Year End Wrap Up

Today marks the end of another great year.  I now have two years worth of good returns and feel that my trading style has evolved into something I am comfortable and confident in.  Part of that style is a recognition of constantly needing to evaluate positions and look for new opportunities in securities I am unfamiliar with.

The books I've read this year (in no particular order) to help formulate my mental strategy:

1. Stalking the Black Swan by Kenneth A. Posner
2. Fooling Some of the People All of the Time by David Einhorn
3. Market Psych by Richard L. Peterson and Frank F. Murtha
4. Diary of a Hedge Fund Manager by Keith McCullough

"Fooling Some of the People All of the Time" and "Diary of a Hedge Fund Manager" were the best reads.  

I think David Einhorn and Michael C. Hall from "Dexter" should team up on a campaign for corporate governance accountability.  The similarity between shorting with the desire to bring fraudulent companies and executives to justice, and Dexter's dark passenger are eerily similar.  My best short of the year was semi-Dexter inspired.

I came across a deposition of Tammie Lou Kapusta with serious allegations of fraud against the offices of David Stern.  It's something you read that makes you say "How can this happen?"  I then discovered that David Stern had a portion of his business go public, DJSP Enterprises Inc. (DJSP).  Normally, I wouldn't touch a penny/dollar stock, but after watching the season premiere of Dexter I felt morally compelled to short this company and put 10% of the portfolio against it.  Shorted at $3.13 and covered at $1.12 a few weeks later.

My best long of the year was Apple, which probably doesn't need any explanation.

The blogs that I've been regularly reading this year:

1. VIX and More - I've been paying more attention to the VIX, and more importantly the VIX futures.  I've had some success selling some VXX LEAP calls.  
2. Hedgeye (from author of "Diary of a Hedge Fund Manager") - Hedgeye gives some great insight into macroeconomic trends about a month before the MSM catches onto the same themes.
3. FundMyMutualFund - just entertaining, Trader Mark also has a good (vindictive) feel on market or HFT sentiment.
4. MercenaryTrader (recent addition) - A couple of anonymous swing traders that post some well-thought out trade ideas.

Happy new year to all!