* * * * * * * * * P U R C H A S E & S A L E * * * * * * * * TRADE SETTL AT BUY SELL CONTRACT DESCRIPTION EX TRADE PRICE CC DEBIT/CREDIT ------- ------- -- -------------- -------------- ------------------------------ -- ----------- -- -------------------- 10/31/2 01 1 DEC 02 CBT MINIDOW $2 01 83.76 US 10/31/2 01 1 DEC 02 CBT MINIDOW $2 01 83.94 US 01 1* 1* GROSS PROFIT OR LOSS US 36.00DR 01 TOTAL US 36.00DR 10/31/2 01 1 DEC 02 EMINI S&P 500 16 892.00 US 10/31/2 01 1 DEC 02 EMINI S&P 500 16 893.00 US 10/31/2 01 1 DEC 02 EMINI S&P 500 16 893.00 US 10/31/2 01 2 DEC 02 EMINI S&P 500 16 893.25 US 10/31/2 01 1 DEC 02 EMINI S&P 500 16 894.00 US 10/31/2 01 1 DEC 02 EMINI S&P 500 16 894.75 US 10/31/2 01 1 DEC 02 EMINI S&P 500 16 894.75 US 10/31/2 01 1 DEC 02 EMINI S&P 500 16 895.00 US 10/31/2 01 1 DEC 02 EMINI S&P 500 16 895.75 US 10/31/2 01 1 DEC 02 EMINI S&P 500 16 896.00 US 10/31/2 01 1 DEC 02 EMINI S&P 500 16 897.00 US 01 6* 6* GROSS PROFIT OR LOSS US 137.50DR 01 TOTAL US 137.50DR
A total loss yesterday of -275, commissions included. Not the way I hoped it would go. But given the setups, I don't think I would have done much differently, except for the one $2 Dowski trade. The 2 short trades I did first looked to me like classic downside reversal setups. And the third, long at 998 or so, looked like a big upside breakthrough. Once that failed, I SHOULD HAVE moved back to the sell-side, but I didn't think the elephants would give up on 900 so easily. I thought they'd regroup for a second try.
No trades today, Friday. There was one good play at 10:30am, from 830 to 890+. I saw it happen, but never entered a trade. I admit to being a bit cautious after yesterday's choppiness. And the same choppy quality seemed evident today as well (witness the 10AM 5-min bar, which ranged from 882.5 to 876.5, and finished at 879). So when the next big range-bar came along at 10:30, I was rather skeptical it would have any extension. That said, MACD, u/d, TRIN would have all OK'd the entry. But it felt better to watch, so that's what I did. My p/l for the month is an all-time best for me. But as I said in an earlier post, I'm still $3K underwater for the year. 2 months left to change that... *** CURRENT MONTH *** *** YEAR-TO-DATE *** FUTURES PROFIT OR LOSS US 4,665.00 3,173.22-
No trades today. I elected not to play the open. U/D + TRIN were way too strong to bother going short. I thought I might have a shot at a good long entry later in the afternoon, because a day like today usually will close at or near the high of the day. Of course, I got busy on some other work and missed the VZ-related move lower in the afternoon - by the time I saw it it was too late to bother with an entry.
A loss today of about $330. Went short with one SP-emini this morning at 914, betting on further downside. Closed with a stoploss of $62.50. Post-Fed, put on one $2 Dow e-mini short, then pyramided a second contract. Covered those as the Dow reversed to the post-Fed highs. So much for "sell the news."
Bob, If you want more feedback on the trades themselves you may want to post a screenshot of your chart and annotate with arrows where you entered/exited. SnagIt is a cool program to do that. After you get used to it, it's pretty quick and easy to whip out a chart and annotate it.
Thanks Dottom, I'll consider it. Went short at 8670 this morning, in the pre-open, on the $2 Dow futures. My main reason for doing so was no more technical than I had a feeling the market might just turn to mush, and there might not be a particular inflection point to get in. I would have liked to add a second position on a retest somewhere back near Wednesday highs with a 2-stop above that, but the market opened and just faded away instead. So I'm glad I got in when I did. I had computer problems all day anyway, so playing the SP-emini was out of the question anyway. The short $2 Dow contract is still open... Filled Sell 0 Dec 02 AYJ - MINI DOW 2$ - 1 @ 8670 192.00(open)
Closed out yesterday's $2 Dow short-sale at 8517 for a net overall gain of about $306 w/o commissions. The indexes basically went flat after 11AM or so, and it didn't look like there was much downside left for now, so I offset the trade. I was tempted to hold the short over the weekend, but I suspect trading conditions will be thin on Monday (Veterans Day), and the market will likely be pushed around by traders, presumably to the upside.