Cody on RM: On Being Raccoon-ish

Hunting for Trades
07/03/2006 12:10 PM

When I was a kid, there was this raccoon which couldn't be stopped. He'd sneak in and eat my mom's vegetable garden no matter what obstacles we'd put in front of him. And we certainly did put all kinds of obstacles in front of him. From chicken wire fencing to electric shock fencing to spraying of natural scents around the large garden in our orchard. But nothing we came up with could stop the little guy. He'd always figure out a way to get around it and to get his vegetables.

I bring this up because it'd take a smart, diligent raccoon approach to find much in this market to trade right now.
The markets keep putting up all kinds of obstacles to stop the bulls, from the rolling dislocations to what had been an endless parade of Fed heads talking up inflation and all the other things weighing on this market that I highlighted in my closing post Friday.

But the best, smartest raccoons keep coming and looking for great trades and investments regardless of what the broader picture puts in front of them, including the possibility that the Fed heads start opening their mouths again, which I fully expect.
Oh, and that raccoon from my childhood? I finally took a rifle and my dog and slept in the garden for four nights in a row, and that raccoon never showed up. Until the fifth night when we'd given up.

Don't give up, there's money to be made. I'm just trying to be raccoon-smart about going for it.

I guess you could say that I'm neither bullish or bearish -- I'm raccoonish.