Quarter 1 2011 Trading Results

March Trading Summary

Net breakdown:
ZS -$18585, ZW $35, ZC $306, GCL -$299

RESULTS FOR MARCH
Contracts:	865
Net $P/L:	-18543
Wins:	61
Losses:	105
Win%:	37
$Commissions:	4410
Avg$Win:	629
Avg$Loss:	-542

Thurs. 3/31 - Tilt

2:30pm CDT - Abysmal describes this day well. I lost focus, discipline, and money. The USDA grain report pre-market shot grains up big at the open. Corn was limit up all day. So naturally I had a long bias and took a couple long trades outside my system in ZS with 4-6 cent stops. That’s 3-4 times my normal stop which I justified by the large candles today. Needless to say, both stopped out in addition to 2 system trades that stopped too. Enough excuses. This month has been atypical and is another detour on the long road toward progress. Time to reduce size and/or take a break as I figure out how to get back on the road. YTD net P/L, -$12543.

Net breakdown (contracts traded):
ZS -$6331(40), ZW $99(5), CL -$14(1)

RESULTS FOR DAY
Contracts:	46
Net $P/L:	-6247
Wins:	1
Losses:	5
Win%:	17
Avg$Win:	99
Avg$Loss:	-1269

Wed. 3/30

11:10am CDT - Yesterday repeated again. And once again a long trade popped nicely just after it stopped me out. This chart pretty much sums things up this month. Although hypothetical results are charted, my actual results for past few months are nearly identical to blue line. Of course other trades outside my ZS system have been taken too.

Net breakdown (contracts traded):
ZS -$1753(20)

RESULTS FOR DAY
Contracts:	20
Net $P/L:	-1753
Wins:	0
Losses:	2
Win%:	0
Avg$Win:	0
Avg$Loss:	-877

Tues. 3/29

1:25pm CDT - Yesterday repeated. Long trade popped nicely just after it stopped me out.

Net breakdown (contracts traded):
ZS -$1716(20)

RESULTS FOR DAY
Contracts:	20
Net $P/L:	-1716
Wins:	0
Losses:	2
Win%:	0
Avg$Win:	0
Avg$Loss:	-858

Mon. 3/28

1:35pm CDT - Stuck to my main ZS system only today and may the rest of the week.

Net breakdown (contracts traded):
ZS -$1603(20)

RESULTS FOR DAY
Contracts:	20
Net $P/L:	-1603
Wins:	0
Losses:	2
Win%:	0
Avg$Win:	0
Avg$Loss:	-801

Fri. 3/25

1:15pm CDT - 2 steps back again today. Executed system trades fine but no winners. Stopped out by 2 ticks on last ZS trade which would have resulted in a par day. FYI, the spread from yesterday behaved as I expected today. Of course I wasn't in it.

So ends the week. Net loss for week -$6385. Next week ends the month and quarter and I will be doing some reflecting on my trading direction going forward. What I've been doing isn't working after essentially 9 months of zero gain or loss. Being a breakeven trader is not the plan.

Net breakdown (contracts traded):
ZS -$2717(30), ZW -$476(5)

RESULT FOR DAY
Contracts:	35
Net $P/L:	-3193
Wins:	0
Losses:	4
Win%:	0
Avg$Win:	0
Avg$Loss:	-798

Thurs. 3/24

2:00pm CDT - A few lapses today in brain neurons but another day where I recover half the previous days losses. I need to replace "half" with "twice" or more!

Biggest brain fart was putting a spread on. I haven't traded spreads in years! Granted it was only a 1 lot on each side initially but ended up 4 on each side. This spread may have worked better if held a few days but I'm too chicken to hold overnight.

Net breakdown (contracts traded):
ZS $3148(22), ZW -$983(4), GCL -$468(4)

RESULTS FOR DAY
Contracts:	30
Net $P/L:	1698
Wins:	3
Losses:	5
Win%:	38
Avg$Win:	1130
Avg$Loss:	-338

Wed. 3/23

2:35pm CDT - Where's the reset button? I'd like to start the month over please. If only you could actually do that. Nothing worked today and I lost count of the number of trades that stopped out by 1 or 2 ticks only to hit targets. Not to mention slippage galore today. Very frustrating day/week/month.

Net breakdown (contracts traded):
ZS -$2896(50), GCL -$491(7)

RESULTS FOR DAY
Contracts:	57
Net $P/L:	-3387
Wins:	3
Losses:	10
Win%:	23
Avg$Win:	179
Avg$Loss:	-392

Tues. 3/22 - Schwab

1:40pm CDT - Not a bad day but only recovered half of yesterday's losses. But I'm in no hurry (or so I keep telling myself)...

