I'm all about not hiding my weaknesses - that makes the little bastards stronger - but I don't know where the delete button for them is. If you've discovered something new and exciting, please feel free to share.
You seem to be a bit perturbed by my comment—there is really no need. I actually enjoy reading your journal/blog very much—(it provides some sort of a ‘trade’ between your sense of exhibitionism and my own sense of voyeurism.. JK…). My comment was primarily addressing what you wrote in the last line “(Damn, I hated even writing that.)” referring to your commitment on ‘…give up trading full time’ which I thought would be, while very admirable, a glaring over-reaction… So, my anonymous friend.. enjoy this ride (or sailing) and your ‘blemishes’ as much as you enjoy your ‘feathers’ and success; convince yourself to drop that commitment that you made (in earnest, I am sure) and find that special damn button which will allow you to delete and undue that last line you wrote “(Damn, I hated even writing that.)”. Wishing you a smooth and safe sailing .. Stam PS: I forgot to ask, did you play AMZN?
I'm not in the least perturbed - nor even sure what made you think that. I was simply unclear on what you meant by "the delete button", so I put a bit of creative interpretation on it for fun. I'm also a little puzzled by your read on my intent here. "Exhibitionism"? That's... wild. As well as being wildly off-target. I find it a bit hard to see the thought process that got you there (perhaps some sort of prudishness about expressing your thoughts in public?), so I suppose I must thank you for enlarging my view of what's possible. Perhaps this may help: I'm somewhere out in the 2SD+ territory on the "independent" scale (that's a pretty direct extrapolation for anyone who read my intro, back at the beginning.) In many ways, I don't give a fuck what people think - especially those who do not put positive energy into relating to me. To those who do, however, I try to return more than the value I receive - and that is so internalized that I don't even think about it much; it's just my version of "normal". This journal is a part of that dynamic. It's intended to be of benefit to me in ways I've already mentioned - but it is also, by design, intended to expose what this journey is like for anyone who is interested, and hopefully to be of benefit to anyone in this community who is going through the same process. Hiding my thoughts, or disguising them out of some fear of "exposing weakness" seems... not simply alien but frankly weird - and worse yet, counterproductive, since it would damage the utility of what I intended to accomplish. What I care about most of all, here, is clarity in conveying my state as I go through this process (with a bit of humor for flavoring.) Those who enjoy it are welcome to pull up a seat by the fireplace; those who do not, have a standing invitation to go play elsewhere. But letting someone's hostile judgment (i.e., "shame") live rent-free in my head? [smile] Yeah, no. It's been a mort of years since I was that naive. Thanks, Stam - I appreciate your good wishes, and I now understand the point behind your "shorthand" in expressing them. (The reason I winced, BTW, is because it's recent enough to flick me on the raw.) But, two things: 1) If I make a commitment, I honor it to the best of my ability. 2) Being the clever bugger that I am, I do my best to avoid commitments that have a negative ROI. Hmmm... seems to be a bit of a puzzle buried here... Can you guess why I'd make such a commitment - publicly - especially if you assume that I did put some forethought into it? (If you can't solve it, just ask. But you might find it a useful mental exercise.) Nope. Directionally-challenged as I am, I can't help but think that last year's tax structure changes pushed up the bottom line for businesses during the last cycle (last earnings season was almost uniformly positive) - and that a) this set a false basis for expectations for this time around while b) that tailwind has faded away. Whatever bets I make around these things are going to be low-risk, and at least somewhat bearish. AMZN is quite a bit bigger than anything I normally play with, and - well, I'm still way too green in this business to make radical changes on a whim. Watching AMZN and TWTR do their thing has only reinforced that.
Too complicated, my man. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guillotine "A tisket, a tasket A head in a basket - It cannot reply to The questions you ask it!"
P.S., I figured out today why you call yourself "BlueWaterSailor". I think for most folks, it's all Setec Astronomy and shit. (Not really)
$30.97 TWTR 200117P30 / P32 $1.00 OK, so I'm catching a falling knife - but I've got to start doing directional plays, and this one is 50/50, capped at $100, on a name that's pretty solid with huge volume, and seems to have mostly bottomed out past the EA. Survivable maybe? Yay! Things are starting to move again. Which is odd, since $VIX is still in the high 13s (was 14+ earlier, but died again.) I missed a nice rise in JPM - my bid was just a couple of cents off - and TLT hadn't dropped quite to where I wanted to get into it, but that was more om-nom-nommy than anything I've seen in days. Maybe all the ERs are providing some sort of a movement impetus without bumping $VIX? [shrug] It's a theory. Only time and experience will tell.
[laugh] I'm ex US Army MI. So it fits... but only by some sort of retcon magic. But the "BlueWaterSailor" tag is pretty straightforward - I'd say that 20+ years of living aboard, cruising, and sailing the open ocean gives me good title.