Jeff, I wish I could make it but the family is already waiting on me and soon I will be getting the evil eye. Please let me know where I can listen/watch the recording.
Thanks and you were reading my mind on this one.

Oh and Tim, James H. or Michelle please ask lots of questions as anything you ask will be very valuable for me as my trading is similar to yours it appears. I think I have exit problems.

Can we listen in without being on master talk?

Yes, consider it a free lunch for today only.

Sorry Jeff, it's too hard to log in from work and still look like I'm working. You picked a good day for it. Will there be another massive sell off at the end of the day when all those stop orders get triggered (like feb 27)?

Long: Cash, SHV, Risk Management
Short: Homebuilders, Financials


Joel R.

Jeff-

At 12:30 your time, correct?

liz

Is it too late?

Jeff,

i couldn't find a meeting or ID number.

Brett,

Meeting ID number is: 570 607 605
Phone number: 866-469-3239

The conference is going on now ....

What time did call start?

James H.

About 11:50A central

When is the conference call? It doesn't give us a time. When should we log in?

ok TSL, you've made your point. your showing a tombstone doji at the 50 DMA - which also happens to be at the 50% Fib retracement level - and your volume is weak. now be a good girl and go back to 72.50 where you came from. immediately. ill be waiting.

I am in love with both FIG and TSO. Thank you to whomever pointed them out.

This is unbelievable! Don't know whether to wave the white flag or the red one...

Debbie

Step - you are welcome for the TSO. Unfortunately, I got distracted and missed it! :-(

Scoot

So Brett,

I'm ready for that rally just about anytime now... go ahead and get it started.

James H.

I just sold some of my PUTS and pocket the profits..

Sounds like a good idea Raimo! All put positions that I have more than one contract on I will get rid of half or most. All that I have one contract on, I will see by the end of the day... Cash after profits is pretty satisfying in times like these. Cash will be satisfying until things cool off a bit or find direction.

If the market tanks into the close, should we expect more of the same tomorrow? The FXY and $VIX are through the roof!

I hear you Raimo. I am waiting for the reaction and then I will load up on some more puts.

Scoot

I'm unloading for profits on PUTS in the last hour also .... not selling all contracts but at least 1/2 to 3/4 positions ...

I think I may have to skip the Yeungling and go straight for the Jack Daniels tonight!

Scoot

Raimo and others ...

Jeff mentioned (on conference call) MCK, MRX and AHS as PUT plays if they break support .. some have already .... Just radar material .....

I am sittin' cash also...I see a few nice setups, but the market will need to stop going down. I am not sure how to play this market. SPWR is holding its own, and earnings were last week.

Have we hit bottom yet? Is this crazy ride over?? I'm getting sick! I took profits as well on one of my puts....Either my computer broke at -430.02 or things have slowed down.

Debbie

As I sit here pondering life while I should be working:

• I am enjoying TOL breaking through another level of support to a new 52 week low. I should have waited until today to sell half my position and load back up on a slight pullback rather than two days ago..

• I am finding comfort that NVTL seems to have found support at $25 even though it has broken its LT trend line that began in December.

• I am wondering if HLYS is going to zero. This will be easy to unload half my position today. Let the winner run.

• I am glad that FRX has gotten lost in the forest.

• I will be happy to take profits on FLS. Hmmm… it is sitting at the 30 day MA which it has bounced off of before… My trend line is my trend line and profits will be cash.

• I have fallen in love with BSC. Do I set the low in 6/06 as my new line in the sand or do I take my one contract and buy myself a laptop for Chicago….

• I am trying to figure why the @()&#)*(@&$)@#*(& I didn’t sell DECK when I sold eleven of my other positions on Tuesday. Did I mention, the other half of my DECK position was sold then as well? At least then I would have made a profit. Maybe I got hit in the head with a falling board…

Now that I have exposed my remaining hand, I hope everyone is having a good, fun and educational day today. And remember "Cash is King".

Buy MORE puts..I'm buying calls at a discount!!

