<b>12-03-01 06:56 AM 1.5 million That was a nice apartment. To make 1.5 million, you have to make $4500, everyday 250 days a year trading. Not an easy feat, but definitely not impossible. With your consistency, maybe in another year you will be able to afford it. </b> A $4500 a day mortgage...damn you guys are big time. I thought I would go ahead and post my dream home. http://www.ebby.com/details/9376747.html
Hitman' you indicated that the OSX reversed all of a sudden and you went long HP. I know HP is in the industry but it's not in the OSX. Why didn't you go long a stock in the OSX rather than one outside this index? I don't think it matters because at 9:47 you could of essentially pick any OSX stock and had the same result.
One other question for the Hitman. Has decimals decreased profits among your senior trades or has it had no effect on their bottom line. In other words from January to March were the profits higher and has it gone downhill (profits decreased) from April to now. I know many Nasdaq traders including myself were hurt severely due to decimals.
Too many eggs in one basket as my first ever 2000 share position refused to move during the afternoon rally and I missed all other opportunities. Still, there are just too much excitement right now and I think my own trading has definitely been distracted. 27500 shares on 8 of 22 shooting, +823 before commissions, +218 after, no bullets. The market was extremely choppy until late afternoon, by then I already had that contract in my hands. If all goes well I expect to sign this contract before the week is over. This will be an unbelievable twist in my career to finish 2001. Pre-Market: Massive SOX upgrades. Crude oil price up (they sure as hell didn't make it easy today, I really thought the energy will go up, but the amount of shakeouts were insane). 9:30: BTK was up a lot so took CRA/DNA. CRA was incredibly choppy after the gap-up and I ended up flat on him. DNA I was able to grab a quick 60 cents. Went long DO/NE/BHI/HAL/VTS/BJS/HP/SGY at various times and lost money after commissions on all of them. I would keep on trying to go long and I would be in the money by 10-20 cents, then break even on the trade or even lose 10-20 cents. The buyers and sellers were on eachother's throat and the shakeout's were really really painful. I knew the energy would go up later, but I missed the bottom which it made it very hard to jump in and chase, as the index would pullback any given time. 10:08: Very choppy, churned DOX/TXN/AMD on a failed Nasdaq breakout, but did score 40 cents on KMG. Had BJS/AHC but churned as I did not believe the true momentum of the energy run. 2:00: Took HON(SP futures)/TXN(SOX)/FBF(BKX)/MWD(XBD), futures broke out and when TXN broke 31 I really thought I was golden and went long 2000 shares, I figured even a quarter point would make it a respectable day. He broke figure and printed 31.1, I was really nervous and I had stop for 500 shares at .05, .03, 31, and he hit 31 with size, triggered all of my stops at once and the seller was done. Still, the stock was just too weak today, that when the SOX was up 5% it was basically flat. I definitely took too big of a position and the anxiety got the best of me. Only got 10 cents out of FBF, did score 30 cents each on HON and MWD. Still, with my biggest single position ever in TXN it was hard for me to watch anything else, and I missed a lot of opportunities. I really thought TXN looked great, but the sellers just would not go away. Tried MAY on retailors upswing and scored just 15 cents. Could not get that one big trade that will put me on the map for good. I went for the laggers, should have went to stronger stocks. 3:30: Final minutes, tried TER and A, lost 5 cents a piece, today was just not my day, I really should have done better, no excuses, but when I am trading tommorrow I have to make sure I bring my "A" game. The contract looks solid. While I can not disclose any details due to the confidential agreement I have signed, the best thing about it is that no matter how badly other traders blow up, my own trading account will not take any damage. I would take any trade if the worst possibility is breaking even, so the same applies to this contract. Based on what I have seen and heard, the contract I am offered is the same one as everyone else's, as it is rewarded by performance and there is a distinct formula to calculate my percentage of the cut, so hopefully no one is trying to take advantage of me because I am young and have no real knowledge of the industry. I will be responsible for any gross losses (before commissions), but I will receive a small percentage of the commission. Still, with seven already confirmed members on this squad, all gross positive, and many more on the horizon, it adds up. The catch is with the way the contract works, most of the profit will be held by the firm until the end of my contract, obviously done to prevent me from leaving for another firm with my entire team, and this is a standard practice in the industry. And should I get hit by a bus and can not perform my role any longer, there is a penalty for an early withdraw. My strategy is simple, in order to get a