I pussied out

[RandyMarsh]

Got scared and sold at 5.8ish, have I made a mistake? in any case I've profited for the day, and I need to sleep now (If possible I never sleep with BTC in my pocket, I could wake up with dirt for money)

Long time since i've seen 5am sober. zzzzzz

[gewure]

maybe take a look at this http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Order_%28exchange%29#Stop_orders
..might give you a more silent and chilled sleep

[Serge]

thank you and whoever else keeps the btc rate down, it's nice to see the price going up but rapid growth is not ideal, would be great to stay around 5.8-6.2 for things to settle before moving on.. if it goes even lower - great too

[SaintFlow]

I for one welcome our new early adopters.

And dumpy the short gain bear actually us a great service.

Past 6 will happen soon - not however without my fiat.

[RyNinDaCleM]

Hey! I sold, albeit much higher than 5.80. Then I bought back at 5.73 once I knew it wasn't going to blow through the 5.72 resistance.

[phorensic]

I took profit at 5.90, watched it climb to 6.36 while I drove home and smacked my forehead.  Then I realized I could set myself up for the next rally and I have been buying on Bitcoinica the whole time it's been "correcting" below 6.00 right now.  Still money to be made my friend.

[kwukduck]

Meh you didn't make a mistake, you helped me greatly, thanks for the cheap bitcoins!

[SaintFlow]

Hey! I sold, albeit much higher than 5.80. Then I bought back at 5.73 once I knew it wasn't going to blow through the 5.72 resistance.

100 percent envy you

this is what i get for sleeping 5 minutes longer this morning

[old_engineer]

Not everyone can be long all the time.  Today ranged from $4.78 to $6.36, and a $5.8 sell out is still a $1/btc gain on the day.

[old_engineer]

Hey! I sold, albeit much higher than 5.80. Then I bought back at 5.73 once I knew it wasn't going to blow through the 5.72 resistance.

Ha!  Sounds like it was you and I (and perhaps others?) jockeying for position to catch those falling bitcoinica coins at 5.723, 5.724, 5.725, etc.  Better than playing any board game...

[Cluster2k]

Got scared and sold at 5.8ish, have I made a mistake? in any case I've profited for the day, and I need to sleep now (If possible I never sleep with BTC in my pocket, I could wake up with dirt for money)

Nothing wrong with pussying out.  If you never sell then you never really have a profit.  The real world in which we live still revolves around government issued currencies.  Need to take profits at some stage.

[Sitarow]

Hey! I sold, albeit much higher than 5.80. Then I bought back at 5.73 once I knew it wasn't going to blow through the 5.72 resistance.

Ha!  Sounds like it was you and I (and perhaps others?) jockeying for position to catch those falling bitcoinica coins at 5.723, 5.724, 5.725, etc.  Better than playing any board game...

I will admit I added more to my reserves at 5.72001 5.73001 and even 5.8001

[tvbcof]

Got scared and sold at 5.8ish, have I made a mistake? in any case I've profited for the day, and I need to sleep now (If possible I never sleep with BTC in my pocket, I could wake up with dirt for money)

Funny...back before I took my fill of BTC I used to feel the same way only opposite.  I often made a BTC purchase before going to bed because I didn't want to go to sleep with USD in my pocket.  But for similar reasons insofar as not wanting to wake up with dirt for money.  I probably spend to much time reading zerohedge.com

Now I've got a nice enough pile of BTC in deep deep storage and am past break-even at $6 and am sleeping well.

If BTC continues to rise to the value that I've always felt like it should have on the world stage, I wonder how many would-be early adopters will end up being caught out, or much more out than they could have been.  The only reason I can imagine how badly that would suck is because I got busy with other things when I first took an abortive interest in Bitcoin in late 2010.

[phorensic]

The truth is you didn't pussy out, you took profit.  This is the sign of a smart trader.  What if the price crashed to $1.00 while you were taking a piss or sleeping and you didn't have a stop-loss order set?

[RyNinDaCleM]

Not everyone can be long all the time.  Today ranged from $4.78 to $6.36, and a $5.8 sell out is still a $1/btc gain on the day.

This is what matters!  

Hey! I sold, albeit much higher than 5.80. Then I bought back at 5.73 once I knew it wasn't going to blow through the 5.72 resistance.

