February Trading Summary

RESULTS FOR FEBRUARY
Contracts:	236
Net $P/L:	-1349
Wins:	54
Losses:	91
Win%:	37
Avg$Win:	172
Avg$Loss:	-117

Fri.

5:00pm CST - 3 losers to close out the week. The loss should be half of this but the initial short entry, stopped out so quick after entry (within a couple seconds), that I reentered after I saw that it looked like it would still work (reentry is not in my system plan). The last one (which I, in typical Friday mistake fashion, decided to double size) hit my stop which one could argue was too tight (my system has a fixed 1.5 cent stop), before reversing and easily hitting the planned target.

Net breakdown (contracts traded):
ZS -$679(8)

RESULTS FOR DAY
Contracts:	8
Net $P/L:	-679
Wins:	0
Losses:	3
Win%:	0
Avg$Win:	0
Avg$Loss:	-226

For the week, $360 was the peak then 5 losers in a row to end things...

Thurs.

1:30pm CST - 2 losers. :(

Net breakdown (contracts traded):
ZS -$333(4)

RESULTS FOR DAY
Contracts:	4
Net $P/L:	-333
Wins:	0
Losses:	1
Win%:	0
Avg$Win:	0
Avg$Loss:	-166

Wed.

1:15pm CST - Stopped out on long side early but the short side worked a bit later today.

Net breakdown (contracts traded):
ZS $230(4)

RESULTS FOR DAY
Contracts:	4
Net $P/L:	230
Wins:	1
Losses:	1
Win%:	50
Avg$Win:	390
Avg$Loss:	-160

ZS Swingin'

1:30pm CST - ZS was wild today (now trading the May contract) and it made a $1000+ per contract up move, followed by a $1200+ per contract down move. I was glad my system got a little chunk of it.

Net breakdown (contracts traded):
ZS $390(2)

RESULTS FOR DAY
Contracts:	2
Net $P/L:	390
Wins:	1
Losses:	0
Win%:	100
Avg$Win:	390
Avg$Loss:	0

Lucky Loser

2:45pm CST - Negative day but was "lucky" and surprised at the fill on one of my stops. 4 ticks POSITIVE slippage!

Net breakdown (contracts traded):
ZS -$258(4)

RESULTS FOR DAY
Contracts:	4
Net $P/L:	-258
Wins:	0
Losses:	2
Win%:	0
Avg$Win:	0
Avg$Loss:	-129

Nice short week

11:00am CST - 1 long signal is all it took in ZS system to shut it down for the day.

Net breakdown (contracts traded):
ZS $365(2)

RESULTS FOR DAY
Contracts:	2
Net $P/L:	365
Wins:	1
Losses:	0
Win%:	100
Avg$Win:	365
Avg$Loss:	0

For the short week, not a bad job inverting the previous week's curve.

Early exit

2:10pm CST - Took an early exit in hindsight on 2nd trade but followed my system so no complaints.

Net breakdown (contracts traded):
ZS $204(4)

RESULTS FOR DAY
Contracts:	4
Net $P/L:	204
Wins:	1
Losses:	1
Win%:	50
Avg$Win:	264
Avg$Loss:	-60

Ash Wednesday

2:30pm CST - Good day catching an early morning short. Twice it came within a tick of stopping me out before dropping to target.

Net breakdown (contracts traded):
ZS $390(2)

RESULTS FOR DAY
Contracts:	2
Net $P/L:	390
Wins:	1
Losses:	0
Win%:	100
Avg$Win:	390
Avg$Loss:	0

Fat Tuesday

2:10pm CST - Plan this week is to only trade ZS following a new system. It is similar to how I was trading it but with specific entry/exit rules that do not leave any discretion to my often bad judgment.

Net breakdown (contracts traded):
ZS $167(4)

RESULTS FOR DAY
Contracts:	4
Net $P/L:	167
Wins:	1
Losses:	1
Win%:	50
Avg$Win:	327
Avg$Loss:	-160

Poor Week

3:10pm CST - A poor day to end a poor week a little poorer. Will spend part of long weekend determining game plan for next week. RLM system was part of problem this week and tracking what it would have done Wed - Fri (did not trade it) would have yielded: -680, +600, +350 those 3 days. But my discretionary trading was terrible this week too.

