These are few of my favourite things!

You will find no raindrops on roses or whiskers on kittens here. This year has been a technology buying year for our household. We have picked up an ASUS Eee PC netbook (Atom 1.33Ghz, 2GB RAM), a MSI CR620 (i5 2.27Ghz, 3GB RAM) and I have been lucky to be able to test a the Fujitsu Lifebook TH700 Tablet (i5 2.4Ghz, 4GB RAM) which i am thoroughly enjoying. http://www.lifebook4life.com/blog

So heres what i think you should install as soon as you get your new computer. The catch is its all free software and thats why it makes my favorite things list. (Caveat Emptor or install at your own risk)

1. AVG Anti Virus Free version
Install after uninstalling and deleting what ever trial antivirus that came pre-installed with your computer.
http://download.cnet.com/AVG-Anti-Virus-Free-Edition-2011/3000-2239_4-10320142.html?tag=contentMain;contentAux

2. Java.
Just click on the "Free Java Download" link on the home page (http://www.java.com) or you can check your java version to see if you have java installed by clicking on this link http://java.com/en/download/installed.jsp

3. Adobe Flash
Steve Jobs doesn't like it and and down the line it may become extinct, but for now install it.
http://get.adobe.com/flashplayer/

4. OpenOffice
The Microsoft Office Alternative: although it looks a bit drab and takes a bit of time getting used to, it does the job.
http://www.openoffice.org/

5. Mozilla Firefox Browser
So that you can open 2 mailboxes from the same provider simultaneously, install personas, .... well, youll figure it out.
http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/

6. VLC Media Player
Plays pretty much everything without separately having to download any additional stuff.
http://download.cnet.com/VLC-Media-Player/3000-13632_4-10267151.html?tag=contentMain;contentAux

7. Google Talk & Video and Voice Plugin
Just because i use gmail....
http://www.google.com/talk/

8. Primo PDF
Print your docs or anything to pdf.
http://download.cnet.com/PrimoPDF/3000-18497_4-10264577.html?tag=mncol;1

9. Hotspot Shield
If you use your laptop on public Wi-fi networks, or if you feel the need to bypass your Internet Service Provider.
http://download.cnet.com/hotspot-shield/3000-2092_4-10594721.html?tag=mncol;1

10. Team Viewer
Remote Access software that lets you share your desktop or work on another computer remotely among other things.
http://download.cnet.com/TeamViewer/3000-7240_4-10398150.html?tag=mncol;1

BSE Sensex I see the light.... and its dark... ACT NOW!

Just a few words of caution for those of you invested in the Indian markets. After numerous weeks and months of restlessness and digging into charts, i THINK i saw the light this afternoon. I am not sure if the market will start tanking from this Monday or will push to a max of 18250 this week and then tank. Either way i think we see approx 13200, before we see higher prices, which is my most optimistic scenario.
IF I SEE 3 DAILY CLOSES ABOVE 18250 I WILL KNOW I AM WRONG.

My logic is as below.
The point here is not that you can bear the 25% loss to 13200 and that brighter days are ahead. Right now I think that the probability is stacked towards the market tanking. The point is that at 13200 you will have a more difficult choice to make (you have already taken a beating of 25%) and then you have a 50% probability that the market will either bounce or keep heading lower to other support levels (11300, 9600, 8100, 7000). That 50% choice is something you dont want to have to take at the 13200 level because it will be volatile with fake moves in both directions.
Take the decision when the odds favor you.

DO THE SAFE THING SELL NOW.

Disclaimer: Financial markets are highly volatile. Risks are substantial and returns are not guaranteed. This notel may contain views and recommendations that are personal views expressed at a certain point in time and I have no obligation to update such views. Recipients decisions should be guided by their own research, comfort levels, risk profile and total portfolio allocations.

Diamonds are so rare! Not....

Couple of days ago i watched as one of these rare diamond formations more seen on forex charts, formed on the SPX daily and broke to the upside. A similiar pattern now appears once again and if the structure of the last one is anything to go by, this one is the opposite. For this to go through on the down side i would like to see a test of approx 1001.42 followed by some selling which breaches the trend line from yesterdays bottom (994 ish today) and fills in the gap from the 3rd Aug at approx 888.43 .
However if this market gets to 1007, we all know what that means.....

End of the run for the S&P 500? ($spx, $spy)

Expandable picture ( http://twitpic.com/b1efy )

A couple of days ago i watched a video by Brian Shannon @alphatrends in which he asked viewers to step back and look at the larger time frames. And that is just what i did.
In the last week the technicians have obsessed with the Head and Shoulders pattern on the S&P 500 which didnt break down. A lot of commentators, see this as a bullish move, however if we look at the S&P 500 since Jan 2007, we can see that the index was in a channel between the line A (tested 4 times on the upside) and B (tested 5 times on the bottom) and C (spike bottom: tested by 3 spikes). This channel that held for 14 months finally broke down in October 2008. Although there is much optimism about the current levels of the S&P500 currently at 951.13, we havent even pushed up into this channel. I assume according to the line C there would be stiff resistance at 952.50 and even tougher resistance at line B at 985 ish. And if my charting doesn't spook you about where the S&P is trading then maybe the solar eclipse this coming Wednesday will.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20090720/ts_afp/scienceastronomyeclipseasiatourismsuperstition_20090720054915

Would love the hear the opinion of other traders out there especially those who trade patterns off channels.
Cheers!
JRod

Blogging! here I come

ive been on Facebook for what seems like a lifetime and never saw the reason for twitter or a blog. But my usage of twitter in the last few days has changed that opinion and so blogging here i come.
For the last year ive been posting stuff on the state of the financial markets on facebook.. visible to most of my friends who dont really care about the markets.. so i guess the public forum is the way to go.......