Spinal Stenosis, Arthritis, and now Spinal Auto-fusing!

My back has been hurting, a lot. And, it’s getting worse.

My neck and shoulders are also quite painful.

So, I decided to go see a doctor for “pain management”. I showed up for my appointment, and was struck immediately by the resemblance to a methadone clinic. People were talking about how long they had been on medication, and how much they “needed” it. Very nearly all of them were unkempt and fit the stereotypical image of junkies…

Most of the patients were unkempt, and that’s being kind. I immediately thought of leaving, but I stuck it out. Turns out the doctor was behind because he was covering for at least one more doctor, and he was getting ready for his vacation (one week at home, one week in the Caribbean) which sounded lovely. He talked briefly, because I asked, about how nice and restful his vacation should be. He then quickly turned to the situation at hand, which was me…

We went over the locus of my pain (neck and shoulders, the entire spine and lower back). He asked which hurt more (lower back, by a fair margin), and said he’d like some x-rays.

X-ray technician came in to get me and off we went. A couple dozen films later (maybe more!) and we were done. I thought it might take some time to go over the films. In less than 5 minutes, the doctor re-appeared. He said; “You have arthritis, but I think you already knew that, and spinal stenosis and I think that was also already known to you. But, your spine is auto-fusing.” This, I did not know…

He then proceeded to show me where my vertebrae were fusing, from my neck all the way down to my lower back. Surgery was mentioned as a temporary solution, but the “auto-fusing” would continue, unabated. He said that in time this would cause considerable pain, but since I was already in considerable pain I was just a tad worried.

He again mentioned surgery to “clean up” some of the more affected vertebrae, but then he mentioned 2 more alternatives; narcotics for immediate pain management, and “radio frequency ablation” for a temporary solution, 1-2 years at best.

I’ve taken a few of the prescribed hydrocodone pills, and they last 2-3 hours at most. They’re supposed to last for about 8 hours. Good thing I don’t like these sorts of pills, as I can see why over-medication might be a problem. BTW, the doctor said it was ok to have a few drinks a week. I mentioned I like scotch, bourbon, and whisk(e)y and he said it would be no problem, as along s it was only 2 or 3 drinks a week. That’s more than I usually drink in a month, so I welcomed the news cautiously.

I’m calling now to set up the appointment for a second opinion, and will probably call to set up the “radio frequency ablation” very soon.

Thank for letting me rant about my pain.

Best,

Pat

 

What is depression?

Simple answer; a hole or sunken area in relation to the surroundings.

So, there you have it in a nutshell.

 

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$AAPL a day, fine-tuning the system

I’m one of those internet creeps that you find hanging around chatrooms with a singleness of purpose that borders on the pathological.

Well, maybe not so much…

I like to embellish sometimes, heck maybe every time. But there’s one thing you can’t embellish, unless you’re a Republican (or Democrat!), and that’s math. Math is beautiful and holds steadfast to it’s very own set of rules.

But, I digress…

I don’t have a job anymore so I have to find another way to make money. I live in Massachusetts, and we had one helluva winter back in ’10-’11, so I had a brainstorm! I bought a big pickup truck and a brand new plow and started a snow plowing business. Then, we had our warmest winter ever with the least snowfall ever going back to before biblical times, even! (NOTE: please see comment about embellishment, above)

I worked a grand total of 5 hours and 15 minutes this year.

So, I decided I’d try to make some money trading. Unfortunately, trading is a little like putting your cash through a shredder, unless you happen to be very lucky or have some good tools.

I found one such tool in a charting/trading system developed by ‘j1′, one of the users of stockhaven.com’s chat rooms. Not a bad site at all, and chat rooms are focused on stocks. They got rooms for Options / Big Board stocks, penny stocks, a room just for APS picks, and the room I hang out in a lot lately, Tris’ room. That’s where we discuss this j1 trading system. It’s fairly accurate, and I’ve made some money along with others in that room following the system. But, it wasn’t always right, so I decided to take a look along with others, and see what works and what doesn’t, and share with all.

So, I started looking at the charts, and made this post in Tris’ Room;

AAPL put signal generated @ 9:33 but I didn’t play it, just now signalling sell puts @ 9:55 when DEMA turned positive, FOSC up, TRIX crossover, bullish engulfing candle on 1m chart. Buy call signal generated @ 10:00 when DEMA cross SMA9, volume spike, FOSC up, TRIX turning up. I didn’t play them but would have made some bank. Sell call signal generated (???) You tell me! Look at the chart pic and tell me what *you* see!) Thanks!

