November 16

Paper traded a 25% position (250 shares) in MA early for a winner. Then moving over to TNA I paper-traded short near the early high, getting my best entry price in recent memory. It wasn't a "bragging" price in that I didn't peg the absolute high before shorting. Rather, it was a price that repeatedly resisted market attempts to soar above it. I had the morning resistence level as my entry. Price dropped away and I did not scurry out of my trade. I held as the next candle tested the price, then did the same in the second candle as price actually fluttered above my entry, then dropped. I covered in a similar fashion to my entry, not at the dead bottom, but close enough to yield a quality trade.

As good as the first trade in TNA was, I put forth an equally pathetic effort for the second. I succumbed to my urge to fade the move on what turned out to be one of the biggest candles of the day in TNA. What? Yeah, I know...asinine. I held it, didn't add to the loser to average a better price, then added to the winner when it went positive at roughly the same price as my original trade as price glided lower. In just a moment, it quickly reversed and shot upward as if shocked with high voltage! As we used to say on the basketball court in my teens, "I was faked out of my shoes!" Price rose but resistance was hit and price recoiled from it. The next candle was my salvation, and I scaled out near the low of the move for two gains. It seems that $53.70 -ish was a very strong level today and provided a nice backstop for my screwed up trade.

What I take from today is that I had a strange sense of calm about my four trades, especially the last "debacle." I felt as though I knew with a high sense of probability that I was safe in my trades, that somehow I had the odds on my side based on where I entered.

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I was busy with other things in the afternoon. I stepped out to run a few errands and was sorry to return and discover that I missed the nice drop in TNA just after 3:00 pm.

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Tomorrow I have a large day-job project for a neighbor then an estimate for another customer after I'm done. It is highly unlikely I'll get to see the markets tomorrow.