cutting TOPS for my first real loss, -$141

First losing day of my trading career, and honestly one of the cleaner ones. I sold all 1,300 shares of TOPS at about $0.90 against a blended cost near $1.01, taking a -$141 hit.

Why I'm not bothered by this one

The position wasn't working, so I closed it. No averaging down, no waiting for it to “come back,” no re-entering an hour later to prove myself right. A roughly 11% loss on a small position is exactly what a losing trade is supposed to look like — unremarkable, survivable, and over quickly.

I'm dwelling on that because it's the standard I later failed to meet. In July I'd take a similar-sized bad entry and turn it into a $400 loss by refusing to leave it alone. Same mistake available here; I just didn't take it. Read: my actual strategy, and the three places it breaks →

The difference between a $141 loss and a $400 loss usually isn't the entry. It's whether you accept the first one or go looking for a second.

Running total: +$3,383. Still holding BATL. Read: what 890 trades looked like once I reconstructed the statement →