One thing I have come to recognize is how much inherant "HOPE" is baked into our theories surrounding trading, even those of us who think we're the most disciplined of traders.

An old saying is that there's "No such thing as an athiest in a foxhole", and the same goes for trading, when we are really down on our luck, when we are threatened with some major losses, we tend to "hope" for a favorable outcome so that we don't have to take the loss. 

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First off, there are already Halloween decorations and pumpkins going on in my neighborhood. Sheesh!

Anyway, just a quick post to wrap the day up……I had a bunch of new items I wanted to short, but I wanted to wait for a decent price. As the market strengthened (briefly!) rather late in the session, I noticed it was approaching the underside of a broken line. This line wasn't quite horizontal, but it was close, and I literally had my finger hovering over the "Execute" button that would unleash about 20 Sell Short orders. Once the price kissed the underside of the line (circled here in green), I clicked it.

On a different screen at the same time was the IWM, which had a somewhat similar line. This only affirmed my belief that this was a meaningful price level. 

Of course, nowhere in nature's law is it written that the price couldn't have cut through both lines and exploded higher, but this is a matter of balancing risk with reward. The risk was lower if I could hold out for the retracement to that line, and being a not terribly patient person, this wasn't easy for me. But, in the end, I'm glad I waited, because better entry prices have two wonderful benefits: (a) better profits; (b) lower potential losses!

With just thirteen hours left in this quarter, I am on the edge of my seat with nervousness, I confess. I'll be glad to open up the bar on Friday. It won't be a moment too soon.

Good night.