May Trading Summary

Net breakdown:
ZS $5040, GCL -$1569

RESULTS FOR MAY
Contracts:	295
Net $P/L:	3471
Wins:	24
Losses:	35
Win%:	41
Avg$Win:	986
Avg$Loss:	-577

Fri.

2:00pm CDT - Crude short was a nice gain but beans sucked it all back to red. So ends the poor week...

Net breakdown (contracts traded):
ZS -$1037(12), GCL $978(5)

RESULTS FOR DAY
Contracts:	17
Net $P/L:	-59
Wins:	1
Losses:	2
Win%:	33
Avg$Win:	978
Avg$Loss:	-518

For the week, I wish I could have Monday back. Net was -$1900 in crude and -$2100 in beans.

Thurs.

11:45pm CDT - Nothing working today. Too bad I didn't hold my crude long for more than 21 cents!

Net breakdown (contracts traded):
ZS -$962(12), GCL $2(4)

RESULTS FOR DAY
Contracts:	16
Net $P/L:	-959
Wins:	1
Losses:	3
Win%:	25
Avg$Win:	411
Avg$Loss:	-457

Wed.

1:50pm CDT - I'm beginning to wonder why I trade crude. But this is normal when in a drawdown. I will update my backtest results end of the week/month and see how things look.

Net breakdown (contracts traded):
ZS $626(12), GCL -$722(5)

RESULTS FOR DAY
Contracts:	17
Net $P/L:	-96
Wins:	1
Losses:	2
Win%:	33
Avg$Win:	657
Avg$Loss:	-377

Tues.

2:00pm CDT - Back to basics.

Net breakdown (contracts traded):
ZS $688(12)

RESULTS FOR DAY
Contracts:	12
Net $P/L:	688
Wins:	1
Losses:	1
Win%:	50
Avg$Win:	1169
Avg$Loss:	-481

Mon. Blues

10:30am CDT - Nothing working today so I'm packing it in early. Admittedly, I made a few trades outside my normal systems. The new crude strat which I tested out on Friday had 3 losers in a row today for -1000. And then I decided to take 1 more ZS trade (I normally always stop after 2) after the first 2 both got stopped out and I was "sure" the 3rd one would be golden. Add another -500 to the P/L. I haven't fully backtested taking the 3rd ZS trade each day so I guess the market is telling me to finish my homework before showing up for class.

Net breakdown (contracts traded):
ZS -$1443(18), GCL -$2150(9)

RESULTS FOR DAY
Contracts:	27
Net $P/L:	-3592
Wins:	0
Losses:	7
Win%:	0
Avg$Win:	0
Avg$Loss:	-513

Fri.

2:00pm CDT - Another poor day with 3 stop outs in my systems. I did test out a new crude strat which went 2 for 3, adding $353 on the day, and got me green on the week.

Net breakdown (contracts traded):
ZS -$1049(12), GCL -$819(11)

RESULTS FOR DAY
Contracts:	23
Net $P/L:	-1867
Wins:	2
Losses:	4
Win%:	33
Avg$Win:	391
Avg$Loss:	-662

For the week, very rollercoastery! Net, I made $400 in crude and lost $220 in beans.

Thurs.

12:00pm CDT - CL was due to pay me! :)
I'm waiting to hear back from my broker on this fill below. I really don't understand what happened. I should have been first in queue when price traded at 9.37 again after filling 1/6 of my limit order, right? Any theories out there why I didn't get 1 more lot filled at 9.37? (I ended up moving my order and got 2 ticks less on remaining 5 contracts.)

EDIT 1:30pm - After many emails back and forth, my broker offered a possible explanation. After my partial fill, price retraced 2 ticks and started returning to my 9.37 price. If, while trading at 9.3675, someone placed a sell limit order at 9.3675 but there were no bids at that price and someone placed a buy market order with the offer at 9.37, the order to sell at 9.3675 would fill at 9.37 (for a tick positive slippage) and take priority over my order.

Net breakdown (contracts traded):
ZS $563(12), GCL $2022(4)

RESULTS FOR DAY
Contracts:	16
Net $P/L:	2586
Wins:	2
Losses:	1
Win%:	67
Avg$Win:	1496
Avg$Loss:	-406

Wed.

1:15pm CDT - The bleed continues in crude - well within the normal drawdown expectations so I'm not too worried just yet.

