NL, the brokers grow fat on our trading mistakes, and our...

NL, the brokers grow fat on our trading mistakes, and our mistake mistakes.

I have a mental checklist now: Is it the right stock? Check.

Is it a sell or buy? Check.

Is the amount correct--check, double check, triple check, quadruple check--then check again, against the chart, depth, last trade.

After that final OK is clicked.... I look anxiously for the outstanding orders window and hope to God the order is there so I can check it again.

If it's not, that is, it's been executed, I know I've made a terrible mistake, at a price well below the prevailing for a sell, or above for a buy.

--Or, the market has risen to my occasion in quick flash time (rarely).