When I make mistakes, I talk about it on this blog. I do this for a few reasons:

• To demonstrate the honesty and transparency of this blog;
• To flagellate myself publicly so I can try to avoid doing it again;
• To try to teach others by my mistakes

So what was my mistake today? Simple: I quickly sold out my positions in SSO, UWM, and DBA very soon after the market opened.

By doing so, I violated not just one but all three of my Three Rules! Specifically:

1. I removed the stop prices in order to liquidate the securities, thus violating my first rule to always have a stop in place;
2. I exited of my own volition, instead of via stop price, thus violating my second rule dictating the only exit price is a stop price;
3. I did the trade only a few minutes into the day, thus violating my rule to be completely inactive during the first thirty minutes of the trading session.

Because I track my positions even after they are closed, I know precisely how much money I would have had in extra profits just at the end of today from these three positions:

DBA………..$9,700
UWM………$10,500
SSO……….$7,600

Yep, that's $27,800 in punishment from the trading gods. And I deserve the punishment!

I go through this exercise for the reasons cited above. I am about to push into Thanksgiving Prep Mode, so this will probably be my last post of the day, particularly since I have nothing particularly pithy to say about the markets. I regard today as very much a countertrend rally, but I absolutely accept that it could push higher. Only if we break above the November 4th highs will I consider that Something Big Has Changed.

Anyway. Obey the rules. I didn't, and I paid for it. Don't be like that, or else you'll be sorry.

One thing I've always admired about XTrends' Atilla is how he holds on to his positions even in the face of (usually temporary) adversity. But even Atilla, the steady ship, was feeling capricious today………

I can totally understand! In fact, I'm sworn off e-minis for now until things are at least a little bit sane. Day after day, things are just out of control. I'd rather not be whipsawed into oblivian.

Sadly, I got stopped out of my SDP today (and it's so thinly traded, the price stunk). Oh, well; if you're going to have stops, you need to be consistent about them.

I am rolling into "sous chef" mode for Thanksgiving, so my posts are going to taper off. I will probably manage to do a real market post before the day is over. Also, thanks to everyone for getting back to me on the "ounce" question; I was buried in good detail in my inbox!

Before I get to the market commentary later today, I have to ask you folks what seems like a very simple question – – how many ounces are in a kilogram? The reason I'm asking is because the coin dealer to whom I plan to sell my kilo of gold bullion says it is a little over 32 ounces, whereas a Google search shows repeatedly that it's over 35 ounces.

Either he is very misinformed or I am not understanding that one "ounce" isn't the same as another "ounce." Any gold experts out there who can help me?

That's right, bulls. Bid those stocks up. Keep it coming. Buy, buy, buy!

My favorite part is how they've added an "Investor Alert" to show how many days in a row the rally has lasted. We're up to………TWO! Not one. TWO! Two days! Yow-hoo!