April Trading Journals

Discussion in 'Journals' started by Hitman, Mar 29, 2002.

Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.
  1. Hitman

    Hitman

    March was truly a month full of madnesses and emotional rollercoasters, as it was the single greatest month I have ever had as a trader, yet it also carried one of the most painful weekends I ever had to endure.

    March / February

    P&L Before Commissions: 17980 / 13847
    P&L After Commissions: 12011 / 4294
    Shooting %: 55.58% / 47.2%
    Cent Per Share: 0.059 / 0.038
    Volume Each Way: 303900 / 361200
    W/L: 19-1 / 14-6

    Where do I begin? This is my second best month ever as far as net P&L is concerned (in March 2001 I scored 17K, but that was a record month for almost everyone as it had days you can make 15K and still miss the top 30 list), my third five digit month ever, but it is simply amazing that it came in a month that literally broke the spirit of other team leaders I have been tracking.

    Team Leader / 2001 P&L / March 2002 / YTD 2002
    A / 80K / -2K / +2K
    B / 201K / -40K / -22K
    C / 400K / -1.5K / +50K
    D / 1.4 million / +20K / +110K

    At the end of last month I talked about the need to increase my shooting % to 55%, and I did just that. I also talked about the need to cut down the number of losing days, and I was able to put together what was almost a flawless record.

    This is the kind of performance that defines leadership, as guys on my team can look up to someone who is still making money every single day regardless of the market condition. This is the first time I felt that aura of respect after a "how the hell did he become a team leader" January. I gave out my real time position / P&L tracker password to everyone on my team at the end of January, when I was still struggling, and it feels good to finally put on something that is worth looking at during the day.

    Even Mrs F, who is still up substantially more than me YTD despite of me playing major catch-up this past month, admired my effort for being the brave lab rat of new strategies and share it with her (and with the exception of my team, a few very close friends at work) as soon as it is complete. Now that she is experimenting it with 200 shares, STOCKKBROKER doing it everyday, I feel like a hero :)

    There were many many reasons behind this month's success, for starters I was able to see her a total of 7 times this entire month, versus the average of 2 times a month, it was a +250% in happiness level at least until that dreadful Friday. The awesome 20% reduction in commissions which I received at the end of February as my only financial imbursement since
    I became the team leader, from 1 cent to 0.8 cents per share also made a huge difference. Don's open strategy, which I modified
    and taught to others on my team this past week, was also a huge lift, not in that it made a huge amount of money in itself, but that it behaves best in choppy markets where gaps are more likely to be filled than broken away, giving me a cushion on really bad days which is invaluable. Since my sector trading and daily chart stuff all behave extremely well in trending markets, a strategy that can deal with choppiness is a marriage made in heaven. I liked it so much that I named it "Love has no regret" (as once you put in those orders you have to put all the regrets aside and just deal with whatever cards the house gives you). Of course, I will never be able to talk with a straight face that I could have figured this out by myself without Don's thread providing the basic concept in the first place, so I will always be giving credit to Don and his strategy anytime I teach this to a new guy, the same way I talk about Tony Oz bottompicker set-ups (which I named, "Bittersweet", as basically the stocks has to be "bitter" and tank for many days before the "sweet" reversal).

    Last, but not least, my psychology as a trader was literally, flawless. I was up $2 first game of the month, then $2000, then $150, and I pretty much executed regardless of what the P&L was showing. I wasn't disappointed about small potato numbers after big days, I just kept on locking away profits whether it is two dollars or two thousand dollars, as when you are not giving back any, it adds up fast. On days when I feel the market is choppy and light I just stopped for good, reserved my capital perhaps even more importantly, confidence for cleaner shots.

    That said, all is not well, as I must increase my intraday sizes (start more positions with at least 700-1000 shares), as right now I am starting the "Love Has No Regret" open strategy with 1000 shares and if I ever take a substantial loss in that (and I will, one day), I could have some serious regrets rest of the way (imagine if one of my stocks behaved like MMM did on the last day of March)?

