SPIN TO A WRONG DIRECTION

ATY

Dropped ATY this morning. I guess the rotation did not pan out, as TXN’s mid-quarter update was a tad negative. The tech continues to be extremely difficult to invest and to make any money. Better to step aside.

ATD

Also sold the entire position on ATD. EPS came out below consensus (0.45 vs. 0.55) and expectation is pretty high for this name. Going forward, we may see some more margin pressure, particularly on its gasoline business. I think we will see that forward numbers will be brought down tomorrow by sell-side analysts, and this, in general, is not kind of situations I would like to be. Again, better to step aside for now. In any event, it has generated about 20% return since mid of November. I can’t really complain.

Taking more off the table. Sold entire positions of VAQ, and BDE. Again, these probably wrong moves. On the other hand, it’s never wrong to take profit. There seems a rush of selling energy stocks today, particularly those speculative ones, despite that the crude oil continues to march higher. Overall market is also rather weak. I guess the euphoria is over, or isn’t it?