Today was pretty quiet as the DOW was down 35 points to finish at 11,807. The Fed started a two day meeting today and we will get the all-important "statement" along with the announcement on interest rates. Most traders are not expecting a rate change from the Fed, but they are expecting tougher language on inflation in the statement. I agree that the Fed will leave rates unchanged, but I'm not sure what that will mean for the market. Obviously, we're in a tough environment for stocks right now. Inflation is running high and the economy is getting weaker. Hopefully, at some point we'll get some relief on energy prices which is a must if we're going to see things get going again.
News specific to my portfolio:
I was lucky again today as my portfolio was up a little while the DOW was down a little. Yesterday's two biggest winners, Chesapeake Energy (CHK) & Bucyrus International (BUCY), were today's two biggest losers. CHK lost about 3.5% to finish at $65.45 and BUCY was down 2.2% finishing at $75.99. The two biggest winners were US Bancorp (USB), which was up more than 3.5% to finish at $29.93, and Raytheon (RTN) which was up 3.28% to finish at $59.25. I suspect that Nat Gas being down a little gave folks a reason to take some profits in CHK. BUCY has been on a tear, so I suspect a little profit taking on it as well. Both RTN & USB have been down for several consecutive days, so maybe the stocks finally got cheap enough for investors to step in. I can't find any news that would account for the rise in those shares. Today was a fairly active trading day as I made three trades. I was able to buy more Wal Mart (WMT) at $56.50. I feel good about being able to add these shares because I had been waiting for them to come own to my price. In my second trade, I added a new name to the portfolio, Chemical & Mining Company of Chile (SQM). I'l have more about what they do in the weekly roundup. This stock has been moving higher lately and trading volumes have been increasing. This is a big momentum name, which I don't usually like to trade, but I decided to take a chance on this one. The last trade I made was to sell some Big Lots (BIG) short. This is purely on the recommendation of Fast Money's Karen Finerman. She has been right on with her short calls and I feel like she is right on this one as well. I also don't do much shorting, so this will be a little different for me as well.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment