Geez, I once forgot to change Order Type from "short" to "buy" and ended up shorting a stock at the absolute low of the day
Been there, done that........about 4 years ago I had 2000 shares short of NVLS, went to cover the order for a nice gain......actually added 2000 more. Left the house to go play golf , thinking I had a great day. Came back to find out I was down about 5k....Everyday a lessson is learned
Whew!...Makes me feel better. I actually "bounced" the 300 lb. all the way up, but didn't count with our "judge" ( as I fully agree, it should not have). Maybe he was talking about ants...I think they can lift 100x their weight.
1/28/09: Total P/L +70.80 As I stated before, I made the mistake of not changing my target on the DIA trade and left $100 extra out there, which is not the main issue. It's hard enough finding good/solid trades to get into, but to not take the extra 10 seconds to make sure everything about the trade is set correctly is just pure laziness and a HUGE mental error. I could use the excuse that it's been real busy here (DC) with the new Presidency, and it's true that I have not had as much time to watch intraday for trades...but to actually get into a trade and then not to take the time to make sure everything is set correctly ( a matter of 10 seconds,tops) is a mistake that COULD be VERY costly at some point.....just a note for any new traders out there who may be reading this.....DOUBLE CHECK EVERYTHING!!!................................done. And for those in the know regarding DC........I'm now headed out to Rock Bottom for $1 draft happy hour( which they have raised to 1.35) to spend my +70.80.........BAD GEEZ, BAD!!!!
1/29/09: Ok......very hard day to call the market. I'm going into the morning with no bias in either direction, due to the gap down after the rally. If we are weak early on I'll look for stocks holding well to buy if we get a reversal up...and if we move up , I'll look for stocks staying weak to short if we get a reversal. All in all, I'm guessing a light trading day. Long watch today : SEPR, SYMC (if they stay strong while market is weak) Short QCOM, XLF(or buy faz) Good Trading all.
1/29/09: Total P/L +0.00 No trades. I tried to short DRYS in the afternoon , but no shares available on Scottrade. It finally looks like things are starting to settle down here in the D.C. area, so I should be back to a "normal" trading schedule starting tomorrow or monday.
1/30/09: Friday looks like another scalp day. Market still looks unsure of where to go. I am highly considering moving my Max loss to - $100 for the day(half lots) to lock in a decent month gain and I don't see anything that shows me to be aggressive today. On daily charts COST USO RMBS look weak.