Monday, November 30, 2009

November Trading Summary

RESULTS FOR NOVEMBER
Contracts:123
Net $P/L:-2075
Wins:52
Losses:54
Win%:49
Avg$Win:67
Avg$Loss:-103

Pissed

2:15pm CST - Having regrets is not good but this one is going to stay with me for at least the rest of the day. I think I'm entitled...

After lots of homework and backtesting in the past few days, I decided I would start trading a new plan today with specific entry and exit rules and virtually no discretion involved. I say "virtually" because there will always be some scenario that I, and thus my rules, hadn't thought of. I have more backtesting to do before I feel 95% confident with this method (I would say 100% but anyone who says that isn't a realist, and I am). I'll elaborate more in future posts.

Anyways, today started bad with a $500 hit on crude. Then a nice $300 gain in beans, followed by the trade that made my head hurt (from kicking it repeatedly). Attached is the chart. I missed booking $900 thanks to not following my system. It was just laying there and I let somebody else have it. Back at it tomorrow....
11/30/09 Trades

Net breakdown: GCL -$229, ZS $307
RESULTS FOR DAY
Contracts:3
Net $P/L:78
Wins:2
Losses:1
Win%:67
Avg$Win:297
Avg$Loss:-515

Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Killed by Crude

2:40pm CST - OK, I didn't expect this to be easy and today was far from it. I was up $125 or so before crude killed me. I need to change my plan on GCL or maybe switch to QM (mini-crude) or just not trade it. Inventory report didn't help but mostly trying to short at resistance levels was futile. C'est la vie...

But on this day before Thanksgiving Day, I am thankful for the ability to participate in this profession, as hard and as challenging as it is. And making it possible are other things I'm thankful for, namely good health, a good past career in engineering, and no debt.

Net breakdown: 6E -$6, GCL -$612, ZS -$135, TF $21
RESULTS FOR DAY
Contracts:28
Net $P/L:-733
Wins:13
Losses:14
Win%:48
Avg$Win:41
Avg$Loss:-90

Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Euros, Beans, and Crude -Oh My!

2:55pm CST - It felt like Lions and Tigers and Bears after trading Dogs (ES) for so long. I've watched these markets in the recent past and traded them all years ago but to actually jump right in today had the adrenaline flowing at times. But I took it easy and scalped some gains which could have been much more had I held some of the winners longer. But I'm content with this start into expanding by repertoire...

11/24/09 Trades
Net breakdown: 6E -$81, GCL $189, ZS $94
RESULTS FOR DAY
Contracts:12
Net $P/L:202
Wins:8
Losses:4
Win%:67
Avg$Win:66
Avg$Loss:-81

Monday, November 23, 2009

More than ES

3:10pm CST - Volume wasn't as bad today as I thought it might be but but unless you caught the initial pop up, there was nothing but a slow grind down the rest of the day. I plan to continue to take it easy the rest of this holiday week.

Thanks in part to my fellow bloggers, I've been contemplating expanding my repertoire for some time as the ES has been so tough to trade lately. Currencies, grains, mini-Russell, crude, etc. all have lots of opportunity when the ES is just plain dead. It may be a mistake to be more than a one trick pony (ES) but I will find out anyways. Focusing on multiple markets does take more effort but more effort should result in more opportunity.

Today was 3 ES trades and 1 6E trade. Not sure how I will change my summary table below going forward but for now I'm just lumping all trades together.

RESULTS FOR DAY
Contracts:4
Net $P/L:87
Wins:3
Losses:1
Win%:75
Avg$Win:43
Avg$Loss:-40

Friday, November 20, 2009

Low Thrills

2:50pm CST - Nice break this week but had to attempt to climb back on the horse today. I nearly shorted yesterday a few minutes after the open at 1099 but "nearly" doesn't count in this business! Today was a low-thrills day that chopped me around but didn't do any damage.

Next week's action with Thanksgiving holiday is bound to be even worse than most of this week.

RESULTS FOR DAY
Contracts:8
Net $P/L:16
Wins:4
Losses:3
Win%:57
Avg$Win:40
Avg$Loss:-48

Friday, November 13, 2009

Friday the 13th

3:15pm CST - I escaped Friday the 13th bad luck with a final winner that got me back to breakeven on the day. The tape had so many dead zones today it was tough to stay alert.
11/13/09 ES Trades

I told myself mid-week if I didn't have a positive week, I would take some time off for at least part of next week. So that's what I'm going to do. Of course my idea of "time off" means I will still be pouring through charts, backtesting strats, etc. - I just won't be placing trades. Have a good weekend all.