    There is also a lack of aggression after solid open's. I have to understand that to be a top tier trader, I have to aggressively attack the market regardless of whether I am up $50 or $800 after the first 10 minutes. I must be able to shift from the open strategy SEAMLESSLY into my normal play book.

    Also, it is very easy to keep a flawless mentality when you are playing flawless, or when your open strategy is at least breaking even everyday. My only loss of the month came when I lost $300 off the open strategy, and that was with 600 shares. While I have made many tweaks to Don's basic formula, on the last game of the month I was filled 5000 shares long and futures tanked and my P&L dipped to -$400 before I could blink (and I had to dump a lot of the shares), now what if the futures tanked for good and I have to start the day with a $700 loss? That will truly test my resolve.

    And including myself, I now have 10 traders on my team, a mile stone, recruiting process definitely slowed over the last a few weeks, but with me finally putting up respectable numbers, assuming I can keep it up, I believe I will attract even more talents.

    Unfortunately, in the end, no amount of financial successes will do anything for me, without her heart, for the kind of pain she broughts upon me that strikes me to the core of my bones, there is still a level of peace, comfort, and happiness that comes from the bottom of my heart, when I am with her.

    I must prepare myself for second quarter and strive for even bigger days ahead, as I will never ever give up pursuing the princess of my dreams, regardless of the result.

    Because love has no regret.
     
  2. Hitman

    Hitman

    http://hitmantb.tripod.com/

    A STUNNING START FOR APRIL TURNED INTO A DISASTER, AS I LOST MORE THAN 10K IN LESS THAN TWO WEEKS AFTER OPENING UP THE MONTH WITH 12K IN, WELL, LESS THAN TWO WEEKS. IT WAS A COLD HARD REALITY CHECK AFTER I THOUGHT 12K IN FEB AND 17K IN MARCH WAS EASY MONEY.

    From: Hitman Sent: 4/25/2001 6:47 PM

    Like a long term investor watching Nasdaq's decline, I am asking myself every night whether I have bottomed out in term of performance, only to slid further into the abyss as each day goes on . . . This almost feels like my losing streak when I first started trading, lay-ups are turning into bricks, and I am totally out of my rthyme.

    There is a lack of trust I have in myself. This morning BMY beat earnings and good news was released on AHP, DRG sector was nearly guaranteed to go up, BMY opened down 30 cents and I missed that as well as the entire Drug sector despite of me telling myself to go long on drugs this morning. VZ beat earnings, and I wasn't long telecom. If it wasn't for a very lucky OSX move I would have been blown out again. I lost about $900 today on a bullet in DOX, when I tried to short it over and over only to get hit time after time . . .

    9 of 24 shooting on 25900 shares, -125 before commissions, -946.54 after, 3 bullets . . .

    I have lost 7 of last 10 games, and I am down $10500 from my intra-month high. The sense of defeat is growing, only in a cold streak a trader can truly appreciate his better days and the mental toughness required to play the game. It is me, it is NOT the market, I happen to be at the wrong place at wrong time lately, and a few bad luck trades increase frustration level and a couple of mistakes I am blown out . . . If it is so easy, everyone would be doing it, just two weeks ago, I was thinking how easy this job is, it is almost cheating . . . what a cold hard reality check . . .

    The lower volume, choppier market requires a lot more patience to trade correctly. I can no longer afford to be aggressive with my chart set-up's and I need to concentrate on a few sectors instead of spreading myself too thinly. I need to be a lot more selective with my plays. I have to be a lot more conservative than before.

    I am down $5000 for the pay period, it will take me at least a month to get back to where I was just two weeks ago, when my capital account shown a balance of $25000, now it is cut in half after a $3000 check and the piled up losses, it is ok, this is a test of character and I will become a better trader when I snap out of this. Princess, I still believe I can do it . . . for you . . . no matter how tough it is, no matter how hopeless it seems, I will make it when the smoke clears . . .

