I bought a Kindle a while back and I love it. The first thing I did was go to Project Gutenberg and grab all the free classics. In fact I’m getting rid of most of my books – save a few sentimental volumes and any trading/investing books I might read again.
Recently I’ve been thinking about how to use the Kindle to improve my trading. I decided a few days ago to try a few newspaper subscriptions with this in mind. With the Kindle you can subscribe to newspapers with a free 14 day trial. I added Investor’s Business Daily and Financial Times thus far. I will probably try The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times as well. I want to find one that has a good mix of articles that will keep me engaged.
My thinking is that reading a periodical or two might give me some ideas and help stimulate the thought processes. The price of these subscriptions is nominal and I don’t mind paying a premium to get some good content. Also, by reading them on the Kindle it gets me away from the computer and the constant barrage of distractions and other garbage that make up the Internet. I find reading them on the Kindle is quite easy. It’s just text and no advertising.
The difficulty with this endeavor lies in blocking off time each day to devote to reading the newspaper. Like any other positive self-improvement goal I just need to make it a habit.
ENER once again. Sell to open ENER Feb 14 calls in my taxable account. This will bring my cost basis down to $10.60. I closed the Feb 12 covered calls in my IRA a few days ago – just to clarify things. This trade is for a different account where my cost basis is much better.
I added a 1 year chart with daily bars to put this recent run-up into perspective. There is a lot of supply in that 13.50 area so I think there may be some consolidation. I am getting more bullish on ENER though. A pullback to that 50 or 100 day SMA and I will write some more puts.
ENER Daily 1 Year
I closed the Feb 12 strike covered calls on my ENER position I wrote back on December 23rd in my IRA. I decided to take the loss for now and not roll these calls up or forward. I will wait to see if ENER can keep the momentum going on this recent rally. I’m short the ENER Jan 11 puts in my taxable account.
It appears that ENER is in the process of making a bottom at or near the $10.50 area. It even looks like a mini reverse H&S pattern on the hourly chart. ENER closed near the highs and made a little flag at the end of the day unlike the previous rallies of the last few months where it sold off right away. However, ENER needs to get above 12 and make a new high on the daily chart before I get too bullish. A falling 50 and 100 day SMA makes this one guilty until proven innocent.
Many of the solar stocks are improving of late. I follow JASO and SOLR and they are on my “B” list right now.
ENER Hourly
Sell to open SLW February 15 puts. My limit order filled late morning. This is a new trade and another one from my watch list of last week. Many of the silver miners had good set ups and I wanted some exposure to precious metals. SLW has support at the $14.60 area.
SLW Daily
Sell to open HEAT February 12.50 puts.
SmartHeat, Inc. engages in the manufacture and sale of plate heat exchangers (PHEs) and packages, thermometer testing devices, and heat usage calculators in the People’s Republic of China.
I mentioned the other day that HEAT was on my watch-list. I was planning on more of a pullback before making this trade but this morning’s action made me enter the trade.
HEAT pulled back to the 38.2% retracement level on an hourly chart and has a rising 50 and 100 day SMA. I decided to go with the $12.50 strike which is also pretty solid support on the daily chart.
HEAT Daily
