March Trading Journals
- Thread starter Hitman
- Start date
The market has been rallying for so long I almost forgot how to short today. Had a hard time in the morning as I did not sufficiently capitalize on the home builder sell-off but managed to finish solid, 21900 shares each way on 14 of 27 shooting, +1313 before commissions, +828 after, 2 bullets.
Pre-Market: Awesome earnings on KBH but it turned out to be yet another gap and trap.
9:30: Missed the news on GE long and paid 15 cents for it. Broke even on AXP/TYC/HON long as I basically got out unchanged on all 3 on a cents per share basis. Made 14 cents on FNM short, 12 cents on ONE short. Up $50 after commissions on 4800 shares, sure beats getting smoked tho.
9:35: Tried a little bit of LE long on what I thought would be a Tony Oz reversal but got out for 5 cents loss. Went long SPF/MDC and churned. Went long ESV on what I thought to be a OSX rally and shaken out for a 3 cents loss. Went long DYN and stopped out for a 5 cents loss before the massive energy run kicked in.
9:55: Bulleted EMN on chemical sell-off, stock was so strong today kept on stopping me out and I ended up losing $100 after bullet cost and 3800 shares each way's worth of churning (most of the damage came late in the day I thought he may get a follow through after he hit 49 and I bought the pullback at 48.7, stopped out at 48.6 then 48.5 . . . Went long EMR on futures move and lost 15 cents. Went long CCU on futures move and made 20 cents. Very dumb trade on LAB as he made a new low and I bought anyway because futures went up, lost 25 cents on that.
10:30: Bulleted DHI at 37.96 as I thought the home builder sell-off is literally definite. Ended up getting just $330 from it after churning 2200 shares each way.
10:45: On BKX bounce went long STI/MEL and lost 5 cents a piece. Natural shorted SPF/HOV only got 300 shares filled a piece at decent prices, mooked out of SPF for a quarter when I could have got 75 cents, did score 65 cents on HOV on a big gap down (should have covered market immediately, one delay I gave back 20 cents).
1:00: Went long SPF/MDC/MHO/MTH on home builder rally, really thin stocks during the dead zone the volume is even worse, but I would rather take 100-200 shares or so in those than taking a 800 share position in LEN when I am not sure of the move. Weak bounce but made some nice scalps. Got 85 cents off MTH but the stock is way too damn thin, impossible to do anything more than a few hundred shares. (That said, one of the top YTD traders at my firm trades a 10K position overnight in a stock that trades 25000 shares a day, go figure, I guess there is money to be made in super thin stocks, risk sure, reward is tremendous too).
2:30: Nice rally and caught KMI/CRA/DNA/PPG/LM for essentially quarter's, lost 5 cents in TIN. There was a point when just a few more ticks would have ensured a $1000 day but unfortunately market came in before I could get out of everything.
Team Stats:
7 of 10 active traders
76300 shares each way on 41 of 75 shooting
+3499 before commissions (6 of 7 positive)
+1719 after commissions (4 of 7 positive)
Top 3 Symbols: EOG, DHI, APC
Bottom 3 Symbols: CTX, DAL, TOL
Pre-Market: Awesome earnings on KBH but it turned out to be yet another gap and trap.
9:30: Missed the news on GE long and paid 15 cents for it. Broke even on AXP/TYC/HON long as I basically got out unchanged on all 3 on a cents per share basis. Made 14 cents on FNM short, 12 cents on ONE short. Up $50 after commissions on 4800 shares, sure beats getting smoked tho.
9:35: Tried a little bit of LE long on what I thought would be a Tony Oz reversal but got out for 5 cents loss. Went long SPF/MDC and churned. Went long ESV on what I thought to be a OSX rally and shaken out for a 3 cents loss. Went long DYN and stopped out for a 5 cents loss before the massive energy run kicked in.