WOW 42 points on the SPX any body got any puts on that baby?

What! I missed a conference call again? What was the "meat" of the meeting? As always, a day late and a dollar short- oh well.
Lurker,
Kelly

No guts, no glory, eh Raimo?

Scoot

VIP at $100, good time?

Debbie

Hey look at ACN. The dow down a trillion points and it's holding its trendline. This is actually one of the few trades I'm still in. I'm holding if it stays above 41.50.

ZOLT has held its trend line well too...

As of 3pm ET,the breadth on the NYSE was nearly 16-to-1 decliners to advancers and nearly 7.5-to-1 on the Nasdaq.

Wow.

Scoot

Holy free fall batman, who stole my golden parachute.

Look out below...............

Anyone like the looks of the double-top break down on FST?

Ann--I posted this comment towards the end of the last post. Copied it over here... Didn't want you to think I was ignoring your question! Anyway, this was my thought process....

Ann--I agree that 6/27 would have been a good entry point. I probably should have re-evaluated at that time and got back in. Since I missed that one, I was looking for another given the strong trend. I was thinking that the little consolidation period from 7/13 - 7/20, along with the small pullback over the last few days, might be a good place to enter, thinking the trend may continue on upward after this market correction.... I appreciate the feedback as I continue to work on my entries and exits....

Thanks.

Posted by LisaG

Step,

I like it. It just had an intra-day retest of $41 as res.

Scoot

Scoot

MCD has a triple top breakdown as well, but the target is only about $2 to the downside.

What do you guys consider to be a first sign of weakness? For ex, in a down-trending stock, would a first sign of weakness be a close above the previous close? Or is there a sooner sign than waiting for the next day's close? Thanks.

Has anybody else lost their prophet charts, or is it just me?
Peter

SAW,
I have a put on the spx... got in at 9:30:30 a Aug 1510 put for 29.90. Currently worth $43.80. Closing trade now.

My prophet charts work.
Anne

Peter,
Mine is still working...Maybe you blew yours up from all the activity....

Debbie

Step

Agreed the MCD doesn't have much room to move down.

Peter

I seem to have lost 20 minutes or so of data on the charts but it seems to be working now.

Scoot

Scratch that- had to delete Java files.
Peter

Lisa congrates to you, every time I try to play the spx I get creamed.

Is anyone else anxious to see that “Holy Crap” email from C&C once he lands…or is that just me?

You gotta keep the laughter people…keep the laughter and the discipline on days like this.

Cheers,
Dave

WHEW!

Debbie

FYI ... ITools...

I contacted them today ... told them how unhappy I was with the non-record issues of Masters Talk with Jeff .. They offered to credit 1 month forward ... I didn't accept it ... Pressed for 2 (since I thought it had been about 6 weeks of issues) and they gave me 2 months credit ....

Just FYI if you want to try it ....

Peter,
What did you do to fix your Chart problem? Mine is not working correctly.
Amy

I had a great day today !! made money, and , NO pHANOTM POET!!! LOL..

Great job Raimo! That's the way it's supposed to be done! (I finished in the red but not by much - I am pretty happy with it, all things considered)

Scoot

What happened to DECK?

Debbie

DECK is around $100 in after hours...

The ONLY thing not good today is PROPHET CHARTS..Proving to be UNRELIABLE.....an all to often occurance..

Good earnings and guidance from DECK, including 100% international sales increase over the last year. Stock is right at $100 after hours.

James H.

Congrats Raimo! I joined you in the profit taking ... just made sense ... Ended up taking 75% of the puts off the table ....

I am getting it on how to play both sides of the market ... At least this is the biggest return I have seen from playing the downside! Thanks to Jeff and the rest of you guys for your help in all of this.

Bought MRX (put) / GOOG (call) and NVDA (call) at close ...

I was completely kicked out of IT. Sent a not very nice e-mail. This happens way to often. Not something you want to deal with on a day like today.

Breath......

