Timing is

It's everything. Had I just slept through the session, as I've mostly done since last fall, I would've found my FAZ position in the green. After getting a handful at 22.29 yesterday, it's now at 22.34 after hours. I sold the position in premarket today at a stinging loss, 22.65, concerned that someone out there was about to start printing fake money in droves. Again.

So my instinct and logic were right. My process was not. Needs repair. That 0 for 2 this week in trades. The first was a FAZ buy at 21.75, which stopped out shortly after at 21.65. The problem is holding FAZ overnight and not having a multiple-choice plan. Once BAC was downgraded by bank analyst Mike Mayo to "sell", things went bad for financials.

And I would've been at break even instead of losing sleep by staying up late (premarket here is 2 am to 3:30 am). Now we have the first leg of the French elections this weekend, and I'm in no mood or inclination to get back in FAZ through that mess. I think.

This 1% (overall) loss has stoked a fire. I like trading FAZ, had some success with it, yet I rarely study the sector. I hate the fecal-breathed liars who run most of these banks, but I wouldn't have a problem riding BAC 50% had I gotten a position on Jan 1. First and foremost rule, make profits. Second, goes with the first, cut losses quickly. Third, emotion has nothing to do with the first and second.

I chide myself for selling AAPL in the 100s and 200s, but going in and out on the way up to 640 would've been profitable too. No sense dwelling on old success or failure. What's going on now? Though us retail traders are small fries, we still have far more efficiency in play than we did 10, 20, 40 or 100 years ago.

So I plan to spend what little time there is this weekend studying up on the finnies. After all, once Bernanke stops waving 'Ol Glory and orders maximum printage (my word) of fiat currency, that lying con man Dimon will be laughing all the way to his bank again, FAS will be on fire and logic will dictate that BAC and the rest of the sector will launch again.

It's that old Tao of War morsel:

"It is said that if you know your enemies and know yourself, you will not be imperiled in a hundred battles; if you do not know your enemies but do know yourself, you will win one and lose one; if you do not know your enemies nor yourself, you will be imperiled in every single battle."