icemans' IRA trading Journal

Quote from bjdhawk:

Hey ICE, good way to close the week. Did you think about your words from our conversation this past w/end? I know you mentioned you had to step away, but had you not would your outlined options (below) have allowed you to bank some that money left on the table?


"need to remember:

1. scaling in/out

2. can immediately get back in (or look for PB to re-enter) and/or we can get into the underlying and/or we can roll into a different strike or month."


PS - I am still trying to live down my PAYX exit.....$$$ left on the table as of right now $465

and to think my target was the 42-43 area??? what an ass clown i am!!!
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by the way - just realized I didn't reply directly you what you said.

Yes I need some serious soul searching over the next couple weeks as I am leaving a months income on the table in a few days. IF I had held every trade I either posted on here and/or entered every trade I had planned in February -- just in this one account and with no bigger than a 7-10 lot- I'd be up about 15000 more.

Almost every trade I have taken in this account (for example) has been or would have been a big winner --- but I am still managing to leave 100s of % on the table.

I believe a major reason still is having too many open positions in options strategies when in fact I am most likely a better directional trader. IF I do not soon amend my style and positioning/money management with respect to options strategies that are time and margin intensive-- I will continue to give up a LOT of profits.


"you have to minimize your losses and try to preserve capital for those very few instances where you can make a lot in a very short period of time. What you cannot afford to do is throw away your capital on suboptimal trades" ... Richard Dennis


I would add to that "and throw away your time and energy"
 
Quote from iceman1:

AAPL

buying 6 AAPL March 65c @3.70


AMD

buying 10 March 3750c @2.20
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+3 AAPL March 65c @ 3.70

low confidence on AAPL trades - this is an example of a non-intuitive trade. More like a gamble. But since I am short calls in other accounts I will hold these 7 AAPL calls atm/ITM calls into next week.
 
sold 1 SOX March 555p @18.10

PnL -120

bought 2 of these ITM puts @16.70/19.30 - posted earlier. Then rushed into exiting one at 15.90 for a small -80 loss. Today they bid as high as 18.80 and SOX could trade lower still.

For me it has always been often early/rarely wrong. Its just too difficult to expect to be perfect on every entry. But what I/you do to manage a trade AFTER in it -- is the road that makes all the diffference as Emerson might say (or was it Frost).
 
Quote from JangoFolly:

iceman,

Where's your overall account balance standing?

I'm enjoying your journal.


Regards,
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Thanks

I have been real sick the past two weeks - believe it or not. 103 fever and all last weekend. A friend of mine was questioning my sanity in trading - and actually making some decent money in 3 accounts - while sick as a dog. I told him it was delusional and yet in some ways I was better able to focus since I knew I was going from computer to bedroom. :D :D

So this is the first weekend I feel pretty good- can get back to business. I need to review all the trades and download them from brokers to my management software.

I know I have one u/r loss in CME that ate up a lot of profit this period so far.

Will post open positions and try to post an attachment of gain/loss report for last 30 days, and account balance.
 
thoughts to ponder over the weekend:


In this game, the market has to keep pitching, but you don't have to swing. You can stand there with the bat on your shoulder until you get a fat pitch --Warren Buffett

The true speculator is one who observes the future, and acts before it occurs --Bernard Baruch

The crowd is right during the trends but wrong at both ends -- Humphrey B. Neill

"This Time It's Different" are among the most costly four words in market history -- John Templeton

Success is getting what you want. Happiness is wanting what you get -- Warren Buffet

It's not having what you want... it's wanting what you've got!
-- Sheryl Crow, Soak up the Sun
 
Quote from iceman1:

Success is getting what you want. Happiness is wanting what you get -- Warren Buffet
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Couldn't be more true.

I believe it was John Templeton who stated the secret to wealth in a single word.

Gratitude.
 
Quote from Neoxx:

Couldn't be more true.

I believe it was John Templeton who stated the secret to wealth in a single word.

Gratitude.
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you are right Neoxx... I think he did say that!

good luck on your diagonals
 
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