Weekly Update for week 3 ended 02/02/2008 Flattish week, up 1K (1%). Overtraded quite a bit. I should watch it. Lost on Thursay shorting AMZN. Looks like they could find nothing wrong even with the margin pressure. I have been somewhat cautious, as I seek to bring the balance back to six digits. Cannot afford to suffer a big drawdown from here. Looking forward to next week. Code: Balance B/F: 93,284 Net Gain for the week 1,039 ------------------------------------------------ Balance C/F: 94,323 Number of Trades 19 Number of Profitable Trades 11 Since Inception of Thread 01/13/2008 - 02/02/2008 Balance B/F: 102,615 Net Gain (Less Margin Interest) -8,292 ------------------------------------------------ Balance C/F: 94,323 (Down 8%) Number of Trades 41 Number of Profitable Trades 24 Expected Balance at this time to be on track for Year-End Target : 118931 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 GAINS/LOSS TYPE BDUBJ 2008-01-31-09-32-13 2008-01-31-11-53-18 500 11180 15500 4282.34 BIDU CALL AMZN 2008-01-30-16-08-32 2008-01-30-16-20-24 1000 71487 75000 3491.79 SHORT ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ BDK 2008-01-28-09-29-57 2008-01-28-11-05-28 1500 103035 99750 -3306.08 SHORT AMZN 2008-01-31-08-06-10 2008-01-31-09-28-19 1400 96442 92022 -4440.99 SHORT
Neke, a profit is a profit. Might I ask what you used to produce your chart? Thanks, Make 'em pretty, Chris
Weekly Update for week 4 ended 02/09/2008 An OK week, up 5.7K (6%). Not a dramatic move, but just OK as I seek to go green for the year. Two bad trades reared up their heads. On Monday after hours, I was taught a lesson on how not to bottom-fish. Saw SIRF trading at 12.90 (down from closing price of 16.27) after missing earnings by 4c (28c vs. 32c expected). Reasoning was it was too cheap, with a forwared earnings of more than $1, and down more than 60% from 52-week high. Took a modest position of 2000 shares as I did not see any guidance. Little did I know the guidance would come less than 10 minutes afterward, and my $1 forward earnings promptly vanished. Sold the stock at 10.50, losing 4.8K (Glad I bought only that much, it could easily have been four times that). Did not have the psychological strength to go short thereafter (the stock closed at 7.36 the following day). Lesson: don't pick bottoms based on analysis unless you have ALL the facts. Wednesday lost 6K following the crowd in RVBD. Saw it at 19.7 after hours, refrained from shorting. Saw it later at 18.7 decided to short. Stopped out in the morning a 19.93 for a 6K loss. Good strategy: poor execution. Made my week with the rebound in stocks on Thursday. Code: Balance B/F: 94,323 Net Gain for the week 5,661 ------------------------------------------------ Balance C/F: 99,984 Number of Trades 16 Number of Profitable Trades 10 Since Inception of Thread 01/13/2008 - 02/09/2008 Balance B/F: 102,615 Net Gain (Less Margin Interest) -2,631 ------------------------------------------------ Balance C/F: 99,984 (Down 2.6%) Number of Trades 57 Number of Profitable Trades 34 Expected Balance at this time to be on track for Year-End Target : 124,928 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 GAINS/LOSS TYPE JASO 2008-02-07-10-01-03 2008-02-07-12-00-12 2000 87329 95778.16 8428.11 LONG SFBNE 2008-02-05-10-02-06 2008-02-05-15-11-44 5000 10950 15000 3954.86 SPY PUT --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- SIRF 2008-02-04-16-40-08 2008-02-04-16-59-04 2000 25798 21006 -4812.23 LONG RVBD 2008-02-06-09-23-47 2008-02-06-09-50-48 5000 99675 93450 -6256.01 SHORT
It seems you are much more conservative than last year. Don't blame your bad trades. You had a lot more risk exposure last year. Yeah, you lost big ones, but you also made big ones. This year, you cut down those gamble trades. You don't have many big losers, but you dot have many big winners either(compared to last year). If you trade like this, you will have much more steady income each week, but overall gain may not be as big as what you had last year. Don't know whether thsi is what you want. Good luck, Freewilly
Great trading Neke. The risk and psychological control show what (I believe) what good trading is all about - for anyone who disagrees, I wonder what SocGen thinks about it. While a lot of the posters here really just want a dog and pony show, it's the step-by-step that's going to get the job done and you out of the corporate arena. GL
Yes, for a start I do not intend to do anything that could cause the balance to come way down from my starting balance (102.6K). Moreover I am still trying to get a feel for some of my rules, and getting used to them. I shall step up my risk tolerance as the account grows to a comfortable level (I said risk tolerance , not foolish unplanned salvos). Ideally I would be pleased to be making 10 quality trades a week, down from the average of nearly 30 I did last year.
Neke, Finally started a Journal and already I see it takes commitment to maintain the thing.. First page I had tons of charts.. that quickly vanished!.. Markets should break big soon.. Up or down?? Should be up but who knows... http://www.elitetrader.com/vb/showthread.php?s=&postid=1785592#post1785592 Good Trading..