Blogasm

I had a request to speak about diversification. Normally, on a Monday special requests are denied. However, it is not like this is a complicated topic...or at least this is not a topic that should be complicated.

How you approach diversity in your portfolio is your own business. But if you are building a portfolio of owning different investments such as ETF's, Equities, Gold, Bonds, etc...try to assign a delta to your portfolio. Confused? If you own 1 share of stock, you have a delta of 1. If you own one share of ten stocks, you have a delta of 10. If you own one share of ten stocks, and one call option on another stock...you get the point. If you are confused as to why many of you lost your ass-ets on Friday, plain and simple- you owned too much.

Diversify.

The last big drop in the market I went out and gave specifics as to how I survive in the market. I opened your eyes to my portfolio specifics. And while I am not about to do it again, I want you to understand the idea behind it. Last week (Monday) I mentioned how I was bearish for the upcoming week, and traded accordingly. I took bearish positions (negative delta) on trades that were highly correlated to the market, and other bearish positions that were going down regardless of the market. At the same time, I still took bullish positions (positive delta) on stocks that were moving higher. I try and stay neutral (offset delta) to the market. This is the only way you will survive as a directional trader. If you own too much, and by design your trades are intended to be profitable moving in only one direction, a day like Friday will eat you and all of your money.

Many of you spend too much time worrying about things like other peoples trading signals, what price pattern it is you are looking at, which strike price to select, how to read implied volatility, etc when you haven't constructed the basic tenets of portfolio management or asset allocation.

Shame on you.

To your defense, I can't make any assumptions when I have no idea what your time frame is, what your financial standing is, your risk tolerance, your investing objectives, or anything else looks like about you. What I do know is this... I don't care who you are or what you are trying to accomplish, you will not last long in the pursuit of becoming a decent trader without creating a firm foundation of these basic principles, which are...

Risk management- Plan your loss before planning your profit.

Diversification- Be bullish, be bearish, be involved in various groups/markets.

Proper Position Sizing- Trade small, trade safe.

Effective Trading Plan- Make sure your plan works, and/or makes money.

Cutting Losses Short- Enter a trade that offers a small loss.

Letting Winners Run- Don't kill your winners.

Curbing Your Emotion- This is a bi product of trading small.

Since I have spent the last ten years of my life developing and optimizing all of the above, I am able to do this (see below) on a day like today... or any other day for that matter.

Recommendation: Give your account the same foundation so you can participate in the activity above.

Long: My rules

Short: My emotion

Disclaimer: If you got emotional and closed good positions this morning, or shorted "mother market"... again, shame on you.

Update: If you took any part of this post personal, don't. You know I am not in the business of attacking, just trying to get a message across. If I were mad, I wouldn't have addressed it at all.. When all else fails, "Fresh Tactics."

everybody please buy some sandals. go DECK

Not much commenting...this is a first. I think we're all holding our heads down in shame. I know I am. Don't be mad at us, Massa. We'll do better...

Oh yeah, Chris, I saw your little smarty pants comment in the last thread that was directed at me you big poo-poo head! :)

Even though Jeff gave us a butt-whipping, I have to admit, I'm printing this post out. It's going to be a big help to me...

Jeff,
Thanks for sharing again more details on diversification. I asked again because I clearly did not get it the first few times. I am printing out this response, along with the last one you gave, to study and figure out where I went wrong on diversification.

Thanks,
Michelle

Ouch. I resemble that post.

Thanks, Jeff, I know I needed that.

Thanks Jeff! Another post printed out so I can read it over and over!

liz

Hey, Hey, Hey....

I am not whooping on anyone, just trying to re-iterate the same principles I teach everyday. You know I am not in the business of chewing anyone out, just trying to get a message across. If I were mad, I wouldn't have addressed it at all.

Remember, when all else fails...

Fresh Tactics.

Jeff,
THanks, I needed that.
Question: When you said you took bearish trades that were highly correlated to the market - can you give an example of that? Were you talking about index puts or something else?

Long: Fresh Tactics

Short: Poo-Poo Heads

Jeff,
Please don't misunderstand my comment, it wasn't a negative comment. I have read this entry of yours 3 times and each time I see something new. Something that I should have been doing and something that I should not have been doing.

