I think you should take a break for a while.. and come back with a complete trading plan.. instead of winging it completely on discretion... --MIKE
it looks like that's the best course of action. i don't mind quitting altogether for the year, though. if i make a decision to close everything out this week and end up with $18k or more, i might just wait for that one good opportunity to put a position with maximum risk capital of $1500 which if it doesn't work out, will turn out to be the last position for the year. if after closing everything out, the balance is less than 18k, then, that'll be it... prepare for the tax-filing. i usually get a refund on my taxes, so i hope things balance here and there. i've already seen my tax-accountant, and she said she'll work with me and may consult someone else in their firm. Good Trading...
He might not blow up in one sequence, but if he doesn't have a better system, he'll die from bleeding.
just to add... since it's been said a couple of times now that i should come up with a better system. i only have one system, and it is "me" i realize the (discretionary) system has been in a drawdown last week and (too-much-for-one day) today... but it is what it is. all my positions are on the long-side for this week because "my" (discretionary) system says this week will be a big up-week. FOMC meeting... the plans are in-place for this week... and the week will pass just like any other week. i don't mind taking a break for the rest of the year... i'm not being "sour-grapes", but just being realistic. Peace.
If you're going to long everything at once, you're really putting all your eggs into one basket. Most of your stocks will move in uniform and hurt you all at once if there's a giant correction. Look into some hedging. Even if you think the market is going to take off, you shouldn't use up all your capital to long the market anyway.. unless you are also longing stuff that have a strong inverse relationship to the market (beta of -1 or less). You should give yourself more flexibility and some room to moblize.
thanks. ideally, i'd like to have a 2 positions to 1 position ratio (calls vs puts) or the inverse if i'm bearish. that's when i was more disciplined (not too long ago, a month and a half or so) and only have maximum 3 positions. i have been careless the last few weeks. this week, i am quite bullish. i've examined all 5 positions, and i do feel comfortable holding each of them at this level. the trade-off is that if i'm wrong for this week, well... btw, i'm not putting all capital to work on all 5 positions. about 55% Good Trading.
mini-update 9/22/2005: closed all positions... timing not too good, as i see most of the positions at higher prices now. 'will provide more details after close of market... SPY closed @ .85/ea EBAY closed @ 1.40/ea NFLX closed @ 2.45/ea GOOG closed @ 1.95/ea DWA closed @ .65/ea Peace.
update for the week ending 9/22/2005: loss of about $3300 for the week. this will be the update for the week as all positions were closed today. activities for the week: 9/22 Closed SPY Nov 125 calls spyku - loss of $1530 9/22 Closed EBAY Jan06 42.5 calls xbaav - loss of $1625 9/22 Closed NFLX Dec 22.5 calls qnqlx - loss of $300 9/22 Closed GOOG March 220 puts gouod - loss of $375 9/22 DWA Dec 30 calls dwalf - loss of $910 (position was opened 7/1/05) completely wrong on my directional pick for this week... half-empty or half-full? maximum accont-loss for the week that i saw was yesterday (intraday) of around $5000. i could have closed everything near the close of market yesterday for a loss of about $4000. this morning, i decided to close everything before going to work, and the loss turned out to be around $3300. that's the glass at half-full. if i had waited until near the market close today, the loss could have been cut to around $2400. if i had closed everything 2 days ago, right after the interest rate hike when the market was starting to go down (right before going to lunch - california time), the loss could have been less than $1500. that's the glass at half-empty. i guess i'll pick the half-full glass as there is one other reason for it. the account is down to $18.6k and i can still put one more (wrong) position before quitting for the rest of the year. Peace.
mini-update 9/23/2005: opened a put-position on BBI BBI Nov 5 puts (bbiva) - 20 puts @ .90/each. risk-capital $1800 possibly the last position for the year, hence no more updates until position is closed-out. peace.
Why would u want to short something thats down %50 in 3 months.. atleast wait for a nice rally to short into... poor risk to reward in my opinion.