9:55: Bulleted EMN on chemical sell-off, stock was so strong today kept on stopping me out and I ended up losing $100 after bullet cost and 3800 shares each way's worth of churning (most of the damage came late in the day I thought he may get a follow through after he hit 49 and I bought the pullback at 48.7, stopped out at 48.6 then 48.5 . . . Went long EMR on futures move and lost 15 cents. Went long CCU on futures move and made 20 cents. Very dumb trade on LAB as he made a new low and I bought anyway because futures went up, lost 25 cents on that.
10:30: Bulleted DHI at 37.96 as I thought the home builder sell-off is literally definite. Ended up getting just $330 from it after churning 2200 shares each way.
10:45: On BKX bounce went long STI/MEL and lost 5 cents a piece. Natural shorted SPF/HOV only got 300 shares filled a piece at decent prices, mooked out of SPF for a quarter when I could have got 75 cents, did score 65 cents on HOV on a big gap down (should have covered market immediately, one delay I gave back 20 cents).
1:00: Went long SPF/MDC/MHO/MTH on home builder rally, really thin stocks during the dead zone the volume is even worse, but I would rather take 100-200 shares or so in those than taking a 800 share position in LEN when I am not sure of the move. Weak bounce but made some nice scalps. Got 85 cents off MTH but the stock is way too damn thin, impossible to do anything more than a few hundred shares. (That said, one of the top YTD traders at my firm trades a 10K position overnight in a stock that trades 25000 shares a day, go figure, I guess there is money to be made in super thin stocks, risk sure, reward is tremendous too).
2:30: Nice rally and caught KMI/CRA/DNA/PPG/LM for essentially quarter's, lost 5 cents in TIN. There was a point when just a few more ticks would have ensured a $1000 day but unfortunately market came in before I could get out of everything.
Team Stats:
7 of 10 active traders
76300 shares each way on 41 of 75 shooting
+3499 before commissions (6 of 7 positive)
+1719 after commissions (4 of 7 positive)
Top 3 Symbols: EOG, DHI, APC
Bottom 3 Symbols: CTX, DAL, TOL
New to the site - enjoy your journal --- Can you tell me if Worldco is planning on getting more competitive with their Nasdaq trading ? ---also what percent of your net is held by worldco and for how long ? thanks
In my eyes Nasdaq and NYSE are pretty much evenly matched in term of profitability.
However, as a firm that backs its traders with capital (as mentioned before you can start here with ZERO capital, with a slight penalty in commission structure of course), it makes too much sense to force its traders trading NYSE from day one. Overall less volatile stocks for better risk management, and more shares is needed to achieve equivalent profit on Nasdaq equals to more commissions, and by the time the trader is actually profitable and builds a decent capital account (like me), he is too attached to NYSE to even bother with Nasdaq (that said I do plan to do a little Nasdaq trading soon, possibly in summer when everything is even slower than it is now, right now I just can not afford to diverge from my bread and butter game).
Once you have 25K in your capital account, you are allowed to trade Nasdaq. And the 25K is the required capital balance, and until you have that 50% of your profit is deferred (afterall when you start to trade 10K positions we would like to have something to absorb the potential damage, not to mention make it a little tougher for you to ditch us
Whatever is in your capital account is held for 90 days after you leave the firm. Recently our firm raised the required capital balance to 35K, but it is ENTIRELY negotiable when you sign the contract.
However, as a firm that backs its traders with capital (as mentioned before you can start here with ZERO capital, with a slight penalty in commission structure of course), it makes too much sense to force its traders trading NYSE from day one. Overall less volatile stocks for better risk management, and more shares is needed to achieve equivalent profit on Nasdaq equals to more commissions, and by the time the trader is actually profitable and builds a decent capital account (like me), he is too attached to NYSE to even bother with Nasdaq (that said I do plan to do a little Nasdaq trading soon, possibly in summer when everything is even slower than it is now, right now I just can not afford to diverge from my bread and butter game).
