April Trading Summary

Net breakdown:
ZS $830, ZW -$463, ZC -$1152, GCL -$593, 6E -$491, YM -$154

RESULTS FOR APRIL
Contracts:	263
Net $P/L:	-2023
Wins:	46
Losses:	57
Win%:	45
$Commissions:	1323
Avg$Win:	230
Avg$Loss:	-221

Fri. 4/29

11:30am CDT - Slow day, glad to be green. Results for the week, net gain of $2499. YTD -$14,566.

Net breakdown (contracts traded):
ZS $594(6), CL -$65(8)

RESULTS FOR DAY
Contracts:	14
Net $P/L:	529
Wins:	4
Losses:	4
Win%:	50
Avg$Win:	229
Avg$Loss:	-97

Thurs. 4/28

4:55pm CDT - Crazy day. Like most of the past few days, I stop when I hit around $500-1000 on the day. Today, that never happened. So I kept banging on the profit door figuring it would open and one of my trades would squirm it's way in. A $1000 ZS short ~11:45 did just that (which I could have held for double or triple that). But I also could have stopped after the first trade and skipped the next 18 trades and ended up at the same point at the end of the day. I was down nearly $1400 midday so it was a good recovery but way too much work.

I realize this chart is hard to follow where each trade sequence is but I'm not about to annotate it that well. Suffice it to say each green or red triangle represents 1 to 4 contracts typically.

Net breakdown (contracts traded):
ZS -$18(52), CL $221(2)

RESULTS FOR DAY
Contracts:	54
Net $P/L:	203
Wins:	10
Losses:	9
Win%:	53
Avg$Win:	262
Avg$Loss:	-269

Wed. 4/27 - Ten Commandments

1:35pm CDT - Still struggling with taking profits too early. Mechanical system trading was much easier than this discretionary stuff. But the results? The jury is still out...

Net breakdown (contracts traded):
ZS $569(6), CL $102(4)

RESULTS FOR DAY
Contracts:	10
Net $P/L:	671
Wins:	5
Losses:	2
Win%:	71
Avg$Win:	176
Avg$Loss:	-104

Whipplebox made me Google Doc Rotella and I liked it so much here it is with a twist:

Doc Rotella’s Ten Commandments (modified by MBAGearhead)

1. Trade to trade well. Don’t trade not to trade poorly.
2. Love the challenge of the day, whatever it may be.
3. Get out of results and get into process.
4. Know that nothing will bother or upset you regardless of price action and you will be in a great state of mind for every trade.
5. Trading with a feeling that the outcome doesn’t matter is almost always preferable to caring too much.
6. Believe fully in yourself so that you can trade freely.
7. See where you want the trade to go before every entry.
8. Be decisive, committed, and clear.
9. Be your own best friend.
10. Love your stop loss and your target.

Tues. 4/26

1:40pm CDT - Choppy day in beans so my "bad" habit of taking profits early worked well.

Net breakdown (contracts traded):
ZS $428(14), CL $91(2)

RESULTS FOR DAY
Contracts:	16
Net $P/L:	519
Wins:	5
Losses:	2
Win%:	71
Avg$Win:	209
Avg$Loss:	-262

Mon. 4/25

1:25pm CDT - Not a bad start to the week. Still need to work on my new methodology, which is mostly discretionary, as you can tell by the third trade of the day where I shortchanged myself nicely.

Net breakdown (contracts traded):
ZS $578(14)

RESULTS FOR DAY
Contracts:	14
Net $P/L:	578
Wins:	5
Losses:	1
Win%:	83
Avg$Win:	118
Avg$Loss:	-10

Thurs. 4/21

12:00pm CDT - Good day to end the week but left lots on the table. I figured ZS would die after the opening hour with the holiday weekend forthcoming. But after I decided to stop trading, the buyers pushed things up 15+ cents. Oh well. Results for the week, thanks to Monday, was a net loss of -$596. Look forward to a long weekend. Happy Easter!

Net breakdown (contracts traded):
ZS $509(8)

RESULTS FOR DAY
Contracts:	8
Net $P/L:	509
Wins:	2
Losses:	1
Win%:	67
Avg$Win:	290
Avg$Loss:	-71

Wed. 4/20

1:50pm CDT - Focused on only ZS today. Took 1 old system trade that lost $450. A long trade about 6 mins. after the open stopped to the tick and took off 10 cents without me. Otherwise an okay scratch day...

Net breakdown (contracts traded):
ZS -$6(35)

RESULTS FOR DAY
Contracts:	35
Net $P/L:	-6
Wins:	8
Losses:	5
Win%:	62
Avg$Win:	170
Avg$Loss:	-273

Tues. 4/19

5:00pm CDT - Thought for the day, "Whatever course you decide upon, there is always someone to tell you that you are wrong. There are always difficulties arising which tempt you to believe that your critics are right. To map out a course of action and follow it to an end requires courage." ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

I had been meaning to post this chart earlier but will now. It shows quite well the real relationship between R:R, Win%, and the effect on profit curve.