Debbie

Great - I got stopped out of DECK earlier today :-(

Scoot

CROX up 21% after hours

Scoot

That is awesome that you made money today Raimo. While I didn't make money today, I took a pretty minor hit thanks to aapl, pot, and crox for the market being down so hard. That said it still hurt after the hella beat down I took earlier in the week.

Don't ya love hindsight though, I wish I had a lot of cash to throw at the market after some of these big drops. I almost never hold back cash waiting on drops for buying opportunities, yet another thing to work on.

James H.

Scoot,

Wow, go CROX, numbers looked much better 5 minutes ago but I'll take it.

James H.

On a big down day
you test your skills
or drink some beer
and pop some pills

now that's not the answer
that was only a joke
stay away from that crap
and do not do coke

better to hone your skills
and refine your rules
or go skinny dipping
in your neighbors pools

Keep you chin up
if you had a bad day
I still think the Phantom
Just might be gay

When the trading gets tough
an it all goes against you
there is nothing better
Than Johhny Walker Blue

But monitor your puts
pay attention to calls
or do like me
and bounce off of the walls

When the market moves
and the move seems crazy
you must stay focused
or your brain will get hazy


So stop thinking too much
the charts will show you the way
support and resistance
that is what I say

Raimo,

Glad I could make your day by not being on the blog.

PP

Oh crap Raimo,

Another Poem. And please don't tell my wife and 4 kids that I am gay!!

PP

PP...I had to get you out of hiding....I miss you buddy..

And I'll keep your secret too!! LOL

PP

Your last one was a rib breaker...Had me laughing for days..

Todays was really for the bloggers...

But I could not resist a small dig at you!!

Later!!!

Thanks Raimo

PP

Hooray for CROX! That's one of the few trades I have left. It might just save me (at least a little bit)

Bought SEPT 55 for 1.60 a while back. Trading right now near 60. Let's hope the market will let it run for a little while.

All in good fun Phantom...

I will get you though..just a matter of time..Chip is on it..

Shhhhhh Raimo,

I am composing

PP

PP,

Oh I am sure you are
pondering your next rhyme
looking to joke
one more time

Raimo,
Nice work.
BTW Prophet Charts is hosed on the charts right now, and I think that is reflected on the IT site as well.

Or I am a rich man.


Cheers,
ARTY

Hey everyone,

Sorry I have been out of contact. Like I mentioned earlier, the e-mails flooded in about Mastertalk and I had to rerecord, get a new computer and a lot of other BS I didn't want to deal with. After taking care of my trades and other tasks I am still swamped. I will be posting this evening, so please stay tuned.

Jeff

Arty

I am VERY FRUSTRATED with Prophet and IT...

Jeff,

You owe us nothing.....well, excpet perhaps the identitiy of my nemisis the Phantom Poet...

Hey guys,

Sorry I haven't been on here more lately. It's been a really rough few weeks. I have been profitable 5 months in a row and after being up an ENORMOUS amount the first 2 weeks in July, I've given it all back and now my streak is in jeopardy. But I don't let that bother me. I focus each morning on planting the seeds for the big trees to grow later. Trade smart, don't chase. Despite being down AGAIN today, I am excited for what's to come.

I wanted to share this with you, on Jeff's request, so that you can see that it doesn't matter how good you think you are, how seasoned a trader you perceive yourself, bad runs can happen to everyone.

There are many things I did wrong. Chief among them were:

1) not taking some profits on ridiculous up moves. sometimes, despite the 'letting your profits run' mantra, you NEED to take profits on a large move. Keep some, but lock in gains. They'll come back to help you out later.

2) getting a little too aggressive. I hedged with Dow puts, but not nearly enough. And to top it off, I sold them yesterday. ouch.

There are probably more mistakes, but here's the bottom line: I am a professional trader. This is what I do. Nothing will make me stop doing it, so I fight through every bad patch.

What did I do today? I stayed patient. I steeled myself. I watched, I shopped ALL DAY LONG. I closed out some bearish plays when the dow was down 400. Why? Sometimes when you're near support and the market is in a free fall you take your gains. I'm happy I did.

