Trading Summary Week 47 2023 6 Trades: 6 US 500 + 5 BPS. 6 long trades + 5 BPS. No short trades. 6 intraday trades + 5 BPS. No multi-day trades. Total trades net + 5 BPS. Net points + 2.44. Return on account for the week: + 2.08 % net. P:L ratio:N/A. Days traded: 3. Longest trade duration: 28 min. Shortest trade duration: < 1 min. (All PNL expressed in basis points for the purpose of comparison.) Thoughts A quiet week, over in the US we had the Thanksgiving holiday, equity markets were closed on Thursday. Very few trades. Well short of my 2.5 % weekly benchmark. Hoping for more opportunities, and better trade executions next week. Stay disciplined. Stay focussed. Stay humble.
I went back over the data for the SPX since 2001. This week, week 48, has the largest average % gain of any week of the year. 77% of the years from 2001 - 2022, week 48 showed a net gain Max change + 12.03 % (2008). Min change - 4.69 % (2011). Average change + 1.12 %. All data from Yahoo Finance.
Trading Summary Week 48 2023 19 Trades: 19 US 500 + 119 BPS. 17 long trades + 200 BPS. 2 short trades - 81 BPS. 14 intraday trades - 5 BPS. 5 multi-day trades + 124 BPS. Total trades net + 119 BPS. Net points + 53.85. Return on account for the week: + 6.92 % net. P:L ratio:2.7:1. Days traded: 5. Longest trade duration: 116 days. Shortest trade duration: < 1 min. (All PNL expressed in basis points for the purpose of comparison.) Thoughts A tough week. Markets were pretty range - bound, the SPX trading between 4540 and 4600. Week 48 of 2023 produced a positive return, with the SPX closing up 0.77 % at 4594.63. The Nasdaq and Dow were also positive. The Nasdaq is up 45.78 % for 2023 as of Friday's close, the SPX + 9.19 %, with the Dow almost the same. Whether the indices will continue to grind higher is the big question. There was a fair bit of volatility. I made some poor trade entries. Above my 2.5 % weekly benchmark for a change. Hoping for more opportunities, and better trade executions next week. Stay disciplined. Stay focussed. Stay humble.
Trading Summary Week 49 2023 15 Trades: 15 US 500 + 26 BPS. 13 long trades - 13 BPS. 2 short trades + 39 BPS. 11 intraday trades + 16 BPS. 4 multi-day trades + 10 BPS. Total trades net + 26 BPS. Net points + 11.90. Return on account for the week: + 2.11 % net. P:L ratio: 1.9:1. Days traded: 5. Longest trade duration: 6 days. Shortest trade duration: < 1 min. (All PNL expressed in basis points for the purpose of comparison.) Thoughts A poor week's trading really, given the number of opportunities. There was a fair bit of volatility. On Friday we got US employment data, which is always released pre-market, and that caused a big move in the futures (I caught a small part of it). Overall, the equities markets were firmer, with the SPX closing the week above 4,600, and the Nasdaq above 16,800, and the Dow pretty much flat.. I made some poor trade entries and exits this week. On Wednesday I traded the market in the evening (for me, I'm on CET, so the US markets trade from 15:30 - 22:00). I traded it poorly, I know I should not trade the later part of the day, my stats show that I should stick to my pre-market trading strategy on the US indices. I have now got a note next to my screen, 'NO RTH TRADING' *. Basically, identify what works and what doesn't. Then do more of the former, and none of the latter. Well short of my 2.5 % weekly benchmark. Hoping for more opportunities, and better trading next week. (* RTH = Regular Trading Hours.) Stay disciplined. Stay focussed. Stay humble.
Trading Summary Week 50 2023 14 Trades: 3 UK 100 + 10 BPS. 11 US 500 + 537 BPS. 11 long trades + 1,069 BPS. 2 short trades - 522 BPS. 7 intraday trades + 16 BPS. 7 multi-day trades + 531 BPS. Total trades net + 547 BPS. Net points + 254.96. Return on account for the week: + 10.20 % net. P:L ratio: 1.2:1. Days traded: 4. Longest trade duration: 135 days. Shortest trade duration: < 1 min. (All PNL expressed in basis points for the purpose of comparison.) Thoughts A very challenging week. We had a lot of data this week, CPI Tuesdsay, PPI Wednesday and of course FOMC Wednesday. We also had rollover / expiry on the December futures on the indices. US markets were sharply higher after the US Fed kept rates on hold, as did the BoE and ECB. Markets seemed to interpret Powell's press conference comments very favourably (ie - rates have peaked). Pretty volatile markets, the Dow made a new all time high after the Fed announcement, the SPX is still off the highs from 2022, the Nasdaq get very near the all time high. I should have been running longs better, took profits too early. Above my 2.5 % weekly benchmark. Hoping for more opportunities, and better trading next week. Stay disciplined. Stay focussed. Stay humble.
