10/28/2009 10:10 am update: NQ

• more weakness this am...
• added a 4th NQZ09 contract at 1708.00 to my discretionary swing long position...
• this brings my 4 contract avg to 1735.06...
• offering out 1 contract at the following levels:  1733.50, 1745.00, 1757.50, 1767.50
• no bids at this point...
• my 'Halloween' systemic trading model is scheduled to generate a long entry signal for today's close, so i am reserving some buying power for that...
• XLF showing rw, SMH showing rs...
• i have been adding to my discretionary swing long position in the FAS...

Disclosure: Long NQZ09, Long FAS.

***remember this is an illustration of what i am trading and my thinking...my trading plan may change without notice...this is not a recommendation for you or anyone else, to buy or sell this or any other security...trade at your own risk***

10/20/2009 9:45 am update: NQ

• opened and closed two swings in the NQ during the overnight and pre-day session...
• entered at 1761.50 and exited at 1771.50...the high of that swing was 1771.75...
• +10 NQ points/contract, 1 contract closed....
• entered at 1762.50 and exited at 1767.75...the high of that swing was 1768.50...
• +5.25 NQ points/contract, 1 contract closed...
• for the day: +7.63 NQ points/contract, 2 contracts closed...
• got back in at 1761.75 during the post open selloff...NQ subsequently went on to gap fill, with a low of 1754.00, so this entry has not been ideal...
• not sure what my offer will be for this contract...
• lots of overnight and pre-market volatility latetly, which has led to some profitable swing trades for me...i will be paying attention to this phenomena...
• NQ showing rs to ES, with leadership from SMH and AAPL...

Disclosure: Long NQZ09.

***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...trade at your own risk ***

10/15/2009 10 am update: NQ

• my 1745 bid on the NQZ09 was hit pre-open...unlike my comment from last night, i was too aggressive and the bid should have been in the low 1740's...
• i sold it at 1749 just before 10 am...
• this trade: +4 NQ points/contract, 1 contract closed...
• weak A/D line, weak SMH, weak FAS suggests to me that the NQ may test the 1740 pivot by the end of lunch...
• flat the NQ, no offers...bidding 1741.50 and 1726.50...

Disclosure: 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...trade at your own risk ***

10/9/2009 950 am update: NQ

• yesterday afternoon, i added 1 NQZ09 at 1722.75...
• during the overnight session, i added a 2nd contract at 1712.50...
• currently long 2 NQZ09 at avg 1717.63...
• offering 1 contract at 1723.50 and at 1727.50...
• bidding for 1 contract at 1692.50...
• trade history is still not correct on the above 15M NQZ09 chart...
• NQ showing rs compared to ES...SMH outperforming...

Disclosure: Long NQZ09.

***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...trade at your own risk**

10/8/2009 11:00 am update: NQ

• sold one NQZ09 at 1716.50 during the overnight session...
• this trade: +10.75 NQ points/contract, 1 contract closed...
• this exit made me flat the NQ...
• big gap up this am...i was looking for a gap fill and was bidding 1712.50 for 1 contract...changed the entry price and was filled at 1713.50...
• offered this contract out at 1722.50...when the bounce back up got stuck under 1720, 1 got nervous that the 1722.50 target would not be reached this am, so i exited at market, 1718.50....
• this trade: +5 NQ points/contract, 1 contract closed...
• today: +7.88 NQ points/contract, 2 contracts closed...
• the above NQZ09 15M chart is not showing the correct historical fills again...it is showing two contracts exited on today's first 15M bar, but only 1 should be displayed there...yesterday's exit at 1702.25 is not being shown...
• this is an ongoing issue with tradestation's platform, and hopefully will rectify itself soon...it is usually associated with some bad/missing historical data in the TCache folder... i removed the TCache folder (to no avail) and am currently using the latest version (8.6 build 2674 beta)...
• still a bit off my game today...2 of the 3 fills today were not at my original targets, primarily because of fear...
• at the highs today, NQ was trading about 2% below its last swing high (1753), while the ES was trading about 1% below its last swing high (1076)...ES still showing some rs compared to the NQ, primarily due to XLF out performance and SMH under performance...i prefer rallies that are led by the NQ, however the financials led this market down and are now leading it back up, so periodic out performance by the ES compared to the NQ is less of an issue during this market cycle in my view...
• i am still bullish longer term on both the ES and the NQ, though would not be surprised and would actually welcome, a whoosh down during earnings season...
• currently flat the NQZ09 and bidding for 1 contract at 1712.50...

Disclosure: no positions in the securities mentioned.

***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...trade at your own risk**

9/30/2009 noon update

• lowered my offer on the NQZ09 from 1713.50 to 1709.50 and was filled at 1709.50...
• for the swing trade: +7.25 NQ points/contract, 1 contract closed (based on an average entry price of 1702.25)...
• for the day: +7.59 NQ points/contract, 2 contracts closed: 15.18 total NQ points booked...
• bidding 1702.50 for 1 NQZ09...
• changed the offer from 1723.50 to 1716.50 on the remaining NQZ09 contract...
• i am happy to have booked some gains today...
• however, this is the third time today i have changed the level of the entry or the exit order...part of it is based on analytics, another part is based on fear...
• i was afraid of not getting out: 1) 1726.50 to market (1722.00); 2) 1713.50 to 1709.50...
• i was afraid of not getting in: 3) 1693.50 to market (1696.00)...
• 1) worked out well: the exit was at 8:45 am...the NQ then traded as high as 1725.50 shortly after the open of the day session, then dropped nearly 2% to 1688.75...holding this contract, would have led to another drawdown, and i would not have added the contract at 1708.50...
• 2) did not work out...1693.50 was hit less than 1 minute after 1696 was hit...
• 3) remains to be seen...the high for the move up was 1710.25...
• on another note, the NQ appears to be showing a bit of rs compared to the ES...of the few sectors that i monitor, only the SMH is in the green...this also suggests NQ leadership...i prefer rallies where the NQ shows rs to the ES...rallies that are led by the SMH are even better, in my view...

Disclosure: Long NQZ09, Long ESZ09.

***remember this is an illustration of what i am trading and my thinking...my trading plan may change without notice...this is not a recommendation for you or anyone else, to buy or sell this or any other security...trade at your own risk***