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When they say sleep like a baby...

I ran again today, and even though I'm slow it still feels good. Also, I'll share a workout tip. To make your weight exercises, including crunches, more intense, don't return to a rest position in between muscle contractions. For example, when doing crunches, don't return to the starting position with your back on the floor. Rather, roll back to where you are just about to touch the ground, but are still using your abs. Doing sets in this way will make them much more difficult and probably shorter. Since you are working your muslced to failure anyway, this is a good thing.

Have a good weekend.

Wednesday was slightly down, but nothing to worry about. Thursday, Apple had a nice explosion of 5.57%. Given that we are 100% in Apple, that made for a very nice day. I'm thinking about a trading strategy for next year, but for now I'm just going to ride the wave of Apple adulation.

Year-to-date Performance: +41.7%
Artemis YTD Performance: +48.3%

Another cute picture of the little 'mis.

Had a nice workout yesterday, and I'm thinking about running a race this Saturday in Greenbelt. Just 3 miles! In any case it feels good to be getting active again. My wrist is at about 90% flexibility and 75% overall use (strength is weak), so that's good too.

I got stopped out of Starbucks and Google. For now, I am just going long Apple with a stop at 66.

Year-to-date Performance: +35%
Artemis YTD Performance: +41%

A cute picture of the little 'mis.

Nothing much yesterday - everything was down except for my stocks! I did get stopped out of Yahoo though. I used the proceeds to buy more Apple just below 70. My Starbucks position is also very close to being stopped out - I'll look for a re-entry above 32 for 'bucks.

Positions:

Apple Computer (AAPL), Price: $69.66, Stop: $67
Google (GOOG), Price: $423.48, Stop: $415
Starbucks (SBUX), Price: $31.13, Stop: $31

Year-to-date Performance: +39.1%
Artemis YTD Performance: +44.7%

We had a nice family-centric weekend, including some house projects (fixing the fence gate, adding a drip edge to the shed, repairing bathroom tile) and watching the first two Lord of the Rings movies (over three nights). We had a couple great meals, the first lamb stew with a bottle of Mondavi 2002 Napa Cabernet, the second steaks with Courtney Benham 2002 Stag's Leap Zinfindel. I'm developing a taste for finer wines, which could get expensive if I'm not careful. Eating at home makes it possible - I couldn't afford these bottles in a restaurant! Plus Yin's cooking at home is better than all but the finest restaurants, so I'm not losing anything by eating at home.

Last week was the kind of rally you just love - the portfolio is ready to close out the year at 40% (or better). I'm keeping my stops tight to lock in profits if the market turns south.

Positions:

Apple Computer (AAPL), Price: $69.34, Stop: $67.90
Google (GOOG), Price: $428.62, Stop: $420
Starbucks (SBUX), Price: $31.70, Stop: $31
Yahoo! (YHOO), Price: $42.13, Stop: $41.50

Year-to-date Performance: +40% Artemis YTD Performance: +45%

I'm actually using Stop Limit orders on Apple and Google just for a couple days, because if they gap down too big then I won't want to sell at the low. I view that as very unlikely, but with the low volume last week I think it's best to guard against a whacky opening price that quickly adjusts upward. I'm not concerned about Starbucks and Yahoo because they had very little price change last week.