• Sure, GE missed earnings.  But did you know in missing they wiped out over $40 billion in market cap?
• Euro-Dollar?  Dollar-Yen?   Who cares.  Let’s talk about the Euro-Yen relationship!
• Animation montage at Slope of Hope.
• newsflash opened up their business blog feed.  Check them out!
• XLB / XLF ratios as drivers in this bear market?

Have a great week!

What do I want to be when I grow up?

• I’d like to be as technically advanced as Slope of Hope. Look at this week’s video.

What do I want for my birthday?

• I wouldn’t mind taking in some financial shares. Citigroup may be at the point of reversal, but it might take a bit more time to figure it out.
• I want the housing market to stay relatively weak for another year. It’d be nice to purchase a house after graduation, especially seeing as how Florida’s one of the worst for subprime foreclosures. Cheap homes anyone?
• Stock as a kid. I wish my parents were more financially responsible, but I guess that’s the mission of their offspring. Retain the good ideas, break the bad ones.

If I had one wish…

• I’d like to see some big returns this week. Need a solid win to be quite honest.

That about does it for this weekend’s reading folks. Couple of things to note. First, I’m still taking requests for blog and other product reviews. Currently, there are two folks in the queue so hurry and sign up now. Second, in an attempt to drive as much traffic to my site as possible, I will now be posting cute pictures of furry animals. Yes, this is an evil and underhanded thing to do, but it must be done.

The Good

• Blain over at STTG has once again opened up the Falkin Library for the general public (US and Canada only). I made the suggestion to provide a copy of Trading in the Zone as it’s a great resource on trading psychology. Hopefully we’ll see that on May’s library list.
• The Option Addict has given birth. ETF FOO is born!
• After listening to one of thinkorswim’s chats this week (attempting to catch up!), I listened to Tim Knight, the creator of Prophet charts. His site, The Slope of Hope, is a heck of a resource for bearish technical traders. Here’s his weekend review with a plethora of great idea (plethora’s the word of the day by the way…)

The Bad

• How was I not included in the top 25 blogs? I have a 100% growth rate month over month!

The Ugly

• I’m not sure what it’ll take to realize that arguments will never be won on the internet. There’s so much more one can do with their time than arguing on this virtual idiot box. If you’re looking for something amusing, check out recent criticism about a microcapper and his response plus ensuing comments. And I thought the Yahoo/Google Finance (and to a lesser but growing extent Stockpickr) message boards were bad…

I’m about half way through Trading in the Zone by mark Douglas and it’s by far one of the best resources I’ve read in regards to trading. It’s amazing how in the first three chapters of his book, I’ve identified with each of the newbie trader pitfalls. With almost a year under my belt, this is definitely the right time to analyze what I’ve done right (not much), what I’ve done wrong (quite a bit), and how, if possible, can I improve. For me, it’s a matter of how to improve. No matter how much the markets knock me down, they won’t get rid of me that easily. And if they do, well I have a degree in Nuclear Engineering for a reason…

Have a great Sunday! I’m off to celebrate my dog’s 3rd birthday (I already know what you all are thinking, so hush!)

• Everyone’s talking about a bottom, especially with the financials. Anyone here long XLF?
• While I don’t necessarily care for his trading style, I do wish Sykes would learn to ignore his critics and focus on teaching.
• If you don’t watch the Shadowtrader weekly videos, you’re really doing yourself a disservice.
• Europeans screwing up our recession? At a flea market?
• If you’re renting a house, be very careful. I’ve heard of this happening quite a bit, especially since I live in a college town with overheated propery.

Have a great day today and we’ll see you back in action tomorrow. Trading withdrawal is an ugly thing.

• The market’s finally going to show it’s hand, perhaps as early as next week.  Keep an eye on ABK for the catalyst.
• Is a strangle on the SPY worth the risk?  Jeff Kohler thinks so.
• Hopefully this doesn’t happen to us on our honeymoon in the Atlantic!
• I agree Sir Prince.  But bloggers in general have been doing a better job at covering news in general, I think, than the actual media.
• POT really is good for you!

See you all next week!