What Would It Take To Make Some Money As A Semi-Bear Here?

Over the weekend, I was pretty sure I would get smoked...

Especially when Obama announced that he'll pass the buck to Congress and markets all over the world rallied on better economic data from China and Europe...

Never mind waiting forever for the SPY to close below the 50 SMA.  Never mind fighting tooth and nail to hold onto these SPY puts and SPXU calls.  But the lack of followthrough today is just unnerving and plain annoying.  Did too many Weekly Chart Watchers get in at the wrong time, creating a massive short squeeze?  Did the market just give the Semi-Bears another opportunity to jump into more puts?  

Whatever it is, I took some Semi-Bear risk off the table at a steep loss this morning, but I definitely don't have calls to play further moves higher as I'm banking on the mentality that I'll fade the pops.  But after months of trying to sell the highs only to get battered and fried by the Buy the Dippers, is it finally time for a new game - or should I keep on keeping on?

I'll spend the night researching signals that point to an impending ranging market or higher volatility because the haircuts I'm taking turn out to be a mismatch in strategy in terms of getting into directional plays that end up ranging or getting into puts that end up getting sold like hot cakes (such as my recent CRM $42 puts... Thank God the downside is limited with put buying).  


-4.93% SBA
-1.96% Roth IRA

+0.16% DJIA
+0.63% Nasdaq
+0.42% S&P 

-0.58% FTSE
-0.38% Eurofirst
+2.99% Nikkei
+1.18% Shanghai
-3.45% SENSEX
+0.99% Hang Seng

+0.83% WTI
+1.17% Brent
+1.19% Gold
+2.43% Copper
+0.61% Corn

+0.34% DJT
-2.35% VIX

+3.60% 10-Year US Treasury Notes


55% Advancing Issues on NYSE                   |   63% Up Volume
43% Declining Issues on NYSE                    |   35% Down Volume
2% Unchanged                                         |   2% Unchanged
55 New Highs   |   62 New Lows


63% Advancing Issues on Nasdaq                |   65% Up Volume
34% Declining Issues on Nasdaq                 |   33% Down Volume
3% Unchanged                                         |   2% Unchanged
81 New Highs   |   30 New Lows 


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