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mastacoli71
Registered: Dec 2006
Posts: 2089 |
10-02-11 02:49 AM
I decided to start posting again partly because of my turn around in trading (yes market volatility has certainly helped) and also to share what I have found to be the main culprit of my drawdown over the last year.
When market volatility picked up in august and I still struggled with making money, I decided to go back to beginning of 2010 and figured out what was different back then versus now. For reference, I was up 120k by the end of feb 2010 for that year. I made several changes over the last year and a half that obviously did not work for me. Instead of sticking to what I am comfortable with, I tried time frames and strategies that did not fit my trading personality. As soon as I switched back at the end of august, money started flowing again. I know volatility has a role in all this but it is amazing what confidence does for you.
Going forward, I will post my updated equity curve shortly. I will also post my weekly p/l with any thoughts of what helped/hurt my trading for that week.
Please ask questions or feel free to comment.
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SnakeEYE
Registered: Jan 2011
Posts: 1613 |
10-02-11 03:36 AM
Quote from mastacoli71:
Instead of sticking to what I am comfortable with, I tried time frames and strategies that did not fit my trading personality.
of those that didn`t work for you,lower or higher timeframes you switched to?
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mastacoli71
Registered: Dec 2006
Posts: 2089 |
10-02-11 05:51 PM
Quote from SnakeEYE:
of those that didn`t work for you,lower or higher timeframes you switched to?
Longer time frames with my main strategy, pairs trading. I tried switching to them without adjusting size and the willingness to continuously turnover the capital.
I have made the adjustments from what I learned over the last year which seems to be working out now. Again, market volatility is certainly helping the cause. I will wait and see if things continue once volatility settles down (which I hope is not for a while...LOL...sorry longer term investors but traders thrive on volatility). If not, I will be much quicker at making adjustments to what does work in lower volatile markets.
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mastacoli71
Registered: Dec 2006
Posts: 2089 |
10-10-11 01:20 AM
Week ending 10/7/11
+29600
1/3 was a basket trade (long/short) that I took off Wednesday.
1/3 in pairs. Been working pairs that I swing trade intraday, not being afraid to trade them with this volatility.
1/3 in ES. I swing trade them along with some intraday trades. I follow the 60 min and daily charts to determine direction of strength and where to put on and strip off capital.
One thing I noticed about the run this week was how much capital I actually took off. In the past, I would keep capital on trying to catch the big move. This market is not conducive to that. Take what you can get and move on.
I finally went green in prop account for the year within sniffing distance of equity highs from April. Retail account still lagging by about 20k.
Given my results this past year, I am trading cautiously, paying special attention to risk. Keeping my fingers crossed that the run will continue.
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mastacoli71
Registered: Dec 2006
Posts: 2089 |
10-10-11 03:57 AM
Quote from sneakoner:
how did you find your mentor?
how long did it take you before you decided to leave corporate america?
Dumb luck on the mentor. I was at an event put on by the prop shop I trade with. He was there and talked about what he does and was looking to do. One thing lead to another. Honestly, really fortunate to be in the right place at the right time.
Took me about one year to get everything lined up before I jumped ship. Very nerve racking but worth it in the end. I was fortunate to hit the market when I did along with trading strategies that worked well in high volatility.
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