February Trading Journals

Wonderduck:

Everyone's best day are the ones with lowest fees lol (except hardcore scalpers of course). When you pay low fees it means you are right on everything and there is no churning. The days we put together a large commission bill is when we get screwed in the morning and scratch and claw our way back in the afternoon.

Winner/Loser ratio is impossible for me to calculate because I always pare in and out of stuff.

I pay 1 cent per share and 3.5 cent per share for bullets.

 

***WAY OFF TOPIC***

But I need some comments. I posted something on the Your Money board from MSN Money. The response I got is, let's put it this way, disheartening.

Obviously, I am not stupid enough to put down something as big as a down payment when I honestly don't know what I can expect from my trading this year. However, this is definitely something I am looking for once I firmly establish myself financially. Even right now, I have the down payment and some cushion, just not enough cushion for me to be comfortable with the way I have been performing lately.

Now, the woman who posted that reply, happens to be my ex-boss, yes, I know, it is a small Internet, and you can imagine that relationship didn't end smoothly as I spend way too much time with my Datek account. My question is not whether I should go for something like this (the answer is no at least until after the tax time, by then I will see where my trading is going AND exactly how much money do I have left after Uncle Sam takes his toll), but rather exactly what I need to be a legit contender for a 200-250K apartment (since I am in a slump I am looking for the lower range).

http://128.167.105.36/listings.asp?...ECP331326&I=ECP332833&strAdSrch=&order=desc&=

Let's just say my jaw hit the floor when I looked at this listing, those of you who live in New York area know what I mean. A 700 square feet apartment in the heart of the city, a full service luxury building, for under $200K?

While I had no plan to buy something this year, based on my primary calculations I can comfortably afford the down payment of something like this AND have enough cushion to go six months without making a dime and still be able to pay the mortgage / monthly fees etc . . .

I send the broker an e-mail because I thought there has to be a catch, like a rent stablized tennant, the lack of a toilet, something, lol. The first thing I did notice is that this building wants 50% financing instead of the conventional 20-25%, my question is, is there anyway to get around this? I obviously can not afford to put up 100K down payment.

Reply
Recommend (0 recommendations so far) Message 4814 of 4814 in Discussion

From: dortress Sent: 2/17/2002 3:39 PM
Ha! No. You have about as much chance as a snowball in....

Proving that you haven't really paid attention to much of what people in here have said (Dondub, NJMortgage, myself) - to get a mortgage requires being able to show job stability and regular income. You'll have problems with that, given that your monthly income is erratic and that you're a day trader.

Secondly is COOP. Coop boards are notorius for putting people through ridiculous, excruciating investigations - both personal and professional. (Oh yeah - good personal reccomendations count with coops - so much for burning bridges not mattering.) Good coops deny for even getting the slightest whif of a less than-stable-income - regardless of what you have in the bank. No-so-good coops and bad ones turn you down for not wearing the right type of clothes. And they don't have to give you a reason why.

So the answer is: if they want 50% they have absolutely no reason on earth to change that. It's still a sellers market and a 22 year with a less-than-stellar employment record, bad attitude and no credit history is gonna have a really hard time registering on their radar.

Use half a brain cell here and pay attention to what you're told before asking silly questions. Save, get a credit history and log a few years of a stable income. Mortgage companies and reputable coops will be more interested in taking your money then.

 

Sunday night, I looked through some charts, and it was just plain obvious to me that the market is going to come in hard today. As much as I wanted to go to Tony's seminar, I decided that I will play the open, and wrap up everything around lunch time. I felt good about today's game as far as momentum and volatility are concerned, and I knew from weather report that today will be a beautiful day. I had to stay home for most of the 3 day weekend with the flu and I thought it would be a good idea to give her a call and come out for dinner and hopefully I will make a few hundred dollars before the seminar.

Let's just say, what a disgusting day. I woke up with a headache despite of the fact that I thought I fully recovered from the flu. The weather was as good as I thought it would be and I had two ideas in my head when the market opened, short financials, long energy.

