Trading history: Have dabbled in stocks for some years now, mostly on and off. Started trading options in last fifteen months and generally found they suit my trading style. Started with a account of 25k in late 2009. It reached a high of 31.5k and a low of 18.5k before ending at 26k in year end. Took 1k out and started 2011 with almost 25k in the account again. Reason for this blog: Learn from my own mistakes, keep a track and generally to be disciplined. Entry frequency: Monthly most probably, weekly maybe. Will try to cover stocks, bullish/bearish sentiment, associated trade and final account value. Initial Value 2011: $ 24, 710
Code: +=====================+============+================+ | | This Month | Year Till Date | +=====================+============+================+ | Total profit | 564.84 | 564.84 | +---------------------+------------+----------------+ | Account Start Value | 24,710.05 | 24,710.05 | | Withdrawl | 0.00 | 0.00 | | Final Account Value | 25,274.89 | 25,274.89 | +=====================+============+================+ Positions booked for Jan: SLV, USO, AMZN: All bullish, booked decent profit. Current positions: Booked a lot of loss due to adjustments in the following. NFLX: Moderately bearish, have a medium term and short term bullish position. AMZN: Bullish, had to adjust twice. BAC: Bullish, had to adjust thrice. USO: Caustiously bullish, had to adjust once. SLV: Caustiously bullish, had to adjust once.
- Started an account with 5,000 to test another brokerage, as the current one has very high commission. - Slowly moving to cash. Code: +=====================+============+================+ | | This Month | Year Till Date | +=====================+============+================+ | Total profit | 4,621.14 | 5,186.08 | | Total with/add | 5,000.00 | 5,000.00 | +---------------------+------------+----------------+ | Account Start Value | 25,274.89 | 24,710.05 | | Withdrawl/Addition | 0.00 | 0.00 | | Final Account Value | 29,514.05 | 29,514.05 | | Profit | 4,239.16 | 4,804.00 | +---------------------+------------+----------------+ | Account Start Value | 5,000.00 | 5,000.00 | | Withdrawl/Addition | 5,000.00 | 5,000.00 | | Final Account Value | 5,382.08 | 5,382.08 | | Profit | 382.08 | 382.08 | +=====================+============+================+ Trades booked for Feb: SLV, USO, AMZN, BAC: Mixed, booked good profit. Trades ongoing: NFLX: Stuck in long position, bleeding. AMZN: Was slightly bearish, closed 60% of the position in good profit. BAC: Was slightly bearish, initial position setup was wrong, a little loss here. CMI: Was slightly bearish, booked some profit. USO: Bullish, booked decent profit. SLV: Slightly bearish, a little loss here.
- First negative month of the year, and its all due to my studity of not handling BAC positions well. Total failure in risk management cost me almost 5k. Other positions covered it up, or it would have been a big setback. - Moved 5k from old account to new one. Brokerage is pretty low in the new one and fills seem decent. Code: +=====================+============+================+ | | This Month | Year Till Date | +=====================+============+================+ | Total profit | (760.77)| 4,406.81 | | Total with/add | 5,000.00 | 5,000.00 | +---------------------+------------+----------------+ | Account Start Value | 25,274.89 | 24,710.05 | | Withdrawl/Addition | (5,000.00)| (5,000.00)| | Final Account Value | 26,148.20 | 26,148.20 | | Profit | 1,638.24 | 6,438.24 | +---------------------+------------+----------------+ | Account Start Value | 5,382.08 | 5,000.00 | | Withdrawl/Addition | 5,000.00 | 10,000.00 | | Final Account Value | 7,968.57 | 7,968.57 | | Profit | (2,399.01)| (2,031.43)| +=====================+============+================+ Trades booked for Mar: USO, AMZN: Bullish, booked good profit. SLV: Was bearish late in the game, gave back some money to Mr. Market here. BAC: Bullish, great loss Trades ongoing: NFLX: Long, went well, major position closed. AMZN: Long, went well, major position closed. BAC: Long, bleeding. CMI: Long, looking good.
