Portfolio Update - 10/12/10

Medium-term swing trades: AEZS, AVNR, HDY, NLST, FSII, HAUP
Short-term swing trades: AAU, CIGX, GIGM, JASO, TSYS

The strength in the market remains as the pullbacks, including this morning's steep drop of almost 10 points on the S&P, are bought up and that is keeping the Index above 1165 — indeed there was a run to 1172 at one point today following the release of the Fed minutes but there was little response from my portfolio which remained largely unchanged.

Hyperdynamics (HDY) was already charging ahead above the 3.00 mark it broke yesterday and got as high as 3.29 which represents close to a 200% gain since I bought in around 1.20 as a speculative play based on their exploration of a potentially oil rich area off the coast of Guinea in West Africa.

The results of the 3D seismic survey are due in the next few weeks and the surge in the stock is clear evidence of the anticipation of the results as, with 77% interest in the area, a positive find of the order expected by the company would be massive for Hyperdynamics.

For me, I can't help but treat this like an FDA run-up play and have to keep profits in mind as negative news could cause a precipitous drop in the share price. As of right now, perhaps as little as a month away from the publication of the results, the stock is very stretched, showing as over-bought on the RSI and Full Stochastics indicators, but momentum is clearly driving this so we may just see a pause in the action before resuming the up-trend.

Netlist (NLST) finally broke out after a few days drifting around 3.00. It was clearly under accumulation and exploded this morning to the resistance point at 3.60 while I was away from my trading desk so I missed an excellent sell point for may shares averaged at 3.03.

NLST is notorious for giving up its gains quickly so I'll be looking at tomorrow morning's early action with interest, possibly bailing in the pre-market if I get the price I want.

After selling day-trades DYP, ZLC and NEI, I'm a little down for the week so far but also have swing trades running on AAU, CIGX, GIGM, JASO, TSYS, all of which are either slightly red or not green enough and therefore a little uncomfortable given the fact that the market could correct at any moment. It is October after all...