Real Trading Log

[SSI]

Guess ill go ahead and consider myself a real trader now...... ive started and there is no looking back......... ive got a detailed 18 month plan, to do this for a living........ If i can be of any help to anyone please let me know..

Im going to keep all my REAL TRADES (done with paper trading), posted in this thread.........

1. Long 1 april LC 93.70, initial stoploss at 92.80...

this trade was put on (wed jan 17th), im a very technical trader, yesterdays low of 93.60 came out, which to me is an early indicator of lower prices....... I sold at 93.80 and am now completely out of cattle.. profit on trade 10pts ($40)........ so basically a scratch and a free lunch here..

2. Long March Corn 412/Short Mar Wheat 482

enterd on Jan 18th

this is a long corn/short wheat spread trade...... i am trading the difference in the price of the 2.. this is called spread trading...... i want the price to narrow between the 2 commodities...... Im in at a difference of 70 cents..... Im going to risk a difference of 80 cents....... so im risking 10 cents or $500 on this trade....... i am looking for the difference to fall below 50 cents...

that is all i have going, will update anything later....

any questions, please feel free to ask....... ill update the spread, when they settle the markets.......

 

[SSI]

mar corn settle: 412.5
mar wheat settle: 471

difference in spread: 58.5 cents........ picked up 11.5 cents or (+$575) today, not bad for a phone call...

will try and hang in this one...... will look to lower stoploss....

margin on the corn/wheat spread is just over $1100....... so thats how much you need in your account, for each spread that you carry overnight..

they trade the grains overnight (light volume though), so we will have some action going tonight..........

i do not care which way the grains go, i merely want the spread to narrow..

 

[SSI]

for trade #2

will put a stoploss on this spread trade at 70 cents now.............. so basically im free trading this one and staying in........... currently up 11.5 cents or $575.....

 

[heart222]

nice trade. in all fairness most stops dont work overnight and gap openings can affect those positions so its not totally risk free. would think you would close out before the feb 10th crop report. gl heart222

 

[SSI]

real trade #3..

Short april cattle 93.40
Long june cattle 89.40

in at 4 cents difference....... goal is for spread to narrow......... will update stoploss and profit targets later........ this is potentially a longer lasting trade.......

 

[SSI]

Update of first weeks trading....

1. Long apr cattle 93.70........ took small profit at 93.80

(+$40) on trade, per contract..

2. Long Mar Corn 412/ Short Mar Wheat 482........

this is a spread, im in at 70 cents difference, want the price to narrow..

currently up 10 cents, as corn is at 407 and wheat is at 467..

profit of $500 per contract, and still in........ risking back to 70 cents, so its a free trade essentially..

3. Short apr cattle 93.40/Long june cattle 89.40

this is a cattle spread. im in at a differnce of 4 cents......... and once again, i need this spread to narrow............ price closed friday at 4 cents, so this trade is dead even, heading into monday.......

all part of an 18 month plan, then im going to do this for a living.... have a nice weekend.......

 

[WorldNumberOne]

with all this offshore shit going on , i have decided to educate myself in the world of options trading.

picked up 3 books today and have been reading everything i can find on the net.

will actually feel good to learn something and maybe start to make some money legally.

i'll be following all of your threads. dont stop ...

 

[heart222]

if you understand stocks than you can understand options. options are a derivitive of the underlying security future etc. if the underlying moves in your direction then the option moves also. glad to answer questions elbokas@aol.com put SSI in the item part of email. heart222

 

[SSI]

WNO, no problem...

i plan on making this my profession, although im willing to start small (as i am) and build upon this......... ultimately culminating with the sale of my successful convenience store and devoting all my time to this........

take advantage of poster heart222's advice............ he has been doing this many years.......

in alot of ways options are harder than futures, so best of luck........ i think they also require more money to be successful.............

the safest thing, in this business, is simply to buy an option....... by simply doing this, your risk is limited to the amount the option cost you........... however this is the hardest way to make money (my opinion)...

an "out of the money" (OTM) option, has no real value, only time value..

your going to have to learn to evaluate how much this time value is worth.. this is to put it simply..........

i love option trading but will probably wait a few months to get back into this, as i tie up more and more of my 25k account.........

i love to sell options, and this is where the money is made....... however this is risky and please dont do this, until your really ready and comfortable..... there are ways to limit your risk here, so please learn how to do this.........

nothing like selling an option and having it expire worthless, while you collect all the premium...........

feel free to ask anything.......... Bobk (heart222) or myself will help answer..

