Another ugly game but for whatever the reason I feel like I have lost purity in my touch. This is the hardest week of the year as undoubtly people will take off for vacation right before labor day as they prepare for fall trading, yet I am increasing my size and shots at the worst possible time.
This morning I was still feeling the illness and I had some very poor shot selection which I never recovered from. I know exactly what I am doing wrong, in this climate, every game is the equivalent of a sword fight in which even the slightest error, the slightest display of impatience can result in a critical hit. I opened the week up $2000 for August, two games I have lost a total of $1100. It is not the dollar amount that is in quesition here, it is the way I have performed during the last two games, something is not right, my heart is not as calm as I used to be, maybe the illness has something to do with it, I feel like I get more nervous when I miss just a couple of shots off the open, I feel like I "have to" put up a prayer just to have a position in there so I can watch it. Those are the traits of self-defeat, and those last two games were very winnable ones. I need to gather myself fast, pay period is over in 3 games and I am down $600, I want a check, even if it is $50, just to keep the streak going. When fall trading starts next week, I want to be playing at the peak of my YTD P&L.
6700 shares on 3 of 10 shooting, -299 before commissions, -457 after, no bullet.
Pre-Market: Very light news, again
9:30: XBD gap-up, went long in LEH and stopped out for flat almost right away. Futures coming in, for whatever the reason I took two shots in IBM long and gave up 10 cents on each try, totally meaningless shots. I had some temperature this morning and I knew my mind wasn't sharp. Called a time out and went to get a cup of hot coffee.
9:51: Futures went up, took GE long and stopped out for flat as consumer number came out, not as lucky in MMM long and got hit for 35 cents there. So many things just tanked so hard so quickly. In all 3 cases, GE/IBM/MMM all had downward Bollinger Bands, that means whatever move I get is more likely to be a squeeze than a real reversal, very poor shot selection there. By now I already missed DRG/BTK shorts and of course all the other shorts . . . The problem with today's open game was that I did not get any sector specific play, everything I traded were futures sensitive. No gifts whatsoever.
10:23: Shorted DOX for a quarter point profit. Went to the gym, worked out, broke a sweat, took a long and deep shower and used steam room. Had a tasty lunch and felt better. I was down $310, I could have came back from this!
1:51: Thought there will be an afternoon rally, long NE on BB breakout (OSX), and it just fell back in and I gave up 11 cents. Tried CLS and lost 17 cents. Afternoon trading I have to wait for tape confirmation. The Bollinger Bands for me, are meant to be used as a guide. This morning I ignored the overall downtrend and foolishly went long in GE/IBM/MMM against the downward band, and this afternoon I ignored the tape action and foolishly went long NE/CLS just based on BB formation without waiting for tape confirmation.
2:23: Tried MO on TOB strength, lost 5 cents. Shorted CRA for a quarter profit and left another quarter on the table. Too little, too late, it is gut check time, as my back is against the wall with 3 games left in August.
Focus, concentrate, execute, this morning I had the wrong attitude of "I want to make back what I lost yesterday plus extra's" instead of "I will take what the market gives me". A very bad attitude in a tough market. Tommorrow is another game . . .