Once you have 25K in your capital account, you are allowed to trade Nasdaq. And the 25K is the required capital balance, and until you have that 50% of your profit is deferred (afterall when you start to trade 10K positions we would like to have something to absorb the potential damage, not to mention make it a little tougher for you to ditch us
Whatever is in your capital account is held for 90 days after you leave the firm. Recently our firm raised the required capital balance to 35K, but it is ENTIRELY negotiable when you sign the contract.
Took the worst hit since I started trading today and it wasn't on my P&L. Thankfully the weekend is here and I will have two days to heal so I can come back next Monday, as the sense of total defeat devoured me today.
10000 shares each way on 8 of 18 shooting, +420 before commissions, +254 after, no bullets. I could be up 250K today and it wouldn't have put a smile on my face.
Pre-Market: Incredible sector wide downgrade on oils.
9:30: Took a quarter point hit on BA first fill of the day, out at the bottom. From there I was nervous and did not execute as well as I should have. Got 35 cents from TXN. Lost 5 cents on TGT as I pared out half at the bottom of the first 5 minute candle and got out the other half the top of the second 5 minute candle. Had BMY and covered for flat like an idiot. I was afraid he may break the figure and spread me, cover half, never cover the whole thing until it breaks the open print or you have some profit on the table. Ended up down $2 after commissions.
9:45: Energy squeeze and I had BHI/NE/APC/OII, lost 5 cents a piece APC/OII but took out quarter a piece from BHI/NE. Missed the huge home builder / airline run up as they had some serious reversal today.
10:00: Took very small positions based on daily charts on GPT, MNC, FVB, KMX, TTI lost a little in KMX but surprisingly got a quarter here and there in others.
12:20: By now I am preparing for a rally and I was long BWA, which I thought would be a Tony Oz 3 day reversal along with other auto parts, I was long PPG for a chemical rebound, had HOV for what I thought would be a decent home builder lagger play.
12:57: She returned my call and said she will have to be home by 6PM but she will have lunch with me. I was very excited so I started to close positions as even if it wasn't a boring Friday afternoon I will jump at any opportunity to be with her (the fact that I was up almost $500 was not a bad finish to a solid week). But literally as soon as I got off the cellular phone, a huge 20K offer poped up in BWA and basically smacked out the BID's and I went from +20 cents to -15 cents in a very slow stock. And by the time I sold PPG/HOV I was left with $250. It was a really bad sign, but nothing can puts me in a bad mood as long as I get to spend a little time with her.
Then, I thought I was literally struck by lightning.
I went to her school to pick her up and on the subway I was talking to her about how I had a solid week ($2600), how I had a very good month ($8800), but I am not at the top tier level yet. But because of her, I am sure I will get there one day. I even made plan with her to go see the Circus at MSG next week. I told her I haven't seen her for 11 days and I really miss her.
Then she asked me a few questions that hit me in the face like a stream of bullets (and I don't mean married put). She asked me "you have given so much, but what if you don't get anything in return". My answer was the same answer that I have always gave her, that I feel blessed to simply be with her, that I know she is the best for me, that as long as there is a chance for us to be together in the end, I will take the chance, no regret.
Then the next question was the killer, as she asked me "what if between now and then I already like someone else?". That was the death blow, as I immediately knew what she meant. There has always been two pursuers excluding her ex, me 3 years, a 28 year old man (6 years older than me, 8 versus her) who pursued her for a year now. Since she broke up with her ex, I knew she will make a decision at some point, and in the end, she chose the one who is older, more experienced, more matured.
It felt like a dagger through the heart as I always came up with reasons like her ex was from an ivy league school, very tall, good looking, bright future, etc . . . Yet in this case, she told me that she liked her ex for the qualities he possessed, but she always had a better time with the more matured man, who really knows how to tease her, please her in every way possible, and perhaps most importantly, make her feel like a woman, rather than a girl.
Literally every word came out of her mouth felt like a swing of a baseball bat on the back of my head. Because I somewhat expected such a scenario, knowing that she always had more feelings for him than me, and no amount of financial success can generate such a feeling, I literally swallowed the blood that was coming out of my chest.