Net breakdown (contracts traded):
ZS $613(12), GCL -$1072(5)

RESULTS FOR DAY
Contracts:	17
Net $P/L:	-459
Wins:	2
Losses:	1
Win%:	67
Avg$Win:	307
Avg$Loss:	-1072

Tues.

2:15pm CDT - Slippage in ZS and the new July CL contract to add salt to the three losers today.

Net breakdown (contracts traded):
ZS -$1037(12), GCL -$1063(3)

RESULTS FOR DAY
Contracts:	15
Net $P/L:	-2100
Wins:	0
Losses:	3
Win%:	0
Avg$Win:	0
Avg$Loss:	-700

Mon.

12:00pm CDT - Always nice to start with green in BOTH ZS and CL. CL still owes me from last week though.

In the news today, "Secretive speed traders in spotlight after crash."

Net breakdown (contracts traded):
ZS $688(12), GCL $1328(5)

RESULTS FOR DAY
Contracts:	17
Net $P/L:	2016
Wins:	2
Losses:	1
Win%:	67
Avg$Win:	1249
Avg$Loss:	-481

Fri.

12:50pm CDT - I really need to slap crude, she's been a b*tch this week! Too bad my system doesn't capture the bigger swings like the short move today. Another item for the "to do" list.

Net breakdown (contracts traded):
ZS $1169(6), GCL -$822(5)

RESULTS FOR DAY
Contracts:	11
Net $P/L:	347
Wins:	1
Losses:	1
Win%:	50
Avg$Win:	1169
Avg$Loss:	-822

For the week, 0 for 3 in crude for a $3300 loss there. But beans more than made up for that.

Finally, an update on my 2 systems I am trading is below (Jan 1st thru today). I update my Excel files every couple weeks or so to see how the theoretical P/L curve should look. I guess I should overlay my actual results since I started trading these in March (which are very close) but this is all I have for now...

Thurs.

1:30pm CDT - This is such a game of ticks. My stop entry on crude slipped 10 ticks this morning adding $300 to that loser. Then beans teased me and came within 2 ticks of my target but then eased back and was a tick away from a reversal signal before meandering back toward my target and through it. Whew!

Net breakdown (contracts traded):
ZS $1169(6), GCL -$1303(3)

RESULTS FOR DAY
Contracts:	9
Net $P/L:	-134
Wins:	1
Losses:	1
Win%:	50
Avg$Win:	1169
Avg$Loss:	-1303

Wed.

12:00pm CDT - Yesterday repeated...

Net breakdown (contracts traded):
ZS $688(12)

RESULTS FOR DAY
Contracts:	12
Net $P/L:	688
Wins:	1
Losses:	1
Win%:	50
Avg$Win:	1169
Avg$Loss:	-481

Tues.

1:40pm CDT - Patience paid again today as I watched a long ZS trade get within 2 ticks of my target only to reverse and fall back to within 1 tick from stopping me out. But it traded up again and filled me at the high print of the morning.

Net breakdown (contracts traded):
ZS $688(12)

RESULTS FOR DAY
Contracts:	12
Net $P/L:	688
Wins:	1
Losses:	1
Win%:	50
Avg$Win:	1169
Avg$Loss:	-481

Mon.

1:45pm CDT - Stopped out by 9 ticks on CL this morning before it reversed and hit target. ES chart looks like crude oil!

Net breakdown (contracts traded):
ZS $1069(6), GCL -$1178(4)

RESULTS FOR DAY
Contracts:	10
Net $P/L:	-109
Wins:	1
Losses:	1
Win%:	50
Avg$Win:	1069
Avg$Loss:	-1178

Fri.

1:40pm CDT - A quick comment on yesterday afternoon is WOW! I was tempted to hit buy on my ES DOM on the live-cat bounce (it sure wasn't a dead cat!), but I was content to watch in awe. At the height of the panic, ES fell 58 handles in a 4 min. period, the YM nearly 600 pts. I guess this is why our brokers make us sign those risk disclosures when we open an account.

Just 1 bean trade on the long side today.

Net breakdown (contracts traded):
ZS $1169(6)

RESULTS FOR DAY
Contracts:	6
Net $P/L:	1169
Wins:	1
Losses:	0
Win%:	100
Avg$Win:	1169
Avg$Loss:	0

For the week, it was my best since the first week of Aug. 2008. And back then I had to place 100 trades (nearly 700 ES contracts) to net $6600! Trading 64 contracts (ZS, CL) in 12 trades this week sure seems a lot less stressful...

