April 15 - Sad Day... (Gain $20.40)

So sad to hear of the horrific events in Boston.  Awful doesn't begin to describe.
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It is trivial in comparison but I have to mention that my market activities were a disaster today.
It was the largest daily move in TNA since last August, and I chose a point to go long with many more shares than normal.  I had a good spot to go long after watching the market drop considerably.  I got in and TNA went down in a pattern I had seen many times, so I waited for the pop.  Price went up to within 10 cents of my entry, then dropped.  I liked my price because had I waited to enter after the second leg down on substantial relative volume and a large total price drop from last night's close, so I decided to hold.
The market kept dropping but there appeared to be a nice recovery started 2:35 pm into 3:00pm; price cleared both 7 & 17 ema's... then the bombing...  after that, there was no chance of an EOD pop.  Perhaps there was no pop coming anyway.  I am of the suspicion that the moves in the market are somewhat pre-ordained... I have heard this phrase and believe it myself:  The Charts Lead The News.

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When one trades without stops, one is often at or very close to a pivot area.  That is where I am now.  Sadly, I got sloppy and overconfident.  Carelessness and arrogance are not good traits and especially bad when trading; these types of days happen: major news events like China's bad economic numbers and terrorist acts.

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With the huge single day drop, I'm hoping for a pop tomorrow so I can get out without too much loss; perhaps the consolidation area at $39.80 where many traders are trapped long and waiting for "rescue."   Market and stocks don't go straight up nor do they go straight down.  TNA has gone straight down since last Thursday, as I had predicted right here on the blog.   What I was doing fading a big down move that I had expected is something I must ponder over the coming days and weeks.
As I mentioned on Friday, so much of trading is trusting the things one has learned and sticking with them.  BTW, I was short TNA at $41.31 just as it was starting to break down from the 10:00-11:00am consolidation.  It wasn't moving for me so I got out with a tiny gain $20.40 ... in hindsight, it was literally a perfect entry on a monster move down.

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Technically, I have a good feel for the charts and my reading of direction has improved markedly over the last 6 months.  But I still struggle with the mental aspects of trading and I have become cocky because i feel so comfortable with the market and charts.
And today on a monster move, I am reaping what I have sown.