Weekly Update for week 14 ended 04/18/2008 Good week, up 14K (14.0%). Glad to have made up the loss of last week, plus more. Lots of trades that went nowhere, tiny gains and losses, except the two below, a loser and a gainer. On Tuesday bought CROX to my detriment. I saw it in after-hours at $13 and wanted to short, but turned away because it had cratered massively from 52-week high of $75. (I recall buying put on this at 54 at the start of its collapse on Nov 1st, 2007. The stock has since seen a further 80% collapse! ). Saw it fall further in early trade at 11.80 and bought on a compulsive contrarian urge, only to get out later at 10.50 for a loss of 4.6K. Need to do better avoiding these types of impulsive trades done without prior intention. Fortunately made up for this on Thursday with a PUT on BIDU, almost calling the top at 326. Closed it later in the day for a gain of 12.8K. (Ain't I glad I did not hold overnight?). Looking forward to next week, and to better times. Code: Balance B/F: 99,580 Net gain for the week 13,967 ------------------------------------------------ Balance C/F: 113,547 Number of Trades 28 Number of Profitable Trades 16 Since Inception of Thread 01/13/2008 - 04/18/2008 Balance B/F: 102,615 Net gain (Less Margin Interest) 10,932 ------------------------------------------------ Balance C/F: 113,547 (Up 10.7%) Number of Trades 277 Number of Profitable Trades 159 Expected Balance at this time to be on track for Year-End Target : 204,309 Status: Behind Target (Based on adjusted balance before withdrawals) Top/Bottom Discretionary Trades for the week TICKER ENTRY DATE/TIME EXIT DATE/TIME QTY PURCHASE AMT SOLD AMT GAIN/LOSS TYPE BDUPE 2008-04-17-10-15-35 2008-04-17-15-46-34 1200 12360 25200 12802 SHORT ------------------------------------------------------------------------- CROX 2008-04-15-09-33-10 2008-04-15-10-17-30 4000 46556 42000 -4586 LONG
neke, good trading this week, keep it up. Neke, can I ask you what lessons you have learned so far this year in your trading and how you would confer your lessons so far unto a newbie. Thanks youth.
It's probably not so much the lessons learnt as the lessons I keep re-learning which are evident from the weekly posts: * Make sure every trade is planned (entry, exit, timing, position size) and stick to those plans. * Accept some trades will be losers, and do not average in blindly. In short my own position is not to average in at all. * Accept you will miss some moves because they will not meet your criteria. Don't force yourself into a trade. Above all, dont chase a trade. * For a newbie, of course make sure you observe or paper-trade for a while and see whether you can make profit out of your observations.
Weekly Update for week 15 ended 04/25/2008 Humbling week, down 18.5K (16.2%). Really frustrating week, capped by a disastrous loss on Friday. Did put a new set of automated strategies to work from Tuesday. It was not a good start, losing 5.8K for the week on automated trades. A flurry of trades that boosted my broker's commission, and left nothing to me. My discretionary outing ended disastrously on Friday with a short on PGNX. The downfall started on Thursday buying POT at 204 after their wonderful earnings and forecast. Didn't expect the amount of sell-on-the-news that followed, coming down as low at 189, rebounded to 196 where I sold for a loss of 4K. Looked like the whole world was trading the stock. (Of course I could have made some money if I held till today). Friday was the sad day for me. Shorted 8000 PGNX at 13.30, and went way. The stock skyrocketed to 15.70. My position monitor covered at 14.70 after the 10% loss on account was attained. The silly stock came back down to end the day at 13.40. What should have been a meagre $800 loss became 11.3K loss for me. I feel robbed! Seem someone was after me. No more concentrated position on these tiny caps, and no more stop loss. Always have to look to the future, in hope of better times. I still believe the automated strategies are the way forward: It's just that at times the losing trades are so conspicuous I could have avoided them with discretionary entries, but have to endure them, having decided to let the program do its work. Code: Balance B/F: 113,547 Net loss for the week -18,590 ------------------------------------------------ Balance C/F: 94,957 Number of Trades 41 Number of Profitable Trades 18 Since Inception of Thread 01/13/2008 - 04/25/2008 Balance B/F: 102,615 Net gain (Less Margin Interest) -7,658 ------------------------------------------------ Balance C/F: 94,957 (Down 7.5%) Number of Trades 318 Number of Profitable Trades 177 Expected Balance at this time to be on track for Year-End Target : 214,611 Status: Behind Target (Based on adjusted balance before withdrawals) Top/Bottom Discretionary Trades for the week TICKER ENTRY DATE/TIME EXIT DATE/TIME QTY PURCHASE AMT SOLD AMT GAIN/LOSS TYPE POT 2008-04-21-09-54-04 2008-04-21-12-33-46 500 102410 104272 1841 SHORT PYPEX 2008-04-24-09-43-30 2008-04-24-11-07-05 1000 9580 11336 1721 CALL OPTION ------------------------------------------------------- POT 2008-04-24-09-31-42 2008-04-24-11-07-29 500 101957 98000 -3977 LONG PGNX 2008-04-25-08-21-23 2008-04-25-09-56-25 8000 117583 106324 -11290 SHORT
Neke, So sorry to hear about your losing week. I will be praying for quick enlightment so you can soon get back on your feet and continue with killer returns. Susana
neke, I like the format you use to report the weekly results. May I borrow it for my journal? Please explain B/F and C/F. Much gratitude. Om mani padme hum.
Neke, great thread. Thanks for having the bravery to post this. When I first stumbled on the thread and saw your returns from last year, I thought you might be fudging the numbers so I read thru all your posts with great curiosity to see if you had another exceptional year. Well at least you are being honest. Personally I'm a fundamentals trader and it always amazes me that people have the skill to succeed as short term traders. You are doing far better than most have done over the last 5 quarters. Congratulations.