Today the Dow was down 45 points on light volume. Advance/declines were negative. There were some downgrades of a few Dow stocks. GE was down a little. I still have the open order for March calls. However this weekend I checked the monthly charts and it looks like there is a lot of resistance here. I'll try and be patient. I'm still looking for some type of decline in the market here, we are still overbought. Gold was down a couple bucks. The XAU was off over a point. NEM and ABX were both down. The XAU is oversold on a daily basis but not on a weekly basis. I'll keep an eye on it but I'm not really looking at a trade here. The dollar was a little stronger. Pfizer sold off again today. I'm looking for January calls. I've seen them double and now come back to where they doubled from. I am going to wait until near the end of this month if I do anything here at all. I've still got the Intel calls. Debating on whether to put in a stop loss order or not. Probably should and then maybe buy them back cheaper later on. It does look like a breakout on the weeklies though. It is never easy. Now for some words on trading and life. It takes a lot of sacrifice and discipline to be a successful trader. Usually those around you, family and friends, do not understand the commitment necessary for that success. Sometimes you have to make decisions regarding your time that will be unpopular. But you must. You cannot expect people to understand or even have the faintest clue as to why you do what you do. If you are fortunate enough to have some other traders around, they perhaps can understand the time issue. But for the most part, trading is a solitary endeavor. It involves a lot of work that must be kept up to date or you will fall to the wayside. Again, you are going up against some of the brightest minds and biggest monetary forces in the world. It ain't easy. For success to become reality you have got to pay attention and put the time in. There are no shortcuts to profitability. Others usually do not understand this. Others go to their 9 to 5 jobs and only see things in those terms. On the otherhand you, as a trader, have taken on a higher calling. You are taking on the most intense challenge in business in my opinion. You're part of the biggest game in the world. Don't expect others to comprehend the enormity of what you are trying to do. Some of your time decisions will be unpopular. So be it. You can make up for it at a later date. Sometimes you've just got to keep you nose to the grindstone and forge ahead. The rewards for success are well worth it.