Finally, a month has ended on a positive note. Yes, yesterday I did call a negative session and was wrong, but hey, we all can’t be perfect can we? While March did end on a positive winning note, the first trading quarter of the year was negative overall. Still, lets take the positive as we prepare to head into April.

Now for Tuesday, I did make a trade that was unsuccessful. I foolishly believed that this was going to turn out to be a down and negative day and with my reasoning and logic, I got into (SKF) early in the day with 50 shares. Luck that it was only 50 shares. However, I did get into the stock at $105.00 and had a limit sell set at $110 with a stop loss on the back side at $99.99. Without even a fight, the stock fell below the stop loss and never really came back up. I lost some money today, but no sweat. A few speed bumps along the road wont stop me from profiting on another day.

Total LOSS on (SKF) = $250.50

Although I have not fully calculated my profits for the first quarter, I am up over $14,000 from the trading receipts I have so far. I really did not dish out any bogus no name stocks, nor did I try to sell any secrets, I just honestly followed the news daily, traded without greed and am making some good income. I certainly hope that the rest of you are able to do the same!

Now back to Tuesday, here is the market summary:

Good things to note today, Pepsi did raise its dividend. It was only two days ago when news was out there on how US sales of carbonated beverages were on a decline and the price for consumers was also falling on competition. This would squeeze margins in the US, but I’m sure overseas sales have picked up as Pepsi makes moves to better compete with Coca-Cola.

Some news to look for on Wednesday:
This is still developing, but Honda seems to be starting to feel the strain on the auto-sector, they have slashed their workforce and trimmed salaries. Link.

Now has various car makes cut production, there will be a slump not only in their stocks, but also in the parts providers. Good research could yield who supplies what parts to these auto companies and find an opportunity to short or even watch the price drop before improving news comes up to ride the climb which will eventually come.

Borders Group Inc., the unprofitable bookstore chain that tried to sell itself last year, said fourth-quarter profit fell as consumers pared spending on books. Link.

U.S. home prices plunged at a record pace in January while consumer confidence held just above record lows in March, according to data on Tuesday that showed no signs of a bottom for the lengthy recession. Link.

Also, banks have begun to repay loans, early! Some of the smaller banks have already paid back or made public intentions to pay back their loan money. Banks did rise on this today, but Wednesday will be a true test to see if the rally continues.

A really good video I saw today was this one, its talks about some of the best trades of the month. I love the view email at the start, it seems that people that win and make money are always hated. I guess helping others is still not enough for some. Anyways, here is the video:
For Wednesday, I will not be trading, but I still have my long positions from past holdings that I really want to start dumping. Some are even, while others are slightly up or down, its just preventing me right now from trading with a larger amount during the day and even more, I can just use this money and pay off a chunk of my mortgages which currently are being offset by their respective renters.

Finally, some indicators to look at that can affect a sector or the entire market:
7:00AM Weekly Mortgage Applications
7:30AM Challenger Job-Cut Report for March.
8:15AM ADP National Employment Report for March.
10:00AM Construction Spending for February.
10:00AM ISM Mftg Survey for March.
10:00AM Pending Home Sales for February.
10:30AM Crude Inventories
4:00PM Motor vehicle sales for March.

Happy Investing!

Aman, MBA

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