Ha!  Sounds like it was you and I (and perhaps others?) jockeying for position to catch those falling bitcoinica coins at 5.723, 5.724, 5.725, etc.  Better than playing any board game...

I was sitting here with my finger on the trigger. waiting to see where it would stop. There were a bunch of orders put in at 5.725-5.75. They were getting eaten up so fast, I was unsure about placing mine, but said "eff it", and went ahead anyway.
Aaannd, just sold at 6.08. oops! (I got carried away with typing)
Oh well! Back below $6 now.

[miscreanity]

If you never sell then you never really have a profit.

Yup.

A good practice is to scale in and scale out. For example: I closed 10% of my open positions today. On any significant declines, I'll probably add that back because my analysis suggests there's still room to rise. If I don't get the opportunity, I'll just continue to ride up with the other 90% of my holdings.

Trading is counterintuitive to your emotions. Learn to love the sinking pit in your gut when things don't move your way (then buy) and grow wary of the elated sensation upon doubling, tripling or hitting a 10-bagger (and sell).

If you keep at it, you'll develop your own trading style - short vs. long term, momentum chasing, etc. In general, you just have to heed and control your emotions.

Best!

[Sitarow]

If you never sell then you never really have a profit.

Yup.

A good practice is to scale in and scale out. For example: I closed 10% of my open positions today. On any significant declines, I'll probably add that back because my analysis suggests there's still room to rise. If I don't get the opportunity, I'll just continue to ride up with the other 90% of my holdings.

Trading is counterintuitive to your emotions. Learn to love the sinking pit in your gut when things don't move your way (then buy) and grow wary of the elated sensation upon doubling, tripling or hitting a 10-bagger (and sell).

If you keep at it, you'll develop your own trading style - short vs. long term, momentum chasing, etc. In general, you just have to heed and control your emotions.

Best!

Well said.

[RyNinDaCleM]

If you never sell then you never really have a profit.

Yup.

A good practice is to scale in and scale out. For example: I closed 10% of my open positions today. On any significant declines, I'll probably add that back because my analysis suggests there's still room to rise. If I don't get the opportunity, I'll just continue to ride up with the other 90% of my holdings.

Trading is counterintuitive to your emotions. Learn to love the sinking pit in your gut when things don't move your way (then buy) and grow wary of the elated sensation upon doubling, tripling or hitting a 10-bagger (and sell).

If you keep at it, you'll develop your own trading style - short vs. long term, momentum chasing, etc. In general, you just have to heed and control your emotions.

Best!

I usually tend to place orders on both sides, so it's always win win! 

[zby]

Got scared and sold at 5.8ish, have I made a mistake? in any case I've profited for the day, and I need to sleep now (If possible I never sleep with BTC in my pocket, I could wake up with dirt for money)

Long time since i've seen 5am sober. zzzzzz

Have you been around in the spring last year - or did you start with bitcoin in the autumn?

[kjlimo]

thank you and whoever else keeps the btc rate down, it's nice to see the price going up but rapid growth is not ideal, would be great to stay around 5.8-6.2 for things to settle before moving on.. if it goes even lower - great too

This sounds like someone like me, who still has stop orders in at $2, $3, and now $4 and $5.  I feel reasonably confident that it will dip again over the next 12 months, but when? who knows.  Until then, just try to keep jumping in and out at $5 and $6.

[adamstgBit]

Got scared and sold at 5.8ish, have I made a mistake? in any case I've profited for the day, and I need to sleep now (If possible I never sleep with BTC in my pocket, I could wake up with dirt for money)

Long time since i've seen 5am sober. zzzzzz

**when this guy wakes up                                -> 
"hmm wonder what bitcoin is at"                         -> 
"omg 6.5, and their just was a big sell"                 -> 
"I should buy now! bitcoin is goign to the moon!"    -> 
"Why is NOTHING happening"                               -> 
"Another sell off! now 6.1,what should i do??"         -> 
"I'll short some and go Long! i can't lose!"               -> 
"Why is NOTHING happening Again....."                   -> 
**he goes out to lunch                                        -> 
"OMG THIS IS THE BIGGEST RALLY I HAVE EVER SEEN!" ->  

[FlipPro]

HOW MANY TIMES DO I HAVE TO TELL YOU NOOBS!