    9:30, MMM had a screaming short daily chart, put up the bullet and shorted away, it was incredibly stupid of me to NOT take profit on this one, I was 1 point in the money and I did not cover in time it ended up as a flat trade (too greedy, as I said my sweet zone is 50 cents - 1 point, it has never been and never will be about multiple points on all but the most rediculously trending days, I covered half for a small profit the other half for a small loss). Shorted DOX too and got squeezed to another world, later in the day DOX tanked and I got really personal with him, shorted him two more times rest of the day and got destroyed.

    9:50, IUX strength, MMM/DOX took way too much of my attention on tape level. Took CB at 63.92 and sold for a 50 cents profit. Took MMC at 90.90, hit for a 20 cents loss. Took PGR at 111.63 and sold for a 10 cents loss when it collapsed for no reason and stopped me out. OSX collapsing, shorted TDW twice and got squeezed twice, toss in the bullet I put up for it, a big deficit there . . .

    10:00, down nearly $1300 again, ouch, took WMT at 50.52, added to the position, looked really good, boom it tanked on me and I lost 25 cents on 500 shares I added at 50.75. The reduced trading range is a killer for day traders, and that's why I am struggling. OSX move, bought MUR, BJS, NE, a very nice run there as OSX rocketed and I grabbed a very nice chunk of profit off BJS. NE and MUR behaved odd and hit me for small losses however.

    10:30, fake SOX move, small losses in CY and TER. Sat out the dead zone entirely, with only scalp trades and did not dig myself a deeper hole like I did yesterday. Gotta avoid churning at all costs . . . Tommorrow, I am going to sit out this period entirely, Mr. E. made one good trade during that period and it teased me too much.

    2PM, shorted a bunch of stocks like ALA, CY, market turned around, quickly covered and flipped ALA for a small profit. Took long positions in AMD and MWD which happened to be the only SOX and XBD that didn't move. Shorted EPG for a 50 cents profit on a XNG move to the down side. Went long on FMC, DD, DOW for the CEX move in the end but unfortunately did not get much out of FMC and DOW, DD was good . . . Took GLW for the ride but the thing had an intraday range of 1 point, can't make money off that . . .

    Have to be a lot more selective now, a lot of our favorite trading stocks got their daily trading range reduced to under 1 point . . . The stocks that do move faster have huge spreads and it is very easy to lose money in them. It is a brutal climate, the firm's top 25 list is pathetic compared to what it was a couple of months ago, but there is still no excuse for not being able to stop bleeding, it is completely possible to make money each day and I failed to do so.

    It is incredible how quickly things can turn. Mr. E. had his worst day ever today (-13K) and like me, just ten days ago he was sitting on his best start for a month ever . . . same for Mr. M., from -2K overall to -11K overall . . . Mr. G. and Mrs. D are distancing themselve from us the struggling squad . . . The chemistry is suffering.

    This is the toughest part of my job, to battle the losing streaks, I have never dealt with one since I turned positive, when I thought I know what I am doing . . . The money traders make, they deserve every penny . . .
     
    lawrence-lugar likes this.
  3. cloug

    cloug

    Hitman - Congrats on your great month! You're on your way to becoming top tier. I just hope that your dependent inspiration doesn't work against you and bring your success down should things not work out with you know who. That will be your real test - to be able to delink from her, increase your size, and continue on to top tier.

    In any event, enjoy the moment!!! May your April P&L be even better.
     
  4. xtrader

    xtrader

    I can get almost any girl I want. However, trading consistently has been my elusive princess.
     
  5. Hitman

    Hitman

    Weekend Editorial:

    After what was a slow nasty start in January, things seem to have came together for me. I had no hope of exceeding what I made last year prior to last month, but now I am up 19K YTD versus 33K at the end of first quarter 2001, there is suddently a ray of hope at the end of the tunnel.

    The truth is, second quarter 2001 turned out to be my worst quarter of the year, as I suffered a total melt down in April as a 12K lead disappeared into barely 3K before my eyes, my only down month of the year in May as I lost $500, then a very mediocre month in June as I did just $3200.

