Total +1.72 points for the day. Avg 300 shares. P&L: +$516.00 not really a great day for me today. generally a frenetic trading day, stopped out quite a bit more than usual, and timing was off a bit due to added chore of posting here. missed a few nice setups while posting the trades on this thread. that is not good and i will have to correct this situation. well........
i sincerely doubt anything would shut them up. first of all they'd expect detailed accounts every single day. and then to another even that wouldn't be enough, he'd scream for something else like audited records. then someone else would need another snippet of proof of some sort, etc. no, i don't want to get on that endless "proof" treadmill. i've seen others go through that (and it's ugly) as i said from the beginning, this is just for fun. i don't want this to turn into an arduous task each day. i want to keep it light and fun. i really think one of the biggest difficulties with trading is confidence. confidence in that your setups work over time. when you "know" this, really know this, then trading becomes much much easier. however this takes time and lots of work and observation and analysis. but once you reach this stage the sky's the limit. look to seanote's results for evidence of this. he has "arrived". he is supremely confident in his work, a master, and it shows! imo CONFIDENCE is the key. and there are no easy ways to get it. you must "train" a bit, then get out there and get a little bloody. then pullback and analyze just what happened and how you might do it better. then get out there again, get some more cuts and scrapes, then retreat and study some more. slowly, very slowly you gain the necessary skills and knowledge to win some. it is at this point your confidence begins to slowly build and trading becomes a little easier on the psyche.
Please read the following with the spirit of neutrality because I really bear Faster no ill will: Of what value is a journal that only includes a symbol with an entry and exit price? I can't think of any purpose other than showmanship (assuming that these trades are real). So what if you entered QCOM at xx.xx and then exited at yy.yy!? Rather, if you are writing a journal to receive feedback, enlighten others as to your strategies, or to learn from your past trades, it should include reasons for a trade, evaluations of money management, indicators, tape reading, etc. Ofcourse, one can't expect you to trade as well as keep a full running commentary on it. But I think that the reason so many enjoy Seanote's journal is that there is more than just entry/exits. I've been thinking of posting a journal of trades on elitetrader.com but haven't because of these same concerns. I have started a few threads with some specific trading ideas but if I do start a thread devoted to a journal of some kind I think it would include one or two trades from that day once trading is over (no cherry picking!) with a graph showing my entry and exit and then my thinking behind it. And my motivation would be to learn from feedback.
I think FPC already posted that one of the reasons for the journal was ego gratification. Of course anyone who posts will have that to a greater or lesser extent. I guess it depends if he is trying to prove something to us or trying to learn/teach. Time will tell as we continue to read his journals and as he falls into a rythmn of posting here.
I think we know where I stand, but I'd shut up and give you a job well done comment if you posted a screenshot of your execution report for a week or even a few days. Don't worry about the losers, cause we all have them. No big deal. You don't have to be too ambitious to take a screenshot of your execution report. I'll even provide you a link to a screenshot utility for you. http://www.hypersnap.com/ Free Trial Use Too I'd say it'd take more effort to make a reply to this post with the many reasons why you really can't do that than it would be to just download that utility and capture a .gif file and upload it in a post. I know, you are doing this for fun. I can respect that. I'll refrain from posting anymore to your journal so you can continue on in your fun fantasy, unless you prove me wrong. In which case I'll come across with some congratulations for you.
Faster's already said that this journal was just meant to be "light and fun". In that case, Pussy, expect to get a lot of criticism. Unless the whole 5% of successful day traders (or so the legend goes) are all here on ET, there are gonna be a lot people reading these journals that are losing money. How much "fun" it is for them to read of someone making successful trades - unsubstantiated - successful trades, is debatable. Using my amazing powers of insightful psychology, I woud say that from your post about "confidence" (etc..) that you don't regard yourself as having "made it" just yet. That you feel there's a little more to learn, perhaps. In that case, why not offer some discussion of your trading method, concerns, problems, insights etc might be a good idea. Alternatively, do as Fitz recommends, provide some evidence and you'll get all the ego gratification you desire. I think, no matter what though, this thread promises to be one of ET's more intriguing.