 

[SSI]

update of real trades........

Trade 1 is listed above and closed with a small $40 profit per unit........

Trade 2.......... long mar corn/short mar wheat (70 cents)........ spread close today (monday) at 60.75.......... still ahead 9.25 cents or $462.50 per unit.......... risking to 70 cents or taking profits under 50 cents..

Trade 3........ short apr cattle/long june cattle (4.00 cents)....... spread close today at 3.625........ so im ahead $150 per spread... risking to 4.50 and looking for profits under 3.00

other than this, not much going on for me....... still throwing myself into the charts and pricing....... around these 2 are my complete trading system built...........

just another day,,,,,,,, on my road to fulltime trading......

 

[SSI]

update of real trades (tues jan 23)

1. long april cattle 93.70........... out at 93.80.......... profit of $40 and position closed.

2. Long march corn 412/short march wheat 482........ out of corn at 408 and out of wheat at 472....... profit of 6 cents or $300........ spread trade now closed..

this trade really went against me today, a few days ago --- i was ahead about $700 in this one......... closed it today for a $300 profit...... good thing i did as well.......... spread proceded to move back to over 71 cents. so instead of losing $50, i made $300......... not what i wanted but pleased to make a little....... will look to re-enter this spread again........

3. short april cattle 93.40, long june cattle 89.40........... another spread trade here..... its called a bear spread, as im short the front month.. i got in at a difference of 4 cents. we closed to today at 3.57...... so currently have a profit of 43pts or $172 per spread........ trade is still open.. this will probably be a longer term trade...... im looking for it to go under 3 cents and am willing to risk to 4.50 cents for a stoploss.....

4. short april hogs 65.42/long july hogs 74.20...... another spread trade... this is also a bear spread, as im short the front month........ however im in at a difference of 8.78 but this time, i want the spread to widen.... the difference in price to widen......... got in late today and it went against me 5pts at the close, so im down $20 per spread in this one......

thats all ive done in 6 days of real trading......... very pleased at how im reading the markets, not pleased with placing 3 spreads in 4 trades..... was looking at a spread about 20% of the time and not 75%.........

starting tomorrow, ill focus on more exclusive futures trades........

for me this is a 540 day adventure, that ive now made it thru 9 days... this is my adventure to becoming a fulltime trader.........

 

[Iceman]

good luck buddy. Watching from a distance:toast:

 

[Iceman]

with all this offshore shit going on , i have decided to educate myself in the world of options trading.

picked up 3 books today and have been reading everything i can find on the net.

will actually feel good to learn something and maybe start to make some money legally.

i'll be following all of your threads. dont stop ...

any good books you reccommend?

 

[namathfan]

Books...

Market Wizards ....
Both by Jack Schwager
New Market Wizards ...


Pit Bull by Martin Schwartz

The Disciplined Trader by Mark Douglas

 

[namathfan]

Ice....are you still playing the fez/cutter method that was working very well for you?

 

[Iceman]

Ice....are you still playing the fez/cutter method that was working very well for you?

yes and I am on a roll. This is why quitting or even slowing down has been so hard for me to consider. Just beat the closing line(esp in NBA) and you will/should win. I have witnessed it for almost a year. Hope with all the changes I continue to enjoy some success.

Sorry to hijack SSI.

 

[SSI]

no problem Ice......... i exited all trades today.....

trade 3......... sold june cattle 89.05 for a loss of 35 pts, bought back april cattle at 92.60 for a gain of 80pts.......... so i made 45pts or $180 on this trade (- 2 comm)...... so i made $130..........

trade 4....... i exited april hogs at 65.22 for a 20pt gain,,, i exited july hogs at 73.70 for a 50pt loss...... so i lost 30pts or $120 on this trade, plus 2 comm..........

i am now currently flat............... these trades went against me today, i took a little profit on the cattle spread but i made a better move by getting out of the hog spread...................

this will conclude this thread............... ill start a new one tomorrow......

ive managed to scratch out a small profit over the last week and have been refreshed on many things.............. 10 days down, 530 to go......