Trading Plan for October 12, 2010

Current Long Positions (stop-losses in parentheses): TICC (9.62), BRKR (14.26), CVX (81.94), ITW (47.17), SSO (40.07), QQQQ (48.90), URS (37.82), TIE (19.52), BEAV (30.90), PAG (12.62), DTV (41.09)

Current Short Positions (stop-losses in parentheses): None

BIAS: 95% Long

Economic Reports Due Out (Times are EST): ICSC-Goldman Store Sales (7:45am), Redbook (8:55am), FOMC Minutes (2pm)

My Observations and What to Expect:

• Futures are trading moderately lower, but has rallied off of its overnight lows. 
• Asian markets lower (Nikkei down 2%), European markets down as well. 
• Overnight futures have been very volatile, marked by wild swings. 
• China is reportedly forcing banks to hold more reserves and slow lending – which is causing the unexpected selling in the markets. 
• Not a major hurdle for the market to overcome, but will weight heavily on the market today. 
• FOMC Minutes could play a major role at 2pm today. 
• The trendline from 8/31 onward remains intact. 
• Best case scenario for the bears today is to push the market back below 1150. They can’t afford to allow the bulls to rally off of intraday lows – will continue to only embolden the dip-buyers. 
• Best case scenario for the bulls today is to recover from the overnight selling, and finish in or near positive territory. 

Actions I Will Be Taking:

• Closed out last 1/2 of ELY yesterday for a 7% gain. 
• URS remains on the chopping block today. No recovery today in this stock, will result in it getting axed. 
• Don’t plan on adding new positions to the portfolio. 
• All stop-losses remain the same from yesterday. 
• I am not at all hedged in my portfolio right now.
• Added DTV to the portfolio yesterday at $42.14.