Yet I had to respect her decision, as this guy is only 2 inches taller than me (and I am only 5'6"), can't really be called handsome (and no I don't consider myself handsome either), reasonably atheletic but not much more so than me, and used to work in a restaurant, only recently found a job in the city, and a college dropout just like myself. As much as he talks about his career, nothing is actually done other than "I am waiting for the right opportunity" talk. She even admitted that she doesn't really want to tell her parents about it.
That said, because he is not nearly as career-oriented as I am, he had time to develop all of his other skills. He is good at everything I literally don't do, drinking, smoking, clubbing, pool, bowling, driving, etc.
He rents a cheap apartment but does own a car, he picks her up every morning and sends her home every night as he has a 10 to 6 job and happens to live closer by. In the mean time I moved back home long ago and while I am paying my share of rent, I have been trying to save up every penny for a down payment next year (as I believe renting is wasting), and probably won't be thinking about a car until a few years from now.
And while I am doing my best to plan my finance and hopefully will be able to step it up for her big time late in the game, he literally goes check to check. Last year I got her 20 little presents for her birthday, each carried a special message, he bought her a diamond bracelet.
Perhaps the greatest difference between us is that he simply has six extra year's worth of life experience than I do, and given the way that I literally sacrificed myself to the market gods in my quest to hopefully one day fulfill my potential, he simply experienced so much more as he never dedicated himself in such a way. The truth is, he is simply more fun to be with.
And the guy is a lot more committed than her uncaring ex ever was, and quite honestly this hurts like hell. Thankfully, according to her, that her marriage is at least six years away, and I sworn to her that I will not give up until she is married, that no matter how many relationships she goes through, I will be waiting in the very end.
This is the first time I could not escort her back to her castle, as much as I would like to pretend I didn't care, my face was wrecked in pain. She asked me if I will be ok.
"It will hurt over the weekend, but by Monday I know I will be ready, I haven't gave up, and I still want to create a bright future for us. I will wait, because I know you are worth it."
With whatever strength I had left in me I spilled those words (maybe they sound foolish, but I know I meant it) then I had to go back to my office and meet my team after the close. The last time I felt this tired, this defeated, was when she introduced me to her ex.
I didn't know where I was going on the street afterwards, when we sat in the restaurant I didn't know what hell I was ordering, and I probably said a lot of stupid things to her.
Next two days will help ease the pain as afterall, this was not totally unexpected. I still have the same set of goals I had when I woke up this morning.
On Monday, I will be ok again, and ready to go into battle with my squad. This was a huge setback, but surrender is not an option, someday . . .
(And PLEASE, DO NOT POST ANY "GIVE-UP AND FIND SOMEONE ELSE" messages, I will quit trading for good before I stop pursuing her, and I mean it, and no, I don't need a vacation, I tend to do best when I have a tons of pain in my heart that I unleash through working hard whether it is in the market or at the gym)
Team Stats:
8 of 10 active traders
53400 shares each way on 25 of 73 shooting (33% ouch)
+290 before commissions (4 of 8 positive)
-950 after commissions (4 of 8 positive)
Top 3 Symbols: EOG, MRK, CAL
Bottom 3 Symbols: BA, KRB, SLB
10000 shares each way on 8 of 18 shooting, +420 before commissions, +254 after, no bullets. I could be up 250K today and it wouldn't have put a smile on my face.
Pre-Market: Incredible sector wide downgrade on oils.
9:30: Took a quarter point hit on BA first fill of the day, out at the bottom. From there I was nervous and did not execute as well as I should have. Got 35 cents from TXN. Lost 5 cents on TGT as I pared out half at the bottom of the first 5 minute candle and got out the other half the top of the second 5 minute candle. Had BMY and covered for flat like an idiot. I was afraid he may break the figure and spread me, cover half, never cover the whole thing until it breaks the open print or you have some profit on the table. Ended up down $2 after commissions.
