My broker gives me the ability to create all kinds of interesting reports, so I decided to query what my best money-makers (and worst money-losers) were on the both the long and short side. My profits in Q2 came mostly from shorts (about 85%), but I was still interested in what symbols worked best and worst for me. Here is what I found (and I've noted symbols of particular interest in bold):
Worst Losers from Short Positions
VRTX
GLD
AN
IYT
AAWW
CTB
STEI
AIN
LII
ANV
Best Gainers from Short Positions
FXE
ANF
IWM
HNT
SPW
SRI
RCL
YUM
EOG
GDX
Best Gainers from Long Positions
FSLR
SPY
IWM
CNK
TBT
NAV
AIR
AIG
LVS
CX
Worst Losers from Long Positions
USO
DBC
ANW
MRO
ACI
IVN
GDX
CNC
ABX
GPOR
I find it kind of interesting how much better I do on the short side with GDX as opposed to the long side. I guess a broad downtrend has that effect! I'm also kind of surprised (and take strong note of) the fact that FXE – – a very clumsy was to trade the FOREX market – – was my best money-maker of the quarter!