Trading Summary Week 51 2023 16 Trades: 16 US 500 + 526 BPS. 15 long trades + 971 BPS. 1 short trade - 445 BPS. 10 intraday trades + 12 BPS. 6 multi-day trades + 514 BPS. Total trades net + 526 BPS. Net points + 244.44. Return on account for the week: + 29.10 % net. P:L ratio: 3.6:1. Days traded: 3. Longest trade duration: 141 days. Shortest trade duration: < 1 min. All PNL expressed in basis points (BPS) for the purpose of comparison. Thoughts A better week on the equity markets. I missed a few decent opportunities. Markets were strong in the run up to Christmas. The Nadsaq made new all time highs, above 16,860, as did the Dow.. The SPX is still well off the all time highs made in 2021. North of my 2.5 % weekly benchmark. Next week will probably see be lighter volume. I'm typing this on Christmas day, having just returned from a couple of days in Bologna. A truly stunning city from an architectural point of view. A great break, but back to the market tomorrow. This is the Asinelli Tower, in the Medieval centre of Bologna. It dates from the 12th century. Next to it is the Garisenda Tower, which leans quite alarmingly, it's hard to believe it wont fall over, with an overhang of 3 m. I believe that the city authorities are currently working to stablise the tower. After all, it's not that old, the lean starting in the 14th century. And today, on the way home, we changed trains in Milan, and I managed to lose my mobile phone. Not great news. But later, the lovely Italian female guard on the train found it for me. Now that was great fortune, the second time it's happened in 'La Bella Italia'... The phone must be blessed. Hoping for more opportunities, and better trading next week. Stay disciplined. Stay focussed. Stay humble.
Trading Summary Week 52 2023 8 Trades: 8 US 500 + 32 BPS. 8 long trades + 32 BPS. No short trades. 7 intraday trades + 6 BPS. 1 multi-day trades + 26 BPS. Total trades net + 32 BPS. Net points + 15.28. Return on account for the week: + 3.12 % net. P:L ratio: N/A. Days traded: 3. Longest trade duration: 7 days. Shortest trade duration: 1 min. All PNL expressed in basis points (BPS) for the purpose of comparison. Thoughts A quieter week on the equity markets, Monday was Christmas day, markets were closed. I found fewer trading opportunities. The Nasdaq made new all time highs (three of them on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday), above 16,920, as did the Dow (two of them). The SPX is still off the all time highs made in 2021. Above my 2.5 % weekly benchmark. Hoping for more opportunities, and better trading next week. Stay disciplined. Stay focussed. Stay humble.
Trading Summary Week 01 2024 24 Trades: 24 US 500 - 50 BPS. 17 long trades - 212 BPS. 7 short trades + 162 BPS. 20 intraday trades + 64 BPS. 4 multi-day trades - 114 BPS. Total trades net - 50 BPS. Net points - 24.13. Return on account for the week: + 2.48 % net. P:L ratio: 1.6:1. Days traded: 4. Longest trade duration: 1 day. Shortest trade duration: 1 min. All PNL expressed in basis points (BPS) for the purpose of comparison. Thoughts Markets started 2024 on the back foot. All the main indices were weaker, the SPX was down 1.52 %, the Nasdaq 3.23 %. Friday's NFP number produced a lot of volatility on the futures (see chart), and I could have traded it better. I made money on my intraday trades, but lost on a couple of overnight positions. The reason I'm showing a profit despite a loss in terms of points is that the intraday trades were much larger that the overnight trades. Below my 2.5 % weekly benchmark. Hoping for more opportunities, and better trading next week. Stay disciplined. Stay focussed. Stay humble.
Trading Summary Week 02 2024 23 Trades: 2 UK 100 + 1 BPS. 21 US 500 - 134 BPS. 19 long trades - 176 BPS. 4 short trades + 42 BPS. 15 intraday trades + 19 BPS. 8 multi-day trades - 153 BPS. Total trades net - 134 BPS. Net points - 63.87. Return on account for the week: - 3.44 % net. P:L ratio: 0.6:1. Days traded: 5. Longest trade duration: 14 days. Shortest trade duration: 1 min. All PNL expressed in basis points (BPS) for the purpose of comparison. Thoughts A difficult week's trading. I made some very poor trade exits. Below my 2.5 % weekly benchmark. Hoping for more opportunities, and better trading next week. Stay disciplined. Stay focussed. Stay humble.
Trading Summary Week 03 2024 35 Trades: 2 UK 100 + 11 BPS. 33 US 500 - 220 BPS. 23 long trades + 482 BPS. 12 short trades - 691 BPS. 21 intraday trades + 43 BPS. 14 multi-day trades - 252 BPS. Total trades net - 209 BPS. Net points - 93.59. Return on account for the week: - 5.78 % net. P:L ratio: 0.6:1. Days traded: 5. Longest trade duration: 17 days. Shortest trade duration: 1 min. All PNL expressed in basis points (BPS) for the purpose of comparison. Thoughts Another poor week. Intraday was good, but a few poor short trades killed my P&L. Well south of my 2.5 % weekly benchmark. Hoping for more opportunities, and better trading next week. Stay disciplined. Stay focussed. Stay humble.