I got in on some awesome call plays today, and when this market continues higher, the past 2 weeks will be a memory.

Anyway, I hope at least a few of you derive some support from this post. If you're thinking of quitting, don't. Watch what's happening to the market and your account. See where you should have gotten in to some trades and see where you should have gotten out. Learn and burn. That's how you become a great trader. That's why we're all here. If it were easy, everyone could do it.

We are option addicts, not option dabblers.

Brett

Nicely put, I to can see many mistakes I've made but because of proper position size I'm fine and ready to kick some A@# tomorrow.

I love this, I definitely am an addict

Grant

Amy-

RE: ProphetChart and Java Settings

I have a Mac. Often when ProphetCharts won't load I have to go in and delete my Java settings (don't ask me what this is), but here is how I do it:

1) Go to applications
2) Click on Utilities
3) Click on Java
4) Click on file "J2SE 5.0"
5) Click on file "Java Preferences"
6) Select Java Version J2SE 1.4.2
7) Click on button on bottom "Delete files"
8) Restart your internet connection and ProphetCharts pulls back up.

Somehow the Java files get loaded up and stop working. I'm sure someone on the blog with more technical expertise than I could provide an explanation. I don't ask why, I just react :)

This obviously remedies an internal problem, but at the moment Prophet Charts is giving bad info. For example, it is showing MMM up 49% today- wouldn't that be nice.

Peter

Fantastic post Brett!!!

Yes I gave back some unrealized gain,but I've learned from it and moved...and bought SPX puts early this mornig.Ha! nevertheless today was a perfect day to review my recent trades where I got stopped out and what to look for next time. The important part being.... next time.

Get ready for the next move , whatever direction it may be.

Hope everyone has a great day.

Brett ... excellent stuff ... I'm a big fan because you put it out there - good or bad and I respect that ...

I have not once thought you would be out ... down maybe but not out! Figured as much with your absence the last couple of days knowing you were smoking with research and caution.

Thanks for posting .. It's an inspiration to us all. We're learning a LOT from you .. both good and bad and I respect it all!

Here's to profits tomorrow!

Had a great day,I went golfing
Turned on CNN and started Rolfing,
not because the market declined
but because my reputation had been maligned,
By Raimo you see, my lyrical buddy
whose account went up when all ours were cruddy,
he insinuated that I was gay
and then we made nice at the end of the day,
I was saddened by Michelle's plight
that she and her husband had a big fight,
about this process of continual learning
that hopefully leads to all of us earning,
enough money to go tell our employer
that we no longer want to work for him or her,
and then we we are feeling greedy
we will have enough to give to the needy,
and Tonya, your story was inspirational
I'm sorry your ex was confrontational,
but I am happy you found the right mate
and that your trading has opened a gate,
to this new life of which we all aspire
and with Jeff's blog we hopefully will retire,
to a better life where buffallo roam
and we don't have to read Raimo's F@#!ing poems!!!!!

Thanks Brett....I needed that!

Debbie

What a day to be away from my 'puter! Iknew it was bad this morning so I placed stops on my calls. All but CTRP were stopped out though I didn't have many left. My puts managed to keep my account positive at the end of the day.

Really sorry that I not only missed MT last night but missed the conference call today. Did that get archived someplace?

Called IT to complain and got 2 months extension. But now I can't get on the site..wtf?

Let's hope tomorrow is a better day. Of course, with almost nothing in my account I don't expect to make any money. Gotta start all over but thanks to Jeff and allayouze here I will have some money to buy stuff with.

This comment has been removed by the author.

Brett,
Awesome post. I was wondering where you were. I figured managing your 52 positions.

You are definitely going to battle through.

I am not a great trader yet, but I have burned a learned this week! And I am going to give it everything I've got.

I actually did pretty well the last two days but much of it from what I have learned from earlier in the week.

Thanks for the encouragement, but most of all for all you do for us OA's.


