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Friday
Jun302006

Busy Trading Day. Russell Index Rebalance

Exceedingly busy day:

1. Woke up early to finish my research and planning for the Russell Index Reconstitution.
2. Friend/designer came over to get started on a remodel of my bedroom in the City. (Basically this means painting and throwing out crappy furniture - but I'm trying to seem like I know what I'm doing)
3. Sadly watched Argentina lose to Germany in penalties in the quarter final of the World Cup
4. Broke a record today for most personal trades.

 
Russell Index Reconstitution: When I was the responsible for program trading at Morgan Stanley (1996-2001) I did this annual index reconstitution trade with billions of dollars working with the largest pension and index funds in the world.  The trade was exciting and huge.  Today, I trade for myself using retail portfolio trading software and brokerage accounts instead of the highest-end software and models designed by some of the best minds on Wall Street. Even still I was able to take advantage of the machinations of index funds tracking the Russell Indices to trade into both long term fundamental and speculative positions.  I have to say my view of the City from my home office is much more pleasant than the trading floor for many reasons. 

workingneubieCasa Neubie Deck

While my trades are too numerous to explain here I will share a few positions that I am left with where I bought when index managers were selling or sold where index managers were buying.  I had dozens of bids and offers here are a few medium term positions I took on based on both fundamentals and the index re weightings:

Bought (These names had selling pressure as index funds reduced weighting):
Exxon Mobil (XOM)
Amgen (AMGN)
Hewlett Packard (HPQ)
AIG Group (AIG)

Sold Short: (these names had been push too far up by index buyers - and will drop over the next weeks as pressure subsides)
Las Vegas Sands (LVS)
Warner Music (WMG)

Disclosure: Nothing in this blog is meant to be a recommendation to buy or sell.  I do not give investment advice.  Do your own research.  Do not rely on anything in this weblog to make investment decisions.  I do not log all my trades here. I only those that I think might be interesting. Consult your own investment professional before buying or selling any security. 

I own all the positions described above.

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