Are you winning?


This post was prompted by something I read today. elite trader asked myptofvu if he was a profitable trader. myptofvu apparently gave an honest answer. No details, but quite frank. Well, this is something I would dearly like to know about all residents and visitors here. Are you winning or losing?

Many posts here have alluded to successes. Several contributors are revealing their basic strategies. PT is posting daily logs of his trades, both wins and losses. I think that's awesome and want to thank you all for sharing. But let's take it further.

We all keep pretty tight about our overall profits/losses. I've visited several trading rooms and it's the same. Not many traders will reveal their real performance. Over and over, we put these vendors under pressure to supply broker-verified statements. Well, without going to that extent, how about a general summation of your successes/failures? We'll take it on the honor system.

Now I realize that it may be considered extremely rude to ask a guy how much money he makes. It's kind of like asking a couple how often they have sex. Not only is it personal, but you will probably get a different answer from each participant! And of course, no one wants to appear a braggart, nor a loser.

But I'm curious. If 90% of traders lose money, does that statistic transfer into this forum? Or could it be that we are actually blessed with a high percentage of substantially profitable traders? I see a lot of intelligence here (beyond my level) but how about a dollar value? In the words of elite trader: "Are you a profitable trader?" That's what I want to know.

I propose a thread whereby anyone willing can brag about individual victories, cry about heavy losses, or simply reveal their long term performance. Bare your soul for the benefit of those who follow.

I will personally kick off the discussion with my own experience to date. If anyone else would care to contribute, here's to ya!
quote:
Originally posted by myptofvu

quote:
Originally posted by T Rex

quote:
Originally posted by myptofvu

Today was a pretty crappy day to try and trade the S&P. It was mostly choppy and congested. Out of boredom I took 1 trade that didn't work.

S 1445.75
B 1446.75
P&L -1.00 pt PC

By the way, I received an answer to the comissions question. To receive 3.88 round turn you need to trade 700 contracts per month (they may make exceptions)


myptofvu:

Which broker?

Did you sell as price was moving up from lower levels or down from much higher ones? If you post a screenshot with time and sale of entry, I'll put in my 2 cents worth if you care.

Don't feel bad about missing trades. Today I planned on buying 1442 on the retest around 10:30 and got interrupted by the superintendent. It was costly.

T Rex



I have four brokers. I don't want to mention names for fear that I might be promoting something. If you are interested we'll find another way to transact.

YES, I WOULD HIGHLY VALUE YOUR FEEDBACK, but I don't know how to post snapshots. I do talk to others while trading via yahoo instant messanger. Would you consider doing that?


Sure.
Hi MyPT,
I have hesitated to post my daily recaps for the following reasons:

1) I beleive the trade entires, targets and stop loss points would be more valuable if we posted them. For example today I took a short at the plus 4 number off the opening and covered at 1242.50 and then got stopped out as I was trying to get down near the open. This tells you the reason I took the trade. I could sum it ups as:

Short 8 @ 1444.50
Bought 4 @ 1442.50

stopped at 1444.25 on balance

but without an explaination for the trade it seems to have less meaning to me. This is just my opinion but agree with you 1000% that if new traders need to SEE that other traders are losing then it could be beneficial. I also think it is more constructive if someone is posting their "reasons" so we can improve upon them or critique those that are failing consistently to help each other out. I think this is the true benefit of a forum where people exchange ideas.

I also automatically assume that everyone has down days/weeks/months and those who say they don't are liars. So if you have methods that work I think it is safe to assume the following:

Posting the exact setup on this forum will not affect the effectiveness of the method as people love to "tinker" with things and many will not trade it the same way anyway. Ok that's my long story only my opinions. I'm sorry your disappointed in the responses so far.

Bruce
quote:
Originally posted by myptofvu

I originally participated in this thread for three reasons:

First, Felix had asked if people were winning. I viewed this as an opportunity to encourage new traders to take up arms and join the fight. I felt that if they witnessed other traders experiencing winning days they would feel more comfortable taking the leap into trading.

Second, I thought that this could provide a great service on down days helping to muster fellow traders spirits on losing days realizing they are not alone.

Lastly, I took this as opportunity to enhance my own trading skills by being more discerning about my own trades knowing that they will be made visible to public scrutiny.

I find however that my first two reasons will come to naught if I am the only one posting their results. If others feel such as I do, would they please contribute to this thread?


It is my opinion that you should keep these types of posts off the thread. You can just email him through the forum in private. A post like this has nothing to do with "Are you winning" . This just enhances the current thought of some ( me included )that T-rex is a vendor. Sorry Myptofvu to chime in as I am not the Forum police but this is how trouble can start. This reply by me can also add to the "trouble" because it encourages "off topic" opinions...like mine. Perhaps I am out of line and I will ask the moderator in advance to remove my reply if it is so or edit it as they see fit.

Bruce
quote:
Originally posted by myptofvu

T Rex

Do you have a yahoo email account? If so I can add you.

Hi Bruce,

"I believe the trade entries, targets and stop loss points would be more valuable if we posted them"....