Thurs. + Tax Strat

12:00pm CDT - Another nice day. A mistake executing my CL system cost me about $300 though. You see I don't really have hard rules in place for my position sizing and instead just estimate the lot size based on the risk (where I set my stop). After the 4 lot trade filled, I realized I normally would have had only a 3 lot on so I decided to tighten up the target and stop to compensate. Of course price easily traded through the original target...

Net breakdown (contracts traded):
ZS $613(12), GCL $1062(4)

RESULTS FOR DAY
Contracts:	16
Net $P/L:	1676
Wins:	2
Losses:	1
Win%:	67
Avg$Win:	891
Avg$Loss:	-106

__________________________
Tax Evasion Strategy?

OK, my recent trading has got me thinking (always a dangerous thing). Here's the situation I hope to be in "some year..."

I currently have 2 trading accounts, a taxed one that I get a 1099 on from my broker each year, and a tax-free Roth IRA. Let's assume that I normally take the same trades in both accounts and I end up with ~$50k in profits at the end of November of "some year" in both accounts. Now I don’t mind paying taxes when I'm required to do so but if there's a legal way to avoid paying, or delaying payment, I'm all for it!

During the month of December, it should be possible to hedge one account against the other with equally opposite trades, drawing down the taxed account while increasing the capital in the Roth IRA. This could be via day trades or longer swing trades. Short 10 ES in 1 account, Long 10 ES in other - you get the idea. The question is what trading method can be incorporated to do this successfully? The risk of course is that if you are wrong, you will draw down the Roth IRA thereby increasing the now taxable gains in the taxed account and by the end of December you will owe more than you would have originally. Any ideas out there blog readers?

Wed. Cinco de Mayo

12:10pm CDT - Winners all around! I could get used to days like this. Took my long bean trade off a tick under target when it traded my price but didn't fill me. After I exited it went down more than 2.5 cents before returning to trade through my price 10 min. later. Just goes to show you no matter how much you think you know what will happen on any given trade, you don't!

Net breakdown (contracts traded):
ZS $1094(6), GCL $1607(3)

RESULTS FOR DAY
Contracts:	9
Net $P/L:	2701
Wins:	2
Losses:	0
Win%:	100
Avg$Win:	1350
Avg$Loss:	0

Tues.

2:00pm CDT - Stopped out by 4 ticks on CL short this morning. And a mixed day on 2 bean trades but one took hold and limited losses for the day.

Net breakdown (contracts traded):
ZS $688(12), GCL -$822(5)

RESULTS FOR DAY
Contracts:	17
Net $P/L:	-134
Wins:	1
Losses:	2
Win%:	33
Avg$Win:	794
Avg$Loss:	-464

Mon.

12:15pm CDT - Crude was nice to me but not beans. At least I'm green to start week!

Net breakdown (contracts traded):
ZS -$962(12), GCL $1382(4)

RESULTS FOR DAY
Contracts:	16
Net $P/L:	421
Wins:	1
Losses:	2
Win%:	33
Avg$Win:	1382
Avg$Loss:	-481

April Trading Summary

Net breakdown:
ZS $3558, GCL $1511

RESULTS FOR APRIL
Contracts:	280
Net $P/L:	5069
Wins:	23
Losses:	28
Win%:	45
Avg$Win:	839
Avg$Loss:	-508

Fri.

12:00pm CDT - Happy with a positive end to the month.

Net breakdown (contracts traded):
ZS $688(12), GCL -$332(5)

RESULTS FOR DAY
Contracts:	17
Net $P/L:	356
Wins:	1
Losses:	2
Win%:	33
Avg$Win:	1169
Avg$Loss:	-406

For the week:

Visualizing a contract

1:30pm CDT - So many of us futures traders (me anyways) don't really know, in real physical terms, what we are trading. So I did some research and found out something to help me visualize a contract better.

1 ZS = 5000 bushels = 46546 gallons = 6222 cu.ft.
Value ~$10/bushel
1 CL = 1000 barrels = 42000 gallons = 5615 cu.ft.
Value ~$85/barrel

If you own a 1600 sq.ft. house (close to the American norm), 1 contract would fill up every room of your house with either crude oil or soybeans nearly up to your chest! And you'd have $85000 worth of crude or $50000 worth of beans making your house much more valuable, neglecting the clean up costs of course!

