2,603 miles.................

were put on my SUV in the past 7 days across America. More to come after IRS matters are put to bed today. It is truly taxation without representation. Lobbyists spending a billion dollars a day inside the Beltway are hard to compete with.

Balance..................

It is counterproductive to be emotional about your trading results. Emotions are a distraction that can easily lead you astray. If you actively trade, you will have good days and bad days. You will have stocks that double and triple, and you will have ugly losers. As the old saying goes, "It's a marathon and not a sprint." So we need to stay focused on our long-term results and shrug off the short-term successes and failures.

Atlanta Braves - 2006

Opening night at Turner Field was rather a yawn. Traffic congestion per usual.

Horrific. The Sheriff's Department needs some instruction on directing traffic flow and the shuttle buses going against the grain of traffic was rather weird.

One still needs to rob Ft. Knox to feed a family althought we did snag a pizza for $21. If they called it "sold-out" it was a stretch. Half the stadium looked empty when we finally arrived in the third inning. Why they placated the south Fulton folks when the stadium is full of northsiders is again beyond simple economics 101.

STOPS..............

One issue that all traders struggle with is where to set stops. And i repeat, all traders, I don't care who you are. Many investors expend a huge amount of energy trying to decide if the magic level for stops should be 6%, 8% or 10% or even higher. Like almost everything in life as in trading, there is no "one size fits all" answer to the question. What works best one day may produce abysmal results the next. A tight trailing stop may be great in steadily trending markets but result in constant losses in a choppy market. One approach is to vary the tightness of stops on the basis of two main parameters: market bias and time frame. If you are feeling bearish about the overall market, you may tend to keep stops tighter than if we are heading up. Also, the shorter the time frame for a trade, the tighter the stop.

I tend to focus more on technical levels rather than percentages when it comes to stops. My main concern is that the technical pattern that caused me to buy a stock in the first place is still in place. If the uptrend is broken or there is technical damage, I want to make sure my stop will have me taken out of the stock. One approach that has worked well is to use the nine-day simple moving average as a stop point. A breach of that level will often signal a slowing in relative strength.

Traders............

IF YOU DON’T TAKE A HARD LOOK AT RISK IT WILL TAKE YOU. IF YOU ARGUE WITH THE MARKET, YOU WILL LOSE. RESPECT THE MARKET, DO NOT TAKE IT FOR GRANTED. IF A POSITION DOESN’T FEEL GOOD IMMEDIATELY, DON’T BE EMBARRASSED TO SELL YOUR POSITION WITHIN SECONDS AND GET OUT OF THE TRADE.

VAIL

The higher end ski resorts seem to be doing just fine. Snow is snow and you can't keep skiers with money away from great powder.

Vail is full of cranes, concrete and kooks.

The kooks are not doing any building. Or buying any buildings.

They only ski.

Isn't ILLEGAL illegal?

President George W. Bush
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Ave. NW
Washington, DC 20500

Dear President Bush:

I'm about to plan a little trip with my family and
extended family this summer, and I would like to ask
you to assist me. I'm going to walk across the border
from the U.S. into Mexico, and I need to make a few
arrangements. I know you can help with this.

I plan to skip all the legal stuff like visas,
passports, immigration quotas and laws. I'm sure they
handle those things the same way you do here.

So, would you mind telling your buddy, President
Vicente Fox, that I'm on my way over? Please let him
know that I will be expecting the following:

1. Free medical care for my entire family.

2. English-speaking government bureaucrats for all
services I might need, whether I use them or not.

3. All government forms need to be printed in English.

4. I want my kids to be taught by English-speaking
teachers.

5. Schools need to include classes on American culture
and history.

6. I want my kids to see the American flag flying on
the top of the flag pole at their school with the
Mexican flag flying lower down.

7. Please plan to feed my kids at school for both
breakfast and lunch.

8. I will need a local Mexican driver's license so I
can get easy access to government services.

9. I do not plan to have any car insurance, and I
won't make any effort to learn local traffic laws.

10. In case one of the Mexican police officers does
not get the memo from Pres. Fox to leave me alone,
please be sure that all police officers speak English.

11. I plan to fly the U.S. flag from my house top,
put flag decals on my car, and have a gigantic
celebration on July 4th. I do not want any complaints
or negative comments from the locals.

12. I would also like to have a nice job without
paying any taxes, and don't enforce any labor laws or
tax laws.

13. Please tell all the people in the country to be
extremely nice and never say a critical word about me,
or about the strain I might place on the economy.

I know this is an easy request because you already do
all these things for all the people who come to the
U.S. from Mexico. I am sure that Pres. Fox won't
mind returning the favor if you ask him nicely.

Thank you so much for your kind help.

First Quarter -- 2006

What a far cry from 2005! I am pleased the trading gods were cordial the past 90 days and didn't leave any residual skid marks over market participants. It was a nice surprise. Let's see what 2nd quarter brings.

Am off for Colorado to visit a client. Am looking forward to our first meeting in person.