Movies Watched -- Indignation (2016)

111 minute running time so 10 to 20 minutes too long, which is a shame, but I didn’t hate this one…. smart adaptation of a Philip Roth novel … the story of Roth’s college years in the midwest in the 1950s, semi-autobiographical, though he plays with the ending … typical of Philip Roth, there’s a beautiful, blue-eyed, blonde-haired WASP who falls for him and gives him a blowjob on the first date, and hand jobs following his appendicitis — Roth had an active imagination!

Really good acting (“performances!”) from the two lead kids (Lerman and Gadon) .. I was impressed. I’m giving it a rare green, go recommendation. I did not watch it in one sitting, but I’m going to make an exception and say see it despite it being overly long. Recommended!

Spurned

Movies Watched -- Croupier (2000)

91 minute running time but felt longer because it was so dumb … stars a young Clive Owen and his cleft chin … frustrated novelist by day, casino worker (“croupier”) by night … gambling movies are so dull and this one is no exception … story makes no sense … not the least bit thrilling or even interesting … terrible and a total waste of time. Owen is a homosexual icon (though he’s not gay himself), which explains Farr’s gushing (and totally misguided) recommendation of this one. Skip it!

Go ahead and strangle him… please!

Movies Watched -- The Straight Story (1999)

111 minute running time so at least 10 to 20 minutes too long … David Lynch’s weird love for middle America on display … all simple, good, kind people, don’t you know? … based on a true story, no doubt … brotherly love, family, kindness to strangers, horrors of war … it’s sweet but so much so that it feels a little fake, hate to say it … I see Kenny Turan wrote about the “fake-folksy script“ in his spot-on review. You can give it a miss.

Typically Lynchian backdrop of mounted antlers and burning house

Movies Watched -- Rififi (1955)

In French. 118 minute running time so at least 20 to 25 minutes too long. Heist story … jewel shop, coming in through the ceiling, long silent scene … tough guys and double-dealing dames (whipped with belts) … crime doesn’t pay … surprised by how violent it was, graphically violent for the time, maybe the codes were different in France … I wasn’t super thrilled with it, I know it’s a “classic” and all, but it could have been tighter and less heavy-handed with the moralizing. (Blacklisted Dassin moved to France.)

Nippy.

Movies Watched -- Bitter Rice (1949)

In Italian. 108 minute running time so at least 10 minutes too long. A film noir of sorts, but set in the rice fields of northern Italy … has all the usual elements: dangerous men, crime, lust, greed, sex (well, rape), and violence … recommended by John Farr, who doesn’t often steer me wrong, but I wasn’t thrilled with this.

Ascella amaro

I Can Sing All Them Songs About Texas

The great David Allan Coe … bless YouTube uploaders for these treasures, however incomplete.

“Sounds like Tom T. wrote this song….”

David Allan Coe (born September 6, 1939) is an American songwriter, outlaw country music singer, and guitarist who achieved popularity in the 1970s and 1980s. As a singer, his biggest hits were "Mona Lisa Lost Her Smile", "The Ride", "You Never Even Called Me by My Name", "She Used to Love Me a Lot", and "Longhaired Redneck".

Top Ten Day Traders to Follow on Twitter

Day trading Twitter can be an awful place, full of liars and fakers and con men, people who are looking to lure in the naive and the greedy to their “services,” or show off their gains (without disclosing the risks taken) and carefully-cropped “top ticks” to make you feel bad.

But there are a few good people on there, and I thought I’d highlight ten of them. These guys are all experienced, knowledgeable, open, and generous … and all are must-follows in my opinion. Don’t be offended if I didn’t include you; I had to keep it to ten for clickbait reasons.

1. @Canny4 … Early 50s? (Generation-X) … full-time independent trader, recently began trading stock index futures, I believe. CANSLIM swing trader in the past. Tweets mainly about market philosophy and psychology, but not in an annoying way since you can tell he has been in the trenches and around the block … his interview with Anthony Crudele.

2. @CiocanaTrader … Late 20s? (Millennial) … full-time prop trader, does serious volume, hotkey master no doubt … makes priceless end-of-day “trader takeaways” from time to time on YouTube, which should be watched closely … drives girly white BMW (nobody’s perfect) … his Chat with Traders interview, and Notes for Chat with Traders, Episode 171.

