Friday, September 19, 2008

Historic week

That was the most insane I have ever seen the market. I made a couple of mediocre trades this week but I was not in a relaxed state of mind. My trading platform couldn't keep up with the volume, so my quotes kept dropping out and my orders took about 10 seconds to enter. Stocks were moving so fast, I think the possibility of getting major slippage or of a trade not triggering becomes a very real possibility. We set a volume record this week. I can imagine network switches in New York too hot to touch during these times. We're told as traders to control our fear, but there is a time for healthy respect as well. Know your limits and know when to sit on the sidelines. When the VIX gets over 30, the rumors start swirling. The probability of a game changing piece of information coming out increases (i.e. Thursday's CNBC rumors). I also found myself too focused on the fundamentals with a new bailout every day. I couldn't resist reading about every new development.

Anyway, I'm going to try to block out all the financial news this weekend and come back fresher on Monday. I'm not happy with the government's intervention in our "free" markets just like everybody else, but focusing on that won't make me trade better.

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