Good stuff.

I don't think that you are mad at all. You have children, I have children. Although we are not your children, the principle is the same. We correct because we care and we want them to do better. That's what I heard in your post.

Friday was bad for me because I simply got too big for my brithces and paid the price. It was a learning experience and I am glad for it.

I can't express my appreciation for all that this blog has afforded me.

Thank-you, Jeff.

DG,

Yes, that can be something like the Q's, the SPX, index futures, or perhaps a stock that trades with the movement of the averages.

Jeff,

Ditto what Laney said. I appreciate this blog very, very much...

Laney,

Understood. Some are easily offended by my directness and I wanted to hedge that trainwreck before it happens. The reaction to my actions are usually boatloads of e-mails.

Not today.

bowing to jeff...

we are struggling and learning ...and will try to do better..

I am compilling a Jeff Bible...

Mimosa

You can bet your sweet A$$ that this acct will from now on have its fair share of PUTS

As a matter of fact...Put is going to be my middle name.

I will be the Master of Disaster from this point forward.

Thanks Jeff, I think I got it THIS TIME

Jeff,
Take me as an example so that others might prosper. As you may know (Awesome weekend seeking Natural Resources notwithstanding) I am having a cruddy (how bout that instead of profanity) Friday/Monday, I closed some positions this morning. I should have closed them Friday but I didn't so I just magnified the problem! I broke a rule and sold in the first hour. I SUCK!

I feel shame.

ART

For me...I have adopted the REE rule. Get in as close to where I'd get out if the trade goes against me: enter/exit point. So my next rule is to set a stop loss at my exit point (with a little wiggle room). For me, that has taken the emotion out of the trades. It pulls the trigger for me when my trigger finger is in doubt- and it has saved me. I can always get back in the trade at another time.

Lis,

Call it LEE. It's your rule now, time to own it. Ramio learned the concept, and made it his own. Very admirable.

Mimosa,

No need to Bow, just make sure you heard me. Barry did.

ART,

At least you had a great weekend.

Jeff, thanks and I see nothing in your post for anyone to get upset about but hey I am not normally thin skinned.

I am a bit confused by my account hit as I thought I did just what you outlined but several of my puts crossed the line and acted like calls. With this I did own too much but I was fairly balanced calls to puts, had stock, different industries, Gold, even SHV but no EFTs. Still I got kicked in the teeth (sorry not a good visual). I think I need to walk through this with someone and will see if an IT will help. Stops today killed me.

Looks like a doji star is forming on the dj30, perhaps a big reversal will come?

Jeff

I heard you. Everytime I read your message, I seem to learn something new..I need to digest, and disciple myself more.


what happened to your post? the grey box is gone.. and we are still waiting for the new blog!!

Mimosa

I am VERY much so awaiting the new blog... :)

Heck, I'm always excited just to hear each day's Marketcast (which I have started taking notes on in my journal, and I find that helpful).

And I'm definitely awaiting tonight's open house...

Oh Jeff,

I forgot to say, thanks for the all of the posts, lessons, and Casts.

I think I will go have an egg!

Cheers,
ARTY

Short: Selling in the 1st hour

Long: Camouflage face Paint

Jeff,

When you titled this thread Blogasm.....did you really mean it or were you just faking it???

Krystal,
I looked it up. It's not in the dictionary. "Poopoo head: (n) an individual that annoys or confounds people, usually on a day of immense stress. Normally a term of endearment. "

This is how I choose to define it. I am King of the Village. I make the rules. Idiots bow before me. Raimo... just shoot me and put me out of my misery.

Jeff... thanks for the post. I was close to tears as I read it. Five days ago I really, really thought I was starting to get it. I now realize I have SO much more to learn. But I get parts of it pretty well. I, too, am going to print this one off and read it many times. I will also print off the link as it has more awesome material.

Thank you.

1. We should be risking the same amount of money on each trade, i.e. 1% of $100,000 portfolio is $1,000. This means that if the trade goes against us than we should be willing to lose this much.

2. If we are getting in at our exit we should be able to purchase more contracts because the risk/reward numbers are much bigger.

