Bailing out

I bailed out all my positions last Friday.  My acount was down more than 7k in just one day.

Fool me once shame on you.  Fool me twice shame on me.  Fool me thrice shame on ...

This is the third time.  I was fooled by market complacency to take a lot of so called setups.  And then forced to sell them all during a sell off.  I was not cognitively ignorant of the extreme risk and exposure I had.  But I believed in my stock picking capability.  I believed in my setups.  I believed I would be lucky enough to sell my positions before others marked down the market.

All elusive beliefs.

Areas for improvement:

1. Stock picking.  Obviously I am not a good stock picker.  I need to better focus on stocks (probably small cap ones) with superior accumulation characteristics.

2. Don't try to all in at support.  A support is a *real* support only if it is tested by the market.  Buy on strength after a support is tested.

3. Overconfidence.  Imagine that at least half of my positions would turn out to be a loss.

4. Mind your exposure.  Exposure means opportunity as well as risk.