PCX - Time, Time, Time

"...and then one day you find,

ten years have got behind you,

no one told you when to run,

you missed the starting gun,

and you run and you run,

to catch up with the sun,

but it's sinking,

racing around to come up behind you again..."

I CAN NOT STATE THE IMPORTANCE OF TIMING IN THE MARKET ENOUGH!

Let me back up a bit to catch you up on what's happening. I recently got a job - after approx 10 years of being self employed. So, now I'm on someone else's "time". I'm currently working out the kinks in order to be able to trade the last 30 minutes of the trading day (i.e. 3:30 p.m. EST to 4:00 p.m. EST).

Anyway, my first few days on job corresponded with PCX hitting my stop for 2 consecutive days. I could not get out because of my job. I tried a conditional type of order (which I'll continue to work on) with my broker, but I screwed it up and it didn't work.

Anyway, I had today off - yes, you must have a 3 day weekend after working your first week at a new job don't you??

I broke my rule of only trading in the last 30 minutes of the day and ended up closing PCX because it hit my stop for 2 consecutive days at approx noon today. However, if I had looked at this chart between 3:30 - 4:00 p.m. then I would NOT have gotten out of the trade due to the candle (even though it was a valid exit signal).

Here's the chart at noon, when I exited:

Here's the chart at 4:00 p.m.:

As you can see, the noon chart looks bad - looks like we are going down down down. However, by 4:00 p.m., the buyers had come in and drove those sellers back up. Also all 4 markets: SPY, QQQQ, IWM, DIA all had a higher day.

I.E. - I SCREWED UP.

I take my lumps, here's the result of this trade:

Bought the Call Option for $2.39, and sold it today for $0.49, for a NET LOSS of $1.90 for a ROI of (79% negative ROI).

Even experienced traders can screw up - chalk it up. NEVER BREAK YOUR RULES.

AND REMEMBER - TIME IS UTMOST IMPORTANT!!

So, what do I do now? I continue trading EXACTLY as my trading plan states - I now look for my next entry.

Philippians 4:13

"I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."