Dykstra: The Real Measure of Success

PetSmart showed impressive resilience after its Oct. 6 profit warning and is down just 2.2% since its Oct. 3 close. I did sell my preexisting PetSmart stake at for a profit.

Koor, meanwhile, has totally shaken off last week's weakness and is now up 4.6% since Oct. 3 after rising 2.7% to $11.19 on Monday; I sold my Koor stock into this rally.

This market is much too dangerous and volatile to take chances. I keep "good-till-cancelled" (GTC) sell orders on all of my positions so when I have an opportunity to take a profit, I am ringing the register! To that point, I got filled (sold) the January $65 3M calls (MMM) I bought last Monday.

Strategic Adjustments

As the baseball playoffs enter their second week, the four surviving teams will vie for their respective pennants. The miraculous run of the Boston Red Sox, the defending World Series Champions, ended abruptly as they were swept by the Chicago White Sox. This was the White Sox's first playoff series win since they won the World Series in 1917. Hence, we are assured of a new World Series Champion this year although the eight playoff teams this year included several perennial participants, led by the New York Yankees and the Atlanta Braves.

While even the most casual sports fan is aware that the Yankees represent the richest history in baseball, the accomplishments of the Braves are often taken for granted. Incredibly, the Braves have won 14 consecutive National League East championships. Unfortunately for the team and its fans, it's difficult to ignore the Braves' consistent futility in the postseason.

Other than their World Series victory in 1995, it is almost bankable that the Braves will be eliminated in the playoffs, usually in the first round. They epitomize Yogi Berra's "it's déjà vu all over again."