Taking 76K to 500K by Year End

[neke]

Thanks all for your concern. Like I mentioned, the key for me is cutting off the blunders (trades that I make which are violations of my well-defined strategies. My average size is consistent with the drawdown I anticipated when starting this thread. It is the costs due to bad habits (averaging down/chasing without basis) that accentuates the drawdown. Yes, it would make sense to cut size while bringing the bad habits under control, but then when I fall to bad habits, intended sizing doesn't really matter.

Quote from lescor:

....At this rate your journal will be done before year end, because you'll be out of money.

We shall see.

Quote from Daal:

ever heard of reducing your position size in a drawdown?there is nothing wrong with his position sizing if you think about it. all he is doing is increasing his drawdowns in order to reach higher returns. as a long its conservatively lower than 60%dd there should be no risk of ruin, the fluctuations will be huge but thats the price you pay

That's right. My sizing is based on percentage of current balance. So a 10% loss on balance ten times in a row (heaven forbid!) does not lead to a wipeout (100% loss).

Quote from reid5525:

lescor is right. cut down on position size and have fun fine tuning the strategy. forget the 500k, it is beyond your reach for now. the trading strategy is the key.
if you don't do that losses and frustration will cause you to quit very soon, not knowing what could have been.

Targets are a good thing. It shows what is achievable and keeps me focused on doing what is necessary to attain that.

Quote from midlifeguy:

Swing for the fences...$500,000 is only a couple big trades away!

Hmmm...

 

[neke]

Weekly Update for week 35 ended 10/26/2007

Disappointing week. Not because the net result (+17K) was bad, but because I lost an opportunity to deliver a stellar result through sloppy trading in the last one and half days of the week. I probably let my earlier gains get into my head.

On Wednesday delivered good returns through puts and short position on AMZN after their earnings. However my gains were cut short by the massive market rebound towards the end of the day.

On Thursday morning, again returned solid figures through shorting CMI after their disappointing earnings. However threw away that sum and more later in the day shooting before asking questions on MSFT and POT: Shorted POT after it spiked up intra-day, not knowing the reason. Discovered later on after I had lost 9K. The same day shorted MSFT at 33.5 soon after earnings release before reading the report, and forced to cover at 34.95 for another 13K loss. A number of other frivolous trades were made on Friday. Other than those I had a good number of average gainers that added up.

Balance B/F:                   		125,894
Gain for the week 		         17,234
------------------------------------------------
Balance C/F:                   		143,128
Number of Trades	            	 30
Number of Profitable Trades    	    	 16

Since Inception of Thread   2/25/2007 - 10/26/2007

Balance B/F:                   		 76,636
Net Gain (Less Margin Interest)		127,492
Cash Withdrawal		       		-61,000
------------------------------------------------
Balance C/F:                   		143,128 (Adjusted balance before withdrawals is 204,128, up 166% )
Number of Trades	           	 941
Number of Profitable Trades        	 530

Expected Balance at this time to be on track for Year-End Target : 
			       340,697

Status:			       Behind Target		(Based on adjusted balance before withdrawals)

Top/Bottom Discretionary Trades for the week

TICKER	ENTRY DATE/TIME		EXIT DATE/TIME		QTY	PURCHASE AMT	SOLD AMT	GAINS/LOSS	TYPE

CMI	2007-10-25-09-10-59	2007-10-25-09-58-49	1500	170954		183700		12724		SHORT
ZQNWR	2007-10-24-09-32-05	2007-10-24-14-57-42	10000	43000		55800		12589		AMZN NOV 90 PUT
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
POT	2007-10-25-13-32-53	2007-10-25-13-53-03	2000	232000		223300		-8733		SHORT
MSFT	2007-10-25-16-16-17	2007-10-25-16-32-02	10000	349481		336050		-13466		SHORT
							

                                        (Before Interest and Other charges)
                                         TRANSACTIONS ANALYSIS FROM 2007-02-25 TO 2007-10-27

                             Current Week                                    |	Since Inception of Thread
                                                                             |                                           
                Method          Gains/Loss       No Of          Profitable   |  Gains/Loss       No Of       Profitable  
                                                Trades              Trades   |                  Trades           Trades  
Automated       AutoTrade1               0           0                   0   |        5548         207              115  
                AutoTrade2               0           0                   0   |        3372          12                8  
                AutoTrade3               0           0                   0   |       -4523           3                0  
                AutoTrade4            -765           1                   0   |      -15301           3                0  
                                -----------     --------        ------------ |  -----------     ------       ------------
Total Automated                       -765           1                   0   |      -10905         225              123  
                                -----------     --------        ------------ |  -----------     ------       ------------
Discretionary   Long                  1386           6                   4   |      -42931         252              149  
                Short                26703          12                   7   |        4395         249              144  
                Options(long)       -10181          11                   5   |      177801         215              114  
                                -----------     --------        ------------ |  -----------     ------       ------------
Total Discretionary                  17909          29                  16   |      139265         716              407  
                                ===========     ========        ============ |  ===========     ======       ============
Net Totals                           17144          30                  16   |      128361         941              530  
                                ===========     ========        ============ |  ===========     ======       ============

