I wasn’t feeling that great on the Open today. How you feel both physically and mentally can have a huge impact on your trading results. If you are tired you will process information less quickly and in today’s highly volatile market this will put you at a severe disadvantage. If you are feeling worn out from being tossed around in the market this may also impact your ability to effectively execute during the whippiness of the first 15 minutes.

Based on the fact that I was tired I cut my tier size in half and did not trade too aggressively when the market opened. Also, there were no phenomenal setups in either the market leaders or the fresh In Play stocks we were trading. Sure, there were opportunities but nothing that stood out to me. If for example there was a play similar to FCX from yesterday where I could risk 20-30 cents to capture three or four points I would have sucked it up and been more aggressive.

In the meantime I hung in there for the first couple of hours as the market reversed a couple of times. At 12:40pm I was short FAS as it appeared to be putting in a double top. I was rewarded with a ridiculous down move based on another chirp with respect to the bailout for Greece. That one trade made my entire day. I knew enough at that point to take what the choppy market had given me and called it a day.

Remember, every day doesn’t have to be a day where you “kill” the market. Sometimes it is good enough to hang in there and make a few bucks. Perhaps you will identify some interesting levels in the stocks you are watching that will lead to a bigger chop the next day.