MadDog's Trading House

August 17, 2006

Samsung 205BW 20-inch LCD Monitor $269.99 AR with Free Shipping

CompUSA.com has the Samsung 20" SyncMaster 205BW Wide-Format Analog/Digital LCD Monitor for $349.99 - $30 CompUSA eRebate (Exp 8/19) - $50 Mfr. Mail-in Rebate (Exp 8/19) = $269.99 after rebate, free ground shipping. (Free ground shipping not available to Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, or on International Orders. I believe that CompUSA charges sales tax at least on orders to be delivered to states where they have a retail store location, if not all states.)

Wide-format 20" display, 1680 x 1050 resolution, 700:1 contrast ratio, 6ms response time, MagicRotation (Auto Pivot to vertical format), digital/analog inputs, 3-year parts and labor warranty.

Kind of a "poor-man's" version of the Samsung 215TW (see the description in the separate 215TW post below), this display may actually be better suited to a lot of traders than the more expensive 215TW. You lose only one inch of diagonal space, the built-in speaker, and the picture-in-picture and portrait/landscape pivot features of the 215TW, and the contrast ratio drops from 1000:1 to 700:1 (still respectable), but you gain a bit of response time advantage (6ms vs. 8ms for the 215TW). Possibly as important in a multi-display configuration, the elimination of a built-in speaker creates a thin-bezel border on all sides. A great price for a high-quality monitor.

Posted at 11:50 PM

Samsung 215TW 21in LCD Wide-Format Monitor $459.99 + Shipping

J & R has the Samsung SyncMaster 215TW 21" LCD Monitor for $459.99 plus $28.79 shipping charges = $488.78. (J&R only collects sales tax on orders being shipped to an address within New York State.)

The $459.99 price is reduced from their $499.99 suggested retail price. The national suggested retail price on this monitor was only recently reduced from $549.99 to $499.99. The $488.78 total (including shipping) is currently the lowest price available.

Wide-format 21" WSXGA+ display, 1680 x 1050 resolution, 1000:1 contrast ratio, 8ms response time, MagicRotation (Auto Pivot to vertical format), built-in speaker, picture-in-picture, digital/analog inputs, 3-year parts and labor warranty.

Although this isn't my #1 favorite monitor for trading systems, it IS a quality Samsung LCD display, and it does have certain advantages in different trading system configurations. In a multi-display setup, its wide-format resolution works well when combining 2 side-by-side news screens (Briefing.com's In Play, Fly on the Wall, etc.) on the same display. And it DOES pivot, so it works well in situations where you want to see more content of a long streaming news screen. And it may fit the bill for users who are either unable to employ one or more other displays in their trading configuration, or want to make this the core monitor in their system for multiple purposes (and may need the built-in speaker this monitor contains). However, that built-in speaker is precisely the component I don't like on this display, as it creates additional real estate that eliminates a "thin-bezel" configuration on that side of the monitor. Beyond this personal preference however, this is a gorgeous, high-quality display.

Posted at 10:38 PM

Samsung 204B 20.1" LCD Monitor $287.95 Net A/R Shipped Free

PC Connection has the Samsung 20.1" SyncMaster 204B Analog/Digital LCD Monitor for $347.95 - $60 rebate (Exp 8/31) = $287.95 after rebate, free shipping. (Orders shipped to Massachusetts, North Carolina, Ohio, and Tennessee are subject to sales tax.)

You won't find a better deal on an LCD monitor than this: Samsung quality, 1600x1200 resolution, 800:1 contrast, 5ms response time, analog and digital connections, 3-year parts and labor warranty (including the backlight), and even pivot (!) - allowing you to set your monitor to vertical viewing of web pages with less scrolling, similar to more expensive Samsung models like the 215TW. (Great for viewing those long Briefing In Play and Fly On the Wall news screens!) Also, a nice narrow bezel for configuring side-by-side with other units in a tight trading system configuration.

Posted at 8:46 PM

June 12, 2006

Trades - 6/12/06

Trade #1
Stock Traded: TOMO (TOM Online)
Buy/Short: Buy
Shares: 500
Buy Price: 20.00
Sell Price: 19.90
Gross Profit (Loss): (50.00)
Commissions-Expenses: (20.21)
Net Profit (Loss): (70.21)

Premise: Rumor hit right at regular market open that TOMO was acquiring a wireless entertainment company (confirmed the following day). Although the acquiring company in a deal like this usually gets hit negatively, TOMO was spiking.

Buy

Sell

Conclusion: A knee-jerk buy that was a bit of a chase, since TOMO had already spiked a fair amount. In retrospect, would have been better to let it breathe, and see if it had follow-on strength. As you can see, there was a very limited up-move area from my entry. However, kept the stop tight, and correctly exited with a .10 stop-loss.

