Summary:
A quiet day turned into a 2% gain after the Fed indicated it was less hawkish on raising interest rates. I imagine the subprime meltdown has them worried about slower growth, though they seem to be worried about inflation as well. In any event, the markets interpreted the statement as bullish for equities, since lower rates means cheaper leveraging of stock positions and less competition for stocks from fixed income. With Shanghai hitting a new high yesterday and subprime woes almost forgotten, it looks like smooth sailing for the short-term.
Most everything I owned was up today. FFHL rose almost 10% on no news. They should be reporting earnings soon, but I don’t know when. TNH is also continuing its run rising 5%. My biggest dollar gainer was JEQ, up 3.5% despite the Nikkei being closed yesterday. This moves it from a 3% discount to NAV to a slight premium.
No trades today. My exam is tomorrow and I look forward to being able to do some market research after that.
Positions:
Long: JEQ JSC LMC AUY SLW NTO NXG HBMFF ALSWF JAGNF FFHL EGLE AOB XSI KF UAHC NTLRF TNH LMGGF NM NLY MDN.TO
Short: BKC
Cash: 12.7%
Trades: none
Read:
Stocks Researched:
Hours spent on market: 0.5
Positions most worried about:
Positions most sanguine about: Japan
Biggest market worries: another general downturn
Thinking about: ?
Outlook ( up-flat-down surety rating: 1-5 reasoning):
US: ??
Tech: ??
Japan: up, 1.0; strong GDP, but weak international markets
China: ??
Silver: ??
Gold: ??
Copper: ??
Zinc: ??
Real life: Still busy with studies.
Previous night sleep and exercise: 6 hrs. Little exercise as still nursing hamstring.
Mood: Tired and a little sick. Calm.
