The Stock Market Flea: Trading the Crash of 2008 (Paperback)
"When the real estate market melted down in 2007 and the stock market went south in 2008, the hand I was holding was: Nothing - but as it turned out nothing was a real cool hand." Reminiscences of a Stock Market Flea In the first book of this series the author uses an example from the movie classic Cool Hand Luke to explain how he avoided both the 2007 real estate collapse and the 2008 stock market crash. "Sometimes nothing can be a real cool hand." Paul Newman's character famously said after winning a hand of poker without having any cards. This book is the trade by trade account of how the author played the losing hand we were all dealt in 2008, when he traded tens of thousands of options as the markets went down and dozens of stock round trips as he searched for a tradable bottom. Risking only tiny portions of his net worth at any one time, moving in and moving out quickly - quick and small are hallmarks of the stock market Flea - the author's trading was up 17% by the end of 2008, beating the performance of the S&P average by 56%. Aware we were living through a historic moment in market history, the author documented every trading day: the trades he made, the protection he used, the political theater, the crushed companies and wiped out investors; recording his reasons for taking the positions and making the trades as he made them - right or wrong. His trading log and market newsletter would become the basis of the Stock Market Flea series of books. Here is the story of how the author traded Apple and the wider markets for the five years it took to again reach historic new-highs and where he is currently positioned for the next market implosion.
James J. Houts was born on the threshold of Death Valley in a remote region of California's Mojave Desert. A born wanderer, he has traveled the world extensively, living and working in many cultures. After teaching high school English for several years, he traveled the U.S., tending bar in desert towns, Colorado ski resorts, and on Bourbon Street in New Orleans during Mardi Gras. During his career as a chemical engineering consultant, he lived in California, Hawaii, and as an expatriate in the Republic of the Philippines. He has worked throughout the globe and has spent a great deal of time in Southeast Asia and the People's Republic of China, where he learned to speak Mandarin Chinese. He has also managed engineering projects in Europe, South America, and Africa. Educated in Southern California, the author earned his bachelor's degree in biochemistry from the University of California, Riverside and a post-graduate degree in technical writing from California State University, Long Beach. His scientific research in electro-analytical chemistry has been published in The Journal of the American Chemical Society. Previously published books include Carnival of Cannibals, Spirit of Error and Reminiscences of a Stock Market Flea. Publication of the third book in the Stock Market Flea series - Lessons from the Front is imminent. James currently resides in Los Angeles, where he writes and trades the Options market.