We're going to find out. Honestly, I never thought that I would ever write a public journal. But after following some other journals and speaking with a few members, I thought it might help. So with that said, I hope we all get something out of it. As long as this is a productive journal, I'll update it. As soon as it's no longer helpful, I will stop. As with most journals, time will tell which way this goes. Trading background: *Got bit by the bug in '87, post crash - especially after reading Mkt Wizards and about Tudor Jones, et al. 1- Part time retail 1989 - 1994 (futures, stocks, options) 2- Full time prop 1994-2001 (stocks) 3- Stopped daytrading after 9/11 for personal reasons. 4- April, 2010 - back on the bike. 9 yrs? :eek: (stocks @ prop - trading remote) 5- I was profitable during my FT trading years. I really think that I was just in the right place at the right time. Anyone with an IQ of a doorknob should/could have made money during those years (just my opinion of course). I never blew up while trading, but like many traders, came VERY close a few times. Journal purpose: 1- I hope to get back up to speed with help from members willing to share. It's been a while and I have a lot of catching up to do. 2- I also hope the journal will help some of you thinking about remote trading, trading at a prop firm, etc... Just follow and read, you'll know pretty quick if this journal is for you or not. What: I will be writing mostly about my journey back to trading. Though I never took my eyes off the mkt since 9/11, I have not traded actively. The reasons are many, but all of them were mental/psyche issues. My office was across the street (NY Merc) from the WTC when they came down and had a huge impact on me. Simultaneously, I was also going through some personal/family issues. As most of you know, it's hard enough to trade you're in the zone, next to impossible when you're not. I just knew I had to stop. Let's just leave it at that for now. How I trade: I'm a K.I.S.S. kinda guy. As my username says, I'm old school. My trading learning curve went something like this: I was fortunate enough to meet some excellent traders during my time, and they were nice enough to teach me some old school tape reading skills and basic TA. Then I started writing filters/scanners using Insight and other like programs. I finished by writing VB in Excel - mainly for position management. When: Weekly updates - will post blotter and summary. That's it for now, I will post week one ending 4/23 a bit later. As always, all constructive comments/questions welcomed. os
I'm starting to think if DAYTRADING is even possible. I have seen some people here that are able to put profits week in and week out (NoDoji). They have admired me to keep trying. I have been trading for over 2 years. I used to trade penny stocks and I have recently started to trade bigboard stocks. Bigboard stocks are unbelievably impossible to predict, it seems. I have a vast knowledge of how market works. I never get greedy. I have tried many trading methods with no success... below is my daily PnL for the month of April, 2010. It's horrible. Should I start doing opposite of everything that I have learned in the past two years in order to succeed as a trader? I have tried trading the same stocks over and over, I have tried scalping, I have tried mean revision. Nothing works. It seems as if - it is me vs the market. Whenever I open a position, the market does the opposite. Makes me wonder.. is daytrading even possible? For example, POT.. I started shorting it in April.. The stock DID go down, but since I cannot hold a position over night (trade with a prop firm) I have been trying to DAYTRADE my shorts.. and everything I shorted the stock.. it turned against me..this is rediculas 04/01/2010 -131.47 04/02/2010 0.00 04/03/2010 0.00 04/04/2010 0.00 04/05/2010 267.44 04/06/2010 285.83 04/07/2010 -682.18 04/08/2010 -221.33 04/09/2010 -10.22 04/10/2010 0.00 04/11/2010 0.00 04/12/2010 269.04 04/13/2010 -415.60 04/14/2010 229.70 04/15/2010 -576.33 04/16/2010 -614.40 04/17/2010 0.00 04/18/2010 0.00 04/19/2010 70.18 04/20/2010 19.75 04/21/2010 -203.11 04/22/2010 -117.43 04/23/2010 -200.21
when a guy tells me he did retail and prop shop for 4-8 years total and then stopped for personal reasons that's bullshit you my friend BLEW UP, be a man enough to say it. I blew up too at one time so what move on
The first 3 days were spent on a demo account to get used to LS. After 3 days on the demo acct, I went live on Weds - 4/21/10. After 9 yrs, I almost didn't recognize her. Nothing crazy obviously, but blotter's attached. os
It's a tough business, period. Wish I had a more profound reply, but I don't. Follow what the successful traders on this board are saying (Lescor and a few others come to mind immediately) and try to incorporate their wisdom into your trading.
What the hell kind of reply is that? Oldschool, I look forward to your journal and hearing your experiences of now vs. then. GL