October Trading Journals

probably because dozu says so in his post that he/she doesn't trade for a living. also, dozu's statements about profitability are completely in error......just doesn't sound like he knows what he's talking about. hitman will definitely be profitable again....there is no doubt, we all go through periods of "less" profitability.

 

Could you give a breakdown of your commission and bullet charges. It seems like your Gross P/L is decent until you subtract your costs. I trade as a professional as well, and I pay about .015-.017 per share comm. and .03 for bullets. I was just curious as to what your costs are at worldco.

 

So right . . . yet so wrong, this is going to be a very very memorable game for a long time. I was expecting the classic financial rally, rate cut then sell-off . . . I was the expecting the 1-2-1 move after the announcement. Yet as the day progressed it was obvious that the financials will not rally into the meeting, and I started to get the feeling that there will be NO sell-off today. Did the market rally? Yes, not until I almost completely gave up the hope of longing and actually switched some of my positions to the short side.

On a side note, a good friend of mine, who was up gross but down 28K net (all commissions, firm capital), decided to hand in his resignation letter yesterday, as he received a job offer from another firm (worse rates but a fresh new start). For whatever the reason, the owner of the firm told him that he is not leaving, and today, his account was set to 0. Stunning, while it makes a lot of sense to keep a trader who has been basically consolidating, 28K is a LOT to forgive, and just another proof that this firm truly gives its traders every opportunity to succeed.

25000 shares on 5 of 16 shooting, +148 before commissions, -554 after, 2 bullets.

Pre-Market: Fed. meeting at 2:15, nothing else matters, actually some airline upgrades but I chose not to trade those.

9:30: DRG sell-off, bulleted AGN and ended up making some of the bullet cost as it totally reversed with the index. Took COF long on financial strength and got 20 cents. Took a pair of chemicals PX/APD and took 5-10 cents losses. Took BEN at 33.70 on what I thought would be financial rally and quickly get out for flat.

10:00: Took MWD, MER, GS, LM etc . . . kept on believing financials will go higher, while I pulled 50 cents off 1000 share's of GS, MWD, MER, LM all hurted me on 20 cents or so stop out's. In the end caught MWD and MER for a pop but too little too late. I was down $230, and I had to be happy about this kind of numbers given that the financials totally sold off instead of going up. On the other hand, I was getting the feeling that this rate cut will be different from others . . .

2:15: Ahhh, show time . . . Half point cut, futures went up, I took some CMA and was in the money by 20 cents quickly, took BJ, then futures came in, no problem, I was expecting it, and I was ready to buy more, took AGE at 35.12, futures came back, as expected, but could not hit a new high, and it faded. That was when my heart went heavy, as I quickly got out of CMA and BJ for 30 cents loss a piece, and put up a bullet on AGE and shorted away. Bad, bad idea, this is exactly how you get chopped to death, I was short 1500 AGE but fortuantely I was able to cover more than half of it for 2 pennies loss as it just went the other way as if the futures are going straight up. I lost 10 cents on the other half but it was ok. MMM hadn't sold off yet so I shorted it and ended up losing 25 cents.

2:58: Fully expecting a rally, took TYC at 45.17, GE at 36.90, IBM at 92.50, but I was down more than $1000 on the day, and there was fear in my heart, I had TYC a nickle above the bottom, I had GE 10 cents above the bottom, but IBM did a final "blow the stop" dump and triggered my stop at 92.29, and that was the stroke that broke my back. A little more confidence, I would have been ok, sticking and trusting my original idea, I would be fine, and I sold TYC and GE out flat. Needless to say the 3 of them ran up an average of more than 1 point each . . . and I got out of GE/IBM at 3:12, three minutes before the rally.

3:15: DRG rally, took some AGN at 66.57, eventually sold for an average price of 15 cents scalp. Took MMM at 96.90, CMA at 54.15, got half a point out of MMM as it printed as high as 97.70, but a big offer showed up and I pared some out and held the other half hoping for the offer to be smacked, it didn't. Got quarter move out of CMA. Too little, too late.

This is the kind of game that makes you spill blood, all along you knew you would be right, but as a trader you stick to stops (granted, I didn't stick to my stops on GE/TYC, mentally I was so beaten I sold them for flat and gave up). I want to have a good month so badly, yet I was so close . . . yet so far . . .

I understand, going into this business, that there will be failure after failure after failure before one finally makes it, and I still believe in my ability to excel, to succeed, that I have as much potential as anyone else in my firm. I have been stuck at 48K YTD for more than a month and half, that is disgusting.