9:45: Energy squeeze and I had BHI/NE/APC/OII, lost 5 cents a piece APC/OII but took out quarter a piece from BHI/NE. Missed the huge home builder / airline run up as they had some serious reversal today.
10:00: Took very small positions based on daily charts on GPT, MNC, FVB, KMX, TTI lost a little in KMX but surprisingly got a quarter here and there in others.
12:20: By now I am preparing for a rally and I was long BWA, which I thought would be a Tony Oz 3 day reversal along with other auto parts, I was long PPG for a chemical rebound, had HOV for what I thought would be a decent home builder lagger play.
12:57: She returned my call and said she will have to be home by 6PM but she will have lunch with me. I was very excited so I started to close positions as even if it wasn't a boring Friday afternoon I will jump at any opportunity to be with her (the fact that I was up almost $500 was not a bad finish to a solid week). But literally as soon as I got off the cellular phone, a huge 20K offer poped up in BWA and basically smacked out the BID's and I went from +20 cents to -15 cents in a very slow stock. And by the time I sold PPG/HOV I was left with $250. It was a really bad sign, but nothing can puts me in a bad mood as long as I get to spend a little time with her.
Then, I thought I was literally struck by lightning.
I went to her school to pick her up and on the subway I was talking to her about how I had a solid week ($2600), how I had a very good month ($8800), but I am not at the top tier level yet. But because of her, I am sure I will get there one day. I even made plan with her to go see the Circus at MSG next week. I told her I haven't seen her for 11 days and I really miss her.
Then she asked me a few questions that hit me in the face like a stream of bullets (and I don't mean married put). She asked me "you have given so much, but what if you don't get anything in return". My answer was the same answer that I have always gave her, that I feel blessed to simply be with her, that I know she is the best for me, that as long as there is a chance for us to be together in the end, I will take the chance, no regret.
Then the next question was the killer, as she asked me "what if between now and then I already like someone else?". That was the death blow, as I immediately knew what she meant. There has always been two pursuers excluding her ex, me 3 years, a 28 year old man (6 years older than me, 8 versus her) who pursued her for a year now. Since she broke up with her ex, I knew she will make a decision at some point, and in the end, she chose the one who is older, more experienced, more matured.
It felt like a dagger through the heart as I always came up with reasons like her ex was from an ivy league school, very tall, good looking, bright future, etc . . . Yet in this case, she told me that she liked her ex for the qualities he possessed, but she always had a better time with the more matured man, who really knows how to tease her, please her in every way possible, and perhaps most importantly, make her feel like a woman, rather than a girl.
Literally every word came out of her mouth felt like a swing of a baseball bat on the back of my head. Because I somewhat expected such a scenario, knowing that she always had more feelings for him than me, and no amount of financial success can generate such a feeling, I literally swallowed the blood that was coming out of my chest.
Yet I had to respect her decision, as this guy is only 2 inches taller than me (and I am only 5'6"), can't really be called handsome (and no I don't consider myself handsome either), reasonably atheletic but not much more so than me, and used to work in a restaurant, only recently found a job in the city, and a college dropout just like myself. As much as he talks about his career, nothing is actually done other than "I am waiting for the right opportunity" talk. She even admitted that she doesn't really want to tell her parents about it.
That said, because he is not nearly as career-oriented as I am, he had time to develop all of his other skills. He is good at everything I literally don't do, drinking, smoking, clubbing, pool, bowling, driving, etc.
He rents a cheap apartment but does own a car, he picks her up every morning and sends her home every night as he has a 10 to 6 job and happens to live closer by. In the mean time I moved back home long ago and while I am paying my share of rent, I have been trying to save up every penny for a down payment next year (as I believe renting is wasting), and probably won't be thinking about a car until a few years from now.
And while I am doing my best to plan my finance and hopefully will be able to step it up for her big time late in the game, he literally goes check to check. Last year I got her 20 little presents for her birthday, each carried a special message, he bought her a diamond bracelet.
