25/09: Volatile end to the market week; working and writing from the East Coast

Spring St, New York City -- Writing towards the tired end of an ambitious day, I find myself in New York. Markets continued their slide today, although with less certainty than in the prior session, though my zeitgeist, errr... chief stock of interest, -- GS -- fell with force.

First, the S&P500 closed at 1044 after climbing as high as 1053 and plumbing down as far as 1041. The usual 10-day'er appears next, excited chartist-cum-reader:



To tie my micro-level experience into the above macro-picture, I appeared at a Rosslyn (Virginia) Starbucks (known hereafter as Buckies) about a dozen minutes before the market open and was actively monitoring movements through about 11:30a (EDT today!), when I decided to sell my GS puts as the stock was touching (for the fourth time; should have known better) its 2-day sloping support level. It was the wrong move, which became apparent mere minutes after my sale, when GS proceeded to break through the support instead of bouncing convincingly upward. GS's bearish move was mirrored by selling pressure in the broader S&P500. To my credit, I spotted the danger right away, and despite the pressure of needing to make an exit for a lunch event at the K-Street-domiciled Center for Strategic and International Studies, I had enough level-headedness to purchase the puts anew, suffering a loss of $.15 per contract, or about 2.5%. I can live with that kind of punishment.

Now, dear reader, a visualization of GS's vicissitudes:



I did not return to market-tracking activity during the afternoon, as after my CSIS engagement, I had a meeting and some run-ins on the Georgetown University campus; and after all this, had no choice but to hustle back to DCA for a 5pm departure for LGA aboard the US Shuttle, US 2180 in my case.

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Dear reader, Yes I did proceed to have a wonderful flight, with an overwing exit row window seat (10a, with no 9a and, hence, "unlimited" legroom) and making deliberate use of the Shuttles' complimentary alcohol priviledges. I even managed to peruse the day's NYT (always a treat), complete the KenKen puzzles therein (the 6x6 iteration, as it is the week's end, was rather challenging; but I was pleased to be done before wheels-up), and mentally rock-out to some European dance hits, reproduced in high fidelity by Bose' wonderful QC2 headset model (and thanks are due here to Poland's hippest DJs at Radiozet and their banker compilations).

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Some final thoughts. A day like today, in which I'm exhausted from frenetic activity and taunted by missed opportunity on the markets, releases a cold shower on the flames of my ambition. Yet, so long as I remain diligent and thoughtful, these days are surely no more than light chop on a productive and enjoyable jetting experience. To paraphrase my captain of UA 600 earlier today, who brilliantly remarked on our flight time as "1h20m of pure aviation bliss", there surely awaits market bliss of my own -- and not just from realizing profitability, but also from acting intelligently, working tirelessly and learning, learning, learning.

Enjoy the weekend flights (JFK-SFO-PDX-SEA-ORD are on the docket for tomorrow) and city visits (Portland and Seattle on the morrow), and good luck with the markets come Monday!