Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Something's happening here

This morning, everything was up nicely and then, a little later, everything was going to hell. I checked thestreet.com and Cramer had posted that something was stinking up the joint and he thought it was Bernanke's speech to Congress. I decided that it was time to trim, so I sold a little over 5% of my COP stash for a 15% gain.

After that, Cramer posted an update, saying that Bernanke didn't stink after all, and the market recovered for a while, but ended the day solidly in the red. This got everybody's attention. We'll see.

GOOG was down pennies.

COP ended 2 cents above where I sold it, but down almost 1% on the day.

ATPG is holding onto its big gain of two days ago.

DE, C and OIH did not impress.

The whole portfolio was down 1/2%.


Tuesday, February 28, 2012

Another good day

GOOG shot up $10 in the morning and held on to most of it through the close. I could find no reason for this action.

COP is on a roll, closing at $77.27. If it gets above $80, I'll go into trim mode, but I may want to hold everything until May when it splits into two companies.

ATPG took a well-deserved 5% rest.

DE trying to base in the $83 area.

OIH continuing its worrisome slide.

C still coming up the back stretch with a solid 1.67% increase to $33.48.

The whole portfolio today impressed with a 0.85% gain.




Monday, February 27, 2012

Good News

The surprise of the day came from the management of ATPG who announced that they have found oil in one of their wells. The stock, which has been in what the wildcatters call a "deep hole", popped by almost 19%. Great—I can almost see daylight now.

GOOG, at the close, was found dithering around plus-or-minus zero. No conviction whatsoever.

COP continued making its move—I need to watch that one. The time to trim a bit and raise a little cash may be nigh.

DE was pitiful.

OIH staged a manly decline.

And C—I don't know what to say, it's still chugging up the hill. But it's a big hill—what the old-timers call a "mountain". I'll be back to par at $40.


Friday, February 24, 2012

Trampled by Glaciers

The portfolio gained 1.3% this week, a good pace for turtles and glaciers.

Notably, on the week:

COP     +3.5%
OIH      +2.5%

Un-notably:

DE, ATPG and C declined.
GOOG increased by less than 1%.




Thursday, February 23, 2012

What's your sleep number?

Mine is .15%. As in "zzzzzzzzzz". That's how much my portfolio varied today from yesterday. Better than my lying-awake-staring-up-at-the-ceiling number. I haven't had one of those, remarkably, since March, 2009.

GOOG gave up a bit as did DE. COP was up, looking towards $75 and C, inexplicably, was up again today---it has been up in four of the last five trading sessions.


Wednesday, February 22, 2012

I'll take sideways

When I look at GOOG's chart for the last few days, the word, "sideways" comes to mind. But I'm not complaining, because on many days, fresh in memory, the word that came to mind was "down".

Elsewhere in the portfolio, COP and DE continued to show strength in adversity. OIH gets the gold star with a gain of 1.88% on the day.

C and ATPG disappointed.


Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Signs of Strength

GOOG opened $2 down this morning, but immediately shot up $15 in a straight line to $617.88, before the bears started piling on. But the naysayers were only able to push it back down $9 to $608.32, at which point the bulls reasserted themselves and battled back to a very respectable finish at $614 on the nose, up $9.36.

The rest of the portfolio was also up nicely on the day, with the bottom line benefiting by 0.99%.




Friday, February 17, 2012

Recognition Where It's Due

DE and COP deserve special commendation for their resilience in coming back so good. OIH made a nice contribution too, and C chugged right along on its on track.
GOOG was temporarily embarrassed.


Thursday, February 16, 2012

Not a bad day

This morning, the portfolio threatened to continue yesterday's dismal action, but in the afternoon it staged an impressive comeback to end the day up flat.


Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Money, We Hardly Knew You

One bad day. Fear trumps greed, every time. All of DE's performance of the last few weeks reversed in a single day. GOOG also down, but still comfortably north of $600. COP dug in its heels, allowing a small decline of little significance.

The portfolio has reached a stasis point from which a new inflection, up or down, will be required. The bottom line gave up about 1%, but there's nothing to be overly concerned about. Yet.


Tuesday, February 14, 2012

It's a good day for shining your shoes

It's a good day when, at the close, you have something to feel good about.

GOOG got smacked down again for no good reason.

But COP is once again above my cost basis with a buck to spare,

and

DE is relentless, scratching out a decent gain above $89.

ATPG and C, pitted against one another, were a wash.

All in all, a good day to write home about.


Thursday, February 9, 2012

Yawn

GOOG continues its relentless assault on the heights, refusing to give up an inch. Up $1.61 on the day when everything else was in hunker down mode. Nothing to get excited about either way. Time to catch up on my Angry Birds.


Tuesday, February 7, 2012

Done, as if by order

Monday, GOOG went on a tear, retaking $600 decisively. Friday, I said that GOOG was searching for $600. Predictions are meaninglessthe tear was real. That's all that counts.

You gotta feel it, struggling its way back up. The big Gorilla just stood up and busted through the ceiling, and now he's climbing up the building again. Traders in bi-planes, circling around him. And then the Gorilla morphs into John Huston, gold-dancing on the mountain, and the traders morph into Fred C. Dobbs, already plotting to kill the others and steal all the gold for himself.


Friday, February 3, 2012

What's good for the nation is good for Obama

Monthly jobs report exceeds all expectations. The economy is now seen to be firing on many cylinders. The news made everyone giddy, which was good for today's action. There is a growing sense that we've reached a tipping point on the boom-doom scale. The train that had been running over you is now leaving the station.

GOOG searching for $600.

DE seizes high ground above $88, coming to rest at $88.40.

COP rebasing.

OIH is poised.

C continues its drunken whirl up the mountain.


Thursday, February 2, 2012

A little hand for the group

With less than half an hour to go, I would like to commend my little ensemble of stocks for their all-around good performance today.

We're still in a deep hole, looking up, but a good day is a good day.