Stock Rook

Watchlist: EXPD FAST PHG HRS OSIP AIG BEAT SGMS IPI CHU

Tick	#	Side	Gross	Fee	Net	Set-up	Actual
PHG	200	S	-20	-3.74	-23.74	ORL-BD	ORH-BO
OSIP	300	L	-55	-5.23	-60.23	ORH-BO	Mixed
IPI	200	S	89	-1.8	87.2	ORL-BD	ORL-BO
					$3.23

Quite a number of breakouts today. PHG I stuck with my stop order and the anticipated set up did not happen. This stock would of been a nice one to flip as the Open Range was very tight and near a whole number price threshold; and it did break out. IPI I followed my exit rules perfectly, and turned out as a decent trade. I went into OSIP with an ok profit on the day but fiddled it away in that transaction. I got a horrible entry by chasing. It moved quickly against me and I didn't have a stop order in. I exited half the position for a $25 loss and then doubled down when I thought it was getting bullish again. All in all, a $60 loss. This hasn't been an issue recently (not having a stop order in, staying in a losing position, and then doubling down); I hope it was just a little hiccup rather than a new bad habit.

Entering right from the Level II window helped give me less time to second guess myself. But technology is not going to be the whole solution to a behavior problem. I canceled a long entry on a stock (my bid was out there like 20 seconds) right before it broke out; there were some other hesi-trades that actually prevented some losses by not entering them so I need to keep that in mind. I also can't let this faster entry get in the way of putting in a stop loss order immediately.

My objective is to enter all the set-ups that I initially determine are high-probability, and not let myself second guess myself - thus not making trades based on emotion or lack of confidence. This will increase my transaction costs as I'll be trading more, but my hunch is that I will have more winning trades and they will significantly outweigh the losing trades I pass on, as long as I use tight stops.