what is the best way to build a track record?

I've been trading strictly intraday for over a year now and I'm doing ok, but I've come to realize the real money is in swing trading. I've had a sim account for about a week now and I'm already up over 10%. How do I go about keeping a legitimate record of my trading to show a firm or hedge fund in the future ? Is there a site anyone hear uses or any other tool I should be aware of?

Thanks, JM

 

Your looking to keep records of simulated or real trading?

 

simulated trading for now, until i get enough $$$ to trade my account the way I want to

 

In my opinion, simulated trading will have no value to an investor unless the trading is all systematic, then it will have nominal value. Non-systematic trading that's simulated, has no fear or greed. Without that, no truly have no idea how your behavior will change with real trading.

 

Then you don't need a "track record". Nothing personal, but no one is going to give a shit about simulated results.

 

I see what you guys are saying and I had an idea that that would be the case. Believe me I would much rather be trading live but I just dont have the buying power for it at this point. Even if i kept the same approach i have now but with reduced share size i would be eaten alive by commissions. I'm just trying to figure out the best way to get experience and make some money at the same time.

 

If you are a good trader it doesn't matter how miniscule your real money account is. Over time you should be able to compound it to a much larger amount. In the real world though (and I am talking about home-based traders here) there are very few good traders out there.

 

Don't listen to the posers here. Building a track record will put you ahead of 99% of the posers even if it is hypothetical. If you have a backtested system with hypothetical estimates of returns and a real-time record that matches that then that's very compelling. Investors tend to prefer systematic strategies over discretionary methods but either way it will put you on the right track.

Now, honestly you will have difficulty because there are a lot of traders out there looking for funding. Your best bet is to save money while building a track record.

I really like collective2. It's not too expensive and works well. There are others such as timertrac and I'm sure others.

There is a lot that goes into whether an investor will desire a strategy and it is not just net return. This is a business. This is a career. Don't expect to get all the answers in one day. Work at it.. day-by-day..

 

How long would you guys say a track record needs to be to be taken seriously?

 

12 months....good returns with small draw downs are better that higher returns that have larger draw downs.