Life is a box of cereal....

Life socked me for quite a loss the other day.  Literally.  While equity trading, specifically a stock with the ticker "LIFE", I got run over.  Twice.  Isn't it ironic.  Life can really beat you down.  I tried to buy the stock at a certain price and got filled 20 cents worse (that's called slippage).  And then, like life itself, the stock dropped 50 cents out of the blue, for no apparent reason.  So, I decided to cut my losses and sell out.  Only to get filled at price 10 cents worse, again.  Life can be brutal.  It got me coming and going.  LIFE's a bitch.  My p & l for the day was highly negative and only $1 away from my daily lockout limit.  But I got back in there and traded my arse off, ending positive on the day.  In fact, if not for that one trade, it would have been my best trading yet.  Life can be challenging, but it is always full of opportunities.   Life is good.  Life is beautiful.  That's life:

I've been a puppet, a pauper, a pirate,
A poet, a pawn and a king.
I've been up and down and over and out
And I know one thing:
Each time I find myself laying flat on my face,
I just pick myself up and get back in the race

TJ's travels

TJ had been getting attacked on all sides, taking a pummeling from a plethora of pugnacious punks. He was in critical condition, on the brink of collapse. TJ, however, was not one to readily throw in the proverbial towel. Just in the nick of time, in swept Yoda and Kobe Bryant to provide aid and assistance. With their help, TJ quickly took down the leader of the mob, Gold Man, and a new monster named Seebo, as well. Our hero finally had a fine day in the fearsome fiscal canyons.

Literary Tuesday - The Daily Trading Coach

Today at work:  I was having an OK morning, until the trading platform went down.  But that didn't stop me.  And then we blew an electrical fuse.  But that didn't stop me.  And then I was assigned homework reading by my boss.  But that didn't stop me.  And then the closing bell rang.  But that didn't...actually, that did stop me.  Should have read the writing on the electronic walls and quit while I was slightly ahead.

TJ's Terrific Travels and Terrible Travails

TJ had spent the prior day facing off against a record 19,400 monsters.  He emerged largely unscathed, but his weaponry and armor had taken a severe beating.  And yet, our hero began feeling more confident and readied to face a new day's onslaught of pocket picking scalawags.

Stepping into the arena, TJ found himself face-to-face with the infamous Teva, trained by the Israeli Mossad.  TJ thrust and parried, thrust and parried, and thrust and parried again - until the beast was vanquished.  With no time to rest upon his laurels, a mechanically armored TXT was fast approaching.  This time, TJ parried and thrust thrice, rendering the defense weapon defenseless.  A smattering of other foes were also faced, none proving to be any match for our victorious veteran.

TJ finally had a day where he got the best of the beasts.

tj's Terrific Travels and Terrible Travails

Frustrated at the slow pace of his crossings, TJ came across a gaggle of Haup monsters from Hauppage, NY.  These creatures were famous for their ability to get somewhere fast by way of their hoppability.  Now TJ, being in a hurry, lassoed 3 of these beasts....which only made them angry.  They began to hop  every which way, destroying everything in their path.  Two of them even stomped TJ.  Thinking their hoppability to be mere hype, TJ released 2 of the worthless demons.  He held on to the 3rd Haup.  He hid behind its weak end, hoping that its anger would settle down.  It didn't.  This one stomped on TJ too, completing the hat trick of carnage.  TJ wasted yet another day, resting and recuperating.

There's a conspiracy out there...

Some say it was a keyboard error.  Some say it was the European contagion.  Others, the Chinese hacking our systems.  Still others, it was the Dukes.  I say:  more sellers than buyers.  The Tea Party.  Zambrano in the bullpen.  (A personal keyboard error of my own - that actually went in my favor, for a change.)  Plus, the quotation systems went haywire.  We'll see....

TJ's Terrific Travels and Terrible Travails

Limping along determined, TJ encountered a fierce monster named Amed. The beast had been surrounded by other adventurers in the street. They were giving it quite the pummeling. When Amed was beat to a new low, TJ saw his chance and pounced. He tried to hit the scallywag but it was much thinner than he realized. TJ's attack missed it's mark. Not only was his effort in vain, but TJ did not notice Amed's hidden whip. With a surprising swiftness, it unfurled the weapon, snapping all in it's path aside, and soaring off into the sky - hopefully, never to be seen again. TJ called it an early day and vowed to fight other critters the next day.

