GMan and the desk was VERY long HAL going into the oil number at 10:30 AM. I would tell you how long but it was probably more long than we should have been. We were in a Trade2Hold and HAL was working. But then most on the desk did something very smart for the intraday trader. They lightened up before the oil number and 32.45ish.

Before an important economic number like the housing number or oil we take our risk off the table or at least a lot of our risk. GMan loved the HAL position. 32 had been a big level. Oil is very strong especially now that it has cracked the $80 resistance level. Oil was at its intraday highs of 81.90 at the time. Above 82 and the price of the barrel and oil stocks probably would find higher ground. But before the number GMan cut his risk by 70 percent.

What happened? That is not really as important as the principle. We have no idea what the oil number would be. We are short term traders. A disappointing number could erase serious intraday gains in a millisecond. In fact a bad number could turn open P&L into a major rip instantly. That is not the type of risk/reward in the self interest of the intraday trader.

For those curious, the number was not so good and HAL slipped to below 32. We rebuilt our position just above 32.

Best of luck with your trading!

Long HAL, GERN, JPM, MS, FDO