We flew from Rome to LA to Tucson, spending just about 20 hours in between airports and planes. It was nice to hit the bed at the end of the trip.

Though, to our surprise we didn’t sleep for too long. All three travelers – I, my husband and our 4 year old woke up simultaneously at 4:30 a.m.

Leaving unpacking for later, I went to check the stock market performance – for the first time in two weeks.

My theory was right (see Trading & Cooking or Cooking & Trading? & Are we in the 5th Elliot wave of Bear Market? posts). 3-yr support line has been easily broken and 5th Elliot wave of Bear Market was formed. Unfortunately, I didn’t participate in the second half of the crushing wave down. Of course it was tempting to gamble a little and leave some open positions to have the cruise paid for on the return. However, I am absolutely convinced that discipline will lead to a nice payout in the long run.

Meanwhile, it felt great not to be bothered by the waves (Mediterranean and Elliot) on the cruise.

So, here I am, at the kitchen, with the spatula and laptop:

The market seem to realize that there is something more important than Goldman Sachs Group Inc. profit – rising inflation and unemployment rate, slowing economy and falling consumer confidence also count for something. Up to the end of today’s trading session I was torn between taking profit on DOG now and waiting for Thursday’s economic data. Finally, the latter won, and I might have another nerve wreaking day tomorrow.

As you can see from the chart, the DOW is very close to its 3-yr support line. Yet, since I believe that we have entered into the Bear Market (check my “Are we in the 5th Elliot wave of Bear Market?” post.), I expect DJIA to break it. My main concern is, however, that I have to close all my positions by the end of this week, as we are flying to Europe for a two-and-a-half week vacation on Monday.

Would we see that major breakthrough tomorrow?

By the time I got back home the stock market was closed. Nevertheless, I wasn’t disappointed – DJIA fell 134.5 points and my long position in DOG (Short Dow30 Proshares ETF) became profitable again. PHM, however re-bounced from intraday low of $11.61 to close at $12.19. I am placing an order to buy back the rest of the shares, as this builder might form a temporary bottom formation and give me a chance to short it again a few dollars higher.

The next few days will be very interesting from the technical aspect of analysis. If market continues to slide, it might form that missing 5th wave of Elliot pattern:

DOG – Short Dow30 Proshares ETF.

PHM – Pulte Homes Inc.