RESULTS FOR DAY
Contracts:10
Net $P/L:-1
Wins:4
Losses:5
Win%:44
Avg$Win:90
Avg$Loss:-72

Thursday, November 12, 2009

Par day

3:50pm CST - Some winners, some losers. And for those that asked, I'll try to post more charts but no promises.
11/12/09 ES Trades

RESULTS FOR DAY
Contracts:5
Net $P/L:-51
Wins:2
Losses:3
Win%:40
Avg$Win:122
Avg$Loss:-98

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Veterans Day

2:50pm CST - A 12 pt. ES range on Veterans Day isn't too bad but it got choppy after the first 1.5 hrs. Got 2 signals today which both stopped out.

RESULTS FOR DAY
Contracts:2
Net $P/L:-206
Wins:0
Losses:2
Win%:0
Avg$Win:0
Avg$Loss:-103

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Pre-holiday chop

3:10pm CST - Lots of chop today with only one winner. But I followed the plan of the day and took every trade signal. The 2 afternoon trades are shown on the chart, a loser and the winner:
11/10/09 Afternoon ES Trades

RESULTS FOR DAY
Contracts:4
Net $P/L:-135
Wins:1
Losses:3
Win%:25
Avg$Win:147
Avg$Loss:-94

Monday, November 9, 2009

Up Monday

2:50pm CST - Nice slow motion move up today but with zero good pullbacks! At least I caught the early breakout.

RESULTS FOR DAY
Contracts:1
Net $P/L:147
Wins:1
Losses:0
Win%:100
Avg$Win:147
Avg$Loss:0

Friday, November 6, 2009

Quit while I'm behind

11:00am CST - My Friday luck continues. 3 of the losers stopped out to within a tick and reversed to go my way without me to hit my targets. Such is trading. The good news is that I stuck to my plan, did not revenge trade to try to get it back, and shut it down for the day.

RESULTS FOR DAY
Contracts:8
Net $P/L:-558
Wins:1
Losses:7
Win%:13
Avg$Win:34
Avg$Loss:-84

Thursday, November 5, 2009

Slow day

3:00pm CST - Slow day with many trades that went nowhere.

RESULTS FOR DAY
Contracts:6
Net $P/L:84
Wins:5
Losses:1
Win%:83
Avg$Win:32
Avg$Loss:-78

Wednesday, November 4, 2009

FOMC Day

3:00pm CST - 2 trades after the FOMC non-news. Coulda, woulda, shoulda held the second one into the close for 10+ points...

RESULTS FOR DAY
Contracts:2
Net $P/L:169
Wins:2
Losses:0
Win%:100
Avg$Win:85
Avg$Loss:0

Tuesday, November 3, 2009

Donkey

No trades today....

Thanks to those who have commented or emailed with offers of help. I appreciate it but the main issue I've had lately cannot be solved by anyone but myself. It is in my head. Now a secondary issue may be lack of a winning edge. Anyone wanting to help there, just email me your strategy with all the specific entry/exit details! :)

This landed in my inbox today and seemed appropriate:
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One day a farmer's donkey fell down into a well. The animal cried piteously for hours as the farmer tried to figure out what to do. Finally, he decided the animal was old, and the well needed to be covered up anyway; it just wasn't worth it to retrieve the donkey.



He invited all his neighbors to come over and help him. They all grabbed a shovel and began to shovel dirt into the well. At first, the donkey realized what was happening and cried horribly. Then, to everyone's amazement he quieted down.

A few shovel loads later, the farmer finally looked down the well. He was astonished at what he saw. With each shovel of dirt that hit his back, the donkey was doing something amazing. He would shake it off and take a step up.


As the farmer's neighbors continued to shovel dirt on top of the animal, he would shake it off and take a step up. Pretty soon, everyone was amazed as the donkey stepped up over the edge of the well and happily trotted off!

MORAL: Life is going to shovel dirt on you, all kinds of dirt. The trick to getting out of the well is to shake it off and take a step up. Each of our troubles is a steppingstone. We can get out of the deepest wells just by not stopping and never giving up! Shake it off and take a step up.

Monday, November 2, 2009

Pathetic

3:15pm CST - Pathetic describes my trading to open this month. Obviously I need to make some changes (how many times have I said that before?). Stay tuned...

RESULTS FOR DAY
Contracts:30
Net $P/L:-1178
Wins:6
Losses:10
Win%:38
Avg$Win:49
Avg$Loss:-147