high percentage of the cut, I have to either charge people high commissions, or make sure that they become successful traders and do serious volume. Based on my calculations, there is no point in trying to get an extra 0.1 cent per share out of my traders, the difference is minimal, and the key to my success as a leader is to acquire a large number of successful traders, not squeezing every dollar out of a newbie. This is such a simple concept that makes a lot of sense, but for some reason a lot of group managers at my firm don't seem to understand. I have to do more math tonight to make sure that I understand all the numbers correctly. I am not allowed to steal traders from other groups in my firm by outbidding the group managers, but against other firms, everything is fair game, you bet I will be ruthlessly pursuing other traders to join my team. Supposedly I not only have hiring and firing power, but I will also be free to assign people commission rates as I see fit. This is an awesome opportunity, it came a little too early in my career, but I have no choice except to give it all I have. While my numbers are bottom of the barrel as far as group leaders are concerned (that said, I do know a few other group leaders at my firm with worse numbers), I am confident that I will make it a great team to work with simply because I am going to be honest and fair, two qualities missing from most other group leaders out there. I don't believe in buying people lunches and drinks, and kill them with commissions, there will be no gimmicks, just solid rates. That said, the firm will also be sending me new recruits every now and then, and I am going to avoid hot potatoes at all costs. I would much rather hand pick my group members, I have the right to say no to any new recruit. I have a lot of ideas and it will take me a while to absorb everything, but assuming there is no surprises, I will be inking this contract before the week is over, and 2002 should be one hell of a year. Hopefully with the addition of new members, I will be exposed to other trading styles and make a serious breakout in my own trading as well. Respect is earned, the cold hard way, and one day, I shall have it. I have never been in a leadership position before, and when it comes to cold hard cash, it is as personal as you can get. I have always believed that I can be more than a technical person, that I also possess management skills, I guess this is no college course, it is going to be learn by throwing myself into the fire (sure hope nobody shows up on my door with a shotgun because he blew up while working on my team). Many hard lessons will be taught by experience, and I will be forced to grow up fast.
MJT: Since June, the firm's performance has been in a slump, some of it is due to the decimalization, but I suspect more of it is due to the lack of momentum. 1999/2000 spoiled us all and I don't think we will see a market like that in a while, not to mention the specialists/market makers are getting better and better, so in the end only the best will survive. As for your other question, there are far more semiconductor stocks than what is in SOX, so the same applies to OSX, as long as it follows it doesn't matter whether it is in the index or not
Thanks for the reply. its my opinion that the move to decimals and not the market has caused a bit of a slump. I remember back in the dead months of July and August of 2000 that many people at my office were doing very well. In fact during those months all we would concentrate on flipping for 1/16's' and 1/8 and making nice change. on almost a daily basis. some people would flip from 20,000 to 100,000 shares. When your paying per ticket profit adds up real fast. Those days are over now and I'm trying to developed new methods rather than just momentum trading. It's almost like starting from scratch and I've been trading for about a year and a half. Fortunately due to the flipping and momentum trading fractions from January to April I will end the year on a decent note. Learning to trade listed stocks is a challenge to me because I've been trading Nasdaq for so long but I look forward to the change.
Hitman, Congratulations on becoming a group leader so soon. This is an exciting development for you and for us your fans. I was a little confused by the contract. You said break even was worse possible result but also said you were responsible for gross losses. Does that mean your override on team members' commish is subject to reduction for their losses? I guess your main job will be to make sure they don't get sloppy and start piling up losses. How much influence does a team leader have over his traders in terms of trading style? I think it is a sign of maturity that you recognize the issues posed by your age and relative lack of experience. Your management would not put you in this role if they didn't think you could handle it. Good luck.
I think he will a hell of a leader. His consistency speaks volume. By taking on this role, he would increase his income potential 5, 6 folds without taking on too much of a risk and since the guys that are in his group are all gross positive, this would be great . Hip Hip Hooray !!!!