de_cooky's Blog

[de_cooky]

crude oil journal..

First day of trading in the new year..
Did very few trades
made small money in Gas Oil..went short in front month spread and scalped for a tick.

Brent Spreads followed the outright..Left an overnight butterfly(10 lots)
short front month spread..
Long far month spread..

Crude was falling the whole evening..so expecting the movement to exaggerrate during settlement ..left front month short and far month long

* started tracking brent wti spread

 

[de_cooky]

crude oil trader

jan 3

800 pounds positive for today after yesterday's butterfly turned out evil..settlement left me 300 pounds down for yesterday..
scalped the whole day ..both brent and gasoil..
near month spread was trying to go up at the slightest pretext..but since crude fell vehemently the spread had to come down after it had gone up by about 20 ticks from yesterdays close.
far month spread was undecided..
i feel that the near month spread is gearing up for an expiry ascent..
next few days may see the spread going up significiantly.

gas oil was quite active ..

* brebt wti spread moved up ..reached a peak of .40
has moved up from around 0.00 yesterday to this level

 

[de_cooky]

crude oil trader

jan 4

inventory day..very busy day..could have made much more then the paltry 500 pounds for the day but lost big money in two trades.
Lost 30 ticks in an outright trade..and another 30 in a WTI butterfly..
otherwise kept scalping all day..
did a couple of trades in brent-wti spread and made single ticks only..GOD it makes very big ranges..45 ticks for today..and I didnt get any logic behind that movement..
gasoil didnt give me anything today..i was chary of the gasoil contract as i have always been on an inventory day..
Inventory had a pretty mixed response
Oil fell about 200 ticks intraday(before the inventory0 on mild weather forecasts.

 

[de_cooky]

crude oil trader

jan 5

Ended the week with a 600 pound profit for the day..
could have made more in Gas oil had I used the opportunities that were present later in the day..

crude kept falling and reached 1 year low of 54 dollar handle..
Did lesser trades than the last two days ..
next week i am going to increase my lot size..
Spreads fell in sync with the outrights..
took a 5 tick loss on 5 lots in a far month spread trade which could have been avoided had i made a butterfly with the front month spread..
went long at day high thinkin that the far month will follow the extended movement of the near month spread..but near month promptly changed its direction and fell freely and the far month followed..

next week am going to do better with improved contribution from gas oil..
All the best ..end of an OK week with
-300,800,500 and 600 pounds for the four working days

 

[de_cooky]

crude oil trader

jan 8

a new week ..had a session with boss in the morning..Sipped wisdom out of him and decided to take few views in the market..

made money on the view that WTI near month spread ,since estranged from near month Brent will stage a reunion..
could have made much more if had entered with larger lots..
people lost money as brent spread kept coming down propelled by the ever falling crude pice..

lost 20 ticks twice in outrights...expecting the price to rebound on a falling market ..should have looked for small rebounds through RSI indicator..
Overall a gud day...400 pounds expected

 

[de_cooky]

crude oil trader

jan 9

A day of losing hard earned money
kept making gud money but kept losing it on bad trades done on impulse..
few very gud trades...took position in April-may brent spread with a view that it will go down and booked 3 ticks and two ticks with 5 and 15 lots respectively..
Did nothing in gasoil as it is very near to expiry..
Lost money in wti ..tried to make a butterfly between brent spread and wti spread..
wti moved so much against and brent didnt move much..could have held on to the position if expiry wasnt imminent..but took loss of 10 ticks in the trade..
total around 200 pounds for the day

 

[de_cooky]

wrong wednesday

jan 10

lost last weeks earnings in one wrong trade..
open the day with a view of goin long all day...made 300 pounds in first trade by averaging going long..
was scalping from the short side when market broke upwards and i kept averaging from -1.16 to -1.02...cutloss came far too late at -.98 and the moment I cut losses the news of russia belarus compromise broke and so did the spread downwards..market was back to -1.10 in a jiffy ..everyone made great profit and i ended up with -2500 pounds for the day..

learning : judge the market well and dont build on losing positions...easier said the done
be careful towards expiry

 

[de_cooky]

crude oil trader

jan 11

was cautious the whole day traded less..didnt want to lose anything today..scalped the whole day ..
started doing crack spread..entered twice ..first one was a loss but made 20 ticks on the second one..was following bollinger bands and they seem to work well..
Got to do more in gas oil with strict rules about scratching..
got to increase lot size around the edges in brent..
got to learn more about technicals

: will do more of crack in the coming days
: will take more views with bigger lotsizes in farther months

Overall 600 pounds for the day..

 

[de_cooky]

crude oil trader

jan12
A very active day for a weekend..spreads (brent both months) were going up like crazy without any signs of a retreat..
people lost heavily (10 k pounds each for the two top traders)..
I managed to make money because of descipline..kept away from the expiring spread.
Lost several opportunities..got perfect views but was sceptical of taking position..

