This strikes me as a relatively low-risk, high-reward trade. My anaconda don't want none unless you got volume, hon.

Well, BAC jumped this morning. As typical for financial firms, the inspiration was that its earnings were non-horrible. Looking at this graph, I cannot help but think of the downside opportunities. Obviously the firm is in a broad, general downturn, and the last four trading sessions have created a massive bear market rally, adding more than 50% to this stock.

I got stopped out of this position at the opening bell, but I am confident enough in the downside potential of this stock in the coming weeks to re-establish my position.

A reminder – I am on "vacation" (I put it in quotes, since I've been doing a lot of catching up ever since I got here), thus my blog comments and entries will be far more sparse than normal. Tawk amongst yerselves.

Greetings from beautiful Fallen Leaf Lake, just southeast of Lake Tahoe.

Long-time readers will remember that, precisely a year ago, I spent a week up here as well. In retrospect, that was an incredible time:

• Investment banks were just off their lifetime highs, but the credit crisis was just starting to rear its gorgeous head, and the market went insane that week (it gives me fond memories of this place)
• Google had just reported earnings the prior Friday (just like this time) and had lost over 40 points (just like this time)
• CROX were everywhere, and the stock was about $75 per share.

And by everywhere, I mean everywhere. 100% of the kids were wearing CROX. I couldn't believe me eyes. And it started to make sense to me that the stock was so lofty.

What about this year? I hardly see any kid wearing CROX. It's insane. It's like foot fashion for kids has done a 180. I bought CROX early last week, and it's up about 15% or so. But I was much happier buying it at $7 than $70. But it just goes to show you how fickle tastes can be, particularly for youngsters.

There's little doubt this is going to be an interesting week. In spite of almost no meaningful economic reports coming out, there is a deluge of earnings. I'm not sure whether to be afraid or excited. I think I'll go with afraid. It's safer.

I'm going to hang it up early today. It's been another great week. I'm getting ready to leave for a week-long trip with my family. I'll probably manage to do one post a day during my vacation. Until then, I leave you with these charts, which I consider an interesting fount of ideas. Thank you, and enjoy a pleasant weekend!

See you on Monday……….

I am religious about stops. But sometimes they really bite me in the butt. That doesn't mean I'll ever stop using them. But every now and then, you get a story like this.

As regular readers know, I suggested shorting (or buying puts on) Overstock (OSTK). I set a stop above 28.50, which was the highest point it reached in 2008. Yesterday, it moved past this level (peaking at 29.59), so naturally I was taken out of my position. That's how it works.

Today, the stock is getting blown to pieces, losing nearly 40% of its value. I didn't make a mistake setting the stop. This is just one of those fish that got away. It's a shame, but it's worth having that protection.