Trader P/L 2014
- Thread starter sellindexvol66
- Start date
Outch!
So-so month for the Tailz fund, though I've got a moderate hit on the way next month from some puts on the index that just died on the vine.
The overall strat is working great but I have been tempted to daytrade the index on several occasions, and it just isn't my game. Biggest issue is still the need to sit on handz while the winners grow.At this point in my trading career and modern markets behavior, it's time for me to focus on just one futures symbol for intraday trading. The combination of methodical price movement and greatest liquidity of all makes ES the logical choice for me. To each their own, everyone has different circumstances to decide from. I'm of the opinion that all popular futures symbols are about equal over time, there are no lasting advantages of one over another any more. Markets have become more inter-related now than ever before, which makes all correlations tighter.
In any event, my ES singular focus went like this...
Wed 2/26: +10.25 points per ES contract
Thu 2/27: (-0.5) points per ES contract
Fri: 2/28: +15.5 points per ES contract
About equal gains long side and short... maybe slight skew to downside gains these three sessions. Two-way price action Wed & Fri offered two-way trading sequences to profit from.
Indexes have been sideways to up since 02/04 session close. Lots of open gaps and no-volume air pockets below that will surely back & fill, sooner or later. Could be interesting week of trading ahead with Russia - Ukraine crisis escalating.
In any event, my ES singular focus went like this...
Wed 2/26: +10.25 points per ES contract
Thu 2/27: (-0.5) points per ES contract
Fri: 2/28: +15.5 points per ES contract
About equal gains long side and short... maybe slight skew to downside gains these three sessions. Two-way price action Wed & Fri offered two-way trading sequences to profit from.
Indexes have been sideways to up since 02/04 session close. Lots of open gaps and no-volume air pockets below that will surely back & fill, sooner or later. Could be interesting week of trading ahead with Russia - Ukraine crisis escalating.
I know you add to your positions, so how do you decide on how many total points you get ? Say you buy 1 contract at 1855, add 1 @1857, and sell both @1860. How many totals points do you make ? Would you consider that 8 points ?
In directional swing moves, if there are two separate trades, I consider that two separate events. Short or long 2 and price moves in favor, stop to par and short or long 2 more = two different trades with one trade risk, going the same direction. Sometimes the second one stops for loss and then price continues in favor, so first position winds up profitable. I don't add to every trade attempt by design, I take multiple positions inside directional moves when multiple entry signals confirm.
was away over weekend..
earnings for week 2/24 to 2/28
earnings for week 2/24 to 2/28
-79 net
I've just been getting ripped apart the last week or so. Chop, chop, chop.
February Review:
February was a decent month for me. My average winning day increased as I got in the habit of adding to my winners. Although better at times, I did still suffer from a bit too much overtrading. I cleaned some things up and did a much better job of eliminating a particular type of trade, but I unfortunately replaced that with another similar type of trade. I do need to become more consistent with my adding as there were times that I had opportunities to press some positions, but did not add. And then there were times that I was too quick to add and spoiled a good trade. In addition, I also need to have some more concrete profit taking rules. Typically, I do like to just sit in my positions, but there were many times that I gave back some large chunks of unrealized gains.
Feb 2014:
P/L: +323.04 Net
Win%: 29.00%
AvgW/AvgL: 3.08
Adding to winners and overtrading both contributed to my lower win percentage. I'm okay with sacrificing the small to medium winners to go for a big winner, but the overtrading was a waste of money. Fortunately, my average winner was over three times the size of my average loser, so that made up for a low win percentage.
Looking forward to March, I want to continue to tweak my adding as well as taking more profits when I have them. I also will have more of a business mentality. As in, trading is my business. If worked for a firm and had a list of authorized trades and continually traded outside of that list, I would be fired. That is how I need to think about this. I did a decent job of executing my plan last month, but I also did a lot outside of the plan. This month, I will have an authorized list of trades and not stray from it.
I've just been getting ripped apart the last week or so. Chop, chop, chop.
February Review:
February was a decent month for me. My average winning day increased as I got in the habit of adding to my winners. Although better at times, I did still suffer from a bit too much overtrading. I cleaned some things up and did a much better job of eliminating a particular type of trade, but I unfortunately replaced that with another similar type of trade. I do need to become more consistent with my adding as there were times that I had opportunities to press some positions, but did not add. And then there were times that I was too quick to add and spoiled a good trade. In addition, I also need to have some more concrete profit taking rules. Typically, I do like to just sit in my positions, but there were many times that I gave back some large chunks of unrealized gains.
Feb 2014:
P/L: +323.04 Net
Win%: 29.00%
AvgW/AvgL: 3.08
Adding to winners and overtrading both contributed to my lower win percentage. I'm okay with sacrificing the small to medium winners to go for a big winner, but the overtrading was a waste of money. Fortunately, my average winner was over three times the size of my average loser, so that made up for a low win percentage.
Looking forward to March, I want to continue to tweak my adding as well as taking more profits when I have them. I also will have more of a business mentality. As in, trading is my business. If worked for a firm and had a list of authorized trades and continually traded outside of that list, I would be fired. That is how I need to think about this. I did a decent job of executing my plan last month, but I also did a lot outside of the plan. This month, I will have an authorized list of trades and not stray from it.
Actually had a decent time of it both today and Friday, as in not down nearly as much as the market, but as I decided to revamp the strategy how I did doesn't matter much or demonstrate anything anymore. The only thing that will be continuing when I start to post P/L again that happened as a result of the Ukraine thing is a nice jump in commodities prices, partially because Ukraine is a large exporter of wheat and corn. Between that and being long GDX it helped out a lot.
Anyway, will start regular updates again once I get the account redone. Will be a few weeks, at least.
Anyway, will start regular updates again once I get the account redone. Will be a few weeks, at least.