Net breakdown (contracts traded):
ES -$26(4), ZS $24(5), 6E -$277(3), 6B -$122(6)

RESULTS FOR DAY
Contracts:	18
Net $P/L:	-400
Wins:	5
Losses:	10
Win%:	33
Avg$Win:	88
Avg$Loss:	-84

P/L for the week was just like a downhill Olympic ski slope in Whistler. Note to self: flip this over next week!

Thurs.

2:50pm CST - Worked with charts most of day but placed a few ZS trades.

Net breakdown (contracts traded):
ZS $10(3)

RESULTS FOR DAY
Contracts:	3
Net $P/L:	10
Wins:	1
Losses:	2
Win%:	33
Avg$Win:	157
Avg$Loss:	-74

Done early

10:30am CST - Quit early today after overtrading ZS. My discipline was just plain lacking today, not to mention my reasons for some entries. That's has been my problem with discretionary trading. I need to change that or go back to mechanically trading systems (that have an edge).

Net breakdown (contracts traded):
ES $40(3), ZS -$471(9)

RESULTS FOR DAY
Contracts:	12
Net $P/L:	-431
Wins:	2
Losses:	8
Win%:	20
Avg$Win:	225
Avg$Loss:	-110

Reality Check

2:50pm CST - I'm officially putting my RLM system on hold as far as trading it. I'll continue to track it but since backtesting results have never had three -$500+ losing days in a row, the edge is not currently present (or I'm just unlucky)! It may be the next 3+ days in a row will be $500+ day winners but I will not be participating. I can always resume trading it in the future when/if results dictate and my confidence in it returns.

Instead I plan to shift focus to other markets like ZS and maybe currency futures.

Net breakdown (contracts traded):
RLM -$601(14), ES -$155(2), ZS $232(6)

RESULTS FOR DAY
Contracts:	22
Net $P/L:	-524
Wins:	4
Losses:	10
Win%:	29
Avg$Win:	166
Avg$Loss:	-119

Mon. Blues

3:00pm CST - OK, my RLM system is officially frustrating me! This morning I was up $440 in the first 10 min. of trading. Oh so close to my shut down point. Then the drawdown begins until I shut 'er down on the negative side. If I had continued (breaking my rules), the remaining 11 trades of the day (not taken) would have grossed: $300, $120, -$200, $130, -$100, $300, $300, -$200, $300, $120, -$40 = $1030, less slippage/commissions. With my realized loss, that would have netted around a $300 RLM day.

Of course the flip side to this is there have been days (like Friday) where I hit my daily loss and if I had continued trading, the subsequent trades would have doubled that loss! It is possible my system performs poorly with this increased volatility or the "edge" is too slight. Time will tell...

At least I had success in ZS today. A 2-lot would have been nice there. OK, enough hindsight trading.

Net breakdown (contracts traded):
RLM -$668(20), ZS $245(1)

RESULTS FOR DAY
Contracts:	21
Net $P/L:	-423
Wins:	4
Losses:	8
Win%:	33
Avg$Win:	175
Avg$Loss:	-140

BE Week

3:00pm CST - It was a breakeven week overall. My RLM system hit $430 at one point today ($70 shy of calling it a day) then proceeded to give back $900 in the up move in final 2 hours. Frustrating day all around including ICE orders being stuck at OEC for a short bit this morning until they restarted their connection.

Net breakdown (contracts traded):
RLM -$482(49), ZS $2(2)

RESULTS FOR DAY
Contracts:	51
Net $P/L:	-480
Wins:	12
Losses:	19
Win%:	39
Avg$Win:	117
Avg$Loss:	-99

P/L for the week ended right where it started! Too bad I can't have back the 6 losers I ended today with. In the end, it was my ZS trades this week that sucked, costing me $700. But you can't undo trades so I will move along and strive to do better next week.

