May 7 - Close, but no cigar

Day's Return - $22.76

Time Spent - 9:30 am - 12:56 pm (3:26 hours)

Today was a scratch day. The total return after commissions comes out to $7 an hour ($79.76 profit net $57 in coms). With that said, I'm pleased with today's performance. Although the return was minimal, I did not lose my head in a very choppy market. My entries were good but the trade management was sloppy. My biggest regret of the day was that I had the bird in the hand but let it fly away. The bird in particular was Tempur Pedic (TPX) which having traded at $80 in April is now at $48. No doubt, some big players must have been waking up on the wrong side of the bed to cause this 45% decline.

I entered short 280 shares at $48.31, endured an unrealized loss of about $100 for a few minutes and closed out the position at $48.15 in profit. Price then fell lower to $45.44 by 12:45 which would have been a "hypothetical" $758. Realistically, perhaps half of that could have been realized. After that, I closed my computer and went outside, as my mind was in obvious disarray and rather than risking revenge trading or entering dumb trades I got up and left. One point for discipline.

Sloppy trade management turned a potential large winner into only a $40 dollar win. Looking back, it's important to take note that even if the analysis (anticipating lower prices) and trade entry are good, but trade management is poor, one will still fall short. All three components must be in good form in order to succeed. Nonetheless, I'm happy because the analysis was spot on, meaning in the future I need to focus on the trade management aspect.

Return

Account Statement

Commissions are a big impediment. I made 4 round trip trades for a total cost of $57 yielding $79.76 in return. Had I been with another broker, such as Interactive Brokers,  commissions would have cost $0.005 (half a cent) per share or $15.4 in total (profits of $64 instead). Repeating today's activity for 10 days means that $420 dollars will go to the bank and not my pocket. This isn't intended to be an excuse or scapegoat since all 4 trades were profitable.

It is a cost of doing business, but in the sense of commuting with a hummer or with a fuel efficient car. You still get there on time but it costs you more with the hummer and you derive no additional utility. This is just an observation I'm keeping in mind for possibly switching in the near future.