Again

As of about 10 minutes ago, TNA shares available to short became unavailable. Yet, the market still goes up. This is peculiar... four days in a row, but the first time I've seen shares unavailable to short even on one day in the past year...


****UPDATE: On Friday, next day, TNA was also unavailable to short in the afternoon.

Oddity in TNA

I have been watching TNA every day for over a year... it's pretty much all I use to practice trade. All four days this week in the afternoons, TNA borrows for shorting have been very hard to come by on Interactive Brokers. Those familiar with the IB platform know that when shares are not immmediately available to borrow, the dark green bar comes up next to the ticker. Well, in the afternoons this week, that dark green bar has been present, with the longest timeframe being on Monday, to my best recollection. To put in perspective, this is the first time in over a year that TNA has been not immediately available for shorting. These bad-boys are being grabbed up at a high rate, it seems. I am not experienced enough to understand the inner workings of market operations so I cannot come up with all the reasons why this might be happening. Intuitively, however, my gut is telling me that shorting is becoming popular and shares are possibly being accumulated. I have no proof of this, but this certainly is a rare occurance on Interactive Brokers.
Regular followers of the market know that we are at a critical point in the markets right now, and may become a big inflection point. Some very good traders as well as some hedgies (based on what I am reading) have gone to cash and/or are bearish. I try not to let others opinions steer me, but my read has been a bearish one for a couple weeks. Early last week, I moved all our 401K into cash. We'll see what happens... this market stuff sure is fun to watch!

An Ambitious Goal...

"Most of this book came to me from sitting still and keeping a journal over the years with notes from the classes I've taught and insights I've accumulated about myself. I am not afraid of who I am or what I sound like. Best of all, I don't care what others think about me. I am immune to peer pressure. In that regard, I am fearless, I have surrendered to the fact that I am an emotional being and that my emotions run my system. I have cut the throats of all the pink elephants that lived off the fat of my land over the years. I have my feelings as friends and allies, and I speak about them frequently. In speaking with me, people think I have candor. I just think it's emotional integrity."

- The Inner Voice of Trading, Michael Martin, p.22


I come to identify over the years, that fear, insecurity, emptiness, desire, and other basic human emotions manipulate people to behave in certain ways. Behavior often with bad consequences. We all know people who "can't get out of their own way." That is, they can't save themselves from self-destructive patterns of actions; can't put together a successful and happy life. But why is this so? Why do certain people seem to be consistently attracted to failure? Bad relationships of all types: difficulty with siblings and parents, rebellion against rules and laws that are legitimate and necessary, turmoil in romantic relationships, and clashing with others in the workplace?
I submit to you that it is the inability to know themselves and accept themselves... the inability to understand their emotional makeup.
So, how can one fix a problem when he or she does not know the cause? He or she cannot.
I believe that a happy successful life is derived from being able to accept our short-comings. Accepting our short-comings can only occur by admitting we have them. And admitting we have them is the hardest fear to overcome.
There is no doubt in my mind now, after all the study I've done, that my successful life will come from throwing off the shackles of fear. I am 47 years old and weary of not realizing my full potential as a mate, a friend, a neighbor, a citizen, and yes- a trader.
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I am no longer looking to the charts for my transformation from blue collar guy to a career trading for a living, I am looking inside myself.
To find something, one has to search in the right place.