3. Losing small basically means losing the same amount of money on each trade that goes against you. If you are managing your portfolio properly what else could it mean?

The only way I can see losing less than the 1% risked is if the trade breaks your get out point enough to get out but not so severe as to lose the full 1%. i.e. ascending triangle trade closing below the breakout line but not crushing below it.

Shouldn't our losses be the same for every trade? It's just our reward that fluctuates.

Kim, some good points I'd never really thought about.... Thanks.

CF - I got into this on Friday when it looked like a breakout w. volume. It's down quite a bit now and I think I wasn't position sized correctly so my loss is larger than I thought BUT is this broken? Fresh eyes please...

DG
CF is in no way broken in my eyes. Mind you my eyes may be broken. There's no Horizontal support... but a nice diagonal trend line that isn't broken until at least 75 I don't think.

The dow's bouncing back a bit at day's end. I bailed on PCP and PNR for earnings tonight. I loved PNR and need to find a put to replace it. New eyes tomorrow and lots of cash.

DG, I've got a trend line drawn in on CF and the candle is smack dab on it. I don't know if it's broken or not, but your next level of support may not be until that old resistance level of around $66/$67 if you stay in.

Dontcha hate these plays that just kind of teeter around your line in the sand?!?!?!

THE PHOENIX LIVES!!!!

Jeff,
We appreciate your directness and your patience with us. We are not going to be successful until we learn this one.

Thanks, again.
We'll see ya tonight.

Michelle

Krystal
What's the spelling on dontcha? Incidentally I was NOT referring to you in the last post... you are by no means a dictionary-phobe. Addict, yes. Phobe, no.

Chris! Thanks for reminding me about PNR earnings! I was so obsessed with my losses today I forgot about my meager winners. I wanted to be out before earnings as well. Thanks!

dj girl

support on cf is in the 75 range it is in the channel hasn't broken support as of yet wait to the close it don't think it will close below support although watch out earnings are near by..

Chris,

I can't even pretend that dontcha is a word. I can't BELIEVE you caught me on that one!

And who exactly were you referring to if it wasn't me? Huh? Huh?

Oh, you poo poo heads are all alike...

DG
Dija get out? (c'mon Krystal... I DOUBLE dare ya!) I got out with a decent profit today and a great profit overall. Hope you got out on such short notice.

Chris, now you're just being cruel for the sake of being cruel! :)

I'm going to take a nap!

Are you going to be on the Open House presentation? If so, I'll see you there!

Chris, I did get out of PNR. Had to get out at the bid...couldn't finesse it though I tried.

Stayed in CF but it is one of my big losers so far. Interesting that last week I had my best week ever and today my single worst day ever. The only thing that went the right way was PNR which I had to close due to earnings.

I also think I compounded my errors by buying a couple of SPY puts. After reading Jeff's post I realized I was still delta positive and all my holdings are S&P, not nasdaq. So I bought a couple of puts which promptly went against me as well when the market rallied in the last half hour. I'm not sure how or when to jump into index puts for a hedge.

I hesitate to admit this, but I was stopped out of BPHX by about $0.30 this morning, only to watch it close up 14%. Please excuse me for ever doubting your bird Brett, for I am a loser.

But get this, 5 out of 6 positions I was stopped out of early this AM closed higher today (BPHX, LDSH, PHO, SNDA, & WBD). By the way, I was setting stops using a purchase price - 2xATR.

I use stops for fear of waking up to a significant crash (say over 1000 points). Stops also appeal to me because they take the decision making process out of when to sell, and allow me to know precisely what I'm risking before entering a trade. Perhaps with better diversification, I can allow my portfolio act as the security I'm looking for. I obviously don't have this figured out yet. The cost does not exceed the benefit today.

Peter

Peter, don't forget that stops still would not help you much in the event of waking up to a crash because a stop order is a MARKET order, not a limit order. So technically if a stop is triggered at the open because a position gaps against you, you are breaking one of the "sacred" rules of trading: Never place a market order in the first hour of the trading day.

