Trading update and randome thoughts

I got into futures for a few weeks and while I felt like I was doing well and could do well it proved to not be so. I closed the accounts and instead of moving the money back to an equity account I put it into checking to pay down some debt. Overall, there is not much debt but before increasing market risk by much it needs to be paid down. That would be for my piece of mind as well as my spouses.

I've also cut way back on my stock trading. I'll try and do some research to show some of the recent worst and best trades. Overall, other than the HEAVY losses from futures, I am likely just below break even for the year. Considering the magnitude of one of the losses I am fortunate.

I think I see a lot traders buying bottoms in stocks. Good luck with that. When a stock breaks down, down remains the path of least resistance.

My broker has a forum. I see a lot of questions. I've come to the conclusion that when one has a question about a stock, trading method, or indicator, one should not be trading. Stop trading until you know! This is different than my futures activity in which I considered it for years before venturing there, then only did what I thought would work. I knew what I was doing, just did not do it well. There is too much money at stake to do what you are not familiar with. If you do not know what to trade, how to research stock, what criteria you are looking for, STOP TRADING. Read more. Get a firm plan to act upon.

This leads to getting advice. When we do not have the answers and are not sure of things it is human nature (at least it is my nature) to turn to others for advice. I think this is why advisory services in their many forms are so popular and can charge so much. It is also why people go to internet forums and chat rooms, because they have not a clue how to handle themselves. I hate not knowing the track record of those that populate the net. They can brag and boast all they want, they can seem to know what they are doing certain days. Even if they do not know what they are doing, by virtue of not knowing what I am doing, it becomes easy to follow them. I do not trust what I read. Sometimes the written word on the net looks like it is designed to confuse and bewilder. While I can sense where some of the net writers are in life, and what their trading results might actually be like, I've taken to considering them as GS janitors being paid overtime to spread disinformation.

Changes in 401K are working out. Many of the charts are looking better.

I like the new Marketsmith package. More bang for the buck.