Gold
15
$935.9
$929.3
$6.60
$9.9
0.0%
Jul Platinum
10
$2,045.0
$2,059.1
-$14.10
-$7.0
0.0%
Sep Crude Oil
15
$106.06
$140.75
-$34.69
-$520.4
0.0%
Total P&L
-$517.5
-51.8%
This is the reason why you need to paper trade first – so you can get a taste of the horrible mistakes you are going to make later when you start trading with actual money.
I really do hope the kid in the trading contest [...]
June 26, 2008
How now, down Dow.
-358.41. Well today was at least interesting. And it’s the blue chips breaking into new low territory first, go figure. The S&P500 and NASDAQ are still above their March lows. My hedges didn’t really – gold, oil, natural gas, and ags all beat up my commodity short positions, but, amazingly enough, while still getting shellacked [...]
June 23, 2008
Trading update #44; selling gas – buying photons
As the stock market continues to slowly sag and energy prices keep knocking on a new break-out high, REAP (see description thereof in the blogroll links) managed to lazily squeeze out a signal to sell more of the Horizons BetaPro Natural Gas Bull+ ETF (TSX: HNU), and buy some more Trina Solar (TSL). That makes [...]
June 19, 2008
Oil down $5
I knew that would get your attention. But it’s actually true. Oil did go down $5 – well, OK the July contract was down $4.75, but then the headline isn’t as much fun. The price closed at $131.93.
As you know, I’ve been going on about being short oil and natural gas through the Horizons BetaPro [...]
June 17, 2008
One busy week-end
There’s not that much to report on the investing front. Not a lot of action as oil dithers about what to do next while Congress plots to pin all the bad stuff on “speculators” - and who cares about Lehman Brothers really?
But I did have a busy weekend. On Friday evening I played soccer in the recreational 30+ house league of the [...]
June 12, 2008
Trading update #43; 12JUN08 … selling more grains
Today, REAP again took the other side of the continued upward push of corn, soybeans, and wheat, and sold more grains by buying the HBP DJIA Ag Bear+ ETF (TSX: HAD). Yesterday, I sold the corresponding HBP DJIA Ag Bull+ ETF (TSX: HAU), hence also in effect selling some grains and soybeans… (?)
Even I didn’t [...]
June 11, 2008
Trading update #42; 11JUN08 … playing bag the ag’
Amidst oil prices staying persistently high and stocks starting to fall apart again on the prospect of higher interest rates, the HBP DJIA Ag ETF today moved higher on the news that this year’s corn crop is projected to be 3% lower than last years, high enough to trigger a REAP trade. Soybeans, wheat and corn have all been moving [...]
June 6, 2008
Trading update #41; 06JUN08 … rude crude
They say that sometimes you have to be careful what you wish for. Yesterday I signed off saying things were probably going to get “interesting”. Well today we got “interesting” in spades. August crude oil jumped an unprecedented $10.62 on the back of yesterday’s $5.80 ”Trichet rally” after the ECB president announced the EU may raise interest rates because [...]
June 5, 2008
Trading update #40; 05JUN08 … 4 winning days in a row
Today makes for the fourth day in a row that the portfolio has chipped away at the deficits from last year and added to the small gain this year – this despite a late-day pile-driving of the crude oil short ETF (HOD) on the $5.80 surge in crude following ECB President Jean-Claude Trichet’s announcement that the European [...]
