IL Torello

The new hospital layout has made it absolutely impossible for me to trade while I’m at work, just like I used to do. The MCAT exam that I will be taking just around the corner takes up a lot of my blogging and trading time and I went through quite a bit of trading withdrawals. It’s been hard not being actively in the trading game, but you know what? I’m always reading and always trying to keep up with you guys. With that said…I will be back.

Good luck to all…Muddy, Yng, RJ, and the rest out there.

IL Torello

Torello Capital IL Torello

My position in SIGA was small, but it just didn’t go my way. I was lucky to get out this morning during the first half hour of the trading session at $4.95. When a trade doesn’t go my way, I’m willing to walk away with as minimal damage as possible. After holding this position for a couple of days, today I finally walked away with a pathetic $11.02 gain… not even enough for a half tank of gas these days. Puh-thet-tic. There will be lots of times when my trade hypothesis just isn’t realized and that’s when being able to accept defeat and walk away comes into play. I’m looking forward to next play.

Torello Capital SIGA

I was able to reserve 500 SIGA and take a short position at an even $5.00 early this morning. I’m at my dayjob unfortunately, so I’ll be keeping a close eye on this one with my Blackberry and any computer nearby! i will be updating as soon as I can!

Torello Capital SIGA

I’ve just been trying to learn more about ETF’s but I do want to make money at the same time. Here’s just a few stocks that I’ll be watching for possible short plays tomorrow.

GLG SIGA MSO - All hard to borrow on TOS.

GLG - This should be a great short for those who can find shares.

SIGA - I’m going to try and reserve shares to short for this one. TOS is pretty cool in that you tell them how you want an order executed and they’ll try their best to do it. They come through for me plenty of times while I’m at my dayjob.

MSO - Nice fade from lunchtime until the closing bell.

ARNA SKH SLW - All easy to borrow on TOS.

ARNA - This stock still continues to trend upward. I’m watching this one for weakness and a finish in the red.

SKH - Risky earnings play.

SLW - Finished in the green at 14.10% and more than double the average daily volume. I didn’t find any news on this stock. Earnings isn’t until the nineteenth of this month.

Torello Capital ARNA, GLG, MSO, SIGA, SKH, SLW

ANI
Washington

Thu, 05 Feb 2009:

Washington, Feb 5 (ANI): Other than clothes, house and flashy cars, the socio-economic status (SES) of a person can be guessed by his or her body language, according to a study.

Psychologists Michael W. Kraus and Dacher Keltner of the University of California, Berkeley found that non-verbal cues (that isbody language) could indicate our SES.

Fro the study, the researchers videotaped participants as they got to know one another in one-on-one interview sessions.

During these taped sessions, the researchers looked for two types of behaviours: disengagement behaviours (including fidgeting with personal objects and doodling) and engagement behaviours (including head nodding, laughing and eye contact).

The results indicated that nonverbal cues can give away a person’s SES.

Volunteers whose parents were from upper SES backgrounds displayed more disengagement-related behaviours compared to participants from lower SES backgrounds.

Besides, when a separate group of observers were shown 60-second clips of the videos, they were able to correctly guess the participants’ SES background, based on their body language.

The researchers note that this is the first study to show a relation between SES and social engagement behaviour. They surmise that people from upper SES backgrounds who are wealthy and have access to prestigious institutions tend to be less dependent on others.

“This lack of dependence among upper SES people is displayed in their nonverbal behaviors during social interactions,” concluded the psychologists.

The study is reported in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science. (ANI)

Torello Capital

I didn’t take a position today after my loss yesterday. After a loss, I like to do lots of re-evaluating and studying of future plays. I spent the day watching the charts of FAS, FAZ, TZA, and XLF and keeping an eye on my watchlist.

Torello Capital FAS, FAZ, TZA, XLF

Well, this lesson cost me $98.96 and I feel incompetent. I know hindsight is 20/20, but this trade was full of mistakes. My first mistake was going against cavemanism and watching this not hold $10; I should have taken a short position instead. My mistake was that I was “hoping” for this to hold that mark instead of forming a hypothesis and having the conviction if it will or will not hold that mark. My second mistake was that I forgot I had to be at my day job today and so I could not watch my position as close as I wanted, resulting in a bigger loss than necessary. What a rookie mistake - if you put your chips on the table, you better sit and watch that hand at the table.  I was able to close my position at 8:46AM PST at $9.24, but the damage was done. To make matters worse, it didn’t help my long position that the Market was in the red -381.99 points today. I love the winning trades I’ve made, but its the winners that I truly learn from. Today’s XLF 1 minute chart and 5 minute chart speaks for itself:

2.9 loss long XLF: -$98.96

I can’t wait for the next trading opportunity. Tomorrow I will be watching the same watchlist.

Torello Capital XLF

Here’s just a few that I’ll be studying and watching some more tomorrow. I’m really liking the clean charts and tight spreads. Now I just have to get better at reading the chart and understanding the nuisances.

XLF FAS SSO EEM IYG TNA QLD QQQQ FAZ TZA SRS

Torello Capital EEM, FAS, FAZ, IYG, QLD, QQQQ, SRS, SSO, TNA, TZA, XLF

I decided to hold my small position of 150 shares of XLF at $9.98 overnight. The chart became a little messy into the Market close, perhaps traders just locking in gains, but XLF did manage to fight its way back and finish in the green up 1.12% at $9.90. It was nice to see this hold up even though the Market did finish slightly in the red. Heading into Tuesday’s trading session, I’m in the red $12.00. Since I’m just learning the ETF game, I took a small position and I’m playing it conservatively until I understand it more. XLF doesn’t have the wide dayrange that FAS has, but I like the clean chart and tight spread. I’ll be watching how this one opens up tomorrow.

Torello Capital FAS, XLF

I’ve been watching ETF’s such as FAS, TZA, and FAZ for a few days now and I find them quite attractive. Today I’ve been watching XLF’s chart and decided to take a small position of 150 shares at $9.98 at 12:25PM PST. I’m watching for this to hold $10 into the close.

Torello Capital FAS, FAZ, TZA, XLF