In general I can use a maximum of 90% of account value for an intra-day trade. Overnight positions are somewhat less. Even then it depends on the volatility of the stock. Very non-volatile intra-day positions I could use twice that (like MTB in this week's examples), while others like RACK in the example I would commit less. I have no hard-and-fast formulas. Indicators? I generally do not use any technical indicators for my discretionary trades, just raw gut-feeling from my experience which looks at a whole lot of parameters: the gravity of the news moving the stock, the fundamentals, the surprise factor etc. My automated trades use very simple technical parameters plus a few fundamental criteria, all quantitatively defined.
Hi, Good luck in your trades. I trade only one stock QQQQ and its derivatives and options, mostly. I am interested in, How you choose your stocks? Scan, news source, internet chat ? In your non discretionary trade what indicators you use? TIA.
2 Important points as far as risk as I see it.. On a weekly/monthly basis you must figure out the maximum drawdown you can accept. Then take that amount and divide it by the total risk of each trade Total risk of trade being total $ loss if stop is hit. From there you can play with the total # of trades and the share/contract size allowed before the maximum drawdown allowed is reached. Generally unless you are counter trend trading on a large time frame the larger stop width will increase your win %. The exception to this larger timeframe trend is with individual stocks and news the trend even on a large time frame could reverse fairly easily. I trade ES/ER where the trends are more reliable. Never go crazy intraday constantly looking for that reversal after losing and losing and losing. I think we all realize its that stupid behavior that kills the account ,and if stupid behavior that gets rewarded with a win or stratch is probably the most dangerous thing to ones account.. Pick the spot that looks like the entry ,give it enough room and leave it,anything else is chasing a falling knife. Enjoying your journal.
I think this journal is absolutely crazy just a guy that gives you all the roller coaster figures at the end of each week without giving you an idea of what he`s doing. goes to meetings with a big shaky trade on without stop loss I suppose. dont know what his kick is.
I think this journal is absolutely crazy just a guy that gives you all the roller coaster figures at the end of each week without giving you an idea of what he`s doing. goes to meetings with a big shaky trade on without stop loss I suppose. does that sound like somebody who`s trading for years? come on! dont know what his kick is.
Below is the expected rate of growth of balance on my account to attain the target of 500K, starting from the 76K at the start of the thread (2007-02-25). The implied rate is 4.3548% per week without withdrawals. At the end of week six, the expected balance was $98971,while the actual balance came to $119236, showing I am ahead of target. Each week, I shall include a note whether I am ahead of target or behind. I shall try and keep withdrawals low so as not to impact the attainment of the target. Code: Week End Date Opening Bal. Closing Bal. 1 2007-03-02 76636 79973 2 2007-03-09 79973 83456 3 2007-03-16 83456 87090 4 2007-03-23 87090 90883 5 2007-03-30 90883 94841 6 2007-04-06 94841 98971 7 2007-04-13 98971 103281 8 2007-04-20 103281 107779 9 2007-04-27 107779 112472 10 2007-05-04 112472 117370 11 2007-05-11 117370 122481 12 2007-05-18 122481 127815 13 2007-05-25 127815 133381 14 2007-06-01 133381 139190 15 2007-06-08 139190 145251 16 2007-06-15 145251 151576 17 2007-06-22 151576 158177 18 2007-06-29 158177 165066 19 2007-07-06 165066 172254 20 2007-07-13 172254 179755 21 2007-07-20 179755 187583 22 2007-07-27 187583 195752 23 2007-08-03 195752 204277 24 2007-08-10 204277 213172 25 2007-08-17 213172 222456 26 2007-08-24 222456 232143 27 2007-08-31 232143 242253 28 2007-09-07 242253 252802 29 2007-09-14 252802 263811 30 2007-09-21 263811 275300 31 2007-09-28 275300 287288 32 2007-10-05 287288 299799 33 2007-10-12 299799 312855 34 2007-10-19 312855 326479 35 2007-10-26 326479 340697 36 2007-11-02 340697 355533 37 2007-11-09 355533 371016 38 2007-11-16 371016 387173 39 2007-11-23 387173 404034 40 2007-11-30 404034 421629 41 2007-12-07 421629 439990 42 2007-12-14 439990 459150 43 2007-12-21 459150 479145 44 2007-12-28 479145 500011
Thanks for sharing your money management with us. Hopefully someone can actually get something of value from it, but don't be surprised if they don't post it. When people get something of value, they usually run with it. JJ
Weekly Update for week 7 ended 4/13/2007 Lots of frenetic trading, but not much to show for it. Began on sad note on Monday losing 10K shorting the biotech craze (shorted 9000 NUVO @ 4.46 covered at 5.16 for a loss of more than 6K, fortunately shorted 4300 of the same stock Tuesday at 6.40 covered at 5.60 for a modest gain. Regret not shorting more and not waiting till Wednesday when that stock tanked to 4.40). Altogether my discretionary trades lost more than 8K for the week, while my automated made 14K, to give me a net of more than 5K. Code: Balance B/F: 119,236 Profit for the week 5,718 ------------------------------------- Balance C/F: 124,954 Number of Trades 34 Number of Profitable Trades 21 Since Inception of Thread 2/25/2007 - 4/13/2007 Balance B/F: 76,636 Net Gain (Less Margin Interest) 61,318 Cash Withdrawal -13,000 ------------------------------------- Balance C/F: 124,954 Number of Trades 174 Number of Profitable Trades 113 Expected Balance at this time to be on track for Year-End Target : 103,281 Status: Ahead of Target Top/Bottom Discretionary Trades for the week TICKER,ENTRYDATETIME,EXITDATETIME,QTY,PURCHASE AMOUNT, SOLD AMOUNT,NET GAIN,TYPE NUVO,2007-04-09 08:16:20,2007-04-09 09:46:33,9000,46170,39940,-6260.6,SHORT SILC,2007-04-09 10:18:58,2007-04-10 11:22:27,4000,85579.19,90938.38,5307.6,SHORT