Week 3 summary

I know ... I never got back to posting the other day. (Geez, I can't even remember what day it was when I posted last). Let me just sum up the last three days in general.

On Wednesday, I ended the day up about $20 or so.
On Thursday, I ended the day down around $30.
On Friday, I ended the day up $30.

Each day I am starting to trade a little more which is good. My coach said it wasn't too bad either that I ended two days this week up a little. However, I am never suppose to be looking at my trading results. I need to keep looking at the charts and make sure I am entering and exiting at good points and then, whatever happens, I should be satisfied. I think I am doing that for the most part. However, I am getting "jabbed" out of certain postions at times because the stock either breaks resistance or support, so I have to exit.

So, after 3 weeks on my new job, here are a couple of random things I am noticing:
1. I am, overall, a much happier person. It really is a challenge trying to figure the market out, but I love it, and I think I am getting a little bit better at it every day. I come home, and I am not upset with other people. I only have myself to depend on, but everyone there is really helpful and they want to see others succeed. The environment, although stressful, breeds comraderie and pride, and I like that!

2. I am spending a lot more money on gas. The round trip is twice the distance it was to my previous workplace. I knew this, but really didn't want to come to terms with it I suppose. I hope gas doesn't go to $3/gallon this summer, but just in case, I am hedging myself by purchasing the equivalent of 6 months worth of gas in oil and refinery stocks. Either way, I will be paying the same price for gas or less come six months from now.

3. I haven't been able to work out regularly and my body doesn't like it. My normal workout time for the past 5 years had been 5:45am to 7am. Since I am now having to leave for work every morning by 7:20, this workout time simply doesn't work anymore. I tried to go at 5am, but by early afternoon, I was dead. I suppose I can continue to try this, but I would need to go to bed between 9 and 10pm every night, and I don't know if I can do that. Let's see ... waking up at 5am ... going to sleep at 9pm ... next thing you know, I will be eating dinner at 4pm. (Actually, I have already done this.) Might as well skip the next 30 years and go straight to Sunrise Senior Living right now :-). Anyway, I have been waking up with back and neck aches consistentlly since I have stopped working out regularly. I am sure this is a function of both not working out and sitting in front of a computer monitor all day hunched over. I get up for occasional breaks, but in all honesty, this type of "sitting in front of a computer" and the type I did at my old job are completely different. Regardless, I need to get back into some routine or else physically, I won't make it.

4. I am constantly thinking about trading strategies. I wake up, and I picture trading setups with candlestick charts. I picture correlations between different indicators and oscillators. I am constantly looking for a solution or stategy I am comfortable with. I have been reading a lot of different books about trading, and would rather spend my time doing that than pretty much anything else. This is defintely characteristic of my OCD behavior, but I just feel like I will be wasting my time trading until I find something. My coach definitely agreed with me. He said it took him longer than normal to become profitable because he didn't stick with a strategy. He also mentioned that is another reason why people fail as traders. They try many different things, but never give any of them enough time and attention to really be successful. This weekend, I am going to purchase a piece of software which will help me formulate a system I am comfortable with. The software is $150, a price I really can't afford right now, but I figure if it will help me become more comfortable and profitable quicker, it will be well worth the money spent. In all honesty, I am really working much harder at becoming a good trader than I did at my previous job for the last couple of years. That is sad, but when I only have myself to rely on, I will never give "lack of effort" as an excuse.

5. The profit potential is truly off the charts. This past week, the top trader in the firm netted (that is, took home) $28,000. In one week! Multiply that by 52 ... heck just 26, and that is what is possible. If I could ever reach 1/5 of that I would consider myself blessed. I definitely have a long way to go before that though. This job is everything that I have been looking for, now it is up to me to execute.

I hope this gives everyone a little idea of what my new life is like. Stay tuned as the weeks progress to see what happens next!