DON'T SELL YOUR BITCOINS. YOU WILL REGRET IT LATER! LOL 

[naima53]

HOW MANY TIMES DO I HAVE TO TELL YOU NOOBS!

DON'T SELL YOUR BITCOINS. YOU WILL REGRET IT LATER! LOL 

If I didn't sell in that rapid growth, I couldn't so successfully to buy for 1.9..... 2.5 

[Cluster2k]

HOW MANY TIMES DO I HAVE TO TELL YOU NOOBS!

DON'T SELL YOUR BITCOINS. YOU WILL REGRET IT LATER! LOL  

Does that apply to people who sold between $15 and $25 per bitcoin, and have recently bought back in for <$5? 

The time to sell up is when price growth becomes exponential.  Irrational exuberance takes over, if you will.  I'm hoping this latest rally becomes a slow boil rather than a repeat of March -> June 2011.

[FlipPro]

HOW MANY TIMES DO I HAVE TO TELL YOU NOOBS!

DON'T SELL YOUR BITCOINS. YOU WILL REGRET IT LATER! LOL  

Does that apply to people who sold between $15 and $25 per bitcoin, and have recently bought back in for <$5?  

The time to sell up is when price growth becomes exponential.  Irrational exuberance takes over, if you will.  I'm hoping this latest rally becomes a slow boil rather than a repeat of March -> June 2011.

It's already looking like it's going to be a much more stable rally, then the last one was. There will be many more booms followed by corrections a few days later.

Everyone's playing the game now... When everyone's playing, manipulation becomes much harder!

[kjlimo]

HOW MANY TIMES DO I HAVE TO TELL YOU NOOBS!

DON'T SELL YOUR BITCOINS. YOU WILL REGRET IT LATER! LOL  

Does that apply to people who sold between $15 and $25 per bitcoin, and have recently bought back in for <$5?  

The time to sell up is when price growth becomes exponential.  Irrational exuberance takes over, if you will.  I'm hoping this latest rally becomes a slow boil rather than a repeat of March -> June 2011.

It's already looking like it's going to be a much more stable rally, then the last one was. There will be many more booms followed by corrections a few days later.

Everyone's playing the game now... When everyone's playing, manipulation becomes much harder!

so sad for Mr. Manipulator, haha.

[P4man]

The time to sell up is when price growth becomes exponential. 

You do realize 10%, 1% and 0.1% per year growth is.. exponential, right?

[Cluster2k]

The time to sell up is when price growth becomes exponential. 

You do realize 10%, 1% and 0.1% per year growth is.. exponential, right?

We both know what I mean.  Have a look at the bubble popping in June 2011 for reference.

[Vandroiy]

The time to sell up is when price growth becomes exponential. 

You do realize 10%, 1% and 0.1% per year growth is.. exponential, right?

We both know what I mean.  Have a look at the bubble popping in June 2011 for reference.

I don't think it's that simple. It was rising exponentially for quite a while before it popped, and it stabilized halfway up. Don't forget that exponential growth means exponential returns, so selling everything instantly is not always the best tactic.

I'm not rich enough to make sharp bets, so I sell small amounts in exponential steps unless I notice some indicator info that helps. That means that my selling volume goes with log price increase, and my returns grow heavily on the more extreme movements. In the June bubble, the erratic market movements and mania triggered me to stop and sell everything. But right now, I'm not so certain. After all, Bitcoin fundamentals were far better than a price of 2 or 3 USD, and I can't guess them to factor 2 precision. So I don't really see an opening for a bold move of mine, since it can still go either way.

Especially: look at the volume. This is not a simple repetition of the last bubble, the BTC volumes are extraordinarily high *and* people are more aware of the issue.

TL;DR: Don't know what to make of this. Some mania has returned, but Bitcoins can become quite valuable, so I don't know what to think.

[RandyMarsh]

Got scared and sold at 5.8ish, have I made a mistake? in any case I've profited for the day, and I need to sleep now (If possible I never sleep with BTC in my pocket, I could wake up with dirt for money)

Long time since i've seen 5am sober. zzzzzz

Have you been around in the spring last year - or did you start with bitcoin in the autumn?

