the Yuppie Pig

Yep, that's the secret to making money! Have to admit, its a great business. What happens if the amount lent is not repaid you ask? Backstop it with taxpayer money!

The SPX had another huge rally today off the pre-announcement by WFC, which is perhaps one of the better banks. The earnings power vs the write downs were somewhat of a wash. But write downs are one off events, while government handouts occur into perpetuity!

All kidding aside, the market is pushing up into an area with major supply. Even after ths huge run, It's hard to ignore the changes in "company fundamentals" - not to be confused with the economy. It's actually easy in this market for mainstreet to get the beat down, while wallstreet racks it up from taxpayer handouts. Is it fair? No. Is it a necessary evil? That's a debate for another time. The 60 min chart is back into overbought territory, so while I want a mix of long's and shorts, it's hard to add longs right now. I'm not one to chase markets up in a recession, but I'll concede it has been the right thing to do in the past 4 weeks or so.


I used wed's sell off to cut some short exposure. Specifically, I cut ANF on weds, and WYNN on the thursday open. Both turned out to be the right move. What wasn't the right move was not cutting all my shorts and longs!

I remained short a position in IYR. Despite taking 1/3 of the position off, this one still stung hard and wiped out the gains from WYNN. I'm debating if this sector is still a "sector short", or has it become an area where individual stock picks matter. Starting to believe the latter.


And to add insult to injury, my long position in WMT did not participate at all here. As recessionary names fall from grace as the perception of recovery makes its round, this isn't a name that is going to do well. Add to it, that I think the USD weakens here, which should be bearish for the company which imports from overseas. I had hoped it would close the gap, and came literally pennies from hitting my sell order, but alas, it was not to be. View on WMT - neutral.



I don't have any names in my sights right now as the market is at new highs, but not quite enough to short anything at the moment. I still think we are in a choppy market where both directions should be played.