PropTrader - Daily exploits
- Thread starter PropTraderMTL
- Start date
Same as most prop firms as far as I'm aware.
A salary would be great... are you offering one?
Surviving? beg, borrow & steal... is what I should be doing however I'm being good and living on savings/profits from trading. Luckily Montreal is not NYC!
Quote from PropTraderMTL:
Same as most prop firms as far as I'm aware.
A salary would be great... are you offering one?
Surviving? beg, borrow & steal... is what I should be doing however I'm being good and living on savings/profits from trading. Luckily Montreal is not NYC!
So net net you are down about 1500 on the year so far. Yeah I thought most the Canadian firms offered a salary. Maybe it's just those rebate firms. Just curious, how long can you last on your savings? Most traders have a burn rate and after about 12 months they go through most if not all of their savings. It's tough. It really shows you the importance of saving up enough money before you give this a try. Good luck man. The dreaded summer is right around the corner. I bet summers are great in Montreal though. So you have that going for you!
FWIW, I agree 100% and I believe there's a great living to be made trading a very narrow universe that you know intimately.
The more narrow my universe became, the more consistent my results became.
I now trade one thing day after day. At the end of the day I can tell you every minor and major S/R level without looking at a chart. I can tell you the short term story, the mid-term story, and the long term story. I know how to play those levels for maximum gain and minimum pain.
Home computer broke again so had to do a re-install over the weekend. Updating now for the end of last week.
March capped off with another loss. They are only paper cuts but it's always surprising how quickly they can add up. Rough month. The first week was OK but then after that I found it pretty tough. Taking flats or small losses when I should have been up big time. A $2,500 trade on AMD comes to mind.
I just looked though my report for March and it looks like everything I touched turned to red on my p&l. This is actually pretty surprising. Normally its 50-50 and the winners out weight the losers. Looks like I lost $ on just about everything I trade. This has got to be the worst month statistically. I have had way bigger $ values but as far as trading stats go it's probably the worst I have had.
This coming month I'm going to have to get really picky about the trades I take. Narrowing down the trades I'm prepared to take. I'm going to take them with size but really cut down to the setups I really like.
Last day was a $273 loss. Just hair cuts but... again... they add up. No significant trades.
My month went something like this
Gross ($1,253)
ECN ($2,470)
Com etc ($1,000 approx)
Total ($4,736)
I have to really watch my ECNs. With the volume pick up I focused more on getting into the trade rather then about HOW I was getting in. ECN was $1,900ish in Feb.
Looking to turn this around but going to do it slowly rather then trying to hit home runs. I think some of the suggestions about narrowing range is good, go back to basics until the basics are working. I have a number of stocks that I know well and will try to focus on them till I get back to winning ways.
Date: 31/03/2011
Net P&L: ($273)
Month Balance: ($4,736)
March capped off with another loss. They are only paper cuts but it's always surprising how quickly they can add up. Rough month. The first week was OK but then after that I found it pretty tough. Taking flats or small losses when I should have been up big time. A $2,500 trade on AMD comes to mind.
I just looked though my report for March and it looks like everything I touched turned to red on my p&l. This is actually pretty surprising. Normally its 50-50 and the winners out weight the losers. Looks like I lost $ on just about everything I trade. This has got to be the worst month statistically. I have had way bigger $ values but as far as trading stats go it's probably the worst I have had.
This coming month I'm going to have to get really picky about the trades I take. Narrowing down the trades I'm prepared to take. I'm going to take them with size but really cut down to the setups I really like.
Last day was a $273 loss. Just hair cuts but... again... they add up. No significant trades.
My month went something like this
Gross ($1,253)
ECN ($2,470)
Com etc ($1,000 approx)
Total ($4,736)
I have to really watch my ECNs. With the volume pick up I focused more on getting into the trade rather then about HOW I was getting in. ECN was $1,900ish in Feb.
Looking to turn this around but going to do it slowly rather then trying to hit home runs. I think some of the suggestions about narrowing range is good, go back to basics until the basics are working. I have a number of stocks that I know well and will try to focus on them till I get back to winning ways.
Date: 31/03/2011
Net P&L: ($273)
Month Balance: ($4,736)
New month, but it doesn't feel like it. This weekend had good timing.
I really don't remember much of the trades (which is why I normally like to update right away) but one that sticks out was FLEX. Took a nice little short. Not with size but just patiently waited for it to pan out for me.
ODP was a little frustrating. I was down big in the pre-market. Took a short @ $4.20 with 500 shares with the idea of adding on the open. However the short sale rule kicked in and I wasn't able to add as it rarely hit the offer. Made 20c off it but this should have been a good trade. Didn't take another short until it came back up to the $4.10 area. Took 2k and set an out of $4.20. It came to my out and that was that. Ended up losing $130 or so on the symbol.