That's just my opinion, though... by no means the gospel truth. And my opinion is probably a little biased because I use mental, not hard stops. :)

So far the cost of my education is $4,766. Now, I am through with this, and it is time to put it to work.
I had a small account to trade options with...now, I have a very small acct. to trade options with:(
But on the positive side...When my trading account grows and has alot of 0's behind it, I will know how to protect it.
Bow to the Pheonix today!
Looking forward to the open house tonight.

Barry, I've been there a few times. In my opinion, the best education you can get is to have your account cut in half (twice is actually preferable to once). You will respect the markets more, you will respect your trades more, and you will learn to protect yourself.

Um..uh...

THE PHOENIX!!!!

POT and BPHX... the only two stocks in my RRSP right now. Both are long-term stocks that have taken a licking but will keep on ticking. I didn't even notice that they were down on Friday until this afternoon. I took an absolute kick to the head in my RRSP on Friday and made 1/2 of it back today.

Congrats to holdovers on AAPL ... nice return for those who did!

Barry, I feel your pain. But I won't give up if you won't...

Okay, actually I don't plan on giving up period, but it seemed like a good cliche to stick in there, didn't it?

DG (or anyone else who knows)

How do you find out what index a stock belongs to. Jeff posted the DOW 30 a while back and I saved those. Where do you find this info?

mjh;s

Please ignore the letters at the end. Dumb puppy licked my feet, scared me and I hit the keyboard and enter.

Laney,

Market Posture tab, then click on the links on the right to get the lists.

JK

Fellow option additcts,

I'm a firefighter in Carlsbad, just north of San Diego Ca. As you might know, we are experiencing some incredible fire activity! If you could say a prayer, think good thoughts or what ever it is you do, would be greatly appreciated by the firefighters and residents of our county!
I will be back to trade another day, with a vengence! Now, I have to do my job, which I love!
Thanks!
scott

Laney, I thought it was some super secret code or something.

Peter and Barry can I relate to you. Peter sounds like we have been using the same plan with 2xATR. Normally that works for me but today it killed me. I have yet to see what would have happened if I had not had a stop. I think I am close to flying without stops or making them so far away like 3-4 times ATR as a market tanks emergency and even then I am not sure the value. My experience is that every few months I get killed by my stops like today and it wipes out all my gains. One stock and all my calls stopped out today and all but one are up now. These stopped out in the first 3 minutes while I was trying to get TOS to respond and it wouldn't go through.

Jeff, see you in your session tonight.

Scott-
Prayers, Good thoughts and fingers crossed!

liz

Scott, Guys like you make life for all of us safer and protected .. thanks for what you do there in CA and know my prayers are with you man!

Scott,
Our prayers are with you. I just got a call from a firefighter friend that had a firefighter friend that was just lost. Would love to talk to you - bob@noburnca.com

Jeff,

Great post as usual. It felt like the emotions were higher than normal around here and I'm always wanting the direct approach. You are clear and to the point and that's way it should be. It will only make us better traders and learn how to handle days like friday. this year alone have been through a few of them and each time it gets a little easier.

p.s. AAPL blew out earnings . Yippeeee!!!!!!

Some interesting trades to take a look at.

MTL-Already had earnings. Russian (Intl). Alloys. Trains. All wrapped up in one.

NVR-for a possible put play... could be iffy.. Had earnings so is up but to previous resistance. Would be an easy out.

liz

So, nobody is going to bite on my post? Do you all have defined what a small loss is to you?

Do you all know how to calculate risk vs. reward? I know anyone who went through the 3 day live should....

Are you risking more on one trade versus another?

Haha, watching AAPL after hours its times like these I wish I had let all 5 contracts go, however I know in the long run taking most off the table will benefit me and keep me guarded against the unexpected.

What I should focus on is I likely made an extra 1k-1500 by leaving 1 contract on the table instead of making nothing by taking everything off. I'll just forget I could have made 5k+ instead, haha.

Oh well, I live to trade another day.

Ben

CRNT

ThankYouThankYouThankYouThankYouThankYouThankYouThankYouThankYouThankYouThankYouThankYouThankYouThankYouThankYouThankYouThankYouThankYouThankYouThankYouThankYouThankYouThankYouThankYou!!!!

PS, I am pumped about the open house tonight and I found a solution to my class conflict.