No Beans

1:40pm CST - No bean trades today as I am still tweaking my rules on that. I see they made some nice swings today I'd like to think I would have been on the correct side of.

The mini-Russell was a bit of a rollercoaster day, got up to $400, gave it all back, then exceeded my daily circuit breaker on the plus side on the last 2 trades of the day, shorting 2 at 594.9 and 2 more at 594.2 and scaling out for over $600.

Net breakdown (contracts traded):
RLM $626(22)

RESULTS FOR DAY
Contracts:	22
Net $P/L:	626
Wins:	6
Losses:	5
Win%:	55
Avg$Win:	231
Avg$Loss:	-152

Russell Giveth, Beans Taketh

2:00pm CST - Glad to finish green. Now I REALLY need to refine my ZS rules, mentioned yesterday! I also took the last half of my last RLM trade off 4 ticks early when my net P/L turned green. Slap myself for that too...

Using a new format for fills on my charts going forward - see note on chart:

Net breakdown (contracts traded):
RLM $682(13), ZS -$681(6)

RESULTS FOR DAY
Contracts:	19
Net $P/L:	1
Wins:	4
Losses:	7
Win%:	36
Avg$Win:	221
Avg$Loss:	-126

Groundhog's Day

1:30pm CST - Although I am my own worst critic, today shows that Groundhog's Day, like the movie, DOES repeat itself. I've had days like this before and will again no doubt. But still, I did stick to my rules today on RLM system and made another trade when I was at -480 (hadn't hit +/-500 yet) but got a full stop out with slippage! So it goes...

I need to refine my rather loose rules on trading ZS as I see lots of potential there I am not capitalizing on. YTD, I just looked, and I'm up $322 on ZS vs. $275 on RLM. Nothing to get excited about but at least I'm covering commissions, baby steps...

Net breakdown (contracts traded):
RLM -$701(21), ZS -$106(6)

RESULTS FOR DAY
Contracts:	27
Net $P/L:	-807
Wins:	7
Losses:	11
Win%:	39
Avg$Win:	56
Avg$Loss:	-109

Feb. Start

3:00pm CST - Daily target hit on RLM just past 9am. One short ZS trade near close (that I didn't hold long enough and left $100+ on table as usual) wrapped up a good start to the month.

Net breakdown (contracts traded):
RLM $523(6), ZS $82(1)

RESULTS FOR DAY
Contracts:	7
Net $P/L:	605
Wins:	3
Losses:	1
Win%:	75
Avg$Win:	224
Avg$Loss:	-66

January Trading Summary

RESULTS FOR JANUARY
Contracts:	199
Net $P/L:	414
Wins:	82
Losses:	74
Win%:	53
Avg$Win:	108
Avg$Loss:	-114

An OK Friday

2:50pm CST - It's nice to have an OK Friday for a change. Nothing to write home about but today I was committed to closing out the week and the month on a positive note. As a result, I stopped trading my RLM system before I hit my daily circuit breaker. Oh well...

Net breakdown (contracts traded):
RLM $225(12), ZS $7(6)

RESULTS FOR DAY
Contracts:	18
Net $P/L:	232
Wins:	5
Losses:	5
Win%:	50
Avg$Win:	208
Avg$Loss:	-162

Good recovery this week...
Edit: Last trade didn't get graphed, add $95 to chart below! :)

Short day

3:00pm CST - Another short day, target hit on RLM (sort of). My rules are to stop when I hit plus or minus $500 and I was only at $490. But that is due to an execution error on the last 2 trades which cost me 5 ticks so I should have been over target. ZS was good again but as usual, lots of missed opportunity due to my early exit. Lots of buy signals in the afternoon too but I elected to pass.

