
It was a beautiful morning.
I awoke to the sun shining and birds chirping.
I took an awesome hot shower and hummed Ratdog in preparation for tonight’s
I peeked at MarketWatch to find that my weekly syndicated vibe was again the #1 most read.
I poked around the global markets and saw commodities well bid.
Yes, it’s safe to say that by the time I arrived at MVHQ, I was in a pretty good mood.
That’s when the tech issues began.
No columns on Minyanville.
No Buzz content through 8:30 AM.
No way to communicate our mojo to the masses.
There are few things that rub my craw like technology brownouts.
Truth be told, I was livid.
Not smashing phones livid—I haven’t done that since Smith Barney bought 10,000 Cisco (CSCO) calls instead of 10,000 Cisco puts in 2001—but livid nonetheless.
How did I react?
What did I do?
Nothing! Because if I took it to small claims court, it would just drain 8 hours out of my life and they probably wouldn’t show up and even if I got the judgment they’d just stiff me anyway; so what I did was piss and moan like an impotent jerk, inhaled a deep breath and took it like a man!
Thanks for the liberal literary license Fletcher! A little levity goes a long way and now that we’re cooking with oil, it’s time to jump the Hump and view the dew.
Some Random Thoughts:
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We’ve been speaking about the potential for some commodity strength with an eye towards crude support at $110.
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We spoke about the set-up yesterday in the ‘Ville and built partial positions in Weatherford (WFT), Transocean (RIG), USO and Gold.
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This is a pure trade, Minyans, and I’m feeding some ducks into today’s strength (crude +2.5%, gold +$18).
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Could it last? Sure—geopolitical uncertainties persist.
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Why is Dano booking ‘em? First, I think the dollar has made a meaningful turn (I’m always early!) and second, I’m in “hit it to quit it” mode, particularly as I’ll be out for knee surgery the next few days.
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S&P levels of lore? S&P 1275 (the uptrend line since the July low) and S&P 1262, which was the last (fourth) higher low.
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Michael Price is no dummy. And when Michael Price is shorting Citigroup (C) and Wachovia Bank (WB) at these levels, it’s worth paying attention to.

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A respected technical service offered last night that selling pressure matched its recent high reading and over their 75-year history, that has never happened one month after a major market bottom.
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In other words, in a normal, Hankless world, the July lows won't hold. Of course, our world isn't normal and it's definitely not Hankless.
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Personally, I'm excited for my knee surgery tomorrow—I'm excited to again run in Central Park, I'm excited to again kick-box, I'm excited again to be able to walk around without a sharp, shooting pain running up my leg. 39 is too young for this silliness!
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N's over S's with an eye towards NDX 1950 as the nearest-term resistance.
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Be careful trading options in the financials. While the VXO is low, individual option vols are fatter than I am—and that's fat!
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Don't trade just to trade, Minyans, for as we used to say, boredom is never an actionable catalyst.
Answers I Really Wanna Know…
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Do you remember when we offered five reasons for optimism?
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One of which was real estate bargains?

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Y'all watching S&P 1275?
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Is Gold $850 a realistic counter-counter-trend bounce target?
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Even so, wouldn't it be forthright to communicate that I'm feeding the commodity ducks into this liftage? (Yes.)
I’m off like a prom dress tomorrow and Friday to fix myself—fare ye well and remember that risk management trumps reward chasing no matter which way you choose to play.
May peace be with you!
R.P.





