3. @davemabe … Late 40s? (Gen-X) … CIO of Trade-Ideas … has the technical skills to have automated all his strategies so he doesn’t have to sit there pointing and clicking all day like the rest of us monkeys … rides his bike everywhere which means he’s a better person than you. His posts on Medium.

4. @madaznfootballr — Late 20s (Millennial) … full-time independent trader … a controversial pick maybe, but I think of madaz as a video gamer who happens to trade stocks and uses his P&L as the game score … typically grosses around $0.02 a share, which would appear crazy, but somehow he makes it work. Posts every day what he is watching at the open (always the right stuff) and his P&L at the close. He may be a maniac, but he has found a method that works for him. His Chat with Traders Interview, and Notes for Chat with Traders, Episode 124.

5. @maoxian … Late 40s (Gen-X) … full-time independent trader …how could I not include this guy? Faithfully posts all of his winning trades and none of the losers … whined for years about “not getting a borrow” before finally sending some money to a bookie so he can short hard-to-borrows … been around the world and the block and has traded beside some biggies who will forever go unnamed … now mainly writes concise movie reviews on his ancient blog which I refuse to link to.

6. @Michael_Katz11 … Late 30s? (Gen-Y) … full-time prop trader, another real pro, not a guy sitting in his basement on dial-up … I assume he does crazy size, but he’s honest about his mistakes and works on staying humble… makes priceless end-of-day “trader takeaways” from time to time on YouTube, which should be watched closely … his Chat with Traders interview, and Notes for Chat with Traders, Episode 156.

7. @Shaq48_Trading … Early 50s (Gen-X) … full-time independent trader, former prop trader … trades the ES exclusively … pithy market insights combined with constant disgust towards “FinTwit” … lots of priceless wisdom in his Medium posts … his Chat with Traders interview, and Notes for Chat with Traders, Episode 70. His interview with Anthony Crudele.

8. @SmashTheBid … Late 40s (Gen-X) … full-time independent trader … when I first met him he traded in-play stocks, but he has since switched to trading options on mainly Big Cap tech names (NFLX, NVDA, etc.) and the SPY … open about his “journey” (I hate that word), unpretentious, and always patient and generous with advice when asked dumb questions by strangers, this one anyway.

9. @team3dstocks … Late 40s maybe? I assume he’s Gen-X … I think he used to specialize in microcap hard-to-borrows, but like Smash above, has transitioned to day trading options on Big Cap names … lots of market wisdom in his every tweet, some of which contain mild profanity … his entire tweet stream has been collected and treasured by many … quick to reply to DMs … another generous old? guy who has been in the trenches.

10. @TSXtrad3r … Early 30s (Gen-Y) … full-time independent trader, formerly a prop trader … Canadian, so you know he’s honest … expert execution skills and fond of countertrend scalping as well as catching bigger turns. Generous with his knowledge, especially if you were a member of his room at one time or another.
    

Movies Watched -- Gun Crazy (1949)

87 minute running time, so the perfect length. Bonnie and Clyde, updated to 1949 … some good lines, the greedy femme fatale is actually attractive for once, but I wasn’t super thrilled with this … noir for sure (link between sex and violence more explicit here).

Dick Brody on its “flamboyantly Freudian premise.“

You better kiss me good-bye, Bart.

Movies Watched -- Winchester '73

92 minute running time, so the right length. Story of patricide and fratricide and slaughtering the Injuns and all those other great American traditions…. Jimmy Stewart went to Princeton but learned how to ride a horse. Rock Hudson as Sitting Bull a highlight. I wasn’t that thrilled with this, I’d give it a miss.

I went yellow, crazy yellow!

Beware of These Dreaded Phrases

I thought this chart from ceedub888 was revealing and instructive. It contains two of the most dreaded phrases that can ever enter a trader’s head: “average down” and “wanted a move to … breakeven.” If you ever find yourself averaging down or thinking about getting back to breakeven, instantly exit the trade … that’s my advice.

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