Weekly Update for week 28 ended 07/26/2008 Solid week, up 24K (22%). Glad to be on the path to recovery. No stand-out gainer, but consistency in gains was key, with very small losses, except CPHD described below. By friday morning I was up nearly 30K, and took a nasty beating in CPHD that cut my gains by 9.4K. Bought the stock at 20.30 pre-market, thinking the beating was unwarranted, after all this is a biotech stock that doesn't move based on earnings. I was wrong, as my basis was not correct. Could have gotten out early at break-even when the market opened and it was not acting well. Instead left for a meeting. By the time I came back at 11am, it was down to $18 at which point I immediately exited. For some reason my position monitor did not close it when I was down 14K or 10% of balance (which certainly happened since the low of the day was 16.03). In this case, I am glad it did not, as that could have set me back by an extra 5K. Hope next week brings better things. Code: Opening Balance: 109,414 Net loss for the week 24,054 ------------------------------------------------ Net Balance: 133,468 Number of Trades 35 Number of Profitable Trades 24 Since Inception of Thread 01/13/2008 - 07/26/2008 Opening Balance: 102,615 Net gain (Less Margin Interest) 35,853 ------------------------------------------------ Balance Before Withdrawal: 138,468 (Up 34.9%) Cash Withdrawal -5,000 ------------------------------------------------ Net Balance 133,468 Number of Trades 667 Number of Profitable Trades 376 Expected Balance at this time to be on track for Year-End Target : 406,790 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 MALHW 2008-07-22-09-36-04 2008-07-22-10-33-49 1000 14300 19500 5165 MA CALL ----------------------------------------------------------- CPHD 2008-07-25-08-25-54 2008-07-25-10-51-14 4000 81200 71844 -9386 LONG
Neke, Good week!... What are your thoughts on ProfitTakgFool's post? Granted there is no reason we should "comform" but I do wonder.. I took a whacking last 2 weeks and wonder if 10 to 20% + weeks ultimately lead to ruin? Appears with this level of risk risk management is CRITICAL http://www.elitetrader.com/vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=130899&perpage=6&pagenumber=3
Neke, nice job this week! Thanks for keeping me up all night before POT earnings I was unaware of What ever compelled you to go to meeting with a trade in play on a gapped down stock without a stop in place? This market has not been giving back much on gapped down stocks!
Holy cow! 22%? When I grow up I wanna be like Neke. Good job, man, glad to see you coming back up. Best trading, Jorge
Big rewards mostly come with big risks. It is a question of finding out whether you have the "edge" to justify the extra risk. Unfortunately, when you take on too much risk (size), it may be too late before you discover you do not have the "edge" you thought. The cost of over-estimating your ability is huge. Having said that, I do not think 10-20% weeks should be unusual, if you think 100-200% year is feasible. The reason is because there are bound to be fluctuations in results, and the 20% weeks will make up for the minus 10% weeks. Strategies do vary by individuals. Some can keep at 1% a week, with hardly a 1% variation. Mine demands greater variability, and I welcome it if my long-term projections show good promise.
Weekly Update for week 29 ended 08/02/2008 An OK week, up 6.5K (4.9%). Lots of little gainers adding up. Regret losing 5.5K on SOHU. On Monday bought 600 SOHU at 92 pre-market after what looked like a stellar result, beating the expectations by 52% or so. I was so convinced it was a winner, and went away without a stop. Shocked to see the stock trading under 80 when I came back. Got out when it rebounded a bit to 83. Total loss 5.5K. I need to learn a lesson never to be so sure on these moves after earnings. Strange reaction keep happening. Code: Opening Balance: 133,468 Net loss for the week 6,462 ------------------------------------------------ Net Balance: 139,930 Number of Trades 30 Number of Profitable Trades 18 Since Inception of Thread 01/13/2008 - 08/02/2008 Opening Balance: 102,615 Net gain (Less Margin Interest) 42,315 ------------------------------------------------ Balance Before Withdrawal: 144,930 (Up 34.9%) Cash Withdrawal -5,000 ------------------------------------------------ Net Balance 139,930 Number of Trades 697 Number of Profitable Trades 394 Expected Balance at this time to be on track for Year-End Target : 427,300 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 WB 2008-07-30-09-41-33 2008-07-30-11-01-30 5302 86415 90922 4477 SHORT ----------------------------------------------------------- SOHU 2008-07-28-08-05-05 2008-07-28-10-54-37 600 55200 49734 -5486 LONG