Net breakdown (contracts traded):
ZS $698(10), 6E -$491(14), YM -$154(4)

RESULTS FOR DAY
Contracts:	28
Net $P/L:	53
Wins:	3
Losses:	7
Win%:	30
Avg$Win:	330
Avg$Loss:	-134

Mon. 4/18

3:45pm CDT - I'm back, sort of... I kept my recent streak alive today as I'm working out the kinks of implementing new ideas and being off for more than a week. No need to elaborate on the new ideas now other than to say I'm veering away from being a breakout trader. Interestingly enough, however, my old ZS system has been on a roll. In the 7 days I haven't traded it, it has produced over 23 cents in profits. That's over $11,000 trading my old 10 lot size. Here's mud in your eye!

Net breakdown (contracts traded):
ZC -$1152(10)

RESULTS FOR DAY
Contracts:	10
Net $P/L:	-1152
Wins:	0
Losses:	4
Win%:	0
Avg$Win:	0
Avg$Loss:	-288

Thurs. 4/07 - Enough

12:00pm CDT - Enough is enough. Know when to say when. Yada, yada, yada... As I said a couple weeks ago, being a breakeven trader is not the plan. Which of course means being a losing trader is not either. Technically, I'm breakeven now for past 11 months and have given back ~60% of gains from 2010. My ZS system is broken and may recover but at this point it is not worth waiting to find out with real money. I will be taking a break from trading as I spend my time revamping my methodology or inventing a new one/ones! I expect to be back before end of April.

Today was stopped to the tick in a ZW short that would have paid nicely. Similar to ZS which I trailed stop too soon to breakeven as the earthquake news hit.

Net breakdown (contracts traded):
ZS $386(10), ZW -$463(5)

RESULTS FOR DAY
Contracts:	15
Net $P/L:	-77
Wins:	1
Losses:	2
Win%:	33
Avg$Win:	474
Avg$Loss:	-276

Wed. 4/06

1:25pm CDT - Ditto.

Net breakdown (contracts traded):
ZS -$1352(10), CL -$28(4)

RESULTS FOR DAY
Contracts:	14
Net $P/L:	-1379
Wins:	1
Losses:	5
Win%:	17
Avg$Win:	76
Avg$Loss:	-291

Tues. 4/05

2:00pm CDT - Over last 8 trading days, I have had 3 winners and 30 losers. Ouch. At least I had 1 of those winners today (ZS on long side). The race is not always to the swift, but to those who keep on running.

Net breakdown (contracts traded):
ZS -$66(10), CL -$552(5)

RESULTS FOR DAY
Contracts:	15
Net $P/L:	-66
Wins:	1
Losses:	6
Win%:	14
Avg$Win:	949
Avg$Loss:	-169

Mon. 4/04 - DRP

11:55am CDT - Drawdown Recovery Plan has begun! After today, I’m down 19% on the year and 29% from the year’s equity peak on March 4th. Obviously not where I wanted to be with 1/4 of the year gone but not that atypical of drawdowns. There’s 2 things about drawdowns that are inevitable, they either continue or you work your way up to new highs. Whichever outcome is in store for me (I choose the latter), I’m going to slow things down a bit for now. It’s all about longevity in this business and as I’ve said before, I’m in no hurry to succeed. Capital preservation is a must however.

For this week I will limit my trades to a max of 5 (1 lots) for CL and 3 (5 lots) for ZS. I will continue trading my ZS system which has been performing terribly and accounts for most of my drawdown. There is no particular reason why this has happened and it should snap back to normal at some point. Last year when I quit trading it, it was right at the bottom of a drawdown and came back nicely. By the time I resumed trading it, I missed out on much of the upswing. So I’m giving it another week at least this time.

After this week I will readjust the plan. If it’s a negative week, I will likely cease trading for a week or two and spend the time refining various methods and researching new ones.

Thanks to most all for the recent comments/emails. I haven’t responded to all but I do read them. And no worries regarding the “anon” folks that like spewing less than supportive tidbits. I have the ability to delete any comments if they get too far out there.

Net breakdown (contracts traded):
ZS -$1202(15), CL -$362(5)

RESULTS FOR DAY
Contracts:	20
Net $P/L:	-1565
Wins:	1
Losses:	7
Win%:	13
Avg$Win:	96
Avg$Loss:	-237

Fri. 4/01 - April Fools

1:10pm CDT - It's better to be thought a fool and remain silent than open one's mouth and remove all doubt. Happy April Fools' Day! A fellow trader suggested I pull a perfect prank today and post a $50k up or down day with an "April Fools" announcement to follow. But since I've never posted a fictitious post, why start now? And after March's loss, I'm not feeling that humorous.

Traded system half size today - 2 more losers. Stay tuned next week for DRP (Drawdown Recovery Plan)! Admin note, monthly statement link updated on right.

Net breakdown (contracts traded):
ZS -$839(10)

RESULTS FOR DAY
Contracts:	10
Net $P/L:	-839
Wins:	0
Losses:	2
Win%:	0
Avg$Win:	0
Avg$Loss:	-420

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