What's going on next week?

Well, I'm done working in CA, and I will be headed back to Japan starting Monday for a long weekend before I return to work.

First today, I'll be starting the Forex platform on my VPS so that I am open for trade when the Asian Session starts. I have 3 strategies active that have backtested really well for a period of the last 6 months. They each use different settings to enter and exit trades using Overbought and Oversold levels on the CCI, or Commodity Channel Index. I do this on FXCM's Tradestation II, using the Adaptive CCI strategy from FXCM Apps.

I have my settings to try to capture breakouts in EUR/USD and USD/JPY, and I have a 4 hour scalp strategy for AUD/USD. The AUD scalp strategy looks like this:

I'll upload the backtest results when I am able, but the short of it is by starting the strategy with $200 in a Micro Account, and trading with 2 lots per trade the ending balance was $320.52 after 6 months. I'm only one week into my forward test, but I'll post if it ends up working out. It didn't do that well the first week, but I'm looking forward to actual trade data under market conditions. Currently all three of my strategies are active trading single lots on a $120 balance. Small time.

As far as stocks go, Nordic American Tanker was the best performer in my portfolio on a short squeeze. Each of the squeezes in the past 3 years has been sold again aggressively, however the most recent one is the first to close above the 200 SMA in that period of time.

In options, I have open a Reverse Iron Condor trade in GOOG. I am looking for an increase in volatility as we approach earnings. Here's what it looks like in the platform:

 

My entry level for the trade was around $2.50. Because of the volatility present GOOG shares, the at the money and just in the money calls or puts should have a fair bit of premium present until mid Tuesday. I just need to go about $1 or $2 in the money on my long strikes and I will double if it works out.

Here is how my GOOG Mar 08 '13w trade went down. Entered on Thursday, closed on Tuesday. I could've got quite a bit more looking back at the chart, but I was at work with a limit to sell at $7.00 and could not manage the trade directly. Again, Small Time.

 



 



The best small time thing I've got going on in fixed income is with Lending Club. First, there is a risk of default with these consumer credit loans. I would say a much higher risk of default than almost any other type of credit. I try to mitigate this by selecting notes that are:

• Below $10,000 total loan value.
• Used for home improvement by Mortgage Holders
• If used for debt consolidation, I look for low debt to income ratio and that the loan value requested covers the entirety of the outstanding balance of the credit lines open.

I love the rates on these notes, but I am apprehensive of the risks. Thus, Lending Club is about 1% of my investment capital, and will only increase it's percentage of my holdings of it's own virtue. Here's how my notes look now. I'll update from time to time, especially if a default occurs.

Well, off to get my VPS started before the Asian Session opens. If you see anything that piques your interest, then drop a line.

Good luck to all you small timers out there.
STT