I've been here since spring yes, I was up to 150% of my initial investment, then i hit a low of about 40%, im back up to 75%... and im so very weary now of the volitility of this market.

but it looks like the price has been fairly stable, i hope i dont miss the next rally 

[evoorhees]

If you never sell then you never really have a profit.  The real world in which we live still revolves around government issued currencies.  Need to take profits at some stage.

For some of us, our "sell" was selling USD for the real currency of Bitcoins. I cash out of USD at every opportunity.

[Litt]

If you never sell then you never really have a profit.  The real world in which we live still revolves around government issued currencies.  Need to take profits at some stage.

For some of us, our "sell" was selling USD for the real currency of Bitcoins. I cash out of USD at every opportunity.

True. There is no reason to hold on to a lot of fiat when there are much better places to place your bets on for the long haul.

[Otoh]

If you never sell then you never really have a profit.

Yup.

A good practice is to scale in and scale out. For example: I closed 10% of my open positions today. On any significant declines, I'll probably add that back because my analysis suggests there's still room to rise. If I don't get the opportunity, I'll just continue to ride up with the other 90% of my holdings.

Trading is counterintuitive to your emotions. Learn to love the sinking pit in your gut when things don't move your way (then buy) and grow wary of the elated sensation upon doubling, tripling or hitting a 10-bagger (and sell).

If you keep at it, you'll develop your own trading style - short vs. long term, momentum chasing, etc. In general, you just have to heed and control your emotions.

Best!

Well said.

^ this

& also Litt if you'd care to share pse list your better places as I could do with some diversification maybe

[StewartJ]

I got out late last night at $6.20, just because I was not going to be able to watch for 12 hours.

Now that the price has stabilized for a while, bought in again this morning at same price.

Feeling confident sentiment for another rally, up to $7.00.

[zby]

Got scared and sold at 5.8ish, have I made a mistake? in any case I've profited for the day, and I need to sleep now (If possible I never sleep with BTC in my pocket, I could wake up with dirt for money)

Long time since i've seen 5am sober. zzzzzz

Have you been around in the spring last year - or did you start with bitcoin in the autumn?

I've been here since spring yes, I was up to 150% of my initial investment, then i hit a low of about 40%, im back up to 75%... and im so very weary now of the volitility of this market.

but it looks like the price has been fairly stable, i hope i dont miss the next rally 

Hmm I seriously started in April - and I was something like 1000% up when I sold in the autumn (it could be 2000% if I sold at the right moment - but maxing out is rarely reasonable).  I am now again up quite a bit since I bought in December.

[tvbcof]

If you never sell then you never really have a profit.  The real world in which we live still revolves around government issued currencies.  Need to take profits at some stage.

For some of us, our "sell" was selling USD for the real currency of Bitcoins. I cash out of USD at every opportunity.

True. There is no reason to hold on to a lot of fiat when there are much better places to place your bets on for the long haul.

This is a big incentive for me, though I still don't recommend BTC for most people since I don't consider it safe and solid yet.

A big difference between USD and almost everything else (BTC, PMs, etc) is that the former comes in automatically and bi-monthly.  No other forms of wealth do in my case.  So it makes a lot of sense that I would be actively looking for places to dump USD while holding on to other assets just to keep things in some form of balance.

[ineededausername]

haha!  Pussying out was a bad decision, wasn't it

[Litt]

haha!  Pussying out was a bad decision, wasn't it

People are pussying out right now. We aren't done yet.

And also diversification is for pussies and retirees.  Win or go home.

Have a home to live in though. That's about it. Unless you are nearing your retirement age, you need to take risks in life imo.

You can always make a comeback in life if you have an able body and a decent head above your shoulders. Be a man and take big risks.

[Cluster2k]

It takes a lot of courage to post on an open forum that you've just sold... and then watch the price rise another 20% within a day.

Watching the price rocket over $7, I can't help but feel we're beginning to see the giddy greed of May/June 2011 reappear again.  Not a popular opinion, I know.  People don't like to hear negative opinions.  I'm long bitcoins but ready on the sell trigger.

[NamelessOne]

It takes a lot of courage to post on an open forum that you've just sold... and then watch the price rise another 20% within a day.

