12/17/2009: NQ, ES, XLF

• well wednesday's FOMC rate announcement did not act as a catalyst to move the NQ and the ES above resistance...instead it led to selling on wednesday and on thursday...
• so the major indices remain mired in a narrow 6 week base...
• feels like the bulls want to get going for an end of year ramp, yet the bears keep beating the advances back...
• with the selloff in Citigroup today, the bank index (XLF) keeps on dripping lower towards support...contrary dynamic with the XLF trading towards the bottom of its range while the ES trades towards the top of its range...
• one way or another, i think we will see a move out of this range by the second week of january...

***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 ***

10/28/2009 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***

10/26/2009 10:10 am update: NQ

• wow, lots of strength this am...
• i was long 2 contracts coming into this morning's trading, and was bullish...
• some of my morning reading was slightly bearish on the current technical setup, and that influenced my thinking to such a degree that i lowered my offers...
• i had a fun and active weekend with my family, and am a bit tired this am...i wonder if this also influenced my decision making process to lower the offers so i did not have to deal with the uncertainty of an open position...
• exited 2 contracts at an avg 1767.13...
• this trade: +2.75 NQ points/contract, 2 contracts closed...
• i definetly did not capitalize as much as i should have on this swing...
• looking for a pullback from this triple top high of the past few days....
• bidding 1761.50 and 1741.50...
• no offers...
• during this 1%+ rally in the NQ and ES, softee and SMH showing lots of strength while XLF flat...
• i am step away from the screens for a bit...

***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**