Mid-December...

Hi everyone -

I didn't completely stay out of the markets this past week. This is due to some pretty big moves. The New Zealand Dollar, Euro, and Swiss Franc were all good to me in the last few days. (They were kind enough to move a bit.)

Some of the "experts" out there are saying that it is a fear that the Fed will not cut rates again. Some say it's end of year profit taking. Some say it's a reaction to the latest Paris Hilton sighting. (Ok, fine....I made the last one up....) But the point is this: It is not my job to read minds, it is my job to make money.

This is why I am more of a technical trader. (Probably 95% of my trading is based on this.) I cannot and will not try to read minds. This took me a while to understand that us mere mortals cannot attempt to understand why the "big boys" are doing what they are, and that we can never have access to news fast enough to make trading decisions.

As this is a business, I prefer to save the $1500/month or more for the proper feed. Like all businesses, keeping your cost low is part of the equation as well. I always laugh at people who insist on paying $1500/month for a news feed to trade news, but will bitch about a 4 pip spread on GBP/USD. (Not to mention spreads get widened drastically during announcements.)

Besides, I don't like a lot of stress. I get enough from having a 2 year-old, and another baby on the way. :-)

So, I am up 5.78% for the month. Guess what? My job is truly done until January. Can I make more this month? Will there be a huge move late in December? I don't know. But, at this point I am not willing to give my profits back. However, this might be a great time to do a little demo trading and research on newer ideas I have.

I will warn you all that as we get closer to Christmas, the markets will probably offer less sound opportunities. The one outside chance is that next week we see either some big surprises based on announcements, or earnings reports for a bank or two. ("What?" "Are you saying that there could be more losses related to junk investments?")

However, even if I were to take a position in the next week - it would be very small. Like maybe even a micro position. So in a nutshell, I'm not confident about anything at the moment.

When January comes, the players will show us what they are buying for 2008. Make sure you get in on the deal. It's your job.