I am surprised that I haven't heard more bashing from my critics this week. However, rather than give these people an open invitation to piss me off, I have decided I will embrace this situation for what it is worth and get on the path to fixing the problem.

The problem is...I'm "off."

Not by much, but I am off. Regardless of how often it happens, there is always a reason behind it, and I can't solve the problem until I address the source.

Lately, I have had some good trades, but they have been offset by some ridiculous trades. Last month was a fantastic month, but could have been better had I not bought a bad dip in energy, agriculture, coal, etc. Yesterday, as a result of all my distractions, here are a few of my latest and greatest market moves...

Yesterday- bought puts on LDK and SPWR, sold them for a loss at the close.

SPWR- Here was my reasoning. As you can see, the same old set-up I address everyday here.

Just like the dips I bought in coal, energy, and ag's....and the puts I bought in solars, banks, etc... You see that same set up in your sleep, and you hit it every time until it no longer works.

"I hit it again because that shot was a defining moment, and when a defining moment comes along, you define the moment... or the moment defines you."

(Care to name that quote?)

Same thing with the banks. How many times has it worked in the past where buying the breakdown resulted in 1000% gains? This trade set-up had worked 100% of the time out of at least 12 different stocks. Today, it doesn't; go figure.

PNC- One of the few examples of trades I took. LNC was the other.

Yesterday- I put Gold on the radar...for no good reason. If you notice the time I posted (8:17 Mountain, 10:17 Eastern) I "Top Ticked." Almost nailed the absolute high.

GLD- See that high on Tuesday? That was me.

While I am at it, I sold LVS, ICE and XL way too soon.

I have stayed delta neutral up until last week, and at the same time I cut back my number of trades and position sizes. We have been talking about getting prepared for this rally for quite some time, so it was nice to have reduced my exposure ahead of this rather than taking it on the chin being fully invested, delta neutral, and trading the way I have been the last few days.

It always seems that pivotal days occur when I have better things to do, or when I cannot do anything about it. I barely had time to set stops before I embarked on my adventure today, and was only able to check the site and my account a handful of times. Today's rally was what I knew was coming in the back of my mind...but wasn't in a position to profit from it the way I should. At the end of the day, my retarded longs waffled in the face of a 200 point day, and my shorts over reacted to the madness. I was stopped out of PNC, WFR, ADBE, TIF, ISRG, TBSI, WYNN, and CHL. Yesterday I took off some of my SOHU, and took losses on SPWR adn LDK. I am still long puts on CMG, OMG, SD, GPN, BWLD, FAST, and HRB (lol). All of them are 1% or less in regards to position size. My directionally challenged longs include AAPL, BIIB, LNCR, FLIR, NUVA, CELG, GMXR, CRK and POT. I took profits/reduced positions in AAPL, CELG, GMXR, CRK, and POT. In summary, I am left feeling unsatisfied and wondering how I arrived at this point...

-5% on the day.

I have spent the evening pondering, researching, and coming to terms with my performance. I have identified the source of my distractions, which have to do with my personal/professional life. These things are in the process of being sorted out, which reassures me that this is very much temporary. But needless to say, it has taken me out of my zone, and dangerously impacted the amount of time I have allotted to research, management, and relaying my actions to you, the reader. The good news is that new technology is being built to perform all of these up dates for me, so it requires less time to manage. The bad news is that it is taking time to implement. Besides, unless I am performing like I normally do, the technology won't be worth a damn.

During these times of market turns, distractions, and chaos, I go back and read my archives to see what I was doing during these times, how I reacted, and what the end result was. As I went back and read a few archives, I noticed a total difference in the type of content and substance I was providing. In short, it is obvious I am distracted, and "yes" I will step it up.

I've maintained a rock solid performance level while juggling a tremendous workload. I cannot wait to see what is possible when I am completely focused and have limited distractions.

In closing I want to tip my hat to you, my readers. Lately this place has been chuck full of great trading ideas, camaraderie, and positive energy. I am starting to see long time readers re-surface, and new and talented readers stepping up their game by contributing rock solid market calls, trade ideas, and positive attitudes. Most people don't understand how strong a positive community is when it comes to our line of work; but I do. This site is approaching its 4th anniversary, and in such short time has become not only the #1 Business Blog of 2007 (and soon to repeat), but has aggregated a level of traffic and contributions that rival most competitors combined. Thank you for all your loyal support and contributions. The future looks plenty bright from what I can see.

I plan to get some good rest tonight, and put on a good show tomorrow. See you then.

Happy Trading,

Option Addict