What a day. The Nasdaq was all over the place on Wednesday. It was the first day of trading since the previous Friday (New Year's Day on Monday, followed by market closure on Tuesday in deference to the death of former US president Gerald Ford) and pent-up buying pressure, some good economic data and typically emotional New Year buying saw the markets explode out of the gates.

By early morning, the Nasdaq 100 was up 2%. Later in the day, a report from the Federal Reserve which emphasised some economic negatives while playing down hopes of interest rate cuts saw a sharp sell-off before late-day buying brought things back . . . just . . . into positive territory. The volatility resulted in the biggest range for the Dow (175 points) since August 2006. It also helped Market Monkey to some very tasty profits.

I made a packet in Elan. I just love trading this stock . . . it's made me thousands and thousands over the past few months. The last trading day in December saw Elan rise above its 50-day moving average, thereby stopping me out of my remaining short position. This had been a profitable trade and, seeing as every trader has to protect their profits, I had recently been lowering my stop loss order so as to lock in my gains.

Once Elan breached the aforementioned moving average, I was out.

Thing is, my bearish view of Elan was unchanged. That is, I closed the position because my methodology dictated that this was the prudent thing to do, not because of a change in my outlook. As a result, I was no sooner out of the position than I was itching to get short again. Some price resistance was evident at $14.75 and I went short here, electing to place my stop order just above $15.

I'm not sure when I last reentered a stock on the same day, but I certainly don't regret doing so. Wednesday saw the stock tumble back down again and I covered half of my position at $14.25, a one-day profit of 1,300. I've already lowered my stop to just above $14.80 so I can rest easy here.

Heaven, sheer heaven.

A similar story with Apple. I went short as the stock approached its 50-day moving average at $85 (also on the last day of the trading year).

The stock was hammered in December before rebounding strongly in the last few days of the year. I expected selling at this juncture. Instead, the stock opened strong at around $86.50 (my stop was just above $87) on Wednesday morning.

I was not a happy camper. I left my trading screen for a few hours and you can imagine my feelings when I returned to find that the markets had tanked, taking Apple with them. As the price approached $82, I did a quick calculation and realised that a loss of 500 or so had been transformed into a profit of almost 1000 . . .

a swing of 1500.

After thanking the Lord above and letting out a few celebratory noises, I hit the sell button and covered half the position.

The market's late-day recovery saw Apple swing back up to $84, but I'm not complaining. I got lucky here.

I'm still short SanDisk. The stock has been hovering near its December lows and the market sell-off saw it break below technical support at $42. It went as low as $41 but the little tramp recovered to just below $42. I'm hoping the $42 level will now serve as resistance and that the stock will head south to its 52-week low at $37.50, where I plan to close the position.

Boring old CRH hasn't participated in the fluctuations; not much change since last week.

All in all, it's been a fun-filled start to the New Year and reminds me just why I'm in this business. My reasons for trading are not unique to me.

Far from it. The following excerpt is from a blogger (www. uglychart. com) who recently outlined some of the reasons that prompted him to quit his job and make the transition to full-time trader in 2006.

"1: I am not satisfied with the mediocrity of that life . . . a job I don't love, a mediocre salary, little freedom, little challenge, and little creativity.

2: I love to trade and I love the markets. I love the patterns in the chaos. I love competing against the world. I love using my brains. I love the feeling that I am taking more advantage of my potential.

3: I want to win big. I don't want mediocrity. I'd rather take a risk and lose and have less than to not try for it all.

4: Money isn't everything . . .

happiness is everything. The Dalai Lama even says so."

Tibetan considerations aside. . .

Market Monkey pays homage to the God of Mammon, not reincarnated buddhas . . . I can relate to Ugly's list. Whether I join him and make this a fulltime pursuit is a question I will have to come back to later in the trading year. For now, I have plenty of New Year's resolutions to distract me. For example, I need to become more au fait with the currency and commodity markets. I need to follow more stocks. I need to know their charts blindfolded, which means religiously checking them every night . . . no exceptions.

But let's not be too serious.

After all, the journey is the destination. And so far, it's a journey this monkey is enjoying.

Weekly gain/loss: + 1800 Overall balance: 36,750