I am not going to class, LOL.

Long:Money making advice

Short:Boring lectures

Ben

Ben, what class was it? What's your major, anyway?

I'm ashamed to admit it, but when I was in college, I ALWAYS skipped class to go to the gym to play basketball. Hey, it was open gym and I LOVE playing basketball. Of course, options is a good excuse, too!

:)

Kim, You dissappoont me.

Yes I know I spelled that wrong..

Hey whats this CRNT...what did I miss? U holding out here?? Why did u not alret me to this> Hum, haah, ayyyeee??

Kim,

I AM risking about the same on each trade. :) I learned to calculate reward:risk in Josh Black's Basic Options Capstone Trading Room.

But when I first started, I wasn't doing that. I was just kinda flying by the seat of my pants. Now, calculating reward:risk is one of the first things I do before getting into a trade. When you combine that with REE, you get SUCH BETTER trading results. I use either the B.S. calculator, or the Theo Price tool in TOS (BTW, Barbara, are you still doing okay with that?) to determine reward:risk.

I hope all the other OA are doing reward:risk. But you know, I think I heard Jeff say that he doesn't usually use the B.S. calculator since it's theoretical. He said he just does the simple math... one dollar of risk versus 13 dollars of reward, or whatever. So that's a good way too, just as long as you DO IT.

Do you find that calculating reward:risk has helped you with your trading? Actually, that's one of my favorite parts because I get to see, in DOLLARS, what the payoff would be (ex. DSX) :).

Marketcast available NOW!

Raimo.
If you're going to spell it wrong, may as well mangle it completely huh? I propose we call a truce and form a posse (posse: (n) a body or force armed with legal authority... (and guns)) and go get Kim. She's holding out on the group.

Anyone interested in GRMN these days? It was forming a nice little holding pattern around 110 and took off today. I'm feeling empowered and think I might buy a wack of contracts and hold over earnings. First I'll mortgage the house for some extra cash.

Ha, by the way.
Ha, ha, ha.
But I don't know if I'm just in love with GRMN (I'm losing my GPS from my Maxima when I get the new car on Wednesday... so I might have to get me a GRMN.)

Raimo,
I see 25 is still intact with ELON. I may yet live to eat crow (not Russel) on this one. Did you really double down on it?

Ben,
Good call on the class thing. Attendance is a highly overrated commodity... except in any class Jeff's teaching.

Raimo,

Uhh...It was in my bullish watch list (CRNT). I took the trade on 10/10 as a bounce play. I usually write where I got it from but didn't on this one. Sorry! It's also a long term stock play for me. I am so sorry the whole group didn't have it. I want everyone to make moolah right along with me.

This comment has been removed by the author.

Chris, a truce you propose
H,mm , well I just dont knows
Though I added to ELON
I could easily say be gone
Though Chris you are a target in my sights
I could say, give up these fights
I took the trade ELON on a whim
But I'd rather get Kim.....
And I owe the poet a little respect
I've been slacking I'd bet he'd suspect

Va Beach Girl - CRNT is an IBD stock, not sure if it's slipped off the first page of their IBD 100, but I tried to get some about a month ago and it fell off the radar, thanks for the reminder.

Also, thanks for the post on risk/reward - good to keep the fundamentals in the forefront of the brain...

Raimo,
Oh boy were you stretching on that one! ELON bit me in the buttocks. I exited on Friday pm.

Krystal,
I do a risk/reward analysis prior to any trade. The reward needs to be at least $2 for every $1 I put out for battle. Instead of Theo price or Black Scholes I stick with intrinsic value for my option plays. It's a worst case scenario set up to give me the minimum reward for my risk. I'm a worse case scenario kind of girl.

Doji Girl - did you hear the comments on your CF on the Marketcast? It's all good...

Kim,
Have you ever played "Worse Case Scenario"? It's hilarious. A good game to play with the whole family.
If you're "one of those" girls then you should win all the time.

Brian,
Pardon my ignorance, but is IBD Investor's Business Daily? If so, I didn't get it from there 'cause I don't read their publication. Glad I could put it back on your radar, though.

