August 19th - End of Day

I got back from my emergency call at about 3:40pm and had a chance to monitor my absentee paper-trade. Well, it got pretty ugly, with the price climbing to 36.42... but it was out of sight, out of mind! Price was dropping when I signed back on and I closed it out where I felt downward momo had ceased. It turned out to be very close to the bottom of the final move of the day. I took a loss on the trade and therefore, a loss on the day. I can't remember the last time I took a loss on the day and very rarely take a loss on a trade. And that is a big problem. It is unnatural to not take losses. Clearly some of my sim-trades are good solid trades. But many are not, with losses allowed to run then additional trades taken to average a better price... a dangerous maneuver. The fact that it works in my favor so often masks the risk of such an approach. We have had a range market recently and it is quite forgiving. This approach during a strong trend day followed by another will lead to ruination.
I need to set stops.
My goal going forward is to rack up more losses. Only this will help me advance my skills.

Trade on... and gotta leave!

Just got an emergency call from a long-time customer and have to leave... contemplating just leaving the trade to see what happens... Short in TNA but looks like it is bouncing... got a terrible entry at the one of the worst spots of the day to short. Lousy read on this one and poor execution by not stopping it out.
We'll see what happens... it has been REALLY weak all day and going short seemed like the percentage play...

Saw it, Liked it, Reprinted it!

I saw this at Don Miller's site and liked it a lot. Decided to post it here in case anyone missed it over there.
This is an eye-opener for new traders: what we are up against when we are training for trading the markets. Also, reinforces why I do not use real money while learning the basics...
Its about a twenty minute video but worth the time. Something to think about when you are struggling with setting stop losses, as I do. Just cut and paste in your browser if clicking the link doesn't work...

http://www.ted.com/talks/laurie_santos.html