Was listening/watching the all-day webinar on Friday, when I saw through my scanner that $SESN had dropped 80% on poor news about one of their pharmaceutical products.  It started to gain a little traction and bounce a bit.  So I opted to buy 200 shares at $1.45.  But somewhere along the way, ToS set for me to sell 200 shares at $1.45.  Mind you, I have never shorted any stocks to date and wasn't planning to do so -- especially not a stock that dropped 80% recently. 

The stock started going back up but I realized that the P/L was going into the negative and when it approached $1.81 I realized I needed to get out of this and cut my losses as quickly as possible.  So instead of buying 200 shares to cover, I sold (as I would ordinarily do that when going long), and instead, I sold 200 more shares.  This was about 3:45 pm on Friday. 

Once I realized it, I quickly bought 100 and then another 100 shares of the stock to cover the first 200 shares that I sold, and lost a significant amount of money there.  I put in another buy order to cover the other 200 shares, but I was now limited to one more round trip transaction for a week. Something I could grasp and understand but I just needed out before the close of the market for the weekend!  But the stock got halted and I couldn't buy to cover.  So I sat and waited and just at 4 pm I was able to buy 100 of the 200 shares to cover half.  But it would only allow me to buy 100 shares.

So I went into the weekend, holding 100 shares of $SESN, which, for these, I bought at $1.81. I will buy 100 shares tomorrow during pre-market hours so that I can get out of this mess I created for myself.

On Friday, I listened to Roland say that if your head isn't in the game/market, you shouldn't in the market.  On Friday, for the first time in many weeks, I actually felt good.  I was watching and learning and when I saw the drop on the news and the bounce I thought I could get in and buy 200 shares and sell and make a little profit.  But instead, I totally screwed up and now really understand why short selling is dangerous in general and especially for newbies.  This was a mistake I made, and I must not have checked thoroughly before placing the order.  Then when I could have gotten out of it, instead of buying to cover, I sold more thinking that I was selling for a long stock versus a short.

So for those of you who are new or haven't shorted before, take heed and be careful.  This is both an accountability post for myself but also as a caution for others.  Shorting still intrigues me, but if I'm going to try it again, I'm going to do with a penny or less than a penny stock.

Be safe out there!