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Of course I assume responsibility for my action. But if a feature could be helpful for a trader, what is wrong with requesting it? It's like saying brokers should not have a stop-loss order feature because people should bear responsibility for when to exit a trade. If it can be automated...

Correction: That should be 102K in options and 14K in stock. I have seen all the argument about leverage. I still believe my intended size is appropriate to my trading. That BIDU option trade was made with 50 contracts initially knowing the option is close to expiration. Had I stuck with that...

You only have to get rich ONCE? What is the cut-off? I guess once there, you pack it all into cash and never risk a dime?

That was humbling. The market will do what you never expected.

I think you are right. All the hedgies that bled in 2008 have come back with vengeance seeking to eliminate any form of predictability from the market. Better late than never playing defensive.

I agree with that, especially if you are just starting and there is no buffer. Max stop rule is being set at 6% now.

I sure do read everything. I agree with some, others not so much, but I understand the spirit in which everything is written. Thanks for your input. After a snag like this, it is time to go to the drawing board and do a thing or two differently. This time, it is activating my max stop rule for a...

Thanks NoDoji, but you know with that, you could be whipsawed to death -- and think of paying the spread on those option trades and my heart melts! But yes, an absolute maximum pain threshhold is being set, and I am leaving the computer to take the action necessary - close the damn position at...

Got it; as if taking 410K to 4m wasn't challenging enough!

The pain goes away with time, and then guess what -- when I have forgotten the pain that's when the next happens. I am unlikely to repeat this next week. I will try and steady the ship and automate while watching the pain reduce. Thursday afternoon/night was too sore for me.

Advice taken. The lesson learnt here is I should automate my risk management as much as possible. It's clear consistently adhering to rules is too hard for me.

Weekly Update for week 1/50 ended 01/16/2010 A disastrous start to the year. Down 99.5K (24%). It all happened on Thursday. Saw the follow-up rally on BIDU on Thursday, and thought it was overdone at 449. Forgot all the harm I have suffered in BIDU on previous occasions, and that this was...

Sorry to hear your story. My first week of the (thread) year starts out on a devastatingly ugly note with BIDU today as well. Too much illogical moves close to expiration.

He saw my Ameritrade screens a number of times. Your figure is OK. I believe you want to finish deep in the money!

Sorry, it didn't happen!

Yes, 4:1 intra-day, 2:1 overnight. Typically I do not use all, I haven't computed the figure, but probably at any point in the trading day, I have used half of my buying power on average.

Yes I do have a regular job still. My boss has already asked me if I was a day-trader! I told him, No, but I manage my own investments. If it becomes a problem, I will have to give up the regular job.

You can use Quotetracker streaming and server APIs for ameritrade. Since their acquisition by Ameritrade, it appears they have developed high-level APIs for Ameritrade that does not call for socket-level programming knowledge. You can e-mail them.

Why strive for less than my worst percentage performance in the last 5 years? Sorry, I strive to beat my best record!

I trade stocks and stock options (directional calls/puts - long only). My holding time-frame has been mainly intra-day, but this year I am looking at more swing-style plays (1 day - 2 weeks). Style? Anything I think does make money: momentum, mean-reversion, news plays etc.