Quote from neke:
Another year another target. Last year, I set out to Take 103K to 1.2million by Year End 2008. Did not quite pan out, but was able to return 447% at the end of the 50 weeks. Of more interest was the second half (week 26-50), where I started with 144K, and made 412K (286%) before withdrawals. That is a compounded weekly rate of 5.5%. Again, I could not pull off a similar performance in the first half. The target this year assumes a 5% compounded rate for the next 50 weeks.
Hopefully, this year there will be greater commitment to execution discipline. I shall once again go with the expectation of a 40% maximum drawdown. Amount of risk taken will be proportional to the size of buffer (above opening 320K) I have in my account and recent performance, subject to not exceeding the optimal fraction (Last year, the optimal fraction was 61% for options and 156% for stocks - did not use anything close to that in real trading).
To neke's credit, he's about at his maximum drawdown. He'd need to compound about 11% weekly to get to his target. An impressive feat, to be sure. Come on, Neke, you can do it! We'll definitely have to wait and see what happens in the next several months. My bet wouldn't be on a positive year, and certainly nowhere near $3.5 million. 1.45% weekly will get him back to break even by the end of the year when 2% monthly is all private equity asks for.