 

[Daal]

are you sure your better off with ameritrade instead of ib?a flat commision might be better but ameritrade barely pays interest on the balance, while ib pays pretty good rates. its probably +$4K a year in your case(minus additional ib commisions),also mbtrading has flat commisions(I believe its $5) and pays 4% on balances

 

[neke]

Quote from Daal:

are you sure your better off with ameritrade instead of ib?a flat commision might be better but ameritrade barely pays interest on the balance, while ib pays pretty good rates. its probably +$4K a year in your case(minus additional ib commisions),also mbtrading has flat commisions(I believe its $5) and pays 4% on balances

With my average trade being 5000 shares, I have a saving of about $30 for a round-trip. That beats the interest in IB after about 150 trades. Maybe if and when I decide to add futures to my trading, not now.

 

[neke]

Quote from damnit:

I had a dream last night that Neke reached his goal of 500000.

We will see if my dream was accurate soon enough.

Are you a clairvoyant?

 

[JimmyJam]

Quote from neke:

Weekly Update for week 35 ended 10/26/2007

Disappointing week. Not because the net result (+17K) was bad, but because I lost an opportunity to deliver a stellar result through sloppy trading in the last one and half days of the week. I probably let my earlier gains get into my head.

On Wednesday delivered good returns through puts and short position on AMZN after their earnings. However my gains were cut short by the massive market rebound towards the end of the day.

On Thursday morning, again returned solid figures through shorting CMI after their disappointing earnings. However threw away that sum and more later in the day shooting before asking questions on MSFT and POT: Shorted POT after it spiked up intra-day, not knowing the reason. Discovered later on after I had lost 9K. The same day shorted MSFT at 33.5 soon after earnings release before reading the report, and forced to cover at 34.95 for another 13K loss. A number of other frivolous trades were made on Friday. Other than those I had a good number of average gainers that added up.

This is a great example of the trading process, with gains ultimately beating out losses.

If you have the time (I know you have much more important things to attend to), review your trades. See where you how your good entries resulted in positive trades, and the shooting from the cuff trades resulted in you having to cover at a loss.

The more you curtail the impulse trading with a disciplined, methodical approach, always aware another setup is around the corner because you have such a diverse pool of trading opportunites to choose from, the better your overall performance will be, and the more solid and cosistent your equity curve.

(Sincere) good trading,

Jimmy Jam

P.S. Tighten the protective stops and realize they are your only friend in this game, they'll leave you with plenty of gunpowder for the next opportunity coming around the corner.

 

[retire45]

Neke,

Still too much gambling in the trading (earnings trades). There is NO WAY this can grow consistently. Maybe a grand slam lucky trade.. Bought YGE and SCHN today on consolidation breaks using Trade triggers (I love them..)... DRYS consolidating to do something... these are routine trades in strong sectors... Why not swing trade half the account? The returns CAN match the huge daytrades..

 

[neke]

Quote from retire45:

Neke,

Still too much gambling in the trading (earnings trades). There is NO WAY this can grow consistently. Maybe a grand slam lucky trade.. Bought YGE and SCHN today on consolidation breaks using Trade triggers (I love them..)... DRYS consolidating to do something... these are routine trades in strong sectors... Why not swing trade half the account? The returns CAN match the huge daytrades..

I do trade the news (after the news) based on my analysis. The ones I regret are the ones I do before I read and digest the news. It is part of my style which on the net makes me money. If that is gambling, why does support/resistance not qualify as gambling? can anyone bet that any trade is a slam dunk? It is about probablility, whichever way, if you have found an edge.

 

[retire45]

Good points Neke... Just a difference in when we do your "work".. Mine is reviewing a thousand charts a week, yours interpreting reports and market reaction...

 

[midlifeguy]

And I have found TD Ameritrade to be great at fills.
Some of these firms with lower commissions have crappy fills. My only complaint at TD is their insanely high margin rates.

Quote from neke:

With my average trade being 5000 shares, I have a saving of about $30 for a round-trip. That beats the interest in IB after about 150 trades. Maybe if and when I decide to add futures to my trading, not now.