- Good month generally. Booked decent profit in CMI and AMZN(courtesy after result action). - Booked partial loss for BAC. All the loss in the second account is due to my stupidity of not booking it earlier. Will slowly keep on reducing BAC exposure. As a result of this fiasco risk management has been made tighter. - Moved another 5k from old account to new one. Code: +=====================+============+================+ | | This Month | Year Till Date | +=====================+============+================+ | Total profit | 3,404.48 | 7,896.79 | | Total with/add | 5,000.00 | 5,000.00 | +---------------------+------------+----------------+ | Account Start Value | 26,148.20 | 24,710.05 | | Withdrawl/Addition | (5,000.00)| (10,000.00)| | Final Account Value | 27,739.19 | 27,739.19 | | Profit | 6,578.49 | 13,029.23 | +---------------------+------------+----------------+ | Account Start Value | 7,968.57 | 5,000.00 | | Withdrawl/Addition | 5,000.00 | 15,000.00 | | Final Account Value | 9,867.56 | 9,867.56 | | Profit | (3,174.01)| (5,132.44)| +=====================+============+================+
- Worst month of the year, down about 6k and barely positive for the year. - Moved 10k to the second account to make it a even 25k; bare minimum I consider for an account to have. In all the new account has 15k of new money and 10k of winnings from the first account. - Netflix started running just before the last May expiration and completely caught me off guard, lost 3k and another 500 in revenge trading, before I got my act together and got out. - Lost some money in BAC too, even after closing half of my open position in it. - This has certainly caused some discomfort and caused me to reanalyze my trading. One thing which is very obvious is my inability to take small losses. Going forward, making sure that I have a written rule-set before entering a trade. Not thinking of anything elaborate, just a two line jot. - Exploding gamma is a killer. Had heard it a lot, learned it by being underwater by some thousands. Not going to trade in late expiry week henceforth. Code: +=====================+============+================+ | | This Month | Year Till Date | +=====================+============+================+ | Total profit | 5,959.15 | 1,937.05 | | Total with/add | 10,000.00 | 15,000.00 | +---------------------+------------+----------------+ | Account Start Value | 27,739.19 | 24,710.05 | | Withdrawl/Addition | 0.00 | (10,000.00)| | Final Account Value | 25,844.71 | 25,844.71 | | Profit | (1,894.48)| 11,134.66 | +---------------------+------------+----------------+ | Account Start Value | 9,867.56 | 5,000.00 | | Withdrawl/Addition | 10,000.00 | 20,000.00 | | Final Account Value | 15,802.89 | 15,802.89 | | Profit | (4,064.67)| (9,197.11)| +=====================+============+================+
- This month was ok, made about 2k. Considering the consolidation that happened, I am happy to be positive. - Again tried to trade Netflix this month, closed the early month trade after coming to senses later. Another trade late in the month gave about 500k. - Made money from AMZN. Thats the stock I like. Also, made sizeable amount from CMI. - Took a stupid bet on IRE, really stupid. The trend was down and it was obvious. Although the amount was a pittance, still shouldn't have entered this trade. Brought at high, sold at low, and I am sure it will rebound once the Euro throws more money at the PIGS. Code: +=====================+============+================+ | | This Month | Year Till Date | +=====================+============+================+ | Total profit | 2,286.77 | 4,242.84 | | Total with/add | 0 | 15,000.00 | +---------------------+------------+----------------+ | Account Start Value | 25,785.71 | 24,710.05 | | Withdrawl/Addition | 0.00 | (10,000.00)| | Final Account Value | 26,945.35 | 26,945.35 | | Profit | 1,159.64 | 12,235.39 | +---------------------+------------+----------------+ | Account Start Value | 15,880.32 | 5,000.00 | | Withdrawl/Addition | 0.00 | 20,000.00 | | Final Account Value | 17,007.45 | 17,007.45 | | Profit | 1,127.13 | (7,992.55)| +=====================+============+================+
- Regret not posting yesterday, account screenshots are of today and hence dont reflect the changes that happened over the last month (monthly has been reset for Aug by the brokers). I have calculated the actual profit/loss for the accounts sicne last post, and its reflected in the calculations below. - Took 2500 out of the first account. So the net addition this year has been of 12500. - Generally a slow month for me. Was not very sure of the market and positions very pretty small. No big trades done, hence the relativerly flat result. - Earning play was heavily curtailed for this quarter, as i was really really unsure of what is going on currently. - First account gained some, but was more than overshadowed by the loss in the second one. Code: +=====================+============+================+ | | This Month | Year Till Date | +=====================+============+================+ | Total profit | (611.60)| 3,719.16 | | Total with/add | (2,500.00)| 12,500.00 | +---------------------+------------+----------------+ | Account Start Value | 26,945.35 | 24,710.05 | | Withdrawl/Addition | (2,500.00)| (12,500.00)| | Final Account Value | 25,414.01 | 25,414.01 | | Profit | 968.66 | 13,291.97 | +---------------------+------------+----------------+ | Account Start Value | 17,007.45 | 5,000.00 | | Withdrawl/Addition | 0.00 | 20,000.00 | | Final Account Value | 15,427.19 | 15,427.19 | | Profit | (1,580.26)| (9,572.581)| +=====================+============+================+