What's up, world? This week the central theme that I seems to be bothering me is my management of expectations. When I'm in a trade, at what point do I get out? Is +.50 enough? Is 5% enough? Do I keep raising my stops? What if there's a surge in volume where price action breaks away from the trendline? I'm at Apple right now so I can't do the best review of my weekly performance but I can't truly  move on from this week unless I confront myself with my decisions, or lack of, in MXIM.

          MXIM gapped to 26.97 (open price) and I immediately saw the price action. I was able to take 300 shares at 28.03 with a 15 cent risk. I was to be honest and did not expect the price action to surge over a point in 2-3 minutes. That was just ridiculous! Yet, I was only able to scale out 1/3 for profit. I feel pretty disgraceful to take a hit on this stock. It just makes no sense. Could this stock go up to 29? It sure can. Was it likely? Maybe. Should I have taken that risk? NO! Take what the market gives you and find better prices to re-enter. I do feel like I have a good knack for being on the right side of a trade but I'm not the best manager yet. This week I look forward to changing a few things based on all the things I did right and wrong last week. Let's begin the recap, shall we?

• The Good: I increased my overall win rate a little, size per trade, and time of hold per position. I've also learned how to dabble into stocks with feeler positions vs. getting in an entire lot with out finding confirmation first. These things tell me that I've actively found a solution to a previous problem - finding entries. In addition, it makes me feel confident that I can spot a problem and find a solution much quicker than before. That's the way it should be. Review your work every night/weekend and adjust accordingly.
• The Bad: I'm still having planning and risk management issues. My day trades should yield 5 units of upside for every 1 unit of risk I put on, nothing less! My swings should offer at least a 3:1 ratio. This is not something I should ever compromise. Follow the rules that I set! I'm also not effective with managing risk. In some of my better trades, I'm not taking enough size and in some sketchy trades, I'm finding myself in too much size. Can I be 'man' enough to let my ego go and shave some off? I'm not paid to be right or wrong. As a trader, I'm only rewarded when I sell above my entry price or cover below my short - nothing else matters.
• The Plan: Next week I will appreciate the difference that 90+ minutes of preparation can make. I will get in the office no later than 7AM each morning and give it some good thinking prior to making my first trade.  I also did a good job updating my journal frequently. However, unless it do it consistently every day and every trade, my reviews on the weekends will be useless. If I really care about getting better, I need to get the intraday charts and my detailed plan for each trade together prior to leaving the office. This is the only way that I would be able to objectively analyze my trading. Work harder, you. Give it 200%