I learned the Worst Case Scenario situation the hard way. That's why I have a son graduating high school this year instead of 5 years from now. Oh...and the other one is 2.5 years behind. This year Dan and I will be celebrating our 18th wedding anni-misery. You do the math.

Funny,
That one's not in the game. My wife's Parents celebrated their 50th anniversary 7 months before her sister celebrated her 50th birthday.

I think I know what you mean.

Chris,

Not possible. Don't you know parents don't do that kind of thing? Off to the open house.

Hi everyone... getting ready for the open house here... they just said they currently have 1000 people online and expect up to double of that!!! AMAZING!!!!!

-steven

I'm in the open house. Anyone having problems with the audio cutting in and out? Mostly out?

Yea, I am it is trying to connect I can't tell if its my shitty internet connection of investools end, so far I have not been connected for 5 minutes

Ben, they just chatted that they're working on correcting the audio. So if you see the charts updating and no audio you should be good. We're on DRYS right now.

I have been disconnected from audio 4 times so far...

Almost wondering if i should just download the recording later.

-steven

question answered. I thought it was me.
barry

I'm done. We'll just download it later.

************* brief interlude of elevator music ****************

Please stand by. Our operators are standing by to take your calls. Please forward all complaints to 1-800-eat

For audio..

CALL 866-469-3239 and enter meeting number 575 635 301 , then hit the # sign. No ID required.

Are you guys listening via your computer or by phone? I have the audio on my phone and am having no problems.

Michelle

I should have called in... I missed so much now that I might as well download the final version after... too many people on the call I guess!!!

-steven

WebEx *($@*#()&$^)*&!!!

I have audio on phone too,no problem also.

Raimo,
Thanks man. That was an awesome presentation and I only got in on it thanks to you posting the numbers. I missed about 25 minutes so I'll listen to it tomorrow.

Thanks for the Open house Jeff! Despite the audio issues, well worth the time. Made me realize that I have to be quicker to embrace changing strategies...

BTW - ANDE broke out of the Ascending Triangle that Jeff indicated last week and has about a 7 point target from here...held up well in the past week also. So now the question is, do I buy the directional, or Spread trade it?!

Jeff
THank you so much. A truly fantastic class, especially knowing how fond you are of these techniques. Makes me realize there really IS a place in my life for these... especially in this high-volatility environment.

Thanks again. We only got half the audio, so we'll listen to the rest tomorrow.

Well , I guess it was a nice ride buying options. It was KISS(keep it simple).

I agree with Jeff and the idea of diversification through trading spreads calendars, straddles.... All the single options are so expensive usually by the time I find one that meets my strict risk:reward rules 1/2 the day is gone and I probably could have entered 5 spread trades, selling some nice premium.

I have a full time job and it's not trading, I need to spend less time looking for perfect entry trades which end up falling outside my risk/reward rules.

Just venting because I spent 2 hours today looking for directional bets that were too expensive and wasted my time.

Good luck all OA. Good night.

this was like pictionary trying to figure out what you were saying no audio what a pain in the .........

Out of the 20 minutes of audio I DID hear... the thing that I got the most out of is checking the $SPX and $VIX every day. What a HUGE revelation for me!!! Now I know where both Jeff and Brett saw this reversal coming!!

I am so excited I might throw up. Ladies... avert your eyes and cover your ears.

In looking at the SPX I see today could be a higher low and the start of a higher high. We'll have to see how tomorrow plays out.

AWWWW what a bummer!! I didn't see that we had an option to dial in for Jeff's presentation. I finally gave up on the sound coming back. I guess the online sound system was on overload with the huge audience. I'll just have to wait til the recording is ready.

--Patti

Oh, I missed it! Where can I get the recording?

Raimo, yes you have been slackin'
but I have been quiet, 'cause you are packin'

I do expect some serious insulting
I'm sure your therapist, you are consulting,

'cause you did not achieve your status
without a WNR extending apparatus,

which must be fogging your mental state
which is why you so often masturbate,

So Raimo, take your hand off the trigger
you know Mr. Wiggly won't get bigger,

and answer Chris about ELON,
and then continue the self abuse marathon.

PS. can you still read this?

PP

Ok Anonymous 1

dj30...what about the first wave of a Bear flag formation?

