I Got No Rhythm

Gross: -$51.04
Net: -$219.66
Loss From Top: $340.12
Trades: 106
Shares Traded: 148696

Stocks Traded Today (net profit/loss):
AT&T Inc. (T): +$128.48
Safeway Inc. (SWY): +$56.64
Corning Incorporated (GLW): +$27.15
ConocoPhillips (COP): +$18.74
The Kroger Co. (KR): +$13.84
Best Buy Co., Inc. (BBY): +$5.33
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT): -$4.14
Texas Instruments Incorporated (TXN): -$15.05
The Cooper Companies Inc. (COO): -$30.06
Home Depot Inc. (HD): -$41.77
Citigroup Inc. (C): -$52.88
Johnson & Johnson (JNJ): -$157.25
Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (AMD): -$168.74

Boy oh boy....what a day!

This morning I got off on the wrong foot and started the day with 7 consecutive losing trades and I saw myself quickly in the hole by a little more than $400.

Yippee!

I don't know what it was, but this morning I just wasn't feeling the markets - it's almost as if I had no real rhythm in what I was doing.

My timing was off and I kept putting on questionable trades. The bad trades just came in quick succession and it seemed as though I couldn't really find any good trades out there.

Granted there wasn't much in the news...I did take a look at The Cooper Companies (COO) in the morning, but after looking at the price action, I didn't want to touch it, even with a 10-foot pole (though I did try to trade it later in the afternoon).

After that rapid-fire burst of losing trades to start the day, I have a feeling my thinking sort of changed. I think my mind started thinking "Dang! I'm in a hole...I'm gonna dig myself out of this mess or I'll die trying!".

It was this thinking that had me trading waaaayy too much. All day the markets were stuck in a fairly tight trading range and a lot of the stocks I was watching didn't show much promise.

As a result, I found myself fighting the market chop all day long and my P/L was bouncing around all over the place.

I did manage to get back into positive territory by only about $100, but then I kept trying to trade AMD and HD during the last hour of trade - both of them traded rather sloppily during the last hour...I don't know why I kept trying to trade them.

Usually when I start a day off like I did today, it usually means that I probably wasn't focused enough and I had serious thoughts about going home by lunch (by that time I was at about break even).

I wonder if there are any things out there that can help regain one's focus when you know it's lacking. I did go out for a little walk and it seemed to help...for only a short time...then I think I lost focus again and I started losing again (don't ask me how or why I lost focus...could it be that it was just a sideways day? I don't know!).

Another way you can tell I lost focus today is by looking at the number of stocks I traded - usually when I trade the number of stocks I traded today, it usually means I was going from one stock to another, trying to look for opportunities.

About 80% of my trades today were for losers or break even...I'm just glad I kept my losses on those trades to a minimum - I didn't take any serious hits, but then again I didn't take any good swings either.

As a result, no good trades and no bad trades.

I really do hope that the markets for the rest of December isn't like this...

Good Trades
None

Bad Trades
None.