With a time limit on the back of my head, I never got into it, I went 0 for 7 today and I really didn't want to wrap it up as the market felt like it was poised to come in. Two of my friends had decent numbers however so they urged me to go. Well, let's just say I wasn't the only who thought the expo was total garbage only because I lost money. My friends had decent numbers and they still thought it was total garbage (full report on that later). I ordered a $15 lunch from a Korean restaurant that was way too spicy and I ended up getting a 50 cents (that's right, 50 cents) hot dog from a local store for lunch. I got the address wrong and I had to pay for cab because it was indeed my fault and I didn't think it was right to have my friends walk 10 blocks. When I went home and I saw Dow down 150 points, my headache just got a lot worse.

Needless to say I never came up with the courage to call her up. Today was just disgusting and I am going to bed early to sleep it off.

0 of 7 shooting on 8600 shares each way, -187 before commissions, -496 after.

Pre-Market: Some no name brokerage upgraded every oil stock you can think of. XBD/BKX looked awful after that big one day sell-off on Friday and I wanted follow through. Positive numbers on home builders.

9:30: The headache hit me like a 9mm bullet through the brain as I had to take some asperin before the market opened. Took just 300 shares of GSF as it opened slightly down. I was slow to get out and when I did get out it was close to the morning low. Tried many times to go long in energy, had HP, SGY, again, out near the low. Went long SPF and out for flat as the market totally tanked.

9:45: Bad, bad bullet selection. I took KRB as my lone financial bullet and it is credit services, not a bank nor broker. Didn't do anything as the rest of the market tanked. Flat after commissions.

10:30: Desperation. Bullets should be up first 30 minutes of the game, not right before the dead zone. Put up TGT and gave up 10 cents plus bullet cost. Tried ETN long on an auto part squeeze and that was another bad shot. I knew the market was weak, everything said it was weak, why go long in anything other than energy?

11:30: Had to stop trading as I still had high hopes for the expo.

12:30: Horrible lunch.

2:00: The Tony Oz show. The second I saw "Realtick Training" next to Tony's name my heart sold off like the market did. I sat there for one hour and I don't think Tony put in a single trade. Come to think of it, why did I expect him to be trading anywhere close to his real ability? He was on the road, trading from a dual monitor set-up, in front of 200 people, running a free seminar. I mean, you get what you pay for here. Mrs F fell asleep and my other friend said this is bull crap and let's get out of here. (Sorry Tony I tried my best to keep them there) I mean, you have a room with some grand pa's asking stupid questions like why do I go long this stock on a big downtrend (gee it is called a reversal play) and why don't you wait for a confirmation, it can't possibly be a serious study environment that is going to benefit any real traders.

I am sorry Tony, while I still think you are the real deal, Mrs F downgraded you to neutral, but my other friend think you are a total scam who can't trade, and this is someone who has yet to make any real money from the market, AND I told him all the positive things about you. (Unlike me they both had good days so it wasn't like they were angry about something) I really think a seminar like this really takes away from your credibility, not adding to it, I swear if I didn't talk to you on the phone I would have thought this is some guy who can't trade running an ad for realtick.

Overall Rating:

For newbies, a nice demo of the Realtick platform. For anyone who trade for a living, you didn't miss anything. Tony went on and on "if I get my orders filled here and the market does this it would be a 3 to 1 risk/reward ratio". Mrs F kept asking me why doesn't he make a trade, hell she said it would have been entertaining if he lost 10K.

That said, you could have picked up his new book for free, so that's a plus. I wasn't here for the morning session of course, but even with the way I played today's open I still can't say with a straight face that it was worth taking the time off to see Tony trade. I would love to give him a higher rating but Mrs F is like a cousin to me

D+ (+ for the free book) I mean, come on, it wasn't like we were in a choppy range today, I expected to see some entry's and exit's.

3:00: Needless to say, the Tony Oz show was the reason I went to the expo, and everything else was just total garbage. I went to Don's booth but he took some time off and my head really started to hurt right there and then. I went to the Worldco booth and our boss wasn't there today (he was there last two day's) but it was good to see one of the recruiters I work with there. Picked up a tons of free stuff from different booths and I threw them all into the trash can as soon as I exited the building.

