Things are looking up

My trading has been erratic and undisciplined over the last couple of months and my returns have reflected that. I'm attempting to return to my "bread and butter" which is mechanical trading. As I've written before, I do best when I avoid the emotions of the news and the internet and just focus on what has worked for me in the past.

I've got some house cleaning to do. I've still own a few leftovers from the last two months, but I plan to be rid of them soon as I transition back into my own ideas.

The last couple of days have been good, but I haven't really outperformed the major averages. My goal is to be out of the hole by the end of March and start working on another 40% gain for this year. It's not going to be easy.

I'm starting to see some optimism among my favorite bloggers and writers. Stockbee says that we've formed a bottom--he's been in cash since November. A few of the indicators that I follow show things turning. A lot of the gloom seems to be waning. Phil Grande says we're still heading for DOW 10,000. I've stopped listening to him--he's too negative and always makes me question my own trading plan.

The percent of stocks on the NY stock exchange above their 200 day MA has just popped over its 50 day MA for the first time since the beginning of November (blue arrow). I'm planning to get aggressive over the next few weeks.