    For me to match my numbers last year, I must put up $6K every month rest of the way, which is within my reach, although the summer will be the true test. For me to exceed it, the second quarter 2002 is the perfect time to play some catch-up against my own rookie performance in 2001.

    I need to be more aggressive after solid opens, I need to continue to play suffocating defense against this choppy market, and last but not least, I need to continue to mix up my offense for a diversified attack plan every single day.

    Thursday night I took her out to village for dinner and shopping. We had dinner in a French restaurant, as she had plans for becoming an exchange student in Paris (the capital of fashion afterall) for one semester during her final year of college. Unfortunately, with the auto accident that puts her father out of work her family will have some financial issues, being a tough girl she will never admit to it and just make up a harmless excuse like "she can't pass her French class", but I wish there is something I can do. I have always told her that I will support her family in anyway I can when needed regardless of who she chose. Perhaps by next year, if I can truly become top tier I will be able to fulfill this dream for her.

    When the waiter brought us a dessert made of 3 flavors of ice cream which we shared, she joked that the three flavors are her ex, her current prince, and me. It was a very sweet feeling to be even compared to the other two yet a very bitter feeling that she never tried this flavor before. I looked at the butterfly decoration made of biscuits and said I wish instead of fighting on Wall Street everyday, I can be a butterfly that forever flies by her side.

    Afterwards we went to some shops and she looked like a kid in a candy store. She asked my opinion on the stuff she picked out and I was more than happy to deliver my share of compliments. I never had so much fun shopping before as back then when we shopped together I was always afraid to deliver my comments on the stuff she picks out.

    I could tell she really really wanted something, yet she didn't want to put any more financial burden on her parents. I have always offered to buy her something every time we went into shops but she always refused, yet this time around, she finally accepted after I told her I had an great month thanks to her and I already treated my guys, it is time that I give her something. Someone who really knows fashion can make themselve look better in inexpensive pieces than others head to toe in name brands. In the end she picked out 5 items that combined for a little more than $110 and she immediately apologized like an innocent child, I smiled yet sighed that unfortunately I am not the lucky one who gets to do this every time we go out.

    I know it is pathetic, but if I ever thought about buying her love I deserve to blow up in trading and sell hot dogs for the rest of my life. I know it is stupid, as I am not her prince and I should not be the one paying for those things and she won't be dressing up for me. Yet there is this certain level of satisfacation whenever I do something to make her happy, that I can not find in my best days of trading. I know this is wrong, I know this is dumb, but I have to do it.

    Then the topic eventually shifted to her current prince, who somehow talked her into marriage registration with him as soon as she graduates (two years from now, thankfully a lot can happen from here and then) so he can get his green card. She said she will help him even if she isn't going to be marrying him for real. While it is foolish to badmouth someone who just started a relationship with her and still in the stage of honey moon period, I couldn't help it but to hint a potential trap here. She said her parents are totally against her dating someone 8 years older without a degree nor a real career to speak of, yet she kept on defending him and say he is simply waiting for the right opportunity and he used to make really big bucks just suffered some serious defeats a couple of years ago. I sure as hell hope this guy will show his true colors but I don't think he will until he gets his green card from her but I sure wish she can recognize his lack of effort early. It really put a bitter smile on my face when she said once she graduates she will be the one taking care of him with her income, and he told her that he is some dark horse with a lot of potential.

    I laughed bitterly and said she probably won't feel the same way a few years from now, but since she is so young she really needs to taste every flavor of fruit before she knows what is right for her. Yes, I know I can say the same about myself, but I always thought I was the special case that knows exactly what is right for me.

    As I escorted her back to her castle, I couldn't help it but to grab her arm and whisper into her ears, that I will always be waitng for her, no regret, as I will prove to her that I am the strongest of the three as well as the one who loves her the most. I told her that it may still not be enough as I know I can not create that feeling in her heart, but while I may not be a good candidate for a short term lover I will be a strong candidate for a long term marriage.

    "And nothing, no matter how many relationships you go through, how many guys you have been with, will ever change the way I feel about you."

