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Let's play corn!

6 May 10:16pm
Corn Products International (NYSE:CPO) has been doing very well since early April, closely related to the price of corn.  It's really a shame that some people think that food makes a good fuel, and that so many are rioting around the world just for a crust of bread.Maybe we can make some money speculating on the price of corn and other grains (they're probably going up) and use some of our gains to help feed those less fortunate than ourselves.  

Oh the shame.

11 May 5:36am
I did a nice job of losing 100k today.  But I didn't do it on my own.  It took  a triple-digit down day to knock me down.  I should have shorted that DNDN!The silver lining is that I managed to buy a bunch of stuff on the cheap.  I think I'd better leave this portfolio alone for a week or so.  The markets should be somewhat recovered by then.  And let's hear it for dmg818.  Six million bucks!  Loan me a twenty?-z

Mistakes were made.

3 May 5:54am
 Okay, that Dow Jones Corp/Murdoch short was a mistake.The stock did dip a little bit through the middle of the day.  My million-dollar short position was showing a $18k gain for a little while, and I should have closed it then.  I was sure that we would see DJ drop over the next 24 hours, so I held it.  Dumb!  Mistakes were made; lessons were learned.  Fortunately, I made enough money on a BRKR short, and my QQQQ purchases that I almost broke even for the day.&nb...

Just insane... (DJ v. Newscorp)

2 May 3:53am
 Rupert Murdoch makes a phone call and Dow Jones Corp shoots up $20?  When the other shoe drops (Dow Jones Corp says "We'll think about it") and reality kicks in, DJ's gotta correct.By how much, though.  That's the question.Update:  DJ is ending the day at >$57.  I'm totally wrong on this one so far.  We'll see what happens.Also, why is it that my $56 stop-loss order didn't happen?

Closing many positions today

30 Apr 10:57pm
10:19 AM 4/30/2007I just dumped all of my short holdings, and all of my  losing long positions, except for GROW, which is still down more than 20k.  I think GROW might come back a little bit, so I'm going to wait.  I'll probably sell it once my 'earnings' on that position come up to about -15k.Any cash resulting from these sales will probably go into QQQQ for the time being. Update (10:46 AM 4/30/2007): Looks like closing all of these dead-weight positions is going to cost ...

About

zenoizen

Current strategy...

1. Reduce losing positions. I've got a slew of stinkers in my portfolio. Many of them are down simply because everything is down. Thing is, I need the cash to pick up a few things that I'm sure are due to move upwards. So, I'm taking some losses to get the needed cash.

2. Buy. Markets are down, but there's no doubt that there is going to be some general upward movement over the summer of 2008. I'm concentrating on ETFs to get the built-in diversification. Plus, I'm also trying to find ways to play different commodities and currencies etc. that will probably gain a few percentages... looks like corn, coal, the dollar and interest rates are the way to go right now...

3. Wait. A lot of the "crap" I'm holding is actually undervalued, and ought to return over the next quarter or two. My excessive shorting of QID will most likely be mitigated in the medium term. Time heals all wounds, they say. Hope they're right!