Simple Trading Journal

OK, by now everybody knows the drill, right? :)

I exited a few of my positions yesterday and this morning:

PEGS SHORT EXIT AVG. $10.96 +.9
SVC SHORT EXIT AVG. $13.25 +.74
UPC SHORT EXIT AVG. $29.48 +.4 (PARTIAL)
FULT SHORT EXIT AVG. $21.22 +.45 (PARTIAL)
STFC SHORT EXIT AVG. $23.3 +.6
ALOY LONG EXIT AT 5.5 B/E

And I initiated 5 new positions this morning:

AMSG SHORT $36.2 RISK ~.7
GAS SHORT $32.8 RISK ~ .8
ULTE SHORT $6.73 RISK ~.3
IMR LONG $9.21 RISK ~.4
NATR LONG $8.46 RISK ~.35

Well, let's see what happens now...

The good news is, again, that the account is still (further) up from this past Monday - I'll post a summary financial assessment for the week over the weekend.
 
JohnK,

You had mentioned not intervening in your positions during the first day, unless . . .

>But I don't intervene much,especially during the first day, unless >I see a sizable move that appears to be unsustainable (in which >case I exit and prepare to go back to the well next day.)

As a newbie, I'm enjoying trying to follow this. I put your stocks on a watch list, and I noticed after the first hour, all five new positions are against you, but only by a small amount. The three shorts have all gone up. The two longs have all gone down. I will watch to see how they fare during the day.

Thanks for posting this and allowing us to follow along.

Regards.
 
John,

Would you share your approach for your futures trading account?
I would appreciate any insights you have.

Ken
 
Hi everybody!

I exited a few of my positions last Friday and this morning:

PRSF SHORT EXIT AVG. $7.34 -.30
GAS SHORT EXIT AVG. $33.12 -.32
ULTE SHORT EXIT AVG. $7.03 -.30
AMSG SHORT EXIT AVG. $36.93 -.73
NATR LONG EXIT AVG. $9.20 +.74 (partial)
ROST LONG EXIT AVG. $30.31 +.86

And I entered a couple of new positions this morning:

SSP SHORT $93.40 RISK ~3
WFMI LONG $71 RISK ~3

I plan to watch these two high priced stocks like a hawk and cut them out of the list pretty quick if they seem to be misbehaving :)

About the results so far:

As I mentioned before, the account had a few positions already in when I started this journal, and so it's a bit tricky to separate the results and focus exclusively on the positions that were initiated starting last Monday. Also, I am not using the entire purchasing power of the account, but only about half of it (something I'll correct over the next week or so.) Still, for this journal, the portfolio was up 9.1% this past week... not too shabby.

So, as this new week is getting underway, let's keep our fingers crossed...
 
Quote from kbehr:

John,

Would you share your approach for your futures trading account?
I would appreciate any insights you have.

Ken
More...
Ken,

This journal is dedicated to my stock (swing) trading. I do trade the futures, but not here. If you really want to ask me a futures question, send me a PM.
 
Quote from Soesman:

Great post John..do you use trailing stops? If so how do you determine the percentage or amount?
More...
Soesman,

Yes, I do use trailing stops, at least in theory. In my first post here last Monday I referred to those. I assign the amount of the initial stoploss based on the chart and also a 5% number that I want to try and respect (not to risk more than, if possible.) After the partial exit has taken place, I trail the rest, while gradually tightening the trailing stop offset - should be out of the position in 4-6 days total, no matter what.

The reason I said "in theory" is that, since I trade many things at the same time, I often look at a stock's behavior (just scanning my positions or because an alert I had put in there reminded me to check something out) and think that it's going one way or another, because the futures are doing this or the other thing or because it's Tuesday :) Then, thinking that I don't have time to waste on this stupid position, I pull the plug prematurely. Half I win, half I lose, but it sort of helps emotionally... you know how important emotions are in the trading day.

I haven't got to the point of true mechanical/unemotional trading yet, and I'm not sure I want to get there anyway. :)
 
Quote from JohnK:

It is ironic that the lack of flames here is what both attracts and repels Jack's presence.
More...

well said, I see ET & msn groups as compliment to each other.
 
Quote from nkhoi:

Quote from JohnK:

It is ironic that the lack of flames here is what both attracts and repels Jack's presence.
-------------------

well said, I see ET & msn groups as compliment to each other.
More...
nkhoi,

Feels weird to see a quote that sort of has your name but you never remember saying it...

Where did you get that one? it is really attributed to me? what was I saying? who's Jack?

What again are the msn groups? did this quote come from another board? Please explain - TIA :)
 
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