Cheers,
ARTY

Brett,

The way I see it, there are still 3 trading opportunities left in July. That should be more than enough time to seal the deal and continue keep the streak alive.

Thanks for sharing, it really helps to know that even you had a rough time during this last spell. I know I'm just getting started compared to you, and I have loads to learn, but I was feeling like I had come a long way to feel a bit blindsided this time. So, it really does help to have one of the "brilliant minds" of the bunch have a rough time with the rest of us, to make me feel less stupid this time. I do feel bad for your frustration though as I feel it with you.

As always, I treasure your advice.

Thanks for your story.

James H.

For anybody that's still with DECK
Moved 7.45 after hours 102.02

Grant

Brett,

That's an awesome post and it is definitely great for all of us to hear that even more experienced guys have rough spots. It definitely encourages me to keep going.

You said "plant seeds for the big trees to grow later." That is hitting right home to me. The biggest mistakes I make are because I feel like I've got to make all of my losses back NOW! Then I get killed on top of already getting killed.

I did better this time around than on 2/27 but I still had gotten overconfident in the past couple of months and paid for it the last few weeks. I went all bullish when the dow broke out and ignored my rule to keep a few puts in play. That's exactly what happened to me on 2/27 and what I swore would never happen again, but it did.

Anyway, great words. Thanks. But I've still got CROX and I bought SLB on a pullback today so here's hoping those two will run.

Brett,

Thanks! Perspective is gold!

I agree with the taking profits after big move days. This is something I would love to do, however, in the spirit of letting profits run and only holding one contract in most positions, I tend to let the one run. If I have more than one contract, the decision becomes real easy. I was in that quagmire today. I should have sold my BSC put today and bought a new lap top like I suggested earlier. I definitely should have sold being that it gave back a lot of the drop today. I did not in the spirit of letting the winner run. The gift in this case is a big down series of days and I should take it. Get back in if it finds resistance or consolidates and breaks lower.

I was mentioning to someone from work the other day that I perform much better during earnings season because I am forced to leave trades since my general rule is to not hold over earnings. I just need to hone my exiting skills on profitable trades quite a bit more. Especially with the market turbulence. I believe I need to change my strategy to more of a swinger in uncertain times. One of my thoughts is to take profits on calls on BIG up days while buying put positions on down trending stocks at resistance and take profits on puts on BIG up days and buying positions in uptrending stocks at support. All the while keeping diversified.

Everyone, let me know your thoughts.

All in all, it has been a good month for me.

I knew I should have stayed with DECK since my remaining position was only 1.5% of my account.... I stuck with my rules for now. That was not part of my "original" plan.

Amen Tim, Same here. The statement about having to make losses back now is so true for me. It seems so silly afterwards, but at the time time I'm just driven to get it all back. I still need to work on patience a great deal.

James H.

Brett-

Thanks for your post. It was very helpful and you put things into perspective.

I did better today than I did 2/27 so I'm grateful for that.

And thanks Raimo and the Phantom Poet for all your kookiness. It helps keep things light, especially on a day like today.

liz

Logan,

I did the same thing with BSC. I wanted to let my winner run and wait for a sign of weakness. I finally got nervous and sold at the close but would have made more if I had sold earlier in the day.

What do you consider the first sign of weakness? Is this when the stock closes in the opposite direction?

Long call position winners today, AAPL, BIDU, CROX, VDSI
Long call position losers today- NTRI, ACN, CRS, TIF, VIP
Long put position winners today BXP, HCP, HIBB, LAZ, RTP, HIBB, HMIN, MAA, SNE, VTR
Long put position losers today
NONE!

Overall I had a great due mostly due to holding over positive earnings and puts continuing to plummet nicely. I set them up with one day stops at the previous days high. Otherwise I'll let them run themselves into the ground. It helps to have both bullish and bearish plays at all times. The bearish plays made me a little money in the up market but they really came to the rescue today leaving me with a tidy profit.
Stan Lake

Hey Nemesis!!

You had to love that last line. My wife and I were LOL.