Bottomline, don't expect to learn anything there, you get exactly what you pay for. Go there on weekends, but don't ever miss a -150 point day because of something like this. You have so many vendors looking at you like butchers at a slaughter house looking over lambs . . . If I was in better physical condition I would have made an a$$ out of myself and ask the old bald guy selling some magic futures trading system "hey grandpa, if that system is so good why are you selling it?".

 

Thanks for the update, Hitman.

 

Hit this post is demented and you're such a loser-it gets worse and worse. ---weasel.

 

What's disgusting about this post?

nitro

 

No tact.

 

My friends at work call me the pessimist. I mean, my favorite color is black, anytime I interview someone already making 80-100K a year, I tell them make sure you really love the game before giving up your steady gig because you will be hard pressed to make that much day trading, hell, I even tell my own team that this year will be tough and at least half the newbies won't survive.

I on the other hand, try to think of it as an instinct, a sense for danger, a foresight for trouble ahead. I always think of the worst case scenario ahead of the time (and that still includes watching her marrying to someone else and me becoming a monk for the rest of my life after giving her everything I own).

And how is this for a prediction, there is a very real possibility that I not only underperform last year, I may finish with something rediculous, like a total of 30K for the year.

Maybe I am just trying to say something to take pressure off myself, or what I usually do, a reverse psychology (I like it when people look down on me, I mean, if you can't make your enemies underestimate you, you shouldn't have enemies). But 1/10th of the year is already gone, and it is supposedly, the best 1/10th of the year, and I am up just 4K, that is a 40K year, but once you take summer into consideration, not a pretty picture.

There are many reasons for a very slow start, let's take a look:

1) Inability to play big on big games.

It seems every week so far had at least one total gimmick of a game that you can easily score big points on, yet I keep on missing them. Last 4 weeks, every week we had a 150-200 point sell-off on the Dow, and I think my combined score for those games is barely flat. I need to play big on big games, I mean, a solid trader must not only pull down above average numbers on days like those, but also play big on follow-up's. For example, when the market has been down big two day's in a row like it was on Friday and today, you know it is due for a squeeze at some point, and with 3 days left in the week, there is almost a guarantee that you will get one size rally to play out of those 3 days. For someone trading my size, this should be a very easy 2K week, 1K on the rally day (as I play better on rally day's than I do on sell-off day's), 1K split across the sell-off days. With the exception of that one brief moment of brilliance in January, I have totally missed those good spurts when the market opened itself up for serious profits.

2) Inability to get consistent scoring.

My energy woes continues as I have got zero production from them. There is currently no sector I can say with total confidence that I will take money out of 4 out of 5 day's a week. The result has been win one, lose one, win one, lose one . . . I have never been a trader who can hit one big day that erases two bad days plus change, I need consistency scoring to build a nice P&L.

3) Trading out of the comfort zone.

Unfortunately, at the beginning of the year I made it a mission to break out of my statistical range last year. Which means increased size and longer holding time. Even the smallest adjustments feel like sands in my contact lens and it definitely hurt my harmony.

4) Blown lay-ups and really bad swings.

Early in February I felt I really had my momentum going as everything came together. Then first game of the week, huge energy/chemical rally, the kind that guarantees a four digit game, bad execution, up just $230. Two games later, horrible fill on HI, bam, down four digits. Then it took me a great afternoon rally just to make back what I lost on that HI fill. Today, should be up at least a few hundred even with my eyes closed, down $500, that is at least a $1000 swing. This kind of swings really really hurt confidence and it really kills my flow.

5) The Team

Well, last year, I worked with Mrs F and Mr M, two very good friends, we had a lot of good ideas brewing, everyday, we watched eachother's back. Sometimes it really helps that you get a lay-up from a friend when you are cold.

When I first left them to start my own team, I was in the midst of a 15 games winning streak to close up 2001, everything went right, I was just putting icing on the cake for what I considered to be a solid start for my trading career.

All of a sudden I am among a group of strangers, and with the exception of STOCKKBROKER from the Elite Trader board, I had no idea what others are trading, and it took me quite some time (and of course, some devastating losses) to emphasize the important of defense to some of the guys. Everyone on my team traded at another firm before they got on board, and we all did our own stuff and there was very little cohesiveness between me and anyone around me.

