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First time hearing the failed ones are masters . Who wants to be a master ? They certainly make for interesting reading, but I am not sure they are masters.

Yea, she is well behind me now. It used to be rocky before I bottomed in the market (Oct/Nov 2004), when I kept sending money to my account without taking anything out. I kept telling her it is a long-term investment. But now it is the other way; she certainly looks forward to the extra I bring...

I won't say I trade options expiration. It is true that premiums reduce significantly on expiration week, but without the right set-up I would still shy away. It is easy to lose a lot trading them.

You've just read one of them.

So Lucky invented the story. Thought he was your alter ego.

I think it all boils down to a number of things: 1) Inability to hold overnight based on capital limitation: most brokers allow 4XAccount value for intraday trades vs. 2XAccount value for overnight positions. So you may perfectly take a day-trade intending to close it at the end of the day...

Yes I regret being left out of the rebound. I saw the market collapse on Tuesday, and my target entry point was reached, but thought there would be a follow-on sell-off on Wed morning at which point I should load up. Unfortunately that did not come, and I just missed it. All the same, I bought...

Weekly Update for week 27 ended 08/31/2007 Another awful week to see the end, and to look beyond - though the pain will linger for a while. As in the previous week, the tone for the week was set on Monday when I lost nearly 20K shorting/putting ONXX. Bad call, and bad decision to add to the...

My position sizing for my discretionary trades are discretionary. That is where the problem lies. Like you suggested I shall try and use a formula based on the stocks expected volatility (for me that depends on % move over prior-day's and the market cap or stock price). I will probably keep it...

Thanks for that nice-looking spreadsheet. I wasn't aware there could be a day-of-the week bias. Glad to know there is none. Lately though, Mondays have been dreadful for me. I am still working full-time as an Information Technology specialist. I do this part-time. Will probably go full gear...

After the last weekly update we can see that there is a net loss of -20654 on all stock trades (everyline on the analysis table other than the options line). However looking at my list of 530 stock trades since the start of the thread (attached Excel sheet), I find my average percentage move...

I think there is a big illusion with the average you presented. Any numerically-minded person would be thinking of compounding when you mention that average point. Unfortunately the average point does not translate to similar average profits. Here is the anomally I perceive: Let's say on your...

Thanks for the compliment. I shall decide that at the end of the year. But it will have to be a new thread with a new starting balance and a new target. I shall determine what that target should be based on my performance and what I think I have gained(or lost!) in terms of edge.

I know the safeguards are there. But what happens when there is an overnight gap like following 9/11 or the crash of 1987? It would be interesting to know what brokers did to those whose accounts were wiped out before the positions could be closed.

For 6 contracts, that translates to an average of 600 dollars a day, or two percent of account. My mouth begins to water! if one could make that average a day compounded, looks like is not extremely difficult to transform 30K into 3million in one year! Is that realistic? Just curious, as it...

Weekly Update for week 26 ended 08/24/2007 Glad to see the end of the week, and glad to know there is another week to look forward to. Two related but awful trades on Monday defined the result for the week. Shorted RIMM at 225 after the massive run-up, forgetting the market has just changed...

At current option premiums, I would not play CFC at all. I know the premiums have come down substantially from what they were last week (when I lost 50% in two hours buying a put, even though the underlying stock price hadn't changed), but unless you have a strong conviction about the next...

Your program will have to be really super-robust to make much money there. I have back-tested buying into volume break-outs on news, assuming a latency of about 20 minutes, and the results have not been encouraging. Trying to shoot for smaller latency will likely result in not being able to...

You missed at least another 3 grand

I think quite a few post their trades or number of shares traded, and that gives an idea of what buying power we are evaluating the performance against. But you are right, it is far more useful to give indication of cumulative performance relative to capital base. Seeing 100K posted once in a...