Not dead, just resting. Aug 11

The Australian top 200 index is down 5 points at midday amid uncertainty as the rally has hit a brick wall. I'd say that we'll struggle to break through to new highs in the next few days and we're more likely to drift down but it doesn't look like the end of the rally yet. Markets often make V bottoms but usually chop around making marginal new highs at tops. Here's the Xjo chart.I got out of Tol straight away at 694 (v 705.5) as I was soft not to cut it yesterday once it failed to hold the new high. It's dropped further to 686. Fmg which I did cut yesterday, although far too late, also opened weaker and it occured to me that these trades are "gimmes" to be short - the failed new high and reversal will have caught out a lot of players and not everyone has the time or inclination to sit in front of the screen and get out quickly.
I also stopped out of Srl as the early promise in the coal sector faded. Out at 236 (v 234). Also out of half of my Mof for square at 24.5 as it's not moving.

12.21 I've gone long Goodman Fielder at 146 on a straightforward break out.

The other new position is a small one due to lack of liquidity in the stock. That would usually curtail my interest but it's such a nice range break that I've bought a small amount of Cxp at 398.

12.30 I've also gone long Fairfax at 152.5. It had flirted with the breakout level of 152 earlier without hitting it and I wasn't expecting to see it push through.

12.43 Out of Mah at 48.5 (v 50.7 av) as it looks like we'll get a second leg down before the rally to new highs I'm looking for.

1.09 Stockland Group is popping up on the radar.....

......but whether it's a better trade than Iluka is a moot point.

The problem with Ilu is that it should have been on my short list this morning so I could buy on a break above 340 - it's a bit late now.

2.51 The market has turned a small corner and is now up 7 points. I bought some Sgp at 330 and they've worked their way up to 334. A check of my trading calendars (got another one) confirms that it reports tomorrow and it will probably be before the market opens. After the debacle in Fmg I think I'll get out this afternoon....just sold a few at 336.

3.01 A lot of my work this year has been on changing my habits and one of the main ones was to improve my ability to stop out of bad trades. This has been by far and away the worst problem for me. I'm pretty happy with how this has gone, I don't suffer the same amount of stress when stopping out, but a side effect has been that I'm not running my winners so well. So, rather than be even handed, I need to be strict with my losers and indulgent with my winners.

An example of this was in cutting Pbg yesterday. It didn't trigger a trailing stop and nor did it have a massive reversal day but I got out and it's still running. I've decided to re-enter at 121.5 as it's showing signs of acceleration.

3.52 Out of Sgp at 335 and 338 ahead of the result. Also out of the last of Mof at 25 (v 24.5). The index has continued to strengthen and is up 27 points.

4.13 No further trades, most of my positions look alright. Long Cxp (small size), Eld, Fxj, Gff and Pbg.