January Trading Summary

Net breakdown:
ZS -$1394, ZW $1247, ZC $1886, RLM -$46, GCL -$1320

RESULTS FOR JANUARY
Contracts:	682
Net $P/L:	373
Wins:	43
Losses:	79
Win%:	35
$Commissions:	3472
Avg$Win:	786
Avg$Loss:	-423

Mon. 1/31

2:20pm CST - Good to end the day and the month in the green. Wished I had traded CL today too after seeing that behemoth swing more than $4 up today.

Net breakdown (contracts traded):
ZS $1047(20), ZW -$117(30)

RESULTS FOR DAY
Contracts:	50
Net $P/L:	929
Wins:	2
Losses:	5
Win%:	29
Avg$Win:	1517
Avg$Loss:	-421

Fri. 1/28

1:25pm CST - I'm back online, recharged and relaxed. In looking at my bean charts for the days I was gone, my main system would have netted $4000+. So that was the opportunity cost in taking some time off. Of course I may have mucked that up with other trades so who really knows what might have been? And since you can't live in the past, who cares!

Net breakdown (contracts traded):
ZS $959(20)

RESULTS FOR DAY
Contracts:	20
Net $P/L:	959
Wins:	1
Losses:	1
Win%:	50
Avg$Win:	1886
Avg$Loss:	-927

Fri. 1/21

9:30am CST - No trades for me today or for the next few. Going off the grid for a short break. Don't miss me. Results for the week, net loss of -$382. MTD: -$1516

Thurs. 1/20

2:00pm CST - More wide moves in grains again today. After the opening 1 min. ZS bar fell more than 11 cents, long was the way to go. Too bad one of my system trades missed target on short side by 2 ticks and I ended up taking a loss. P/L swung between +/- $1000 and settled in the middle. Better than a hot stick in the eye...

Net breakdown (contracts traded):
ZS -$290(32), CL $396(1)

RESULTS FOR DAY
Contracts:	33
Net $P/L:	105
Wins:	3
Losses:	2
Win%:	60
Avg$Win:	590
Avg$Loss:	-832

Wed. 1/19

1:00pm CST - After 3 red days, I was due for this one. Early shorts in both ZS and CL. Closed up shop early.

Net breakdown (contracts traded):
ZS $1823(10), CL $281(2)

RESULTS FOR DAY
Contracts:	12
Net $P/L:	2104
Wins:	2
Losses:	0
Win%:	100
Avg$Win:	1052
Avg$Loss:	0

Tues. 1/18

1:50pm CST - So much for feeling out a new system with 1 and 2 lots today. It was chopped to pieces. Not much more to say - the numbers speak volumes.

Net breakdown (contracts traded):
ZS -$625(34), ZW -$731(6), RLM -$445(2), CL -$18(4)

RESULTS FOR DAY
Contracts:	46
Net $P/L:	-1819
Wins:	5
Losses:	13
Win%:	28
Avg$Win:	467
Avg$Loss:	-320

Fri. 1/14

2:15pm CST - Another choppy day. Stopped out by 1 tick on a ZS trade, $800 loser instead of a $1900 winner. I hate the thought of any "edge" I may or may not have only being a tick here or there. But that is often the case. For the week net loss of -$1076.

Net breakdown (contracts traded):
ZS -$1192(25), ZW $423(15), RLM -$86(2), CL $82(4)

RESULTS FOR DAY
Contracts:	46
Net $P/L:	-773
Wins:	4
Losses:	5
Win%:	44
Avg$Win:	382
Avg$Loss:	-460

Thurs. 1/13

2:30pm CST - Not my day today. This time due to mistakes. Moved a stop at wrong time and got stopped out. Was suppose to wait until close of candle. Lost $800 instead of making $1800. Then I forget to cancel an order that I heard "ding" for the fill after lunch. Got out at par but still!

For you Forex traders out there, this article likely is nothing you didn't already know.

Net breakdown (contracts traded):
ZS -$1756(35), ZC $474(5)

RESULTS FOR DAY
Contracts:	40
Net $P/L:	-1281
Wins:	2
Losses:	4
Win%:	33
Avg$Win:	380
Avg$Loss:	-511

Wed. 1/12 -Grain Limit Up

1:00pm CST - Crazy grain day today. 2 early winners had me up $2k, then lost all that in next 3 trades, then made it back on last trade. Corn and beans are flirting with closing limit up today (not shown below). But that's still 15 min. away and I'm posting now!

Net breakdown (contracts traded):
ZS $669(40), ZC $1412(5)

RESULTS FOR DAY
Contracts:	45
Net $P/L:	2080
Wins:	3
Losses:	3
Win%:	50
Avg$Win:	1424
Avg$Loss:	-730

Tues. 1/11

2:00pm CST - Abysmal results today. I need to revamp my plan. You see I stop trading when I get up $1000-2000, but my fuzzy stop point isn't until around -$3000. On days like this when my "edge" is non-existent or negative, it makes no sense to keep trading as the red gets redder.

