some regular expert posters missing on meo??, page-65

Hey nambo, told my missus last night over dinner. I slept in the spare room last night.

Mind you, the Artemis duster was the last of a 12month string of trading woes for me. While my MEO shares (which were almost my entire holding as of 2 weeks ago) are down 55%, I am down almost 80% from October 2009. From 2003 (when I first entered the market) to mid 2009 I averaged around 100% annual return (thankyou QGC, AOE, GBG, FMG, LNC). I look back on the past year with dazzed bewilderment wondering how the hell I got to where I am now.

I had completely and utterly convinced myself that Artemis#1 would show something - not necessarily commecial gas, but something, that would cause a solid short term spike. My plan was to sell 75% on the spike associated with that "sure thing", leaving 25% for the full punt. I had convinced myself that that behaviour was "good trading" (even though I had always been far more risk averse in the past). I was suckered by greed and desperation.

Kinda odd that the rot for me coincided with getting into MEO and signing up to Hot Copper. Don't get me wrong, I am in no way blaming MEO or HC for my poor trading choices. However, I do think that things I read on HC have at times caused me to second guess myself.

I used to base all decisions on my own research. Since being on HC however, I have gotten lazy with my research and have found myself relying on other posters info, and have too often been influenced by emotion. The strength of my resolve has suffered.

However it is not all bleak. The failure of Artemis#1 has opened my eyes to what I have been doing, the denial I have been blinded by. I have learnt a hell of alot about technical trading from HC posters and the traders of MEO. Knowledge that I will apply to future trading choices.

I feel like I had been churning in a rip for an eternity, was then dumped by a massive tsunami, and now I sit on the beach, looking at the turbulent waters in front of me with much wiser eyes, and hopefully the tools to negotiate their unexpected movements in a more deliberate, controlled way in future.

As my father keeps telling me: think of the loss as your college fees. You have learnt a lot over the past year, now is the time to apply that knowledge.