Net breakdown (contracts traded):
RLM $490(7), ZS $65(2)

RESULTS FOR DAY
Contracts:	9
Net $P/L:	554
Wins:	5
Losses:	1
Win%:	83
Avg$Win:	140
Avg$Loss:	-146

Fed Day

1:05pm CST - 2 earlier losers had be down $400 and discouraged but the next 4 trades were winners and put me over the daily trigger to stop trading. Last 2 trades shown below, most of which were filled with resting orders that triggered right as New Home Sales data hit the wires, hit both profit targets. Note the one made $300 in less than 0.07 seconds!

A couple beautiful swings in ZS today I elected to pass on. There will be more in future days. And FOMC news is out shortly - passing on that too as I have an appointment soon so will be away from screens.

Net breakdown (contracts traded):
RLM $705(12)

RESULTS FOR DAY
Contracts:	12
Net $P/L:	705
Wins:	4
Losses:	2
Win%:	67
Avg$Win:	279
Avg$Loss:	-206

System nuances

2:50pm CST - A couple execution errors(?) today cost me some Ben Franklins but that is part of this game we play. It seems OEC and eSignal sometimes print different highs and lows for a given bar on a chart! Shocking, yada, yada... So depending on what chart I'm watching I get different trigger signals on my RLM system causing mild confusion as to whether or not to take the signal! Just another variable to add to the hundreds we must deal with.

At least ZS went my way today:

Net breakdown (contracts traded):
RLM -$312(18), ZS $315(2)

RESULTS FOR DAY
Contracts:	20
Net $P/L:	3
Wins:	6
Losses:	5
Win%:	55
Avg$Win:	139
Avg$Loss:	-166

Mini-Russell

12:25pm CST - Traded a new system of mine today on the mini-Russell trading 2 lots with initial stop of 10 ticks and targets of 10 and 20 ticks. It includes stopping trading for day as soon as +/- $500 is gained/lost. Today I was up $300, then came 6 losers in a row. The next 3 trades (not taken), would have netted $300, -$140, $300 but that was not in the plan to continue.

Net breakdown (contracts traded):
RLM -$564(22)

RESULTS FOR DAY
Contracts:	22
Net $P/L:	-564
Wins:	4
Losses:	8
Win%:	33
Avg$Win:	112
Avg$Loss:	-127

9 in a row

10:55am CST - 9 in a row, LOSERS! So ends the week... At least I'm no longer doing "tricks of my past" where I would sometimes double my position size after each loss.

Net breakdown (contracts traded):
6B -$105(1), 6E -$377(3), RLM -$389(3), ZS -$235(2)

RESULTS FOR DAY
Contracts:	9
Net $P/L:	-1105
Wins:	0
Losses:	9
Win%:	0
Avg$Win:	0
Avg$Loss:	-123

P/L Curve for the week again had potential, until today.

2 Trades

2:40pm CST - 2 trades and content to sit and watch rest of day. Left 6+ cents on table again on ZS trade. Will I ever learn?

Net breakdown (contracts traded):
RLM $307(1), ZS $45(1)

RESULTS FOR DAY
Contracts:	2
Net $P/L:	352
Wins:	2
Losses:	0
Win%:	100
Avg$Win:	176
Avg$Loss:	0

ZS Chop

2:50pm CST - Gave up $200 in end of day chop on ZS that I thought would breakout but didn't. Otherwise a good day.

Net breakdown (contracts traded):
6B $120(1), 6E $33(1), RLM $147(1), ZS -$190(3)

RESULTS FOR DAY
Contracts:	6
Net $P/L:	110
Wins:	4
Losses:	2
Win%:	67
Avg$Win:	80
Avg$Loss:	-105

Short day

2:30pm CST - Just traded the first hour and stopped to lock in the gain. No point in giving any back on first day of week. Left up to $500 on the table on the RLM trade though, so will have to sleep on that! I'd like to think I could have gotten some of that if I had held longer.

Net breakdown (contracts traded):
RLM $197(1), ZS $190(2)

RESULTS FOR DAY
Contracts:	3
Net $P/L:	387
Wins:	3
Losses:	0
Win%:	100
Avg$Win:	129
Avg$Loss:	0