Happy New Year 2006!

The market is closed today and I'm back to work after a short holiday over the past 10 days. To say the least, 2005 closed on a disappointing note for investors. Yet, overall, I'm satisfied with my track record. I'm also very optimistic for a successful year in 2006.

Like any year, no matter what the market pundits, gurus, and experts tell you - the future is always uncertain. Although we can and will make educated guesses and skilled judgment calls, as traders and investors, uncertainty is our business. So, if you've come to figure out what off-the-wall predictions I will make for 2006, I'm going to disappoint you.

Frankly, I have no bold predictions to share with you even though I did spend some time thinking over the past 10 days what may be in store for us in 2006. In sum, the only thing I will say is that the new year will be filled with challenges, successes and failures, just like every other year. Our goal, as always, is to figure out a way to profit from anything and everything that Mr. Market gives us. I'll leave the prediction business to others.

As we start a brand new year I am personally optimistic about 2006. This will be my 13th year trading stocks and the 7th year trading full-time. The experience and knowledge I've learned the hard way over the past does provide me with some measure of confidence that I'll be able to find ways to profit in 2006. Yet, if anything, I'm humbled by the fact that stock market speculation remains a very challenging career choice.

Although I've inspired many of you to follow down the same career path as I've chosen for myself, one lesson that continues is that no matter how much you know, what you've already learned, and what experience you currently have under your belt, being a successful trader and investor never gets any easier. Instead, the challenges just change.

However, some things never change. Success in the stock market still requires a ton of work, large amounts of discipline and patience, tremendous focus and concentration, and generous family support. I have no doubt that many of you have these qualities and will do exceptionally well throughout 2006. Those of you who aren't as fortunate or don't want to put the time and effort in will underperform. That is the one and only prediction that I do feel very confident in making.

Many of you have asked me over the past couple of weeks to share my own personal goals for 2006. After all, I heard from a number of you who wisely took my advice last year to set 12 personal goals for yourself and found tremendous success by doing so. Like last year, I have revised this year's list of personal goals and one dominant theme can be found throughout my personal goal list this year - successful time management.

2005 was very much a year of distractions, both voluntary and involuntary. I didn't find enough time to do intensive, high-quality research. I also fell way short in developing, testing, and tweaking new trading strategies and stock screens. Unfortunately, I failed to take time out of my daily and monthly schedule to just "think" about the market. The cost from not finding that time has taken a toll on my overall performance as well as the fact that I didn't do a very good job of taking care of my health. In sum, in 2005 I failed to use and manage my time effectively. So, without any doubt, the top goal for 2006 is fix that in a significant way.

Of course, goals without actions are utterly useless. So, the first action step toward this year's time management goal is to schedule in 3 time-off days every month. These "time-off" days will be used to do research, test new stock screens and trading strategies, and to do some additional thinking and planning away from the daily grind. My time-off days will be scheduled every three to four weeks. While three days isn't very much time, I think it is a good first step to take back control over my hectic schedule. In addition, I have also planned much more "thinking" time into my trading day (after the market closes) as well as create and stick to a diet/workout regimen (every afternoon) that will help me take much better care of myself in the coming year. I will be sharing the details of both in the days ahead.

All in all, an exciting and interesting year is planned and I look forward to sharing the my own personal quest with you. May 2006 be a year of happiness, prosperity, and good health for all of us!