$HLF chartwork, 5/23

I thought I’d apply my (our?) ‘system’ to $HLF, based on a question from the Great Gatzby in StockHaven.com’s chatroom.

Here’s my analysis:

at 11:56 & 11:57 there was a buy put signal for $HLF, confirmed by volume spike and price action

@ 12:05 there was a signal to add to position, big spike in volume with confirming price action.

Volume spike and price action @ 12:24 was not a ‘good’ signal because FOSC turned up next candle and sell signal was generated by very next candle close above previous and DEMA turned up.

Buy call signal @12:31 DEMA cross 9 and 20 on decent enough volume, but signal is weak. 1 minute chart.

looking at 5 min chart for trend indicates currently “oscillating upward” in an overall downtrend for the day. I would probably add to a put position at next put signal, if confirmed and I’d keep an eye on the 5 minute chart, too.

Hindsight is 20/20.

Navigate wisely and stay profitable, my friends!

Trading System testing & analysis on $AAPL trades, 5/23

I tweeeted my first $AAPL trade; Trade talk in 5 $AAPL MayWk4 545 Put @ 2.43 @ 09:37:18 / out @ 2.74 @ 09:45:39

Trade analysis: I really should have held as I didn’t get a ‘real’ sell signal, but I didn’t like the price action. From my first alert @ 9:35 of the DEMA (CLOSE, 9) crossing the SMA9, confirmed by a spike in volume and negative price action, FOSC down, TRIX crossover, I entered the puts. I closed the trade because I didn’t like the price action @ 9:45 and FOSC up, 2 green candle. 1 minute 1 day chart.

I did not buy but just blogged the following signals;

Buy call signal now @ 9:53, DEMA (CLOSE, 9) crossing the SMA9, TRIX turning up

Sell call signal @ 9:58, spike in volume on a red candle, confirmed @ 9:59 – 5 dollar run in 5 minutes!

Buy put signal @ 10:11, DEMA (CLOSE, 9) crossing the SMA9, TRIX turning down, FOSC down, confirmed by a spike in volume and negative price action

Sell put signal @ 10:26, also a buy call signal

Sell call signal @ 10:30

Hindsight is 20/20, so I’m off to go trade a few signals…

Navigate wisely and stay profitable, my friends!

An $AAPL a day…

Friday I entered 3 trades, closed 1 for 99.99% profit

Monday I closed 1 of the 2 remaining trades from Friday @ 60% profit (the last trade is still open)

I also entered and exited 6 more trades on Monday; 2.46%, –5.91%, 5.94%, –1.73%, –2.56%, 10.83%

Yesterday, I entered and exited 4 trades; 24.09%, 9.63%, –7.16%, .95%

All on $AAPL.

Day Trading – May 22nd, 2012 – $AAPL

Made 4 trades today, and the first 2 were the best. I should have just walked away after those two, but I didn’t. Live and learn.

Latest results trading $AAPL

 

Adventures in Day Trading, May 21st, 2012

I made a few $AAPL trades yesterday, and made bank. Auto-trading also brought in some coin, but it remains to be seen if that coin will stay in my accounts. We have to wait for OpEx to find out. Day Trading money is money I can use *TODAY*. 😉

I’m still developing my ‘day trading system’, taken in part from a charting and trading system presented by user ‘j1’ on the stockhaven.com website chat room. We are having some success with this system, but I am working on my version.

Following my trade notes, and sticking to my plan (foremost in my plan is to develop a plan).

I also just entered a $GLD trade from a tweeterblogger, someone I consider a good ‘kid’ (mostly because he does this stuff gratis, and because he’s almost 28 years my junior. “Why, you young whippersnapper! I’m almost twice your age!”

Navigate wisely and stay profitable, my friends!

The picture is of Audrey, my bird of paradise grown from seed and flowering in my kitchen in Massachusetts.

$GLD OFFSET LONG TRADE WITH BUILT IN HEDGES 20% of 3DD Hedge Account Allocated « 3ddhedgeinvestments

$GLD OFFSET LONG TRADE WITH BUILT IN HEDGES 20% of 3DD Hedge Account Allocated « 3ddhedgeinvestments.

I’m in for 1! A small allocation to start out, ok? $13 credit limit order in…

I like the risk/reward that was outlined.