PP

Brett,
What a great post. It's so important for really good traders to share their trials as well as their triumphs. It helps to know someone else out there struggles. This isn't a competition. It's not important to be right. It's important that we learn and share.

Most of my trades were down, and I dumped my call on PCAR because it seriously broke support, however, I still made 40% on it. I struggle a little with my 200 shares. I didn't feel that selling them was the right thing to do. I decided to wait until tomorrow.

Thankfully, this time I followed my rules and stayed in DECK and CROX, and now am really glad I kept my emotions in check. We are at "camp profit" and so we were here supporting each other as we watched our trades go to crap.

New and experienced traders alike all here (at this retreat) to support and learn from each other. That's exactly what this blog is about.

Jeff, no worries about not posting. Busy is busy... we're here for you and for each other.

Congratulations to all for their day... You either learned something or you made money... no matter which, you won.

Michelle......i hope you come back soon...please read the post i left you near the end of the last thread (maybe it will help you feel better)


Raimo.....excellent work !!! i figured every one would show a little red today.


ps if this posts twice i am sorry...
call me crazy, but i bought OTM SPY calls at rock bottom price today.....looking at the chart and where price closed today, i am betting on a "dead cat bounce" tomorrow.....we will see

Brett, I think it all has been said so let me say "too and thanks!"

I just knew DECK would do this (even more so when I got stopped out). Those that are still in what was your entry how did your rules allow more than a 10% drop? I cannot position size for such a drop so I get stopped out of CROX, DECK and others that I wish to stay in. I have found that those that I exit to stop the bleeding take off after I either exit or get stopped out like BSC. Then I "learn" from this and try to stay in and get creamed as it moves away from me.

If I had been near a computer I probably would have played the down side but like 2/27 I was out all day. Where we are in our account I need help big time, any volunteers?

Anyone know if there is a recording of the conference call and if so where I can access it?

I just know I and we will get this but boy this is frustrating. My schedule and technology just does not seem to make it any easier.

Tonya I sure hope your call idea works, and wish I had the guts to try it. Oh and Ramio you are my hero for making money today and having a clear enough mind for a poem, wow!

Bob--I believe the only place you can access the call is from Investools/Mastertalk if you have access to it (and if it worked this time). The main purpose of the call was for Jeff to re-record the Mastertalk session from last night so that he could get it posted to the website. I don't believe the rest of the call was recorded to be posted anywhere.

Bob-

I'm with you on the computer thing. My cable and computer got all funky on me right before 11:30 PST and I was getting a little frantic because I knew that things were changing minute to minute. Finally the cable started working again.

You will get the hang of this. This is just a wild ride at the moment.

I stayed in DECK but I shouldn't have. Not that I really want to admit this, but... I was betting on it going back up with it's earnings release. I knew I was taking a gamble though and I only had one contract. If I had been following my rules I would have gotten out at least yesterday. But I made a conscious decision to do this. If it wasn't for AVB, I would have been down more today. It totally helped offset my loss on DECK. I was chalking this up to a learning expense but I won't do it again. At least I learned that. And after hours for DECK were good but we'll see what happens tomorrow because anything is possible.

If you haven't already read "Trading in the Zone" I suggest you read it or maybe read it again. I think it's really helpful and it's made me look at the mindset of trading in a whole new way. And sometimes it just takes a fresh approach each and every day.

liz

Good evening, addicts.
I wonder if someone could help me with some information about Bionovo. I believe the initial story I heard was that there would be an FDA decision this summer about one of their cancer drugs.

However . . on the website, it seems that the drug farthest down the "pipeline" is MF101 (which is, I believe the drug that was mentioned). It had great results in phase 2 testing in June, but still needs to undergo a third phase of testing, planned for early 2008, with approval expected in late 2010 or early 2011.

Am I missing something? If so, would someone please enlighten me?
This seems like a great drug - I'm rooting for it's approval - but I don't know that I want to tie up $ in it for the next 3 years.
Thanks for any input!
Lori

Is anyone seeing whacky stuff on Prophet charts now? I'm looking at DECK and it says after hours that it down 67.46. POT is showing a price of 33.65 down 42. CTRP also is similarly cut in half. Ditto for lots of others too. wtf?