In broker news, Charles Schwab is buying OptionsXpress which bought my broker, OpenECry, nearly 3 years ago now. Could Tradestation be next?

Net breakdown (contracts traded):
ZS $1200(34), GCL $311(2)

RESULTS FOR DAY
Contracts:	36
Net $P/L:	1511
Wins:	5
Losses:	2
Win%:	71
Avg$Win:	508
Avg$Loss:	-515

Mon. 3/21

2:00pm CDT - Mondays...

Net breakdown (contracts traded):
ZS -$2418(35), ZW -$588(5), GCL -$8(4)

RESULTS FOR DAY
Contracts:	44
Net $P/L:	-3014
Wins:	2
Losses:	7
Win%:	22
Avg$Win:	287
Avg$Loss:	-513

Fri. 3/18

12:30pm CDT - A wild day again in grains with corn hitting the limit up price a few times today. My ZS stops didn't stand a chance of holding. CL was a mess for me with rollover and Libya cease-fire news. Although looking at the 5-min. chart, a few beautiful swings emerge in hindsight. I was down more than $2k so glad to end on the up side. Net gain for the week, $2939.

Net breakdown (contracts traded):
ZS -$706(40), ZW -$226(5), ZC $1211(10), GCL $14(8)

RESULTS FOR DAY
Contracts:	63
Net $P/L:	293
Wins:	6
Losses:	9
Win%:	40
Avg$Win:	673
Avg$Loss:	-416

Thurs. 3/17

1:30pm CDT - Happy St. Patrick's Day! Despite Jules' prediction that I'd be green today since I was red on Valentine's Day, I logged a red day. It had been much worse as I was down nearly $3k midday. Overtrading with some discretionary trades are to blame but all in all, not a terrible day. I was surprised to see that of the 19 losing days I've had this year, this was the smallest. Now to get outside and enjoy the warm temps.

Net breakdown (contracts traded):
ZS -$1160(65), ZW $761(10), ZC $724(5), GCL -$993(12)

RESULTS FOR DAY
Contracts:	92
Net $P/L:	-669
Wins:	6
Losses:	14
Win%:	30
Avg$Win:	743
Avg$Loss:	-366

Wed. 3/16

11:00am CDT - Good day today, 1-0 in beans, 3-2 in crude. A few more days like today or yesterday and I'll be back to new highs. Looking forward to a hint of Spring in Chicago - 50s today and 60s tomorrow.

Net breakdown (contracts traded):
ZS $2073(10), GCL $498(5)

RESULTS FOR DAY
Contracts:	15
Net $P/L:	2571
Wins:	4
Losses:	2
Win%:	67
Avg$Win:	677
Avg$Loss:	-69

Tues. 3/15

2:05pm CDT - Beans and corn went lock limit down and wheat came close. If I had held my 10 lot ZS short from where I took it off until the close, I'd have an extra $22k+ today on my P/L. Something for me to think about!

In "bend over and take it" news, AT&T DSL will start charging if customers exceed broadband useage caps of 150 GByte/month. Not sure if streaming eSignal and OEC data all day long puts me over the cap or not and AT&T can't answer that question until after March 18th they tell me! Anybody have an idea?

Net breakdown (contracts traded):
ZS $1192(21), ZW $849(5), GCL $103(6)

RESULTS FOR DAY
Contracts:	32
Net $P/L:	2144
Wins:	6
Losses:	4
Win%:	60
Avg$Win:	540
Avg$Loss:	-274

Mon. 3/14

1:35pm CDT - Happy Pi Day! My results weren't too happy however.

Net breakdown (contracts traded):
ZS -$1706(40), GCL $306(1)

RESULTS FOR DAY
Contracts:	41
Net $P/L:	-1401
Wins:	2
Losses:	3
Win%:	40
Avg$Win:	627
Avg$Loss:	-885

Fri. 3/11 Tsunami

10:45am CST - The Japanese earthquake hit my account today. Partly to blame, and which I am now rethinking, is the way I set stops. When I get a fill to enter a position, I wait for the entry bar to close before setting my stop. If next bar opens beyond where I would have set my stop, I exit at open. I should use a market order for this but normally use a limit order and if I don’t get filled (twice this week alone) I often chase price and take an even bigger hit when I finally exit. 1 trade today I took a nearly 6 cent hit when my normal stop is 1.5 cent. In addition, grain prices were very erratic today and moved in spurts and jumps on the DOM in the opening hour. This did not make things any easier. Net loss for the week, -$6466. MTD -$3778. YTD $2222.

