FTSE Beater's Blog

[FTSE Beater]

My first week

Hi all

Now before I get started, I know what your thinking "Not FTSE Beater again" but Sharky was kind enough to give me my own space to rant and talk about my trading life so Blame him

I finally got my IB account through last week, after 3 weeks of pain staking waiting and form filling. I feel sorry for anyone who is going through that at the moment. The only thing that stopped me giving up was the fact that IB are so good
So last week was my first as a futures trader after a life of spreadbetting and share dealing. I was trading the Eurostoxx with HelenQu and Austin Clone at my side to help me through the IB platform and hold my hand for when things go wrong, and I would like to take this opportunity to publicly thank them for their time and support. It means a lot to me

Well after a good start (+12 on the first day) the results faded away. Leaving me with these stats.

This Week Last Week
Win % 41% N/A
AVG Win 4.14 N/A
AVG Loss 3.125 N/A

The Average Loss should have been much less. I had a -7 which is unacceptable and it was because I let a stop run - Such a basic Mistake!!!
On the up side I'm pleased with the way I've settled into futures trading and it should get better from here.

What I did find strange was that I traded better on the first day - which was when the adrenaline was really pumping. It was a scary thing because I have never felt so much adrenaline in my life, and I thought I had my emotions neutralized for trading, but it goes to show I've still got a long way to go.

What was really disappointing about last week, was that the weather was terrible - and I wasn't going to go golfing in that - so office bound I was. With the US closed today you would think I could go golfing today, but NO!! my parents have nicked the car - so here I remain looking through charts. I live such a terrible life

Thanks for reading and take care

 

[Helenqu]

Hi Mark,

Thansk you for the kind comments.

I think you did really well on your first week. And as for the adrenalin at least you recognised it

You will be fine

 

[nobrainer]

Look forward to reading how you get on , good luck.

 

[FTSE Beater]

Hi nobrainer

Thanks for your comments.
At the moment I'm number crunching - trying to work out risk profilies.....so watch this space

 

[be-positive]

I am also looking forward to this weeks report MARK ( If favourable your new name might be EUROSMASHER (LOL) Hope the other two musketeers (H-A) have also had a profitable week.

Good luck and good health to you all.

 

[options]

Hehe, Welcome to the futures club FB.
Tons better isn't it?

Point to make.

Your first day was the best you say because of the adrenalin rush.

Analyse a step further. It made you focus on the moves on the screen with no other distractions.

Get that level every time you trade and your half way there.

Good fortune.

Options.

 

[FTSE Beater]

Hi Be-Positive

EUROSMASHER sounds very aggressive, but the reason I choose FTSE Beater is that originally my aim was to do better than the FTSE 100 – otherwise I might as well put my money into a tracker. At the moment though my bank account is doing better than the FTSE.

I’ll do a weekly update tomorrow, and Helen has now posted up her results for the week – which I’ll be commenting on, so watch out Helen
I think Austin has had a good week. I know he’s learnt a lot and has helped me a lot as well.
Hi Options

Yes, I’ve joined your exclusive club of futures traders. It’s a slightly different skill base to trading stocks but the theory’s the same – and the spreads are so wonderful.

I hadn’t actually thought about the distractions, but I think I’ve got a different explanation of why my first day was so good (again you’ll have to wait until tomorrow to find out what that is). I think you make a good point about distractions though, and it’s certainly something that I’ve got to be aware of
Thank you both for your comments.

 

[Helenqu]

Mark,

You are surely not suggesting I'm distracting in any way, shape or form are you?

 

[FTSE Beater]

Helen,

Your definitely not a distraction. Discussing ideas about trading is really really useful.

 

[TBS]

Hey Mark,

Good to see that you have dropped those hopeless stocks and got around to the futures markets

Sandy

 

[FTSE Beater]

Welcome to my world.

Hi all

Well, week 2 over and the statistics make interesting reading (if you like that sort of thing)

This Week Last Week
Win % 42% 41%
AVG Win 5.8 4.14
AVG Loss 3.71 3.125


Everything is up on last week, including the average loss - which I can live with as the AVG Win is up, so the risk / reward ratio must be about the same if not slightly better.

