Tricks Are For Kids

Gross: -$260.44
Net: -$407.29
Loss From Top: $565.00
Trades: 76
Shares Traded: 99404

Stocks Traded Today (net profit/loss):
DirecTV (DTV): +$98.96
UnitedHealth Group (UNH): +$30.52
Rite Aid (RAD): +$23.74
Best Buy (BBY): +$8.45
Bell South (BLS): +$7.18
The Hershey Company (HSY): +$7.18
Eli Lilly (ELI): -$20.23
Biovail Corp (BVF): -$32.45
Advanced Auto Parts (AAP): -$72.11
Home Depot (HD): -$78.93
The Gap (GPS): -$162.92
Alcatel-Lucent (ALU): -$216.70

If tricks are for kids, then I'm an infant.

I fell for many tricks in the afternoon, which resulted in a lousy day on my part.

I felt as though I couldn't really get anything going all day even though there were quite a few stocks in the news.

As usual, charting gave me some problems again, but hey, what's new?

I wasn't able to catch any real good moves in anything today. All day it was win some here, lose some there, and the overall markets just seemed to jitter around all day, making it more difficult for me to follow through on my trading rules.

By lunch time, I was barely squeaking out a profit.

But then after lunch, I just kept falling for trick after trick and even though none of these tricks were for big hits, they all quickly added up.

I fell for these tricks (like a baby) - and when I realized it was a trick, I was crapping my pants (like a baby) trying to get out of my position and once I was out, the stock continued in the direction I had originally intended, which left me wining (like a baby).

So what kind of tricks are we talking about?

Things like big sizes on the bid/offer that appear real and were often tested, but never broke. I'd then get into a position with the big size being my support. Well, after a few more tests, the big size was pulled from the offer/bid and had me screaming for the exits. Once I was out, big size would come back and push things in the original direction I wanted it to go.

Others included big sizes that would push prices down and a clear downtrend formed. More and more size kept coming on the offer and pushed prices down and down. Then I manage to get short then all of a sudden, all the big sizes on the offer disappear and big sizes appear on the bid and push prices up...I remain patient during the initial push up, but then prices keep going higher and I have to run for the exits and of course, once I'm out, big sizes appear on the offer again and push prices back down and continue the downtrend.

I guess on choppy days like this, I have to come to expect for this to happen and for all the magicians to come out and play their tricks on everyone.

So why was I so foolish and why did I keep falling for these tricks?

Here are some possible reasons:

• I'm pretty good in putting up with a sideways choppy day like yesterday, but maybe having two choppy days in a row really tested my patience and I felt that any day in which I don't trade is another day of lost profits
• I wasn't completely focused and because I missed some good moves by some of the stocks in the news (missed them because I was busy trying to fiddle with those blasted charts), I felt I needed to do something
• Since we were choppy for most of the day, I felt that I could just disregard what was going on with the Futures...well choppy Futures leads to choppy stocks and that's what happened all afternoon to me
• I started trading the Level II simply because the charts were not showing me anything
• I kept trying to trade that stupid stock Home Depot (HD) in the afternoon - it kept showing big sizes (that were real) that would disappear, reappear, get filled, then more big size would show up again, some hidden sizes started showing up, the big size would show up on the other side....just a crappy stock to trade

I really have to learn from these mistakes. I don't have patience in anything I do and waiting out choppiness is something I really need to work on, which will also require patience of me.

Perhaps I should really focus on reducing the number of trades I put on in an effort to put on only good, high probability trades.

Also, instead of thinking that a day with very few trades with little profits is a waste of a day, I should instead think that a day of no profits is better than a day of negative profits.

Surprisingly no good trades nor any bad trades.

In the afternoon I was thankful that I was fairly conservative and only used 1000 shares in all my positions. But being chopped and tricked out of positions for 5-cents here, 3-cents there, 7 cents there quickly added up and resulted in todays final numbers.

Oh well - at least I'm not going to cry about today (like a baby)...just put today in the books and move on...just gotta trade smarter tomorrow and try to regain my focus.

Good Trades
None

Bad Trades
None