Here is quick synopsis on me and my combine objectives. Brief history about myself. I have been trading since 1996. Almost my entire professional career has been in the options arena. I was a listed equity trader for Worldco in NY for 2 years which basically encompasses my entire daytrading career. While at Worldco I was a listed tape reader in Wasserman's group, the most profitable group of traders at Worldco. I had a brief stint in 2003 as a floor trader at the CBOT and in 2004 went to trade for VTrader where I spent 8 years trading mostly options. Over the past couple of years I have been trading futures and options on futures over a longer term horizon. About 4 years ago I had a separate futures account which I traded for 6 months or so. I was a scratch trader. Also did not have any methodology in which to work with. I can happily say over the last 15 years, I've made a living as a trader. Some years better then others. One year was awful. I was a much more aggressive trader earlier in my career as I think most guys are. As you get older, preservation of capital takes priority over accumulation of capital. I currently have several trading accounts and positions in both options and futures so that will take precedent over this combine when the need arises. I do not currently day trade so this combine is not interfering with real money trading. In fact, I'm usually bored out of my mind during the day so this actually will keep me busy.
On to the combine. I have a few goals here both for myself and the readers of this thread. One, is to demonstrate a professional and thoughtful approach to futures speculation. My core strengths are my discipline, which I believe is second to none. And my patience. You will not see an active journal here. I plan to trade only the morning hours and only a one lot. My trades will be thought out and managed well. The key is picking your spots, don't over trade and don't scalp. Many of the comments I plan to give will be for those thinking of doing the combine and looking for a framework to be successful. I don't believe in gun slinging. I treat this as a business. I have for 15 years and I will for the next 15 years. If you are looking for something sexy with big swings up and down, this journal might bore you to tears.
Futures trading often gets a bad rap on ET and I plan to change that. If I can help inspire guys to trade better, then this journal will serve a purpose. My goals for this combine are threefold. One, trade with discipline. That means not hitting the daily stop limit. Two, to trade with consistency. The performance metrics they make you hit are there to help build your consistency. And three, to be net profitable. I am absolutely convinced if one can be consistently net profitable while maintaining their discipline, they can accomplish whatever they want in the world of futures speculation. Whether I hit the actual p&l objective of the combine is a minor concern. Traders should not be focusing on that in my opinion. Their focus should be on consistency and discipline. The rest will take care of itself. Too many guys focus on all the wrong things and in the process develop bad habits that they keep for life. This business is all about developing good habits. I cannot stress this enough. Habits are VERY hard to change once you have them. So be careful when forming them.
I will tell you right now having traded for prop firms for over a decade, the reason guys fail is not not because they don't make money or they miss big moves or they don't have the right software. They fail because of their losses. Big losses. There is no getting around this. And if one is willing, futures will allow you to lose money faster then anything out there. You must have 100% control over yourself at all times. One bad month, bad week or bad day can be the end of your career. Money for most us is not infinite, it's finite. When it runs out, it runs out. Protect it with your life. I'll be spending a majority of time here speaking more about the combine and the process of doing the combine vs trading strategy. I'm not selling anything here nor do I have any affiliation with this firm. I will do everything I can to make this thread as productive as can be. All I ask in return is to not troll on this thread. If anyone wants to attack myself or Surf, please create another thread for the attacks. Keep this one clean. I can only make this request, I can't demand it. Thanks.
For this combine I will be trading crude oil, bonds and the Euro and Aussie will substitute for the ES. I might take a rare ES trade under the right circumstances. One lots only. Will do my best to not have anything on during econ reports. It also appears Surf and I are bi-polar opposites. We will have very different approaches to this. That will be a good thing. TST will be posting my account statements so I will refrain from posting attachments. I'll do my best to journal my thought process throughout the combine.