I am way past the point of no return I don't even remember what it looked like, there is no turning back, either I make it trading, or accept the fate of an average joe. I have what it takes, but I must overcome myself to make this a respectable year.

 

NVR:

60 cents per ticket, 1 cent per share, $12 bullet ticket 2.8 cent per share bullet cost, 94% payout. Obviously as you grow in experience you will get better rates.

 

Hey Hitman,

Do you work under a senior trader/desk manager? If so, do you know how commissions/deals work? Does the head person split your commission revenue with the firm?

Which floor do you work on?

 

I have read your posts of your trading journals and I must say it is great to see a fellow trader expressing every thought and feeling he had during the trading day on paper and to fellow traders, I think it is a great idea and a great way to grow, learn, as a trader.
I have read your posts and I find that you follow a lot of different sectors and you have all the symbols (mid-cap and large-cap) for each sector and you have the indicie to follow....I also trade only NYSE stocks and I have just started my career about a month and half ago. I have compiled a huge list of different stocks and sectors to follow and I have found it to work well. My question is where did you go to find all the different sectors and stocks that you follow. I have used spglobal.com and a few other sites, I was just trying to get some ideas from someone at the game longer than me.
I was also wondering what your conditions are like over at worldco, how many screens, what platforms (charting, quotes, etc. ) and what order entry system you use. Do you have a screen on your computer screen that will allow you to enter bullets (like we use essex terra term) or do you have to call them in manually -- I see you pay a lot for them as well 12 ticket plus almost .03 a share...
Just inquiring...trying to pick the brain of a fellow NYSE trader...I hope we can keep a running dialogue, in which we can all grow and learn from one another.

 

I see you have a 94% payout..I now understand why your costs are a little higher..that is a great payout.. very high in comparison to most. I was curious to know if you contributed any of your own capital in order to recieve such a high payout and if so, how much?

 

I believe the $12 ticket are for married puts. Not standard listed share ticket. He pays less than a buck.

 

Opened the day with four bullets and for a moment I thought I was going to be blown out. Fortunately I quickly regained my senses and went long and finished with a solid game. It is so important to be in the rthyme, had I been on a winning streak this would have been a much bigger game.

12300 shares on 6 of 12 shooting, +1395 before commissions, +837 after. Back in the black for October and I desperately need a winning streak, even if a small one will do wonders for my confidence. I have upped my size and if I can absorb it I will do great later . . .

On a side note, the guy who got the 28K gift to reset his account is doing very well, he is so confident and this is the kind of event that can completely change careers. I mean he was blown out for good and this is like back from the dead, a new life, a re-birth. As much as I am happy for him, I can't emphasize how painful it was to come back dollar by dollar from the learning curve deficit, and being able to skip it, I don't know if I shouldn't feel unfair . . .

Pre-Market: DRG earnings warning.

9:30: Uncharacteristic, 4 bullets up. Had CRA, DNA, AGN, as my biotech/drugs sell-off candidates, lost 20 cents on CRA, flat on DNA, 40 cents on a small position in AGN. My bullet in APD worked a little bit better as I was able to pull 25 cents out.

10:00: The rally, IBM was trading at 92.45 and I wanted 1000 shares limit to 92.60, I only got 200 shares filled. Took WLP on HMO strength and it hit 109 which looked like a breakout but instead it fell back in and I ended up flat on the trade after a few attempts.

10:41: Took 30 cents scalp out of AA, first attempt to bottomfish HP on OSX rebound I lost a nickel. Took a 15 cents scalp on DNA. I was down $200, and I had to be happy considering I got the direction dead wrong today.

11:10: Futures made the breakout, took 1000 GE at 37.51, pared out 500 too early for a dime but the other 500 for a half. Took some TYC but out for flat before the breakout was confirmed. Hit almost a full point in HP as the seller was finally done and I picked it up at 24.90. Got 35 cents in SGY on a pullback of OSX. Saw DOX trading down to 24 with a 1 million share print and I took just 500 shares with futures going straight up, high percentage trade, it went to 24.30 and then all of a sudden retested 24 with a 2 million print and I had my stop at .19, ended up losing a little money on the trade but I wish I took it again, it went to 25 and seller was finally done. Still, nice fake by the specialist, had I gave it more room I would have been fine . . . Solid day, not going to push it . . .

Hope this is the beginning of a streak . . .