Trade #2
Stock Traded: STP (Suntech Power Holdings)
Buy/Short: Buy
Shares: 500
Buy Price: 22.10
Sell Price: 22.33
Gross Profit (Loss): 115.00
Commissions-Expenses: (20.25)
Net Profit (Loss): 94.75

Premise: Played bounce off early-open oversold conditions. Although bounce had already been healthy, stochastics remained low, and there seemed to be more room to bounce. After initial pullback off highs, rode 1-minute oscillation to 80-band area and sold into buyers.

Buy

Sell

Conclusion: A decent-enough scalp, but hurt by entering on spike itself, rather than letting the initial pullback from spike occur first. As a result, probably exited earlier than necessary due to relatively high entry. Even with relatively small share-count (200 shares), might have been better able to pare out half in the high 22's or low 23's and ride the rest into the latter-day time period. (STP seemed to oversell early on the post-open futures drop, combined with the previous evening's negative comments from Jim Cramer on Mad Money. However, Briefing.com issued positive comments on STP's industry position later in the morning, and STP rose to the high 24's before selling off eod with the rest of the market.)

Cumulative Daily Statistics

Total Gross Profit (Loss): 65.00
Total Commissions-Expenses: (40.46)
Total Net Profit (Loss): 24.54

Monthly Profit (Loss): 965.68
Daily Average Profit (Loss) for Month (and Trend): 120.71 ▼
Daily Average Profit (Loss) for Year (and Trend): to be computed
Profitable (Losing) Days Streak: 13

Posted at 4:14 PM

June 7, 2006

Samsung 930B 19in LCD Monitor $99.99 net AR shipped free

Office Depot has the Samsung 930B 19" LCD Monitor 700:1 contrast, 8ms, DVI, 3yr warranty $349.99 - $40 rebate (Exp 7/5) - $100 rebate (Original UPC - Exp 7/1) - $30 off $150 Code: 15345238 Exp 6/30 = $179.99 after rebate, free shipping.

Update! Additional $80 rebate Copy of UPC - Exp 6/30) drops price to $99.99!

Free Rolling Cooler with Code: 52851664 Exp 7/4. Just enter the code number in the "Coupon Code" section of the shopping cart, along with the "$30 off $150" code listed above. This is actually a nice rolling cooler - I already received one from a previous Office Depot order.

A killer deal on a quality monitor. FYI, the Samsung 931B has a lower retail price ($329.99), but only the "$30 off $150" coupon offer and a $30 rebate offer apply to that one.

6/8 Update: Now out of stock in some locations.

6/9 Update: Previous $100 rebate has been replaced by this one that is for in-store purchases only. So the choice is now a total of $150 off when buying online, and $100 off if buying in-store. If you were quick enough to save or print the first $100 rebate offer (located at http://forms.young-america.com/43290_SM48-15-38043%20-%20060206.pdf/) before it was removed, you may be able to push that one through. Contact Office Depot's rebate center to make sure.

6/9 Update #2: The original rebate has resurfaced! Here it is. Move fast, and make a copy of everything showing original rebates!

Posted at 9:58 AM

June 1, 2006

Throwing down the gauntlet

My great-nieces gave me this cereal bowl for my birthday this year, and I use it every day. (And yes, I have great-nieces, but am still fortunately young enough that I can't see Medicare without a telescope just yet.) Figured it's as good a symbol as any for relaunching the site and moving forward. Starting this month, I'll be posting my daily trading performance along with the normal tech bargains, trading software discussion, rants on CNBC and anything else I see as damaging or beneficial to the mental health of traders and investors everywhere. Although the bulk of the content won't start to really grow until I get my new trading entity LLC set up (hopefully later this month), I'll start bleeding in as much as possible when I can. The formation of this new trading entity signifies my ultimate commitment to becoming a successful trader, and I take this activity seriously. So even if you see me taking a divergent route occasionally with humor or offbeat opinion, ultimately, I'm in this for the long haul and to be successful, and will be endeavoring to provide serious content for the most part.

Those of you already familiar with this site over the years may have noticed that I've recently migrated to a blog-centric format, which works equally well for posting news, trading tips, and tech hardware deals. However, because I don't have the time or the wherewithal to control comment spam right now, I won't be turning on comment capability for awhile. Even so, any of you who have questions can contact me by email as always. Just be patient with me as I get my new trading business off the ground.

I have a lot of plans for the site, and will endeavor to provide as much info as I can to make it both useful and entertaining as possible for all my visitors. In any event, please remember the following:

- Although I've been trading for almost a decade, I'm still learning, and don't claim to be an expert at trading instruction. Whenever I make comments on trading software or methods, it is always just my opinion, and wherever appropriate and/or possible, will make references to experts or more material on that particular subject.

- Any posts regarding tech hardware deals contain the best information available at the time of posting. Some of these deals can change or evaporate at any moment for reasons too numerous to mention, so please keep that in mind. Your mileage may vary, and common sense should always rule the day.

