The BoormanBlog

I didn’t bet the farm on this one, but it was one of those times where I wish I did. Heck, I only made $38 on the trade. But it’s a heck of a story.

I had heard rumors (not the Fleetwood Mac album, although it is a classic) that the $2 a share buyout of Bear Stearns by JP Morgan was going to get voted down by shareholders. Even Congress was starting to ask questions about it. Shares were already fluctuating well above the $2 level.

So on Thursday, I decided to buy a lottery ticket. I bought 10 shares at $6.20. By Monday morning in pre-market, shares were trading at around $10. I immediately sold it all. Yep, a $38 profit. Barely cab fare to make it home from work. But heck, not bad for 10 shares over a long weekend!

Let’s all just take a moment to bask in my pimptitude!

In the meantime, I made a little more trading a few shares of SLV. Not much, just more cab fare But every little bit helps!

Now if only we could do something about BAC

Well I’ll be. I was safely secured in my fallout shelter on Monday with my canned goods and shotgun at the ready, preparing for the apocolypse, when all of a sudden….Nothing.

I figured with Bear Stearns going belly up, that there would be a huge selloff, and commodities would go through the roof. Nope.

Heck, oil was DOWN on Monday. BAC was actually UP for awhile on Monday. Yeah, the market had a down day on Monday, but not nearly as bad as I was expecting.

Looks like America may continue to exist for awhile after all!

We’ll live to trade another day.

Oh crap. THIS is bad. After the Bear Stearns reassured the public early last week that things were OK, the company finally admitted that it was in the crapper. On Friday, JP Morgan injected Bear Stearns with some emergency cash. On Friday, Bear Stearns closed at $30 a share (down from $57 at market open). Today, JP Morgan finished the job and announced it is buying Bear Stearns outright… for $2 a share.

The fact that this deal was brokered on a SUNDAY speaks volumes. Word has it it was done to provide some reassurance to Bear Stearns clients and American investors before the Asian markets opened Sunday night, certainly before the U.S. markets opened on Monday morning.

Didn’t work. As I write this, the Nikkei stock index and Hong Kong’ Hang Seng index are both down 4 percent. The Korean stock index is down 3 percent.

I’ll be honest, I never thought I’d see a major financial institution fail in such a spectacular way. This does not bode well for Monday. Wish I bought more SLV. Glad I have the silver and oil that I do have.

Crap, I can only imagine what this is going to do to my BAC holdings. Hold your nose, folks, we’re in deep doo doo.

Update - 11:45PM: I actually just figured out how this will affect my BAC position: Negatively. I’m in way too deep to sell now, so I’m backing up the truck, buying more and averaging down. We Germans are a stubborn bunch.

Update - 11:50PM: I just read that the Fed lowered the discount rate another quarter point today (a SUNDAY, mind you) to help fend off a run on bank. I think this is a bad, albeit expected move. I’m selling some of my Euros (FXE) after the Fed meets Tuesday since they will probably cut the rate AGAIN, BIG TIME. Looks like the Fed won’t be happy until our dollar is worthless. I’ll use the profits to stock up on canned goods and shotguns!

Market was down today, but all my holdings were down even more. Silver and oil continue their rallys, which I’m am missing. There’s no way I’m jumping on now. Prices are too high. I think this is fear talking, and everyone is following the herd into commodities. No rally lasts forever. There will be a correction and then I’ll get in. In the meantime, I’ll continue to build up my BAC position, since it’s falling like a rock anyway.

BAC closed below 40 today. At least I had the opportunity to pick up a few more shares. I’m trying to average down the best I can. I’ve just got to be patient like I was with EMKR. It took me 18 months, but I finally made some money on that. Bank of America isn’t going belly up anytime soon.

Hang in there folks. Life will go on and we will be back to making money soon!

SLV extended its rally today AAARRRRRGGHHHH!!!

I’m ticked. At least FXE is doing well. Dollar fell to a new low against the Euro today.

I figure silver is due for a pullback. Back in 1980, silver went to $50 an ounce, and it’s up to just below $20. The U.S. dollar does have some value. It’s not Armageddon just yet

Silver (SLV) staged a huge rally today, up more than 5 points today. ^%$#@! I hate missing a huge rally. Numbers came out today indicating that inflation was on the rise. I got to say I’m kicking myself for missing this.

Oh well, at least I’m not losing money. Oh wait. There’s BAC

Oooh. I would like to get in on this.

Visa is planning an IPO of 406 million shares between $37 - $42. Looks like they took a look at MasterCard and got jealous. I suppose that credit card activity is on the rise what with people paying most of their bills by credit card (either out of convenience or a cash flow issue), and etailing is now a part of every day life.

Probably can’t use Zecco to get a piece of this, but maybe I’ll call and ask

I sold the rest of my position in Silver. It was getting too hot. I got greedy though. Had to keep modifying my sell order chasing the price down. Oh well, at least I made some more cab fare.

So now I’m looking for another thing to trade while sliver cools down. I think I found it. Oil! Black gold! Texas Tea! I’m looking at USO (oil futures ETF), It’s too close to it’s all time high, and it’s dropping now. Gonna wait for it to drop a bit more before I go in.

Keeping some powder dry in cash for now.

Booyaa.

The shiny metal continues to rally. Up over $17 an ounce today. Not really sure why other than comments from the Fed that they’ll probably keep cutting rates. Don’t matter to me. I’m holding on until it hits $18 and then I’m out.

Forget the pork bellies, Mortimer. Silver is where…it’s…AT!!