I feel good about how the week ended for us. It was a tough week initially, but in the end we came out of it better than how we started. Having a mixed bag of longs and shorts has been a solid strategy for us to date, and until we get some conviction out of this market going forward, it is a strategy I will continue to employ.
The Jackson Hole speech represents a potential turning point for the markets. Initially, the market responded kindly, but ultimately soured with a strong sell-off from the highs of the day. The trading range was also more than what we were accustomed to seeing. The issue with this market remains in that even the strongest of sell-offs keeps keeps getting bought before the close which creates tons of choppiness for traders.
Some solid gains in the portfolio though from the week, with the most notable ones being VMware (VMW) and Huntsman (HUN) providing 3.2% and 4.2% in gains respectively. SPXU shows plenty of potential if there is further downside to this market. I may end up regretting selling Netflix (NFLX) on Friday as it did make a strong turnaround. However, the strategy regarding it, I do not regret. We got off to a nice start on it no doubt, but the last thing I want to happen is a winning trade turn into a losing trade. So even if I walk away from it with minimal gains or no gains at all, I nonetheless do not want to deal with a losing trade – and I was protecting us from it. Overall though, we are still flowing with ups and downs of this market quite well, and will attempt to do the same again this week as we look to close out the month.