Anonymous 2

Lara,
I sent you the email 3 times. Did you ever get it?

C2, my good man, I just read through your posts from this morning and you seemed very unstable. You seem better now. That is a good thing.

Everyone, all this talk of diversification violations has me a bit perplexed since they all seem to focus on one or two days of market volatility. To me, diversification is there to protect us from disaster and allowing us to trade another day, not our accounts being down anywhere from five to ten percent or so depending on your risk tolerance and objectives. Let’s face it, there are days when our accounts fluctuate a great deal and Friday and today seem to be a couple of those days. Being aggressive option traders, it happens. Plan and simple, this is the risk we accept by being aggressive traders.

Today, I had a much tougher day than Friday, if you are look at my account balance that is. First thing this morning I was pissed because I had almost ten consecutive up days before Friday. Then I realized that I have had periods that I have been down for almost ten consecutive days and lived to trade another day. In fact, over the past two trading days I have closed seven trades, four winners and three losers. The realized gains of the winners exceeded the unrealized gains I lost.

This reaffirmed the old adage that we must follow the charts, our plan of those charts and listen to what they are saying, while not listening to the unrealized gains we are losing. If our unrealized gain goes from 100% to 50% by the time it violates our line in the sand, we are still better off than we were when we entered that trade. This is where we need to drop the sorrow that is felt for the dissipation of this unrealized gain because the next 400% gainer will come, we just need to be patient and accept it when it gets here.

Build a rock solid plan, eliminate the emotion from the ebbs and flows of price action and the big gains will come! If disaster ensues, we are comfortable knowing that the downside in our accounts is limited because we are diversified and position sized properly.

Now I need to finish skimming over the next 100 comments which probably address my thoughts.

Have a good day!

Anonymous 2

I don't see a bear flag, the doji star usually indicates a big potential reversal and most investors eye this type of chart more than others. It also may follow through to "three river morning star" pattern then to a breakout to the upside.

ICE could be trying to form a c&h

John,
Nice post this early in the morning (except the part about me being unstable. My therapist says I'm not unstable any more, so I'M NOT UNSTABLE!!! It's just that the voices keep telling me to buy ELON.) You are soooo right. I was telling Catherine yesterday that there are many days that the dow is down 100 and we're up a bunch. Stuff happens. I'm still struggling with the emotional thing when it hits the fan like it has the last two trading days... but as I said earlier... I'm getting better. The trick for me right now is to not have too much unrealized profit hanging out on the clothesline (a device used for drying clothes... in the past century) at any given time. Getting in at REE makes that much, much easier.

Sue,
Did you mean GS? I don't see C&H on ICE, but GS.

Michelle

CNQ

Buy the dip?
or
Sign of weakness?

ice certainly isn't textbook,,but i see a base from july thru sept with it sitting near a breakout point

CNQ buy the dip

CYNO - flag breakout

Hey DG
Are ya glad you dumped PNR yesterday?

Me too.

Well what do you know ... I get a 'CLEAN CUPS' today ...

Go for it!

Chris, you big, fat Meanie... how long are you going to torment me? So I use dictionary.com. SO WHAT?!?! This is cruel and unusual punishment, and I won't have it anymore!

Okay, now on to trades. I got emotional and exited XOM with a small loss. Today, they're up some. Are you still in it?

I thought I had this emotion thing down, I really did. But yesterday I just kept thinking about the pain and agony of losing all those unrealized gains on Friday, and I (dare I say it?) panicked. Oh, the shame! I mean, what was I so scared of? I was properly position sized with 4 small contracts, and I hadn't even hit my exit yet. I just flat out panicked. UGH! And when that happens, it's not just the loss of money, you know. I mean, that's bad enough, but it's the disappointment that I feel about myself that really brings me down.

I plan on doing something very painful this week: printing out the chart all of my trades from the last 60 days and analyzing them, from entry point to exit. With my track record, that's going to hurt, but it's what I need...

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  • From Saratoga Springs, Utah, United States
  • I am a professional trader and an instructor for Investools. I've had relations with the markets for 9 years. Born in Concord, CA, but reside in Saratoga Springs, Utah. Father of THREE, Husband of one.
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