a patron at the Forum. The only hog spreads that I trade are the G/J, J/K, K/M, M/N, N/Q, Q/V, V/Z and Z/G. I have several friends for whom I trade so that gives me multiple accounts so I may have any or all of these spreads on at any given time. Currently I have open positions in all eight of these spreads. Some are long and some are short.

It seems to me that these spreads often move in a random manner with a mild tendency to follow an historical pattern because of the seasonality of hog production. For instance, at this point in time the hogs that will be marketed in the Q8/V8 spread have mostly not been conceived yet. So I have a tendency to scale in an out at the ebb and flow of the price using historical and technical patterns as a guide. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. I began working on these spreads in the fall of 2012 and it continues to be a "Work in Process." I currently have 76 open spreads with profit target orders on all of them. I have resting orders to add 95 more spreads. So far this week I have taken profits on eleven of the spreads.

Needless to say it is quite a chore keeping track of which trades are coming and which ones are going. I couldn't do it without the aid of an Excel spread sheet.

Best wishes,

dhm

PS: The jobs report just came out showing 33,000 jobs were lost last month but the unemployment rate dropped to 4.2% and this is sending the bond bulls for cover. Can anyone explain that one to me? It's all right with me because I was short a couple of bonds in a mostly delta neutral portfolio but still a surprise reaction!