**Learning :and resolution : whenever i feel like taking a position in a spread because i could derive some logic behind it ..I will definetely take a position with 10 lots at the least because if I can enter into a blind trade with 10 lots then entering into a trade with a logic does makes sense...

400 pounds for the day..
did a crack and made money (13 ticks ) for the joint account..
will do more of it in the coming days

 

[de_cooky]

crude oil trader

jan16

was on leave yesterday ..
traded mostly in gasoil and crack today...lost 100 ticks in a single crack ...went short at the crack which kept going up..averaged but then took loss as it showed no signs of retracing..paid tution fee for crack..
made some money in gasoil..
ended the day with a marginal transaction loss..
-100 pounds for the day..

 

[de_cooky]

crude oil trader

jan 17

A day of gas oil again..brent spread is behaving strange or may be I am not able to crack its code..lost money on a 15 lot position and didnt do furthur brent ...made money in crack and gasoil together..took a late night position and am still on with a 25 lots in farmonth gasoil spread...market stopped while i was standing handsome..
got to do more crack and make more money through it..

got to do more scalping as i think am gud at it..that could well be my niche to riches..

not clear bout PnL but think will be around 500 pounds for the day..

 

[de_cooky]

crude oil trader

jan18

yesterdays open positions came out in profit ...
earned gud money in crack but lost everything in one wrong trade in crack itself... made some money in gasoil but lost money once again in brent...
went long at 51.71 upon news of an attack in kuwaiti port but took a 40 tick loss as the market came down...
inventories had a buildup of 6 million bbl and the market couldnt stand tall after that..
will do more scalping from today as I am realising that it is closer to my personality..

around 250 pounds for the day where i was sitting on 600 at a time..
no qualms as I have to pay tution fee to the market to learn crack

 

[de_cooky]

crude oil trader

jan19

tough day...brent wasnt in mood to give away anything...gasoil was the clement one...booked loss in a butterfly that i was carrying from yesterday..i was short in brent and long in wti spread hoping that the two spreads will converge from the current levels of -11..but it widened to -28 befor coming back to -17 ..so booked loss at that..should have carried it furthur but couldnt..
made couple of cracks for small profits..
500 pounds for the day..

 

[de_cooky]

crude oil trader

jan 22

A gud day in terms of scalping crack spread..scalped many cracks for small profits..

made money in gasoil too..got to be lil careful of gasoil as it has been in a slumber for quite a while now and can get berserk any time now..

missed a good opportunity of making a brent wti spread butterfly when it was trading at 22 ..it came down to 12 in 2 hrs time ..got to use such opportunities..
overall a gud day with 800 pounds

 

[de_cooky]

crude oil trader

jan 23

a very tough day...lost a lot whole day but regained lost ground late in the night..thanks to gas oil...traded like fools throughout the day..when i know that brent spread is gonna break range why do i take counter view so early..doesnt make sense...
lost money in one stupid crack that i made....
crude went up handsomely today on the back of worsening weather and growing tensions in middle east (saudi news paper reported)..
spreads went up quite a lot...may retrace in the coming days..
got to play intelligently today..inventory day ..

mad nothing..50 pounds (hardly)

 

[de_cooky]

crude oil trader

jan24

another fighting day...lost money lots a times especially in crack..but regained losses late in the night...made money in crack later on and as well in other products....brent spread kept moving up inspired by the outright which showed a handsome rally upwards..

500 pounds for the day..

learning : gud idea to go short in crack if it has moved up with the brent outrights because its generally tendency is to go down if brent goes up...so one can consider such situation as stretched and can take position ...viceversa holds true too..

 

[de_cooky]

crude oil trader

jan 25

I keep making mistakes in crack spread..enter too early ..in less volatilile markets...success in crack requires gud entry...

made money in gasoil today...lost some in crack..brent spread moved down as crude was undecisive , while showing inclination towards moving south..

800 pounds positive for the day..
few resolutions ::

1) At least 700 trades
2) atleast 100 trades daily in wti
3) atleast 2 outright positions everyday

 

[de_cooky]

crude oil trader

jan 30..
back after a 2 day leave..traded well in US hours but had lost gud money in the morning itself...made back the money especially through crack spread...did quite a few trades in wti too..will do more trades today ...gasoil was quite dull the whole day..have few open positons ..so no clue about p and l

 

[de_cooky]

crude oil trader

jan31..

a very very tough day...lost lotsa money in crack spreads...crack was very bullish and i kept going short on it to just scalp put it scalped me right away...a single 180 tick loss in one trade means a lot...gasoil was equally unforgiving...entered with big lots and booked singl e tick loss on 20 lots straight..made money in brent but not enough to makeup for the transaction loss...800 pounds loss for the day...very tired

 

[de_cooky]

crude oil trader

feb 1

crude oil is on a steady ascent...brent spreads went up today after falling for three consecutive days.. made money going short on ranges...Lost in the first crack trade...bad day again for crack ..but i wont give up on it..gasoil has become very tough...making money involves more risk taking in it.
a day devoted to pure scalping..700 pounds for the day