I day trade the Stock Index Futures. I also trade some FX and Oil futures but the majority of my trading is with stock index futures. I am hoping to make a 120% return this year with a maximum draw down of 30%. Although the max draw down i am prepared to take is 30%, initially i donât want to lose more 15% of my starting capital, so i will be trading more defensively at first and then more aggressively as i begin to book profits. Even if i trade my plan with perfect execution and discipline the 120% upside target is still dependant on how the markets behave. I could struggle to make my target over the whole year or it could come easily in the first six months (or even in the first three months). Trading results are highly probabilistic and you never know when the winning and losing streaks will hit your account. In the tradition of neke's great ET journal threads i will post P/L updates at the end of each week.
Week 1 ===== +£2893 Closing Balance: £47893 14 trades to date, 9 winners 5 losers. Nice start to the year and a slightly early end to this first trading week. I will plot an equity chart after a few weeks.
Week 2 ===== +£2421 Closing Balance: £50314 25 trades to date, 17 winners 8 losers. I only need to average about 1K a week to hit the target, so currently doing very well.. however a few losing weeks will bring the performance back down to earth. The trade win rate is currently 68%, that win rate cant be sustained in the long run.. it will head down to below 60% at some point.
Since you don't take that many trades, why not post them live as you go? You would gain a lot more credibility and followers of your thread. You aren't even posting a blotter..
Yes it excludes taxes. Most of the taxes due for this period wont be due for payment until 2014, which gives another year to compound any profits. This is a weekend journal, purpose of which is to document my weekly equity curve changes, with a bit of added commentary. Still in the early days. Blotters can be 'photoshopped' anyway. This journal is more for my own posterity, i am not interested in having a following. That said, it may have some voyeuristic interest to other traders. There aren't a huge number of equity charting journals around.
For the sake of integrity and validity I suggest taking screenshot of the weekly performance like Neke does. FoN
No need. a successful trader's words are gold. I believe him. If he is not successful, he may give us a rounded off number from the "NEW" IB.