You might want to read before responding. He said he is DOWN 15K for the week, not UP. He appears only to be up about 22K total for the first 10+ weeks of the year...
^ He lost 15K, not made. And even with a 7% return so far, that's 22K and probably more than most people here is making dollarwise so far. Think of it this way, 90% of the people here are not even making any money, so you should be happy that you are part of an elite group of traders simply making money from the market. Cheers.
Weekly Update for week 11/50 ended 03/29/2009 An OK week, up 9K (2.7%). Lots of hits and misses. Largely overtraded. End result is just sufficient for a week's worth of effort. Still refining my methods on position sizing viz-a-vis expectation for profit and risk. Happy to announce the addition of an automated/mechanical strategy to the mix. Hoping for better things this time around. Code: Opening Balance: 342,759 Net gain for the week 9,181 ------------------------------------------------ Net Balance: 351,940 Number of Trades 36 Number of Profitable Trades 23 Since Inception of Thread 01/10/2009 - 03/29/2009 Opening Balance: 320,064 Net gain (Less Margin Interest) 31,676 (Up 9.9%) ------------------------------------------------ Net Balance 351,740 Number of Trades 259 Number of Profitable Trades 163 Top/Bottom Discretionary Trades for the week TICKER ENTRY DATE/TIME EXIT DATE/TIME QTY PURCHASE AMT SOLD AMT GAIN/LOSS TYPE SZCDC 2009-03-23-14-51-56 2009-03-23-15-40-11 20000 63795 71400 7441 SPY CALL ----------------------------------------- SZCDE 2009-03-25-10-37-18 2009-03-25-12-47-16 20000 59000 51200 -8114 SPY CALL
neke, first, congrats on the baby, good luck on the year, and thanks for taking the time to post and help other traders. i noticed in one of your posts you said you used ameritrade. Do you like it for basic stock and options trading? Do you watch a lot of graphs and does it freeze ever during high volume? Do you use any of Ameritrade's screeners or filters, are they decent? Thanks again, and good luck.
Neke, 9k may not be a lot for you, but this week was not an easy week as the market was very choppy except Monday. Would you elaberate a bit more on your Monday trading -- would you consider it a day of "credible strength"so you would go long with size, if so Monday should be the kind of day you make a major killing; if not why not? Thanks for posting each week. OC
Well, I use it for both stocks and options. I like the fixed stock costs (20$ round-trip - $14 for me) regardless of the size of the order. For options though, it appears IB is a bit cheaper. I do not watch a lot of graphs, just check the quotes occasionally on issues I am interested in, fill in the gaps with intra-day chart (obviously if I was away that could fill me up with what happened in terms of price/volume), read a lot about the issues I am watching/holding etc, and make my decisions mostly on a discretionary basis. I use screeners, but not specifically Ameritrade's.
For the monday trading. Initially I was quite skeptical of the initial strength, shorted some SPY, but covered an hour later at a loss. It became clear soon afterwards the market loved the toxic asset plan (even overseas markets did the same), hence SPY call later in the day. As you can see, my new-minted sizing rules dictate i play it safe now that I do not have enough buffer, so there will probably not be a major "killing" until the buffer increases.
Weekly Update for week 12/50 ended 04/04/2009 A moderately positive week, up 7K (1.9%). Still drifting sideways. What's annoying is making so many trades (24) and having the end result accounted for by less than one trade. Built up nicely Monday to Wed, lost it shorting the market move on Thursday. Again picked up an early gain in RIMM in after hours, only to surrender most of it the following day. Still awaiting the break-out. Code: Opening Balance: 351,940 Net gain for the week 6,744 ------------------------------------------------ Net Balance: 358,684 Number of Trades 24 Number of Profitable Trades 14 Since Inception of Thread 01/10/2009 - 04/04/2009 Opening Balance: 320,064 Net gain (Less Margin Interest) 38,620 (Up 12%) ------------------------------------------------ Net Balance 358,684 Number of Trades 259 Number of Profitable Trades 163 Top/Bottom Discretionary Trades for the week TICKER ENTRY DATE/TIME EXIT DATE/TIME QTY PURCHASE AMT SOLD AMT GAIN/LOSS TYPE RIMM 2009-04-02-16-14-19 2009-04-02-16-17-31 10000 565194 578526 13315 LONG SZCPA 2009-03-30-09-45-42 2009-03-30-15-05-15 20000 59200 68000 8486 SPY PUT ------------------------------------------------------- SPY 2009-03-31-15-23-08 2009-03-31-15-57-51 12000 964000 957720 -6313 SPY CALL SCHN 2009-04-02-10-46-16 2009-04-02-15-26-44 4000 151990 144692 -7313 SHORT