------------------------------
No crude trades today and should have had only 1 ZS trade. I also overrode my targeted exit and got out 2 ticks sooner only to watch it trade a tick through my target seconds later. Oh well. The near fatal mistake occurred later when I heard a cha-ching (luckily I was at my computer). I didn't cancel all my earlier orders which I normally do and got filled on a bean short. But I flattened right away for a tick profit. :)

Net breakdown (contracts traded):
ZS $1063(12)

RESULTS FOR DAY
Contracts:	12
Net $P/L:	1063
Wins:	2
Losses:	0
Win%:	100
Avg$Win:	532
Avg$Loss:	0

Wed.

2:00pm CDT - 3 morning losers. Didn't trade after FOMC non-event. I've been noticing many days like today, if I had taken the next ZS signal, it would have been a winner. I've been limiting myself to a max of 2 ZS trades per day. I need to dust off my backtesting and checkout results if I take more trades. I'm also backtesting another CL system idea. The work never ends...

Net breakdown (contracts traded):
ZS -$962(12), GCL -$522(5)

RESULTS FOR DAY
Contracts:	17
Net $P/L:	-1484
Wins:	0
Losses:	3
Win%:	0
Avg$Win:	0
Avg$Loss:	-495

Tues.

12:30pm CDT - My crude system had a long that got the morning blood flowing in the morning chop as it neared target, then neared stop, then neared target again causing me to bail, then neared stop, then shot through the original target. Typical day in beans with 1 winner and 1 loser.

Net breakdown (contracts traded):
ZS $688(12), GCL $1038(5)

RESULTS FOR DAY
Contracts:	17
Net $P/L:	1726
Wins:	2
Losses:	1
Win%:	33
Avg$Win:	1104
Avg$Loss:	-481

Mon.

12:45pm CDT - No crude trades and a short winner and long loser bean trade. Good start to the week.

Net breakdown (contracts traded):
ZS $688(12)

RESULTS FOR DAY
Contracts:	12
Net $P/L:	688
Wins:	1
Losses:	1
Win%:	50
Avg$Win:	1169
Avg$Loss:	-481

Fri.

12:00pm CDT - Guess I was due for a day like today, no luck involved.

Net breakdown (contracts traded):
ZS -$887(12), GCL -$672(5)

RESULTS FOR DAY
Contracts:	17
Net $P/L:	-1559
Wins:	0
Losses:	3
Win%:	0
Avg$Win:	0
Avg$Loss:	-520

For the week:

Thurs.

12:30pm CDT - Another good day in beans and another day I was filled at the low of the day 10.0175, this time the full lot. I feel lucky for sure! No crude trades today but system was 1 tick away from signaling an entry this morning but then price reversed.

Net breakdown (contracts traded):
ZS $1169(6)

RESULTS FOR DAY
Contracts:	6
Net $P/L:	1169
Wins:	1
Losses:	0
Win%:	100
Avg$Win:	1169
Avg$Loss:	0

Dear Blog, Happy Birthday!

12:00pm CDT - HAPPY BIRTHDAY BLOG!!!! Hard to believe it's been a year already (First Post 4/21/09) since I started this daily transparent log of every dollar I've made and lost. I don't see it ending anytime in the next year or more as it's become a habit and takes very little time. Plus I'm not very wordy and never feel compelled to provide witty commentary or a detailed play-by-play on the day. And I'm proud I'm not wasting anyone's time! As you will note below, most of you regular readers spend less than 10 sec. reading my blog entries. This blog is what it is, real results. I do wish more bloggers would join in and post daily actual net profits/losses but very few do for a variety of reasons. I feel real strongly about this for those that sell any type of service.

So continuing with my full transparency, here's a peek behind the curtain. Frankly I don't care at all how many visits or unique visitors I get but I am a numbers geek so find this stuff interesting. Hard to believe over 4000 have peeked in my windows!

As for today, it was good but anxious. I wasn't paying attention to the time when "cha-ching" alerted me to a fill in crude when the inventory report came out. Orders were in long before and entry and exit complete in 3 minutes, 15 seconds! Beans came within a tick of my 4 cent target but I ended up settling for less than 2 on the long side. I passed on the next trade which would have netted another $200 but I am content with the day/week so far.

Net breakdown (contracts traded):
ZS $482(6), GCL $1517(3)

RESULTS FOR DAY
Contracts:	9
Net $P/L:	1998
Wins:	2
Losses:	0
Win%:	100
Avg$Win:	999
Avg$Loss:	0