Looking for a short term trade on 2,000 shares of Citibank at $2.83. Limit order going in now @ $2.93ish.

Out of Citibank (C) at $3.09 this morning. Looks good so far. As of 9:56, that is the high of the day. Use limit orders to your advantage. These were the 2k shares purchased at $3.01 yesterday. For the past 2 weeks or so, the swings in the financials are crazy. If you can play the patterns, there is plenty of wiggle room.

Trading account all cash right now. Bob’s trading log (top menu) tells the story.

Each day/week, we will provide you with a rundown of our positions, including actual profit and loss numbers on trades made and/or outstanding.  Generally, we are looking to minimize risk while showing an above average return in a volatile market.

As you can see, I stuck myself in a position 2,000 shares of  C @ 3.01.  In fact, I took a loss on an identical position as the market was dropping after the poor pricing in today’s Treasury auction.

Midway through the session, weak demand for $34 billion of U.S. Treasury notes briefly snuffed out the earlier rally, reviving fears about demand for sovereign debt after Britain failed to get enough demand for its debt, the first failed auction for UK debt since 2002.

It is estimated the Treasury will sell about $2 trillion of debt this year, or about one-third of outstanding Treasury debt through the end of 2008. The cash is needed to heal the ailing banking industry and keep the auto industry from collapsing.

I was very tempted to get back into C with an order at 2.75, but I felt like I had too much capital at risk at the time.  Turns out, it would have been a great move. C closed at $2.95.