Trade Activity 6/22/11

Bought Petroleo Brasileiro (PBR) at $33.00

Cleaning House

I moved to all cash in one of my accounts. I closed out my position in Brazil Energy (CPL) and started a position in Acme Packet (APKT) but closed out of it after taking a loss. Not sure if APKT ran its course and needed some consolidation to form a new base, but I was not going to hang around or double down to decrease my entry point. Sitting in all cash and looking for new movers headed into next week.

Don't Buck the Trend

I'm a sucker for reading material and author's who are willng to share their investment styles and what has worked and not worked for them in the past. Right now I'm reading "The New Day Trader Advantage," by Jon D. Markman. In his book, he reminds us investors/traders about trend and market momentum: (1) A stock's sector can account for up to 50 to 60 percent of its movement, up to 20 percent from market cap and valuation group, 10 percent from its region, and the remaining falling to the discretion of the investee.

With all that in mind, I typically research the Monday edition of Investor's Business Daily for its 197 Industry Sub-Group Rankings, which is based on 6-month price performance. The current groups making up a majority of the top 20 are: Oil & Gas, Machinery, Metals, and Chemicals. With all this mind my focus has been in the Chemicals and Metals arena, specifically RIO, AGU, and SLT. I also like the fact that each of the afforementioned stocks are foreign based: RIO (Brazil), AGU (Canada), and SLT (India) Right now, I only own SLT, but waiting for some pullback on RIO and AGU before getting back in. Just a few of my thoughts. Anyone else willing to share what works for them? HAGO Justin

Today's Action

Just wanted to send out a quick note that I established two new long positions today. I Finally got into RIO at $31.30 and SLT at $23.82. I chose these positions as overseas plays on basic materials/metals play. In addition, the SLT gives me exposure into India, while RIO latches me into the Brazilian market. The charts are courtesy of StockCharts.com

On a quick side note....did everyone catch a glimpse of the 14% down shift in DRYS? Like my post yesterday mentioned, I thought the carriers were headed to lower territory, however I did not expect this type of sell-off so quickly.

Her Name is RIO

and she dances on the sand....Wow opening up a blog with Duran Duran. Anyway I picked up some RIO on Friday in the low 33's and I am quite happy with my paitence on this stock. In my opinion, I am killing two birds with one stone by capturing a stock that is in Brazil and in the metals and mining industry. If you look at the chart in the above link I still think the stock has some downward motion since the technicals are not all that great. This is a stock I'm looking to hold onto as an investment vice a straight up trade. If it drops lower near its 50 day moving average, I believe I will scoop up some more shares. I continue to pound the table on the international marketplace and the value that it provides during the U.S. fluctuation. I believe investors for the long term can't loose sight that this is a global marketplace and if one ignores that aspect then great opportunities are being missed.