Out of C with loss

Three sins of trading: greed, pride and stupidity.

I got back in, as I wrote earlier, at 3.92. It ran to 3.99 almost immediately and I assumed it would run to 4.50. This is a major mistake, to imagine that I can project or predict anything in the market. It should always be about the price action, the reality of numbers, and not my feeble imagination or worse, hope.

It was a frog-in-a-pot-of-water syndrome from there, the water starting to boil without me noticing the danger. Citigroup shares trickled lower and lower, actually surging back up to 3.90 momentarily. I thought I had a sell at 3.92 (for a tie) execute, but a minute or so later I realized that it was not so. In 30 seconds, C dropped to 3.82 and has been meandering in the 3.70s. After it sank below 3.70, I put in a sell order at 3.70. Then I forgot about it.

The order executed for a loss of 22 cents, wiping out a large portion of the gains I made in premarket (+33 cents). Lesson here? Leave well enough alone, set tight stop losses and get out with small losses.

In the 3.90s and 3.80s, I was thinking 4.50 -- greed.
I could've gotten out with a tie or small loss, but I refused -- pride.
And not executing to protect myself -- stupidity.

C is now trading around 3.75, staying well below 4 on options expiration day. I have my long-term shares, but I won't be going back in for a swing trade.