Are you saying that we should post as we go? If so I'm okay with that but like I do with my IM messeging I place my trade first then post it. Most times I tell where I'm sitting well in advance but some times its on the fly.

Do I understand this correctly?
quote:
Originally posted by BruceM

It is my opinion that you should keep these types of posts off the thread. You can just email him through the forum in private. A post like this has nothing to do with "Are you winning" . This just enhances the current thought of some ( me included )that T-rex is a vendor. Sorry Myptofvu to chime in as I am not the Forum police but this is how trouble can start. This reply by me can also add to the "trouble" because it encourages "off topic" opinions...like mine. Perhaps I am out of line and I will ask the moderator in advance to remove my reply if it is so or edit it as they see fit.

Bruce
quote:
Originally posted by myptofvu

T Rex

Do you have a yahoo email account? If so I can add you.





I deleted it after I saw your post.
I don't think it is neccessary to post it as you go. That could become more stressful as posting and trading can be tough in my opinion. I just think that we could post them after the fact with an explaination however detailed or brief one wants to. This way we can "see" the reason for the trade. Perhaps overtime we can improve upon enties we each use consistently. For example from my short trade above, there may be a time when I am selling rallies and they are failing under "certain" conditions that I can't see but someone else can.

This would be a tremendous value having many eyes on the trades, stoploss and targets etc....just a thought. Today I got stopped out on "runners" so there where obviously buyers that where stepping into the market that I didn't see. In a private email somebody mentioned to me how little time the TICK indicator had spent below zero and this may have been used by me to tighten my stops further assuming that the TICKs above zero is implying buying pressure. So this MAY be something for me to watch. I still need to do the research but at least it gives me a possible idea to improve my trading.

The danger in the critque of trades is that we don't won't to become afraid to pull the trigger and be bombarded by so many things so we still need to remain confident and choose what we think would be a good compliment to our trading arsenal.

Bruce

quote:
Originally posted by myptofvu

Hi Bruce,

"I believe the trade entries, targets and stop loss points would be more valuable if we posted them"....

Are you saying that we should post as we go? If so I'm okay with that but like I do with my IM messeging I place my trade first then post it. Most times I tell where I'm sitting well in advance but some times its on the fly.

Do I understand this correctly?

After the day is over I can't always remeber why I took the trade, especially on days that I took alot of trades. I will try incorporate the reason behind it though.

I am in agreement with you as to providing (and receiving) knowledge through posting our trades.
well I'm short from 57.50 as this is near the old high , we hit a plus 8 in very early trade and we have Huge bands to the downside..The Tick also hit plus 1400 so my first target is 53.75..This looks over extended to me......

Bruce
Why 53.75? Fib level?
Short 1458.50 due to what I call a Plateau trade. Because Uncle Ben is speaking I wouldn't recommend this trade.
Sure, I have no problem commenting. Sorry to hear you had a bad week and thanks for the kind words. I hope you are getting some value from these posts and glad to see you take responsibility for your trades and it sure sounds like you learn from others after investigating a methods effectiveness which is fantastic. That's what it's all about...

Anyway I have been "successful" since about the year 2000 but I define success as being able to follow a discipline, adapt to market conditions and make money while keeping my sanity. I started day trading in late 1997 and took a beating the firs 1.5 years or so...then I got better...for a while...lol. In late 2001 I had my worst period as I had a new born at home and just didn't have my head in the game...my own fault. Since then I keep evolving and have done well. I have a long way to go as the market is forever changing it's colors so I realize the need to be flexible and keep the market in it's proper context. What turned my trading around was having multiple contracts on and averaging into trades, this solved the fear and greed factor for me. I like daytrading a lot but lately ( last two years)I seem to be trying to hold positions longer as volitilty is lower and I can stomach that. I'm a fairly simple guy and I am conservative. I beleive slow and steady wins the race so I strive for consistency and make sure I follow rules that are comfortable for me. I don't beleive you have to make a certain amount of money to be considered a success as a trader. That's ridiculous as we all have different circumstances. Just because you think I have more knowledge or experience doesn't mean I am a better trader. This is why I try to encourage anyone to "make the setups your own" and do research.

As a side note I beleive it would be a greater value for me to post the ideas instead of my specific trades. I wouldn't want this to turn into a "posting and bosting " thing. I also beleve based on your comments that this isn't the thread for it. So I apologize for getting side tracked myself and taking this off of your original topic. I hope that helps and if you have specific questions I will be more than happy to answer them.

Bruce
quote:
Originally posted by felix

[quote]One question, Bruce, if I may. When this thread was started, I was curious as to which contributors here were day-trading successfully. I have seen you put on some good trades. Of course you acknowledge that you have bad days too. But I'm curious if you are long-term successful.

Naturally, you have the right to remain silent, and I don't want to pry or put you on the spot publicly. But you have been at this a lot longer than I, and you have a lot more knowledge and experience with the markets. I'm wondering if your efforts have paid off for you. Care to comment?

To everyone: Have a great long weekend!