Net breakdown (contracts traded):
ZS -$1831(40), CL -$1094(10)

RESULTS FOR DAY
Contracts:	50
Net $P/L:	-2926
Wins:	1
Losses:	7
Win%:	13
Avg$Win:	474
Avg$Loss:	-486

Mon. 1/10

1:20pm CST - One and done today. The early volatility nearly chopped me out. This seems to be the norm now, less so last year. Either that or I got used to the calmer Nov./Dec. grain markets and forgot how they can jump up and down 4-8 ticks in milliseconds?

Net breakdown (contracts traded):
ZS $1823(10)

RESULTS FOR DAY
Contracts:	10
Net $P/L:	1823
Wins:	1
Losses:	0
Win%:	100
Avg$Win:	1823
Avg$Loss:	0

Fri. 1/07

2:20pm CST - So much for ending the week on an up note. It was chop galore on 75% of my signals today. I had unrealized of +$1k early on but that didn't last long. Down for the week net -$841.

Net breakdown (contracts traded):
ZS -$2347(60), ZW $448(10), RLM $486(5), CL -$967(15)

RESULTS FOR DAY
Contracts:	90
Net $P/L:	-2380
Wins:	4
Losses:	12
Win%:	25
Avg$Win:	524
Avg$Loss:	-373

Thurs. 1/06

1:30pm CST - Feels like a red day but the end result says different. Not sure if that feeling is a good thing or a bad thing. Certainly not feeling complacent after 4 days into the new year.

Net breakdown (contracts traded):
ZS $845(30), ZW $359(20)

RESULTS FOR DAY
Contracts:	50
Net $P/L:	1205
Wins:	4
Losses:	4
Win%:	50
Avg$Win:	771
Avg$Loss:	-470

Wed. 1/05

2:00pm CST - A grinder of a day. I'm realizing that my plan this year of letting winners run longer is going to be a challenge. But that's what trading is...

Net breakdown (contracts traded):
ZS $769(35), ZW $209(25)

RESULTS FOR DAY
Contracts:	60
Net $P/L:	978
Wins:	6
Losses:	5
Win%:	55
Avg$Win:	418
Avg$Loss:	-306

Tues. 1/04

2:10pm CST - And there's the new year humbling I needed! Grrr......
And I find out today that NFA fees on futures seem to have gone from 2 cents per share to 4 cents per share. Happy New Year!

Net breakdown (contracts traded):
ZS -$3047(60), ZW $1120(30)

RESULTS FOR DAY
Contracts:	90
Net $P/L:	-1927
Wins:	3
Losses:	13
Win%:	19
Avg$Win:	808
Avg$Loss:	-335

Mon. 1/03

11:20am CST - Admin note: I've added "Past Performance Results" over there in the right margin of this blog. That will be updated monthly. And I will cease posting my weekly P/L chart since I will be updating my equity curve monthly instead.

Tough Sunday evening as I foolishly thought that the grain opening would be stellar in the first open of the year. Down as much as $2.4k on 30 contracts with the last ZW winning long stopping me out to the tick before drifting to my target 6 cents higher over an hour later (pic below). But a 10-lot ZS short this morning more than offset the Sun. night mishaps to wrap up the 1st trading day of 2011 in my favorite color: GREEN!

Net breakdown (contracts traded):
ZS $1758(30), ZW -$464(10)

RESULTS FOR DAY
Contracts:	40
Net $P/L:	1294
Wins:	2
Losses:	5
Win%:	29
Avg$Win:	1849
Avg$Loss:	-481

2011 Goal and 2010 Trade Analysis

Well it wasn't the year I was shooting for but it was positive in many respects so no complaints. Starting this year, I'm going to start posting my monthly statements. I've never posted the size of my trading accounts before but since my "Calling all Bloggers" post asked for more transparency/inspiration from others, why not belly up to the bar myself and post this missing info? After all, being well capitalized is a huge advantage in any trader's success, in my opinion.

That being said, I trade 2 accounts and combined I started 2010 with $52,000 and ended the year with $78,500 for a net return in 2010 of $26,500 or +51%.

My goal for 2011 is 100%+ return! I know it can be done. I will be focusing mostly on the grains.

Now for an analysis of 2010 trades after crunching all the data.

GCL, RLM, and ZS had enough trades to warrant charting each:

Other charts combine all trades made and are self explanatory.


The reasons for the poor performance in the 2nd half of the year are many. I hit my P/L peak in mid-August at $34,800 and have been in a drawdown since then. Most notably was that my main CL and ZS systems both suffered drawdowns at the same time and I stopped trading them. Turns out that the ZS system would have recovered nicely and returned to normal if I had grinded through the drawdown. The other major factor is evident in the R:R monthly chart above. After March, it starts sloping down. Tweaking systems likely contributed too and I must resist my engineering tendencies to always change things.

Look forward to 2011! Bring it on!