Watching the price rocket over $7, I can't help but feel we're beginning to see the giddy greed of May/June 2011 reappear again.  Not a popular opinion, I know.  People don't like to hear negative opinions.  I'm long bitcoins but ready on the sell trigger.

Same, I've always been long. But I'll watch it like a hawk and be ready to sell.

[Otoh]

I got out late last night at $6.20, just because I was not going to be able to watch for 12 hours.

Now that the price has stabilized for a while, bought in again this morning at same price.

Feeling confident sentiment for another rally, up to $7.00.

^ good call

[Hunterbunter]

It takes a lot of courage to post on an open forum that you've just sold... and then watch the price rise another 20% within a day.

Watching the price rocket over $7, I can't help but feel we're beginning to see the giddy greed of May/June 2011 reappear again.  Not a popular opinion, I know.  People don't like to hear negative opinions.  I'm long bitcoins but ready on the sell trigger.

Same, I've always been long. But I'll watch it like a hawk and be ready to sell.

Yeah I suspect the same thing is going on, and a lot more people are ready to sell on a dime. This might create a dampening on the system, I believe, stopping it reaching $30/btc again...not to mention the people who bought high last time and are just waiting for the break even price to get their money back out. The counter to this, of course, are the newcomers...if there are enough of them they'll mop the floor with all of us, like with any speculative ponzi, but I think by now many people at least heard of bitcoins and it's "riskiness" to quell that a little.

I personally think it's possible to hit $24 in the near future, and I'll probably exit there if I last that long.

[StewartJ]

I got out late last night at $6.20, just because I was not going to be able to watch for 12 hours.

Now that the price has stabilized for a while, bought in again this morning at same price.

Feeling confident sentiment for another rally, up to $7.00.

^ good call

Thanks.

Since then I bought in at $6.20, set a sell price at $7.20, packed up and headed to the coffee shop turned on PC and saw the spike over $7, I was already cashed out!   The spikes are nice but it's feeling a little too volatile for me.

May sit this one out until tomorrow.  Have a sneaky suspicion we will trace back to $6.60 -$6.80, looking at trend lines.

How are you playing these crazy Bitcoin moves?

[Otoh]

today by staying up far too late & so drinking far too much, will list my trading positions tomorrow...

cashed out 1,100 of my bitcoinica longs at $6.18 yesterday, naturally it immediately shot up $1 to $7.20
I left 243 BTC long with their base price now down to $0.7959 & removed the original 300 BTC that I'd used as deposit/margin to open the position which was:

243.9 @ $4.107 - 26 Dec 2011
100 @ $4.65 - 1 Jan 2012
1,000 @ $5.528 - 1 Jan 2012

Total: 1,344 @ $5.205 base price

[Otoh]

I got out late last night at $6.20, just because I was not going to be able to watch for 12 hours.

Now that the price has stabilized for a while, bought in again this morning at same price.

Feeling confident sentiment for another rally, up to $7.00.

^ good call

Thanks.

Since then I bought in at $6.20, set a sell price at $7.20, packed up and headed to the coffee shop turned on PC and saw the spike over $7, I was already cashed out!   The spikes are nice but it's feeling a little too volatile for me.

May sit this one out until tomorrow.  Have a sneaky suspicion we will trace back to $6.60 -$6.80, looking at trend lines.

How are you playing these crazy Bitcoin moves?

^ another good call

[StewartJ]

today by staying up far too late & so drinking far too much, will list my trading positions tomorrow...

cashed out 1,100 of my bitcoinica longs at $6.18 yesterday, naturally it immediately shot up $1 to $7.20
I left 243 BTC long with their base price now down to $0.7959 & removed the original 300 BTC that I'd used as deposit/margin to open the position which was:

243.9 @ $4.107 - 26 Dec 2011
100 @ $4.65 - 1 Jan 2012
1,000 @ $5.528 - 1 Jan 2012

Total: 1,344 @ $5.205 base price

Wow... moving some bitcoin! The Bitcoinica style of trading eludes me.

I think today's volatility is going to keep me on the sideline for a while. Things may just be correcting for a bit, not sure yet.

The ask walls are building up, we have had 4 different $1 dollar roller-coaster moves in the space of 12 hours, and I'm feeling the bullish sentiment is wavering a bit. 

I will probably miss the train on the way up, so I might have to take the later bus instead.