DG--

Ditto.... They are all screwed up. WTF is right!!! I've been saying that all night.

DG,

Try going to Yahoo finance to get after hours quotes. I had the same problem on IT and Prophet and it scared me to death. I am still in ICE and it said it was down $40 after hours. I changed, went on yahoo and I feel better now.

And . .in yet another wtf . .. the home page of IT says that the Dow was down 108.76 today

It's almost like IT got hacked by some gremlins. NASDAQ down 2648 to close at .13. A definite hack job.

Prophet charts is hosed and it is the feed for Investools. If you use TOS the TOS Charts are working.

Prophet is working on the problem.

Cheers,
ARTY

Thanks Liz, I have not read that book but will order it off AMZN and read it.

I found myself thinking about Michelle and talking with Pam about what she is going through and my heart hurts for her. Funny how that happens and we never met.

I am now down to only three trades and even SHV is looking good to me at this point.

I am getting really tired of IT and Prophet and I am a big IT supporter. Sounds like we need to call in and get our couple of months.

Well these last few days have not hurt as bad as 2/27 but I was trading less than a month then. The frustrating thing is that ALL my trades were profitable and in pretty good shape and then I go on a trip with the family and most get stopped out for a loss, that sucks big time.

Hey, my Mom and Pam are impressed with the cabinets though so that is a plus. Hope my Dad would be proud.

Oh and Liz thanks the open description of DECK. I thought I must be really missing something or crazy. What you did is what I was going to do as well but rules are rules so I exited (well trully as stopped out). Does not mean I am not crazy just I understand what you did so that may be scary for you.

Tim are you still using 2xATR or 3% below support as your hard stop? If so are you still using something before this as your mental stop? That is what I have been doing but with this recent action was whipped right to the hard stop which was beyond my max risk so am rethinking this approach.

Brett, thank you for sharing. I think what you wrote speaks to everyone on a different level. For me, it was this…

I’m an entrepreneur by nature and what I enjoy hearing from other entrepreneurs – more than their success stories or tales of woe – is their resilience while they’re in the midst of hard times. The same goes for traders. For me, it’s not as important to know that people like you either struggled or succeeded this week. No…for me, it’s most valuable to hear that your confidence and desire remain in tact when you’re put to the test.

…it’s experiencing one of John Elway’s many legendary comebacks live, not reading about what he did years later.

…it’s watching a family member refuse to give up in their battle with cancer, not being told of their strength during a friend’s reminiscences.

…it’s the power of now; the unending push to constantly learn and grow and it’s refreshing to hear of your determination during days like today.

I’ve taken my share of unnecessary losses (still do) and each one has been worth its weight in gold in terms of education. It’s all too easy to think about what I could have bought with the money I lose on a foolish play, but it’s always quickly followed with the thought that I just paid to never make that mistake again. And that is always followed by countless hours of homework. Mistakes alone won’t make me better if it doesn’t act as a trigger to search for the “what” in my error.

Anyway, enough of the mildly-drunken philosophy. I just thought I’d share that with you…and anyone else who might take something from it…along with my thanks.

Cheers,
Dave

Tonya,
Just a word of caution about buying options in this environment…especially SPY options. A gap up – even a minor one – will crush the VIX and drain the value from those options (remember Jeff’s teachings on Vega). I pick on him whenever he sells spreads, but such is a good strategy in this environment. If you’re speculating on a bottom, selling over-inflated puts might be an effective strategy (e.g. naked puts, put verticals, reverse calendar spreads, etc). Just a thought…

Dave

Bob-

My heart hurts for Michelle as well. Though, it makes me appreciate my husband even more so.

I'm sure your father would be very proud of your work. And I bet it makes your mom very happy.


Dave-

I love what you said even if it was mildly drunken philosophy. ;-)

liz

If there are those who are still on this thread... there's a new one going...