Career Advice: Here are my trading results

B

Brian Diesel

So, I have been trading on my own since about 1999. I did well in 2000 and 2001 and decided to go to school for my BBA in Entrepreneurship. In 2002, I stopped trading my own money and started trading/managing my fathers retirement. It is a cash account (IRA account) so I could only go long, not use leverage, and now have to wait 3 days for funds to clear.

I managed to make $345k, 63% in the four years I was in school, as well as graduating with honors. I never worked at a brokerage, only learning about trading, economics, etc by reading A LOT of books, websites, periodicals, etc. I went to Temple Univ., so I'm not of the 'elite' schools. But I have a trading record which I can verify.

My question is, what, how, and where do I go from here? I love trading, but do not have sufficient capital to trade on my own. I do not want to go to some daytrading firm, rather, a hedge fund or other investment firm which I can continue to learn and refine my trading. (I'm 32 now if that means anything)

Any advice would be appreciated.

Here are my trading results. Withdrawals were made by my father as he is retired.

Combined Accounts
2003 Start Balance End Balance P & L % return
Total $550,000.00 $708,644.40 $166,310.96 30.24%
Withdrawals $7,666.56

2004 Start Balance End Balance P & L % return
Total $708,644.40 $648,446.02 $(12,531.82) -1.77%
Withdrawals $47,666.56

2005 Start Balance End Balance P & L % return
Total $648,446.02 $704,557.66 $63,778.20 9.84%
Withdrawals $7,666.56

2006 Start Balance End Balance P & L % return
Total $704,557.66 $774,834.47 $127,943.37 18.16%
Withdrawals $57,666.56


Total
Withdrawals P&L % return
$120,666.24 $345,500.71 62.82%

Yearly Average
Withdrawals P&L % return
$30,166.56 $86,375.18 15.35%
 
The only way to seriously "verify" trading results...
Is to have an appropriate business structure...
And have Annual Audits done by a reputable Accounting Firm (cost 5-10K/year).

If you do not have this... you may as well start today.

The other issue is whether you were lucky... or good.
That would not be hard to determine by an experienced pro trader.
 
Quote from HoundDogOne:

The only way to seriously "verify" trading results...
Is to have an appropriate business structure...
And have Annual Audits done by a reputable Accounting Firm (cost 5-10K/year).

If you do not have this... you may as well start today.

The other issue is whether you were lucky... or good.
That would not be hard to determine by an experienced pro trader.
More...

Spending $5-10k a year to 'verify' my trading in my fathers IRA account did not seem appropriate. Maybe I'm just a little naive, but the brokerage statements (Schwab & Tradestation) could be verified, no?

I am def. not the 'good' trader that I know I can be, but I think that having four years of results may prove that I am not just 'lucky'.

Just looking for advice.

Thanks,

Brian
 
First, what's your benchmark for your returns and have you addded any value (beaten) said benchmark. I have over $1,000,000 in a managed account and my returns contnuously exceed the benchmarks for their respected asset classes. That's what I gladly pay 1% for annually to my finanancil advisor.

The s and p is up 60% from 03 lows to present.
 
It's not hedge fund material so far.

For a discretionary trader, I would look at a consistant 100+% return each year (Considering that most discretionary traders have extremely high margin/equity compared to outright systematic models).

Another issue is discretionary trader have some size cap, where performance starts to drop. It's also important to consider the actual size and net returns the trader has done before. Simple example:

$1,000,000 return on a $1,000,000 account (100%)

is view mored significant than:

$20,000 return on a $10,000 (100%)

...

Considering your age, it'll be rather hard to get an entry-level position at a hedge fund. I'll definitely learn programming and statistics, try to make your style of trading as quantitative as possible. You can both give comparative presentation on both your track record and historical results.
 
Get a stretch IRA, yesterday. The xfer function is very important when the capital clears the level of inheritance taxation. There are rules that go back five years after the event an cancel out presumed benefits.

As suggested you have to be making money on top of the index carrier %. Tabbing annually is cloe enough; you are down 2 and up 2 so far.
 
I only calculated my returns as absolute. As I stated, this was in a cash account. If I had margin, it would allow me to conduct more trades, shorting, etc., but of course does not mean my performance would be necessarily better.

My first year trading, I actually made $85k on a $10k account. That was my own margin account. I ceased trading and withdrew this money to attend school.

Seems now that I'm finally out of school, I need to go back to school. I would love to go for my MBA but feel I need to get some real work experience before I do, at least to get into a top B-school.
 
Don't take my words too seriously, but for me it seams :if you did it for real My first year trading, I actually made $85k on a $10k account. That was my own margin account. I ceased trading and withdrew this money to attend school. thats the worst thing you could do. I did exactly the opposite. I "withdrew" 3 years from my school to start trading more seriously. I knew that i have some chances, and time in my favor.
would be much more better i think for you to drop school atleast for one year to earn some bigger money, soo you don't have to pay all of your $ for studies.
sorry mate its just my opinion.
 
Quote from Killmenow:

Don't take my words too seriously, but for me it seams :if you did it for real My first year trading, I actually made $85k on a $10k account. That was my own margin account. I ceased trading and withdrew this money to attend school. thats the worst thing you could do. I did exactly the opposite. I "withdrew" 3 years from my school to start trading more seriously. I knew that i have some chances, and time in my favor.
would be much more better i think for you to drop school atleast for one year to earn some bigger money, soo you don't have to pay all of your $ for studies.
sorry mate its just my opinion.
More...

Yes, I did it for real. But decided that getting an education now is more important. But of course that imo, and I respect your opinion and decision.

How is trading going for you?
 
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