    I think I was too tense but she smiled and said what if she ever bears a child, and I told her the same answer I wrote in my journal many nights ago, that I will love him/her as much as I love her, for they are made of the same flesh that is so priceless in my heart.

    Unfortunately she had a lot of work to do next a few days, not to mention now she is in a relationship her free time will be precious. I didn't get to see her again after Thursday night.

    Yet it is still the same hunger and passion in my blood eating at me every night that is my greatest edge over any other trader. For the day, as unlikely as it seems, that I am lucky enough to win her heart, or the nightmare, as likely as it seems, when she marrys someone else, it will be gone.

    The battle continues tommorrow, even if I am meant to lose the war. The joy that comes from the bottom of my heart when I am with her, or the pain that eats into the core of my bones when she is with another . . .
     
  6. Hitman

    You are a disgusting wimp but I will do what I can to help.
    Call your nearest INS office and have them pick this guy up.
    This way you hit two birds with one stone - you help enforce our country's immigration laws and you get to have your "princess" all to yourself.
    Either this or live the rest of your days as a lifelong sucker.
    Again, nothing personal - just some practical advise.:)
     
  7. Nothing personal Hitman but have you ever gotten past first base with your Princess? Come to think about it have you even gotten past kissing her on the cheek(face)?

    It may be time again for you to go to the car unscrew the car antennae and whack yourself on the butt a few times with it. Besides knocking some sense into yourself you may actually like it because it appears to me you are into masochism.
     
  8. Hey Hitman! I did not want to give any advice, you got lots of that on here. But I couldn't help it. I wanted to say that the way she treats you is your own fault! You even encourage her to treat you this way. For some reason most people including me take things that they have for granted. Only when it is gone, they (I) feel that I should have done things differently, acted with more care, etc.... By telling her that you'll always be there for her, is telling her do whatever you want, and if by some chance later in life things don't work out for you, you can come back to me. That seems rediculous to me. Try a different approach, she might actually think that I might lose this guy, and she will treat you much better. The less we show effection toward somebody, the better they treat us! I forgot who said that quote, but it makes a lot of sense I think.

    Anyways, good luck!
     
  9. Hitman

    Hitman

    Off to a very solid start as I came out sizzling for April's opener.
    14700 shares each way on 13 of 17 shooting, +1256 before commissions, +1010 after, no bullets.

    Pre-Market: Huge RLX downgrade but the Middle East tensions caused a rise in oil price.

    9:30: The "No Regret" open strategy nearly made me regret big time this morning as I somehow got 4 shorts and they all squeezed hard. Got just 6 cents out of FNM, lost 23 cents in FRE, covered half of LLY for 15 cents profit then he squeezed to 70 cents and I put a stop at .71, fortunately he stepped down and I was able to get out for a 15 cents loss with the rest of my shares for a scratch. MRK saved my day as I took 33 cents from that. Up just $100.

    9:45: Went long SGY/OII/DYN on energy rally, got 25 cents from SGY, 10 cents from OII/DYN.

    10:23: Went long MMS for potential Tony Oz reversal, BEC/DJ for a break out and got a quarter out of MMS, 40 cents from BEC but wasted DJ for a scratch as it ripped a point. Bottomed pick SPF but home builders were weak.

    12:30: Bottompicked chemicals PPG, FMC, EMN, APD and squeezed 10-20 cents out of each. Took UST on a bottom pick play and got a quarter there.

    2:30: Took a 10 cents scalp from CRA, got another 35 cents from BEC (god damn MOC print was 60 cents higher), tried MMS again but no luck there.

    Team Stats:

    10 of 10 Active Traders
    70300 shares each way on 33 of 73 shooting (45%)
    +2972 before commissions (9 of 10 positive)
    +1454 after commissions (4 of 10 positive)

    Top 3 Symbols: SRP, CVX, FD
    Bottom 3 Symbols: CCU, DYN, FRE
     
  10. nitro

    nitro

    Don't trade _BOTH_ FRE and FNM on the open.

    nitro
     
    #10     Apr 1, 2002
Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.