Stocks Take a Hit...

Stocks took a hit today as overall bearishness engulfed the market. Earnings jitters and uncertainties were abound as some Wall Streets darlings and hopefuls posted lower than expected second quarter earnings results. An earnings miss from Alcoa (AA) set the stage for a bearish mood as other negative catalysts began to materialize such as earnings warnings from SHLD, continuing subprime troubles, and higher oil prices. All of these variables mixed and meshed together created a dark cloud of worry and nervousness that investors could not shake off. It is still too early to determine the overall effect that this will have on the markets future direction. All we can do is hang tight and see what happens. A little profit taking wouldn't hurt either...

There were very few stocks that closed in positive territory. There was some strength in AXYS, VSEC, SVLF, PHC, RZ, CEDC and a few others. I got rid of my remaining position in UNCA for a small loss. I've had this one for a while now and have been slowly unloading my position in the 17 area so I still ended up with a decent overall profit. Oh well, one less stock to worry about. Good riddance to bad rubbish...

Time to cover MWP short. MWP, a stock that I had shorted back in March is ready to be bought in order to cover my short position. The stock is begining to show some strength and bottoming out characteristics, so its time to get rid of it.