TJ's Terrific Travels and Terrible Travails

After spending several years basking in the desert sun, our intrepid hero has returned for another trek through the foreboding fiscal canyons.  With a Scylla named Wall to his left and a Charybdis named Broad to his right, TJ bravely ventures in search of hidden treasures, wary of menacing monsters.  Although he has fearlessly faced these creatures in the past - demons as mysterious as the amazon, with misleading names like Mr. Softy, Beemer, Gold Man, Googly and countless other yahoos - these guardians of untold wealth have grown faster and fiercer since TJ's last encounters.

No sooner than he had entered the arena, TJ found himself face-to-face with a formidable foe:  Sandisk.  Now this beast, nicknamed Sandy, had an unusual power.  It would crash to the floor, suddenly and violently rise up to the ceiling, and take a step forward, destroying all in its path.  Yet TJ had seen this type of hellion before and was not afraid.  He saw his opportunity.

Sandy stepped towards TJ, crashed to the floor, and quickly jerked itself skyward.  Moments before it hit the ceiling, TJ launched himself on top of his foe.  Reaching into his pocket, he whipped out a vial labeled "Get Short."  It was a shrinking potion.  But Sandy, who didn't like being called Sandy, had earned the right to be immune to this potion.  With TJ perilously perched on Sandy's shoulders, the monster uncharacteristically did not crash to the floor, but instead, continued to rise.  Higher and higher, until it crashed through the ceiling, ripping the shirt right off TJ's back.  TJ went skyward with Sandy, until he was tossed aside, like day old meatloaf.  Our hero was badly bruised, but would live to fight another day.

Don't Catch a Falling Knife

"If a stock doesn't act right, don't touch it; because, being unable to tell precisely what is wrong, you cannot tell which way it is going. No diagnosis, no prognosis. No prognosis, no profit." - Edwin Lefevre


"I made my money by selling too soon. " Bernard Baruch


 In this business if you're good, you're right six times out of ten. You're never going to be right nine times out of ten.
Peter Lynch


The market does not beat them. They beat themselves, because though they have brains they cannot sit tight.
Jesse Livermore 


It's not whether you're right or wrong that's important, but how much money you make when you're right and how much you lose when you're wrong.
George Soros


October: This is one of the peculiarly dangerous months to speculate in stocks. The others are July, January, September, April, November, May, March, June, December, August and February.
Mark Twain


Rule No.1: Never lose money. Rule No.2: Never forget rule No.1.
Warren Buffett


If you have trouble imagining a 20% loss in the stock market, you shouldn't be in stocks.
John (Jack) Bogle


"Bulls make money. Bears make money. Pigs get slaughtered." Anonymous

Trader Joe: the sequel

So after 4 days back on the job, I'd rate my performances to date as:  bad, awful, bad, ok.  A lot of work and stress for swinging 100 lots.  They're keeping us on a tight string so far.  It's good practice, but difficult to make any real money yet.  The hardest thing, however,  is waking up at 4:30 a.m.  That's going to take some getting used to.  Seriously, some severe sleep deprivation going on.   zzzzzz

The week in review

Started work Wednesday.  Actually, just training.  Training entails watching inane econ 101 videos and mock trading.  Mock trading entails making fake, paper trades just to get used to the keyboard system.  I was pretty happy trading for nickels and dimes, until I saw that the guy across from me found a stock that ran $6 bucks.  The office is a bit of a work in progress, but the 3 or 4 other traders that I've met so far seem cool.

Getting up at 5:20.  A. M.  Soon that will be more like 4:15.  That's gonna take some getting used to.  More so for the wife, who likes to watch late night TV.  Also, commuting 50 miles each day (to my old stomping grounds, no less) - also, gonna take some getting used to.  Good thing I gots me a vacay coming up.

At least, I get to come home to delicious gourmet meals.

     J1:  Why do we have to eat gourmet?

     J2:  Because we are a gourmet family.


Had a little league game last night.  Nevermind, that we are now 0-7.  My son, who almost got creamed by a liner to second base, has been bugging me non-stop to let him pitch.  Well, I've been trying to get a single, damn elusive win by playing our best pitchers - to no avail.  So, yesterday, being down 16 - 0 to nothing, I called for my young right hander.  One of the other Dads implored, "Don't concede!"  I ignored him.  I let J1 pitch to a few batters.  He did OK.  Didn't get his head knocked off.  And then I went to relieve him to let another pesty kid pitch.  Now my son is upset that I pulled him.  Can't win.

And there you have it.  Have some gardening, ll practice and game, and some movies to catch up on this weekend.