This was a bummer of a day and I didn't even trade for a full hour (total). I was way too busy to be trading and I know from a few weeks ago that when things are busy at work I need to shut down the trading room for the day. Today was no exception and I messed up. I have more open trades than listed here (the puts from yesterday for example) but below is where I made mistakes. Simple rules, but its been tough to follow them so far. If someone were to ask me what I think would be helpful to be a successful trader, I’d first say “find a successful one to ask.” And then add: for me, the patterns and set-ups are the easy part, the hard part is staying discipline to the rules that keep the successful guys/gals profitable.

MCET-good plan going into the bell. Trailing stop of .001. Had a partial execution at the bell and then I canceled the rest, thinking I could trade this (thought it was going to go up more). Bad idea is an understatement. If anyone was wondering what the real problem is with trading these stocks (ie why not just put a stop in place) well the problem is when it starts dropping your order may not execute for several minutes which could be a lot of $$$ later. Trailing stop execution was at .022—which wasn’t bad from a .0205 entry…but the rest I got caught with my pants down, .0185 and .0163. Yeah, shoulda stuck with the plan.

NEOM-bought the bottomish on this at .082…and saw it rise above a dime. I was in the money nicely at that point. But I was pulled away from the cockpit for work and ignored another rule that presented me with the opportunity to not ignore it…that being: taking profits. I should’ve taken the cash when I had the chance. When I was able to get back to trade this it was below .08. Out at .076. Shoulda taken profits.

TBBC-last rule I ignored today…this one looked like a dip but it wasn’t. Went all the way down to 1.25 before closing at 1.35. I’m in with a 1.42 average. Was wondering if it was coming back throughout the day, but this might be the afternoon fade I’ve seen a few times before. Figured there may be a short squeeze due either tomorrow at the open (good) or at the end of the day (not so good). This is in my IRA account and so it’s a slow mover (slow executions), hopefully there’s another spike in the morning I can unload into and get out before this takes me out. Shoulda cut the loss earlier (ie not hold this long) and taken profits when it was moving toward in the 1.50s/60s.

Another rule that I’d didn’t necessarily violate today but have done so frequently in the past is overtrade.

Follow the rules: Cut losses quickly; Don't overtrade; Take profits/sell into strength; Have a plan and stick to it