Stock by Stock

After pondering how to start trading Obama Fund positions a bit more actively, I've decided to now shift to stock by stock tactics. The Fund has about 50 stocks in small positions with different sizes ranging from about 5% to 1%. I made the first few moves on macro reasoning, buying or adding to 10 and 20 at a time. Now I think I need to shift tactics.

I looked over all 50 charts yesterday and really liked what I saw: good patterns and many reasonable pullbacks to support. One needs to add at support, not extension, since when the beefers and traders bail out - usually all at once - the pain can be intense. Why have a large position on such risky, exposed ground ?

The review also showed that I missed some good buys in March, particularly in some restaurant stocks. Darn ...

An erudite commentor suggested a tech stock for Fido Fund: RIMM. That is intriguing as that firm "owns" the corporate portable communication market. I don't have one, being a convinced Luddite except for my youth movement to carry an iPhone. But lots of people love their Blackberry. Thinking ...

This means I have to work harder ... ugh.

Also, I am still contemplating buying some natural gas in my newly re-charged commodities account. I'm looking over contract specifications and thinking. The forward curve is quite steep in the fall. Huge amounts - near record - are in storage. Industrial demand is needed, but when will it pick up ? And I mean pick up, not just stop going down. Still thinking ...

I will be traveling to my hometown in Ohio all next week. That means no new posts unless I can convince Mrs. B to make an appearance as a guest blogger. She might want to write about the dogs, or ...

Word of the Day

"Invidious" - adjective [$10]; this is a word one hears often but might not know the precise meaning.
Invidious means (of an action, conduct, attitude) likely to excite resentment or indignation against a person responsible, especially by real or seeming injustice.
Sentence: Slashing the dealer networks might be a good, but invidious business move for Chrysler and GM as thousands of significant local businesses will be hurt across the country.

Le Mot du Jour

"Tabler" - verb, transitive indirect; regular -er conjugation; takes preposition "sur"
Tabler sur means to count on, to bank on.
La Phrase: (copied from Le Figaro) Le gouvernement table désormais sur un repli de 3% pour l'année 2009.
Sentence: The government [France] from now on counts on a pullback of 3% for the year 2009 [in the economy].