Perhaps the greatest difference between us is that he simply has six extra year's worth of life experience than I do, and given the way that I literally sacrificed myself to the market gods in my quest to hopefully one day fulfill my potential, he simply experienced so much more as he never dedicated himself in such a way. The truth is, he is simply more fun to be with.
And the guy is a lot more committed than her uncaring ex ever was, and quite honestly this hurts like hell. Thankfully, according to her, that her marriage is at least six years away, and I sworn to her that I will not give up until she is married, that no matter how many relationships she goes through, I will be waiting in the very end.
This is the first time I could not escort her back to her castle, as much as I would like to pretend I didn't care, my face was wrecked in pain. She asked me if I will be ok.
"It will hurt over the weekend, but by Monday I know I will be ready, I haven't gave up, and I still want to create a bright future for us. I will wait, because I know you are worth it."
With whatever strength I had left in me I spilled those words (maybe they sound foolish, but I know I meant it) then I had to go back to my office and meet my team after the close. The last time I felt this tired, this defeated, was when she introduced me to her ex.
I didn't know where I was going on the street afterwards, when we sat in the restaurant I didn't know what hell I was ordering, and I probably said a lot of stupid things to her.
Next two days will help ease the pain as afterall, this was not totally unexpected. I still have the same set of goals I had when I woke up this morning.
On Monday, I will be ok again, and ready to go into battle with my squad. This was a huge setback, but surrender is not an option, someday . . .
(And PLEASE, DO NOT POST ANY "GIVE-UP AND FIND SOMEONE ELSE" messages, I will quit trading for good before I stop pursuing her, and I mean it, and no, I don't need a vacation, I tend to do best when I have a tons of pain in my heart that I unleash through working hard whether it is in the market or at the gym)
Team Stats:
8 of 10 active traders
53400 shares each way on 25 of 73 shooting (33% ouch)
+290 before commissions (4 of 8 positive)
-950 after commissions (4 of 8 positive)
Top 3 Symbols: EOG, MRK, CAL
Bottom 3 Symbols: BA, KRB, SLB
Hitman,
Listen to me son, I have been run-over (literally), punched, kicked, bitten, scratched, iron thrown through picture window at, bottle broken over the head, heart ripped out and stomped on, laughed at, humiliated, etc., etc., etc., by women over the years. I'd like to think of something clever and redeeming to say or that I have learned from all those experiences... but I haven't, or can't. Women still throw me for a loop just as much now as they ever did. If I think about all the things I could have accomplished instead of chasing p***y, I start getting a rash.
I think what differentiates successful people is their ability to place relationships on a different and perhaps lower level than their careers. Unfortunately, women are hell on your P/L. You got a killer streak going, don't blow it.
Listen to me son, I have been run-over (literally), punched, kicked, bitten, scratched, iron thrown through picture window at, bottle broken over the head, heart ripped out and stomped on, laughed at, humiliated, etc., etc., etc., by women over the years. I'd like to think of something clever and redeeming to say or that I have learned from all those experiences... but I haven't, or can't. Women still throw me for a loop just as much now as they ever did. If I think about all the things I could have accomplished instead of chasing p***y, I start getting a rash.
I think what differentiates successful people is their ability to place relationships on a different and perhaps lower level than their careers. Unfortunately, women are hell on your P/L. You got a killer streak going, don't blow it.
geeze hitman.i know it seems hard now but you will get over it and find a better mate.think about it. do you realy want a woman who thinks these are fine qualitys in a man?
"That said, because he is not nearly as career-oriented as I am, he had time to develop all of his other skills. He is good at everything I literally don't do, drinking, smoking, clubbing, pool, bowling, driving, etc."
she sounds very immature to me and has a long way to go to be the kind of woman you could trust.
"That said, because he is not nearly as career-oriented as I am, he had time to develop all of his other skills. He is good at everything I literally don't do, drinking, smoking, clubbing, pool, bowling, driving, etc."
she sounds very immature to me and has a long way to go to be the kind of woman you could trust.