7/23/2009 update

• continued to play opening gappers in my vcm account...went 4 for 4, with 3 shorts and 1 long...only generated 1 R though...
• market continues to be a beast to the upside...i am looking to build discretionary swing long side exposure during any counter trend move down, and just opened my first lot in the NQU09 at 1574.75 at 840pm (about 2% below today's intraday peak, and just above wednesday's intraday peak)...my bias is the next upside target for the S&P 500 is 1000, though it may retest the 950 breakout level before getting there...i am hoping it does retest the 950 area as this will enable me to get a bit longer for the next swing move up...though i am writing about the S&P 500, i am trading the NASDAQ 100 via the NQ...the NASDAQ 100 has led the major market indices higher, and it is my market proxy of choice...
• continued working on the ES intraday systemic trading model...JE has some terrific trading ideas (http://myestradingjournal.blogspot.com/)...we are hoping to build something that is very robust...so far so good, but there is a lot more to do...made progress today conceptualizing one of the model's components, and performed some statistical analysis to help determine its optimal implementation...still more to do here though....
• no entry signals for the systemic swing trading models were generated today....
• the FAS is up about 20% in my IRA, and is flat in the two custodial accounts...the custodial accounts got in a bit too early, but since these are longer term investments, i believe they will do fine...looking for about 100% return for the FAS within the next 9-15 months...

Disclosure: Long NQU09, Long FAS

***remember this is an illustration of what i am trading and my thinking...it is not a recommendation for you or anyone else to buy or sell this or any other security***