Robert Weinstein Trading Blog

This post is part of my trip report “Vegas Baby, But Without the Lines” but I will only focus on  my last trip to the Orleans.

BYD has been priced at BK levels for over a week and I wanted to see if the end was indeed near for BYD or if now would make a buying opportunity.  Having stayed at the Orleans about 10 times, I felt that I would have a good idea of how the property is doing compared to what I experienced in the past.

I took a taxi from the airport to the Orleans and the driver stated to me that this was worse than after 9/11 and that business was down over 50%.  I asked him if he felt things bottomed and that if thing were starting to get better.  He said no and he felt that this would continue through 2009

I arrived at the Orleans a little before midnight on a Thursday one week before Thanksgiving.

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Day after Thanksgiving and nothing really is popping up on my screen.  I was able to short some SWN but due to errors in order execution (from me) I didn’t make as much as I would have liked to.

My holdings in GE, LVS, and RICK all seem to be performing well today.

GE is now fully in the money at a comfortable level based on the DEC 16 calls that I wrote against the stock that I currently hold.

LVS is now trading near my average cost of about 5.38(after factoring in DEC 7.5 calls) .  I really like LVS at these levels.

Rick as now trading enar my average cost as well.  My confidence level as well as the capital at risk is the lowest of my bull picks but I am still confident in RICK

SWN + 73

+ 73 Day

+ 2794 Week

+ 15847 Month

I met with the folks over at tradestation at the Traders Expo and told them about a problem I have been having for the last several months with the charts freezing.  They gave me plenty of time and tried to help me out but when none of the ideas that they offered had not been already done they said they would have a top level tech contact me.  All I needed to do was send an email to my contact from the show and he would follow up.

I also had some general questions about the platform and they were all answered very professionally.

I came back in the office on Monday this week and sent an email to the contact.  On Tuesday the tech called and left a message for me.  I planned on calling back on Wednesday afternoon when the market was slower.  The tech then called me back another time on Wednesday before I returned his first call.

We went through some settings in Tradestation and also looked at my computer settings.  The tech was courteous, intelligent and knew what he was doing.  At the end of the call he also made a point to give me his direct email address in case I had any more issues.

I have had no negative support issues with Tradestation in the past.  I will say that in a world of dealing with people that barely know what they are doing and make it clear they don’t really care about you and that they are only going to follow a ‘procedure’ that doesn’t include YOUR problem dealing with Tradestation was a very welcome change.

I have said many times that Tradestation support is really good and today I feel that is the case more strongly than ever.

Firstly,  Let me give thanks to all the men and women in our armed forces that stand a watch and serve our country so that we may be with our families and loved ones on Thanksgiving day !!!

Day before Thanksgiving and I am actually looking forward to a long weekend.  Will give me a chance to get some other work caught up including some posts that are in an unpublished status.

I signed up for Covestor to keep track of my trades so hopefully I will be able to work my way up that standings list there.

LVS is moving up for a third day as I start out this thread.  I put an offer to sell the DEC 7.5 calls for 40 cents but they have not been lifted yet.

First trade today was FNF which setup itself in a perfect pattern for my signal.  Was a textbook short for me and I added extra size as I had a very high confidence level.  + 1748

Fast scalp with DE + 161

While still in the FNF trade I received my second signal of the day which was actually a combination of two signals which again gave a high level of confidence. + 856

My next trade of the day was a little on the late side so I started out walking slow.  SWN had a strong move up after about 1:30 CST.  I traded and scalped it until about 15 mins before the close + 210

I will be watching for SWN gaping up on Friday for a fast short.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone !

+ 2975 Day

+ 2721 Week

+ 15774 Month

Las Vegas,  Once the worlds gaming mecca has turned into second place in gaming revenue with Macau taking the number one spot in the world but leaving  Vegas as the the North American Gaming Capitol.   In many ways Vegas still is the place to go even for Asians as Vegas is still the number one in entertainment and variety of things to do.  Vegas truly is a city that never sleeps.   ( I have been to Macau and its not Vegas)

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Last night after I came home I saw that IDCC gaped up on a press release.  So I made a point to get to the office early so I would be able to see all the premarket activity.  I made one more sale of IDCC at 29.00 and then waited for it to fall.  During the day I traded it back and forth to get a better cost basis.  – 1739

I signed up for Covestor.com and as a test I bought 200 shares more of LVS @ 4.14.  Still trying to figure out how that works.  Now I have a total of 4200 shares.  Still also long GE that is covered by Dec 16 calls.

- 1739 Day

- 254 Week

+ 13053 Month

Day started out with C being up premarket from the government approved money being used as a backstop for some of Cs poor assets.  This drove the price up to over 55% higher after the bell to a price of over $6.  I shorted this move up and ended up closing out a nice gain.  I did enter into C again after it recovered much of the gains it gave up. + 1269

Next trade was IDCC with at first a HL signal and then a confirming signal of 6b+.  Once it crossed above 25 I started really adding a lot of short size.  I did close out of some IDCC but am also holding the majority over night. + 215

+ 1485 Day / Week

+ 14792 Month

38800 shares

I am at the Orleans hotel in Vegas and so I am not trading today.  I am not actively seeking out new trades but I am taking care of trades I do have on.

I closed out HLX for a small gain. +27

Sold GE Dec 16 Calls against the GE shares that I expect to have put to me today.  Cost of GE shares will be 15.60 net.  I sold the GE calls for .55 each.  Trade now has a potential profit of about $1 per share.

On the way from the airport to the hotel I did try to see how busy things are here.  I have been to vegas in November a few times but not within the last couple years.  The taxi driver did say that it was a lot slower right now and that business was about 35% lower(not a big suprise there).  He said he had been here for about 10 years.  Of course one taxi driver talking on the way from an airport to a hotel doesn’t change the outlook as to what our understanding of LVS is unless he is saying something very different than what is expected (and then it would have to be followed up on)

+ 27 Day

+ 2303 Week

+ 14307 month

Left the office early to go home to finish preparing for the Las Vegas Traders Expo.  I am now at the airport waiting for my flight which boards in about 15 mins so I will skip some of the comments of the day.

GE and DRY carry over from yesterday worked out well.  I added to both during the opening weakness and closed out when they moved off the lows of the day.

GE + 251

DRYS + 64

KWK gave a buy signal but in light of the weakness in the overall market at the time of entry I pulled the plug out very quickly.  + 12

Traded the ES on the news of the auto bailout.  It didn’t move up as quickly as I expected so I bailed on it about even. +20

Last trade was HLX.  Will carry overnight.

+ 452 Day

+ 2276 Week

+ 14280 Mth

Q. I am not clear on your LVS positions.
I have been following you when you started buying and you bought at a high levels (around $6.80).
It was down as low as $5.10 and you did not buy any at that price. Instead you bought more at a higher price.
I would imagine that you would stop your losses at around $6.
I also noticed that you don’t have small positions on it.
You bought a whole 2400 shares. Same scenariou for Rick. Please comment. Read the rest…