Highs And Lows

I don't even really want to write about my day right now but I'm forcing myself to because it's important to not let little things like losing massive amounts of money effect you too much.

Ha. Ha.

I'll start by saying that when ANW traded $43.50 today, I had 2000 shares long and was up over $4000. I guess that was around 10:15 or so... so I was feeling pretty good. I mean, I made good money yesterday and surfed. Then, I woke up this morning, surfed, got to my desk at 9:25 and in less than an hour had made $4000 more. What's better than that?

That it closed down below $38 means that my day could have been much worse had I held it or bought more but that doesn't make me feel much better.



It's easy to look at the graph now and kick myself for being a little stubborn. I mean, the stock was down over 4 points with oil rallying like mad and the other shippers turning positive. I figured it had more to retrace. I at least thought that if it didn't retrace fully that $43 was a "safe area" for the stock to chill out at for awhile.

Wrong. I exited most of my position around $42. I had gains in the stock, but a fraction of where I was. Most of my "giveback" came in not realizing profits in this name. Probably $3000 of the $5000 I gave back.

Then, I started to play around with WCG. (To borrow a phrase from "the Fly," "Odd, no?") And yes, that graph is scaled properly... the stock gapped down 70 points or so...



So, mistake #2. After giving back loads of paper gains in one stock, I began dabbling in a stock that may be engaged in fraud. And I lost 2.5 points faster than you can say "Lester, The Wombat Of Stock Market Volatility." I bought at $50 and sold at $47.50.

I bought back at $55. I sold some at $59.50 and the rest at $50. Later, I churned the stock with 100 and 200 share positions and lost a couple hundred dollars more. It wasn't my worst stock of the day, but I lost a good amount it him, $550.

What else happened? My day had so many twists and turns that it's hard to remember... oh yes, the 1pm POT conference call bonanza.

First I short POT, up near $111 and quickly lost a point or so...



And then MOS, only I lost more here because I traded it with larger size because it felt "safer." It wasn't.



Basically, I didn't make many good trades at all after the ANW reversed on me. I stopped trading for awhile when my P&L was around $600 and I thought of calling it a day. However, I didn't because ANW called to me again. Needless to say, I lost more there.

All told, I ended about $5000 lower than where I was at 10:15 when I was at my "highs," both mental and financial. I have to say that a day like this is a very interesting case study in something psychological, though I'm not sure what exactly. I experienced many different feelings today. One thing that I can learn from today is this...

When you make a lot of money, don't get too happy about it. And when you lose a lot of money, don't get too upset about it. Don't form an emotional relationship with money.

Look upon gains and losses in the market with equanimity.

That said, I still feel like jumping out the window into my rhododendrons...

Here's the damn stats:
P&L, -$722
Best, MTG, $555
Worst, RDN, -$578

80,200 shares traded.
24 stocks traded. 9 winners, 15 losers.
260 trades.

NOTE: I have to get my stock link code back on my website. When I was screwing with the template the other day, I accidentally erased it. Deal!

UPDATE: It's 4:50 and still no word from Stewie. Until I hear from him, Stewie and his blog suck.