Well in trading indexes which are a slower type of trading. I had last night did some homework on predicting the high and low, of next week´s bar. That number got hit this morning on the index, so I bought a token buy. The philosphy is to wait for 2 or 3 hours today and see if my ( GRIN ) (Tarah, tarah on the trumpets! ) market action will confirm my earlier trade which seems to have been too early, as the premiums are still going down. Anyway, we wait now for the ( GRIN ) " SECRET MAGIC BUY SIGNAL" to form and probably I will at least double up, or maybe even triple up. Ryan and his OVERTRADING is infectious. I am jumping in too early. ( grin ) My study shows the trend is UP still. Though the volatility has gone out of it. So I would rather more or less see some oscillator action in a sideways congestion forming now. I believe the trend is turning? Don´t know yet, but maybe?
In the 1990's I overtraded frequently. Now that I am old I just sit here and wait for the trading program to spit out a trade and then I sit and wait for the possibility of a fill. Its actually kind of boring on a snowy winter day in Montana (like today) to sit here and do nothing.
Aaaaah! Montana? Got to be a teenager to live in Montana! Not an old 75 year old like me with one foot in the grave. We have a bit of cloud this morning and the sun is obscured. I´m sitting in my bathing suit, waiting for the sun to come out and then just a short block walk in bare feet, on the sandy street of Caye Caulker island to the beach and shall do a couple of stretching laps in the emerald green waters of the warm Caribbean sea, with a temperature of around 80 F water. Then back to shower and shave and see if anything is happening? Mostly I do mail and my blog while waiting around. http://westernbelizehappenings.blogspot.com A friend from Washington D.C. dropped in yesterday, exploring the country and left me two trading books. I´m half way through Trading Rules that Work by Jason Alan Jankovsky. It´s a lousy book as I´m half way through it and haven´t learned anything yet. Drove him around in the golf cart. No vehicles allowed on this sandy island. Quiet, but tourism is strong right now. Trading gives me a mental challenge and something to do.
lol, $88. That's where I felt resistance would come into play for lnkd, but with the market holding triple digit losses, I took the quick profit and left only to later watch it hit my target as I had initially expected. Oh well, the account's finally holding above $7500 and I'm off to the weekend....already have plenty of cloud play in mind for next week with NTAP and RAX. Told myself to watch TLEO in case of a buyout before its earning report (If anyone's noticed that is how most of these small caps get bought out just before their earnings report). Oh well, it was only a 6 point swing.
I think I'm right where you were in the 90s, I do feel a bit of overtrading from time to time with 4-5 open short term positions. Can't stop it though, just hope I can tone it done in a couple of years too.
I am not quit 75, but I agree with Montana being a younger persons home. We moved here from CA because my daughter got a divorce, so she needed help. In April 2011 we left CA and bought a house here in Montana and moved our daughter and 4 grandkids in with us. So we went from 2 old people alone in CA to a family of 7 in Montana! All of the life changes above makes accuracy in my trading more important then ever. Today is 32 degrees and snowing. A few weeks ago we got 22 inches of snow in 3 days. That snow is still sitting here!
Hey falcon, I've been wondering but how do you like that kind of living? I can see myself in a dream like that, but can't put myself to it. I'm in my early 30s, but I would love to here some benefits and disadvantages of living in such an environment. Thanks ahead for any insight.
LOL, I didn't my trading was infectious. Still, since I got serious this year, I've been sticking to stingy money management and not allow any 1-2 trade to take me out. I've taken big hits like the double losses in GOOG and PH costing me $1500 or so in 1 day, then today with TRLG and LNKD spread puts costing me another $900. I think I did mention that my win/loss ratio was going to me around 50%, where as I'm concentrating more on how much winners are compared to losers.
You started this venture with $2,700 late last year and your up about 200%. So keep doing what your doing....your learning on the house's money! If you have a big reversal in fortune set a minimum account limit that you will let it drop (like $5K....or $4K. but don't let it drop below your original stake ($2,700). Then come into trading with a new stricter discipline, fewer trades, more diverse in a mixture of calls and puts, you might even consider using a -50% stop loss. Something like this: Maximum Open Trades: 4 open trades. 2 open call trades and 2 open put trades. Set up complex orders for Limit Sell: +100% profit Stop.......... - 50% By using a complex order (Sell Limit + Stop) it takes the human emotions out of the trade. With that system you can make money with a W/L of 50%: 10 trade Month: 5 X 100% Winners = +500% 5 X -50% Losers... = -250% Net....................... = +250% (+25% total account gain) If you place 10% of your total account value into each trade, every 10 trades will increase your total account value +25%. Do that month after month and the 10% invested into each trade will keep getting larger and larger as the account value increases (compounding). At the end of a 12 month period the compounded value of your account could exceed +500% >. Note: This even works (but not quit as good) with a W/L of 40%. Jeff
Interesting, wasn't sure if it would be possible with win/loss below 50%, but it is interesting to point it all out in theory. Have OPEN puts and also added to my WFMI calls at $1.90. The trend on WFM is just too strong right now. Unless, the market dramatically breaks down (like a 300-400 point drop), I can't see WFM breaking below $80. My options expire by the end of next week, so I don't plan on being in here long anyways.