Tuesday PM Notes - Suck it Up Don

I felt I needed this special post in this diary of mine to tell myself to "suck it up", in part because I traded a bit hesitantly in today's trade, clipping far too quickly at times once the market "opened up" a bit. I also feel some complacency sneaking in as I balance playing defense during earnings week with taking maximum advantage of opportunity when it presents itself.

Like poker, changing gears is important in this business, and I didn't do it very well today. For example, I felt myself coasting when stepping on the accelerator was more appropriate. The more time I've had to reflect on the day, the stronger I feel about that, especially in light of last week's strong week and the current year's score.

Perhaps my concerns are unwarranted given the decreased market volume this week. Yet today's modest results and hesitancy are bothersome enough for me to document it tonight so I remain aware of it.

And again as in poker, the key at this end remains recognizing and feeling the frustration of many traders in the market who have been trying to unsuccessfully trade range breaks over the last two days of marginal volume, and using that to my advantage when the resulting setups occur.

I need to forget about the past and focus on the quote in the top left of this page.

I failed today and need to get angry again. With less than 20% left in this year's game as of tonight, I need to find another gear.