Short term

I think the last six months I lost my sense of the market by predicting a real correction instead of taking what the market tells me. God, I paid heavy price for this mistake.

1. I need to be short sighted, focus on short term trend and the bounce.
2. Common sense eventually will prevail, but nobody knows when.
3. And in last six months, so many times I entered a put positions when after another rally, and it's very profitable the next day or next few days, sometimes the same day, but I didn't take profit, I was greedy, I wanted to make all the losses back. And most of these puts ended up losing big.
4. Since I still think the market is over extended, may have a correction or sharp drop, so I need to only play short ETFs and puts for now.
5. And I need to take the money off the table if there are some profits. Really short term.
6. This market doesn't reward long term traders, or if you're long, then it's very rewarding for the last 5 years.
7. It's still possible we'll have another one or two legs up before we see a meaningful correction (10% or more), but it can start right now without a leg up. This is the beauty of the market. TA can always explain why the top is here and bottom is there, FA can always explain whay the top is here and bottom is there, only after it happens. Before that, your guess is good as mine.
8. So focus on short term, be conservative, don't be greedy, don't try to catch a big fish. A small amount at a time is a pretty good idea, if you can keep it up.
9. Swing trade is not bad idea too, even in this up trend market.
10. So many lessons, so much time, energy and money spent, but nothing to show for it. Shame on me for being numb and slow for all this time! I'm so stupid for such a long time. I still use the previous experience to guide me through, that's not enough.
11. 1999 is different, lot of people losing money by shorting.
12. 2007 is different too. lot of very smart people losing money by shorting.
13. There is always another trading day tomorrow. I'm so fortunate I still have a decent job to support my family and my bad trading record this year.
14. Hope is a four letter word, don't rely on hope. You can only rely on yourself to make money, and your read of the market and decision to enter and exit the trade are more important than your analysis.
15. Fundamental analysis, the more I use it, the more I feel like it's useless if you want to use it to make money quickly. Some times, even Technical Analysis is useless, the market is insane for the recent months, and it's not even at the crazy level as 1999 and early 2000, why can it get more crazy to push up another 10%?
16. I use common sense to value the market, yet I don't use common sense to exit a losing position and take profit for a risky position like put. This is my problem!
17. From now on, just focus on small details of the trade, focus on real short term trend.
18. I'll still use FA and TA to gain an edge, but I need to be short term oriented.
19. Over trading is another issue. I trade too much, sometimes daily. My brokerage firm makes more money than I do for sure.
20. I need to patiently wait, enter at a desired price and exit quickly if it's wrong, and also take profit quickly if I have one. Don't be greedy, small is good. Don't try to catch a 100% fish using risky options.
21. Ok, this is for me to remember.

Back to market:

1. After two days up sharply, I think the momentum is fading, tomorrow we'll like to have a pause or a down day.
2. But if the CPI number is good, I'm sure the bulls will run the shorts over again, and another triple digits gain in Dow will be a good time to add shorts.
3. Other than this, I don't like to trade. Only a crazy up day can give me a trading chance.
4. And if it's a sharp down day, I need to reduce puts and shorts.