Ford was another frustrating trade. I took a long in the mid .20s on the pull back from the morning strength. Waited patiently and the trade went up to .38s and I had 2k from .27. It pulled back and I added another 1k @ .32 (I think)... which gave me 3k @ .29 with it trading in the high .30s. Then the big red candle hit the market in the afternoon. I knew it was news related but didn't know what it was. Still didn't find out... maybe the Fed comments?. Anyway I had my out set as a flat and it hit me. It really started tanking after that and finished very weak along with the rest of the market. Ford was really poised for a break out in the afternoon prior to the market candle which I guess is why the tank in the afternoon was quite exaggerated as everyone was expecting the break up.
A couple of failed break outs when the market tanked were responsible for the other losses. I did well to get out pretty quickly but the break down was quite annoying.
Lets hope it isn't going to be another rough month. I may take some breaks this month if my trading doesn't get back on track. just to clear my mind. I left on Friday needing a break and the weekend has provided it. If I'm not positive at the end of this coming week I will force myself to take a bit of time off (a week or so). I don't want it to come to that but I will take the break if I don't turn it around.
Date: 01/04/2011
Net P&L: ($424)
Month Balance: ($424)
I really don't remember much of the trades (which is why I normally like to update right away) but one that sticks out was FLEX. Took a nice little short. Not with size but just patiently waited for it to pan out for me.
ODP was a little frustrating. I was down big in the pre-market. Took a short @ $4.20 with 500 shares with the idea of adding on the open. However the short sale rule kicked in and I wasn't able to add as it rarely hit the offer. Made 20c off it but this should have been a good trade. Didn't take another short until it came back up to the $4.10 area. Took 2k and set an out of $4.20. It came to my out and that was that. Ended up losing $130 or so on the symbol.
Ford was another frustrating trade. I took a long in the mid .20s on the pull back from the morning strength. Waited patiently and the trade went up to .38s and I had 2k from .27. It pulled back and I added another 1k @ .32 (I think)... which gave me 3k @ .29 with it trading in the high .30s. Then the big red candle hit the market in the afternoon. I knew it was news related but didn't know what it was. Still didn't find out... maybe the Fed comments?. Anyway I had my out set as a flat and it hit me. It really started tanking after that and finished very weak along with the rest of the market. Ford was really poised for a break out in the afternoon prior to the market candle which I guess is why the tank in the afternoon was quite exaggerated as everyone was expecting the break up.
A couple of failed break outs when the market tanked were responsible for the other losses. I did well to get out pretty quickly but the break down was quite annoying.
Lets hope it isn't going to be another rough month. I may take some breaks this month if my trading doesn't get back on track. just to clear my mind. I left on Friday needing a break and the weekend has provided it. If I'm not positive at the end of this coming week I will force myself to take a bit of time off (a week or so). I don't want it to come to that but I will take the break if I don't turn it around.
Date: 01/04/2011
Net P&L: ($424)
Month Balance: ($424)
I used to do this exclusively however the type of stocks that I was trading kind of dried up or were de-listed. I thus needed to find new stocks to trade. I have been trying stocks in play... not with size but learning. Not much luck this past month.
I appreciate the comment, I think it will work the same just by limiting the setups I'm willing to trade. Get back to basics and focus on what works consistently
Quote from Maverick74:
So net net you are down about 1500 on the year so far. Yeah I thought most the Canadian firms offered a salary. Maybe it's just those rebate firms. Just curious, how long can you last on your savings? Most traders have a burn rate and after about 12 months they go through most if not all of their savings. It's tough. It really shows you the importance of saving up enough money before you give this a try. Good luck man. The dreaded summer is right around the corner. I bet summers are great in Montreal though. So you have that going for you!
Yeah it's probably about that. I had a decent Dec but that doesn't count for much by not making anything this year. No salaries as far as I'm aware. I'm sure it is a model that would work really well for some traders as it would take away the stress of having to earn a pay check and just focus on the trading.
Savings are very important. You need to make hay while it shines and be cheap as you can during the rough times.
The winter is tough up here but yes I at least have the summer to look forward to!!!! Festivals galore!!!
In terms of burn rate it would be more an opportunity cost setup for me. I'm university educated with good experience and could get a pretty decent job. I like trading though and would prefer to keep at it. However if push came to shove I couldn't just keep ignoring the opportunity cost of trading versus a different job
Positive day today but I have decided that I will update my journal at the end of the week. I have a feeling that it might be effecting my trading. I know I have called this journal "Daily exploits" but I think I really need to concentrate on the longer term at the moment.