A public journey to find out how far $2040 will go
All my eggs in one basket… betting on volatility and an improving MACD…
I took a $170 loss on EEB today and doubled up on DRYS. I bought 32 additional shares at $81.67. My account now consists of 62 shares of DRYS at an average price of $85.76, and a margin debt of ~$1860. I immediately placed a good till cancel order to sell 31 shares at $108, just below the price where I believe the stock will run before consolidating.
Last Friday I doubled up on DRYS and went deeper in margin. I purchased 15 shares at 91.75, about 3 points higher than what I paid for the original batch, bring my cost basis to $90.12. I am now $1689 in margin as a result. So far today, as of 10:30am, DRYS has traded in a range of $85.5 to $91.53… the stock is volatile.
When I bought IIIN on May 11th, I immediately placed a good till cancel sell order at $15.50. I upped the limit order to 16.11 after reviewing the charts going back 2 years. Today it ran up to $16.36 and closed at $15.99. My sell order was filled at $16.11. I will be keeping this on my watchlist with the goal of possibly buying in again for a possible run up to $20.
I tried to resist but the opportunity was too compelling. Today I went back in margin by purchasing 15 shares of DRYS at $88.50. The stock is very volatile, but I think the risk is worth it at these levels.
DBC has had a good run and has been a good trade. I bought it on March 3rd and sold it 10 days later for a 5% profit (after commissions) at the point where it appeared to be ready to take a breather. I bought it again on April 7th and sold it today for a 9.3% net profit. I still believe there is upside, but I think it has some consolidating to do. So, rather than keep the account in margin, I decided to sell. I’ll re-enter if it looks compelling. I’m also watching Dryship, DRYS, a very volatile stock that has been pulling back recently. I think a good entry price is between $89-$91.
The account now has $300 in cash and the positions in IIN and EEB, both of which are profitable. I am watching both closely and may end up selling if the market makes a turn for the worse.
I like the chart pattern and recent price action of Insteel, IIIN, so much so that I placed an order to buy 150 shares at $13.52, on margin. The stock dipped momentarily to my buy price and was partially filled but unfortunately did not stay long enough for the entire order to be executed. As a result, I was only able to pick up 46 shares. I have already placed a sell order for $15.50, where I believe it will run before the next brief consolidation. The next stop after that should be about $20. We’ll evaluate that option then.
Latin America has been a good place for investments in the past few years and the recent upgrade of Brazil’s credit quality bodes well for further growth. The ILF ETF rebounded strongly to a new high over three days. It’s an ETF that I still find very attractive for purchase but the improving trend appears to be broader across emerging markets as a whole. Yesterday I purchased 48 shares of EEB (BRIC ETF) for $54.72, to gain exposure to a broader set of emerging markets. The FXI ETF for example, also appears to have developed a new uptrend, while Brazil has made a new high. This ETF gives me exposure to both countries as well as Russia an India.
I sold the positions in ILF and MOO today because of the weakness of both charts and the price movements over the past few days. I sold ILF for $270.50 for a 10% profit and immediately placed an order to buy back in at 257.50, a price just above where the charts seem to be heading.
The ETF subsequently ended the day at $276.50 as it benefited from the S&P surprise raising of Brazil’s credit rating to investment grade. It’s not clear now if this will provide a foundation for a higher move, but all considered, I still would prefer to sit in the sidelines and watch over the next few days. As for MOO, I sold it for a 1.4% loss because it was purchased on margin and the market as a whole looks like it could be flat to down in the short term.
The account now has $2656 in cash and 22 shares of DBC, for a total value of $3490..
Today I bought 17 shares of MOO on margin, an ETF that tracks the Agribusiness index. The shares were purchased at $61.40, and the stock closed at $60.75. I expect it to find support here, close to $59. I’ll sell if it closes below $55.50.
Back on March 3rd, I bought 40 shares of DBC for $26.58, and later sold it for a 5% gain on March 13th, when I wrote that it appeared to be weakening but I would buy it again if it reaches my original entry price. Five days later I wrote that it had fallen to $36.44, but I had not repurchased it and only time would tell if that was a missed opportunity or a blessing. On March 20, it fell to a low of $30.75 and eventually closed at $35.05. Since then, it appears to be on a steady improvement, reaching a high of $37.94, then a low of $35.12, and today, it broke the descending trend line from it’s peak of $39.32 (the day I sold it) and its next high of $37.94.
Today I bought 22 shares at $37.4 with the remaining cash in my account. My account now consists of 10 shares of ILF, 22 shares of DBC and $8.57 in cash.