- I will occasionally give a strong opinion on something or someone I see in the financial media (usually CNBC). The bottom line is this: trading and investing can be both a difficult and rewarding process, and there are a gazillion people out there with an opinion on everything, and a ton of reasons why they should be the only one you believe on a particular subject. Some of these people are intelligent, well-meaning individuals who may or may not have an opinion on a subject that I agree or disagee with. Conversely, it is my opinion that there are scurulous, pompous bastards who deserve to be pounded and pummelled for what they have to say or profess to offer to you as investment or trading advice. I will freely express my opinion on these individuals as well. Regardless though, anything I say on this site is ultimately only my opinion, and should always be treated as such. Own your trading and investing activity and don't depend on so-called experts to provide your path to financial prosperity. Ultimately, it's up to you, and only you. Think for yourself. Question everything.

Posted at 12:00 AM

May 1, 2006

Screw-yah!

A real-time example of the latest Cramoron to use a market order on one of Jim Cramer's calls on Mad Money. (Click on the thumbnail image to launch a larger image of a portion of my CyberTrader Pro screen from last Friday.) On the Friday 4/28/06 edition of Mad Money, Jim Cramer called a buy on West Pharmaceutical Services (WST) at the outset of his show (time of 18:01, or 3:01 ET). Note the immediate fill at 18:01 on Level 2 Time of Sales of 1000 shares at 47.80, and 1600 shares at 47.40. (You can also see a portion of these fills [1900 shares] at the top of the screen in the ECN Book's Time of Sales. By the way, don't expect ECN Book Time of Sales to perfectly match up with Level 2 Time of Sales after-hours. Sub-100 share ECN fills don't show up on Level 2 Time of Sales during ANY time period. (At least, that's the case with CyberTrader Pro.) But after-hours, most feed providers don't get paid to submit data, which means you may not see a complete match between the two Time of Sales displays. Hey, if you weren't getting paid for the data, would YOU submit it for free?)

What most certainly happened is that someone placed a market order upon hearing the call, without checking to see if the spread was slightly thinner than the Gulf of Mexico. Quite possibly, it could have been someone who doesn't even use a direct access broker, and therefore wouldn't even see the spread. The result of this is that whomever had the shares to sell either 1) made a heckuva lot more profit than they expected to get; or 2) was quick enough to place a short order in advance of or in-time with the call, and now stands to make a minimum of $26,000 if they cover their short quickly!

Likewise, the loser(s) who placed the market order(s) is (are) already $26,000+ in the hole! Now, before some of you shorters or spread-players out there chastise me for blowing the cover on this idiocy, never you worry. This happens EVERY day in "Cramerica." I'm beginning to think there's a Dumb and Dumber Factory out there that spews these knuckleheads out by the thousands.

Posted at 9:56 AM

March 7, 2006

Matrox DualHead2Go External Multi-Display Upgrade for Laptop and PC

The Matrox DualHead2Go enables you to attach two displays to your laptop or desktop computer without opening the chassis. Uses the system's single analog monitor output (VGA output) to generate two separate display outputs, allowing you to run your Windows desktop at up to 2560x1024 resolution in 16.7M colors at 60Hz stretched across two displays.

DualHead2Go is compatible with a wide range of laptop models. Desktop PC support for DualHead 2Go is limited to certain PCs based on integrated graphics. A complete list of compatible systems is posted on the Matrox website.

Reviews
Extending Your Laptop's Horizons (InformationWeek 2/27/06)

Buy It!
$149.99 @ Buy.com
$153.99 @ Amazon.com
$155.99 @ CompUSA.com (enter "dualhead2go" in Search box on home page)
$169.00 @ shopmatrox.com

Posted at 9:08 PM

February 6, 2006

Sylvania 6620-LF4 20" LCD Flat Panel HDTV-Compatible TV $379.99

Buy.com has the Sylvania 6620-LF4 20" LCD Flat Panel TV for $379.99, a savings of $119.96. Shipping is charged. Sales tax charged for orders shipped to California, Maryland, Massachusetts and Tennessee.

Not a bad price for a 20" LCD-TV, but check the shipping costs to your destination first. If the shipping's not bad, this would be a good way to put CNBC or Bloomberg up on the wall.

Posted at 1:07 PM

Samsung SyncMaster 17" LCD Display 8ms 1280x1024 $214.95

Buy.com has the Samsung SyncMaster 740-N Black 17" LCD Display for $214.95, a savings of $54.05. Qualifies for free budget shipping. (Note: budget shipping is not available for Alaska and Hawaii.) Sales tax charged for orders shipped to California, Maryland, Massachusetts and Tennessee.

I normally just recommend 19" and higher-sized monitors for trading purposes, but will make an exception for 17" displays from Samsung. This analog monitor has a quick 8ms response time with a good 600:1 contrast ratio and 1280x1024 resolution. Good price for a quality 17" LCD monitor.

Posted at 12:44 PM