Net breakdown (contracts traded):
ZS -$5358(50), ZC -$401(5), GCL -$67(6)

RESULTS FOR DAY
Contracts:	61
Net $P/L:	-5825
Wins:	3
Losses:	9
Win%:	25
Avg$Win:	128
Avg$Loss:	-690

Thurs. 3/10

12:55pm CST - Another crazy day all around. Grains opened down on a USDA report but an early rally off the open limited the downside there. ZS actually traded a 44-cent range so far today! I caught a long early and quit there. Crude was down big until the Saudi "shots fired" news came out. Up $2.75 in 10 minutes. I got a tiny scalp is all.

Net breakdown (contracts traded):
ZS $1948(10), GCL $187(3)

RESULTS FOR DAY
Contracts:	13
Net $P/L:	2135
Wins:	3
Losses:	1
Win%:	75
Avg$Win:	740
Avg$Loss:	-84

Wed. 3/09

1:30pm CST - Initial ZS short stopped out which would have made it a one and done day as market fell 25 cents after that. Remember last Thurs. when karma smiled on me as I turned a stop out into a winner? She got me back today as I turned a stop out into a doubly big stop out because I couldn't get the stop ordered entered in time as the market fell against my position. No cookies for me today.

Net breakdown (contracts traded):
ZS -$3807(45), GCL $361(2)

RESULTS FOR DAY
Contracts:	47
Net $P/L:	-3446
Wins:	3
Losses:	4
Win%:	43
Avg$Win:	224
Avg$Loss:	-1030

Tues. 3/08

11:00am CST - Two and done and short on words again today.

Net breakdown (contracts traded):
ZS $1948(10), GCL $306(1)

RESULTS FOR DAY
Contracts:	11
Net $P/L:	2254
Wins:	2
Losses:	0
Win%:	100
Avg$Win:	1127
Avg$Loss:	0

Mon. 3/07

1:25pm CST - Crappy start to the week but no damage that one good day can't fix.

Net breakdown (contracts traded):
ZS -$718(45), ZC -$864(10)

RESULTS FOR DAY
Contracts:	55
Net $P/L:	-1584
Wins:	2
Losses:	4
Win%:	33
Avg$Win:	961
Avg$Loss:	-877

Fri. 3/04

1:35pm CST - A+ to me for trading my ZS system to perfection. But good grades does not mean good profits today. Of my 3 ZS system trades, first one stopped me out by 3 ticks before blowing through target. Second trade came within 2 ticks of target before reversing to stop me out. Final trade stopped me out by 5 ticks before blowing through my target. All were very nearly winners but were full stop outs instead. Such is trading. For the week, net gain of $34.

Good article on computers soon overtaking humans in trading. Do we mortals entering orders manually stand a chance?

Net breakdown (contracts traded):
ZS -$2795(45), ZW $598(10), ZC -$364(10)

RESULTS FOR DAY
Contracts:	65
Net $P/L:	-2560
Wins:	3
Losses:	7
Win%:	30
Avg$Win:	378
Avg$Loss:	-528

Thurs. 3/03

12:00pm CST - I tempted my recent grain luck by trading CL again and eeked out 1 winner to offset 2 losses there. ZS was good to me once again. Technically, I should have had a breakeven day in ZS but I messed up putting a stop in when I should have and managed to turn a stopout into a winner. Yes, I am counting my blessings so far this month.

Net breakdown (contracts traded):
ZS $1695(30), GCL $107(3)

RESULTS FOR DAY
Contracts:	33
Net $P/L:	1802
Wins:	3
Losses:	3
Win%:	50
Avg$Win:	958
Avg$Loss:	-357

Wed. 3/02

11:20am CST - A wild day in grains with big swings all around. Once and done for me but I'm really thinking I should be pressing things more on days like this and trade more.

Net breakdown (contracts traded):
ZS $1886(10)

RESULTS FOR DAY
Contracts:	10
Net $P/L:	1886
Wins:	1
Losses:	0
Win%:	100
Avg$Win:	1886
Avg$Loss:	0

Tues. 3/01

1:45pm CST - Another trying day in crude oil. Why do I bother? Do I really need to diversify or am I just trying to prove to myself that I can trade that beast?

Goldman Sachs reported that it had 25 days in 2010 where its traders either made no money or lost money. That's why this profession is so damn hard, when the pros win 90% of the days they trade! Who are they taking all that money from? You and me.

Net breakdown (contracts traded):
ZS $2011(10), CL -$450(9)

RESULTS FOR DAY
Contracts:	19
Net $P/L:	1561
Wins:	3
Losses:	6
Win%:	33
Avg$Win:	738
Avg$Loss:	-109