Mrs F is still having a solid year (up 25K), and that number sticks out like a sore thumb as she wanted to co-host the team with me but I declined. Sometimes I couldn't help it to wonder whether I will be doing better if I was still trading with her and M. It is very important to be in a winning atmosphere, to be among profitable traders, when everyone around me is losing money, it eventually sinks into that losing mentality.

I have to say all of my teammates are fantastic however. None of them caused me any headaches, all of them understanding and supporting of my leadership role (at least so far), and we have been doing some sharing and growing together of late (and I didn't write this paragraph because I am afraid they may ready my journal, as I actually encourage them to do so).

However, I just feel I can do more in a leadership role. I want to get them what they want (equipment, lower commission rates, etc), and I have only been able to fulfill 70% of the requests, as there is a serious lag time between me saying something and the firm does something, given that I am afterall, the youngest team leader in my firm with least experience. I want to lead them in scoring AND give them some good ideas every now and then.

That, in a way, is giving me additional pressure. I have said it the day I accepted the contract, that I got my feet wet in the management position too early. I knew it would be a rocky start, but I took it because I thought I would be able to overcome it.

A few years from now, I am sure I will look back on this and either say "I am glad I started early" or "that was the move that broke my spirit". Having said that, even right now, I still believe that you should never say no to an opportunity. If I am meant to be successful, I will be. If I am not, then I will fail whether I take the challenge or not.

Come to think of it, in my professional life, I have never endured a huge defeat, something that I believe is vital to anyone who is super successful. I mean, how will you know the fruit of victory is sweet, if you have never tasted the bitterness of defeat? It is precisely what makes her so precious to me, and I simply don't believe I have experienced any real setbacks of that level from my career yet.

I mean, I started working (at least part time) when I was 18, and every year I have increased my income substantially. Yes, I have missed out on opportunities, but for the most part it was like "well I wish I made this much more but this is still nothing to complain about".

Fast forward to late 2000, yes, the learning curve was brutal, but I fully expected it, and it was still a shortened learning curve (3 and 1/2 months), and I made 30K in two months as soon as I snapped out of it. I can't call that a disappointment.

That said, if I finish with say, 30K this year, it would be a huge disappointment, and it would be a true failure in my professional life, it would be a real road block, mental barrier, something that truly tests my fortitude.

And it would be something that I believe, everyone who ever became highly successful, went through, a very, very bad year/event/loss/setback.

I mean, come to think of it, at the age of 23 (by year end), if I made say 150-200K and have a dozen or two profitable traders on my squad, it would be too much of a red carpet, and I don't think I will ever truly appreciate it.

There is no victory without defeat. You don't know what is sweet until you know what is bitter. Being apart is to be together, someday.

If I am meant to fulfill my promise, I will power through this road block like all great individuals do, if I am not, then I will collapse under its spell.

On the bright side of things:

1) BKX seems to be tradable again, all of the banks (BK/WFC/STI/WB/WFC/C/BAC) seem to carry the type of range they carried around this time last year. It remains to be seen whether this is a temporary syndrome or longer term fix, but if this sector stays like this for a few months I may get some serious scoring there. Now if only they can ressurect XTC . . .

2) STOCKKBROKER just turned positive for the year, and that's after commissions. Way to go! That make my team 3 out of 7 net positive for the year (I always include myself as there is both "T" and "E" in team), only one short of the 50% survival rate I set for myself before the year started. Two other guys are not very far from going net positive. Only one guy is down before commissions. Given the status of this rookie team, I can't ask for a much stronger start in this kind of market climate. Hopefully our team will develop a winning mentality and put together some streaks soon. I mean, it is a snowball situation, once you have a winning team, you will attract good players, and good players add to the chemistry and your team becomes better and better . . . I am starting to develop stronger confidence for my teammates and I believe this team can make it.

 

Maybe limbo was defending Tony Oz.

If you got nothing good to say about someone, especially someone who most people know here, just don't say it.

It's like me saying, "Hey, I think you're a ok dude, but my friends thinks you're an ass.... but that's my friends.."

Just shut up!!!

I went to the expo, Tony's realtick training was ok.

I stopped by the Wordco booth, saw a nice chick there sitting on her butt... working hard huh???

She must be flirting with Baby Huey at the Level5 booth next door.


One love ya'll