Well, another el stinko day in bear-land! I've been getting a small handful of harassing emails about the continued upward movement of stocks (which always reminds me of the famed Australian Voicemail I got almost at the exact peak of the market a couple of years ago). Perhaps my detractors are hoping to get me rattled. Sorry, boys. It's not working. Go bother somebody else.

On a happier note, I just received The Mania Chronicles from Elliott Wave International, and I can't wait to read it. It has nearly 700 pages, and it's packed with the kinds of stuff we love discussing here on Slope – – particularly popular culture in the context of the financial markets from 1995 through 2008.

I'll let everyone know what I think when I'm done, but a quick thumb-through makes this looks like something I will have trouble putting down. They're offering it for 34% off, so if you want to get a copy, click here. I was kind of surprised it was only $79 for a very big book on such a niche subject.

I'm not going to do any more posts today. With the markets unable to dip, even on bad economic news like today's retail numbers, I feel like I'm pounding sand at this point, and I'd rather just let my individual positions work themselves out. I will say, however, that I am able to deal with drawdowns with barely a blip of emotions since:

1. I am dealing strictly with risk capital (there is a firewall between my trading and my "living";
2. My trades are based on logic, not emotion;
3. Profits delayed are not profits denied. I have come back from far worse than this! I have every expectation that 2009 will be a terrific year for me.

So I'm going to do some other things besides Slope for the rest of the day. Thanks, as always, for popping by (and a particular thank-you to regular commenters!) Good night.

Last night, I started reading Brett Steenbarger's book, Enhancing Trader Performance (because, God knows, the prior eight days I've felt like I could use some real enhancing).

The first chapter starts off with a couple of traders, Al and Mick. They are both trading the e-mini S&P, and they're both having rough days. The first one, Al, keeps his cool, changes his strategy when needed, and steps away from the markets for lunch to collect himself and do better when he gets back. The second, Mick, is furious with himself, angrily re-analyzes his mistakes to zoom in on where he screwed up, and in general seems like a psychological mess.

The surprise is that Mick is the one who's actually a really successful trader. I imagine most readers, like me, were expecting Al to be the hero. I'm only one chapter into the book, so I'm intrigued to learn more about this paradox.

You can imagine I'm having an absolutely horrible day in the markets. I am eerily calm about it (like "Al", which is distressing, I suppose). I imagine, even years from now, I will regarding my failure to take advantage of the rise from mid-March to now as one of the biggest mistakes of my trading life. But what's done is done.

At this point, I'm going to clear my mind, go through all the charts again, and find out what I see. The bulls are having an absolutely field day, though. Incredible.