I'm still working on my strategy. I think my stop-losses are slightly too tight. I've been stopped out of a couple of trades only to find the price go in the direction I expected. So my aim for this week is to widen my stop-loss and see if it improves results.

My best day of the week came when I went out jogging first thing in the morning. Until the other day I didn't know there was a 6 o'clock in the morning!! Keeping fit does help, and it keeps the mind alert, and as I'm sitting down for most of the day - I don't get as much exercise as I used to.

People wanted to know what the life of a trader is like. Well if you really want to know what it is like, do the following exercise.
Before going to sleep set 4 alarm clocks, at 1, 2, 3 and 4 o'clock in the morning. Do this for a week, and you'll have a rough idea of what trading for a living is like. (WARNING: Probably not a good thing to do if you have a partner )
From this you might gather that I haven't been sleeping well recently, but that is probably the same for anyone else who is self-employed or in a stressful job.

The major plus point for this week is that my golf swing is back It had deserted me for a while, but now IT'S BACK!!!!

All in all it's been a long week, and my special reward is that tonight I'm going into London to listen to a bit of Jazz, get drunk and enjoy myself.

Thanks for reading and take care

 

[nobrainer]

Interesting, do you really find trading stressful?I've always never found it stressful.If I'm in a trade I don't like I close it so any concern dissipates.Ok, if you were to lose continuously , then perhaps stress can set in but a good trader normally knows that good times will be around the corner.
Anyway sorry to hark on but I'm bored!!

 

[cjam]

Hi FTSE Beater. You've moved from average loss last week to average profit this week, so the increased average loss as you say is nothing to worry about as your average profits have increased more to compensate.

e.g.

This week :-

42 * 5.8 = 243.6 win
58 * 3.71 = 215.18 lose

Combined, over 100 plays this equates to 243.6 - 215.18 = 28.42; Or around +0.2842 average profit per play.

Last week

41 * 4.14 = 169.74
59 * 3.125 = 184.375

equating to an average -0.14635 average loss per play.

Heading in the right direction ;>)

 

[cjam]

Of course using such measures over short timeframes is all very subjective.

For example, in comparison to HelenQu's 17/1/03 posting which indicates an average 2.8/play whilst for the 24/1/03 posting averages -0.6113/play.

 

[FTSE Beater]

Hi Nobrainer.

Stress is a conscious and subconscious thing . Consciously the only thing about trading that is slightly stressful, is when a stop is just about to be taken out.

On a subconscious level – I don’t know what goes on, but what I think is subconsciously stressful is that I might wake up tomorrow and all my money could be gone, leaving myself with no wages. At the moment, I’m just scrapping by, taking only the minimum amount out of the trading account – mainly to cover living expenses. Actually trading, isn’t necessarily stressful, but the non-trading related stuff is (if that makes sense).
Hi Cjam

Thanks for running through the numbers, and your right, over a short time period these things are magnified and very subjective. Proving that there are lies, damn lies, and statistics, but it gives me something to monitor
Thank you both for your comments

 

[nobrainer]

For interest ftse beater what do u hope your %return on capital will be per week on a noncompounded basis?
I ask this question as a very good daytrader I know, who is also working from a very low capital base, has made an excellent living in the past 3 years by trading UK stocks.

 

[FTSE Beater]

Hi Nobrainer

I thought there must be another professional trader working on a low capital base

My target week on week is to clear a minimum of 15 points a week, that would cover my living expenses. That is just the minimum though, so I do need to do better than that to increase the trading account - which will eventually go on to buy my first house, but that's in the future.

 

[FTSE Beater]

I'm Back

Hi all
 
Thanks to Sharky for getting the journals back up and running – and looking better than ever.
 
Since my last post, things have been going down hill. I’m 7 points away from being under the initial margin limit on IB.
 
So I’m looking for part-time work, so I can still trade in the afternoons - which is when most of the good trades happen. This should take some of the pressure off.
 
I’m also using Tsim to work on stuff and get my confidence back.
 
The Tsim trading has been going pretty well at the moment, and I’m reading “Trading in the Zone” which is a superb book, but as I’m not a big reader (well I loathe it) it’s taking me a bit of time. It’s not helped by the fact that there is no pictures of cars, but there you go.
The concepts in the book are amazing and I’ve now got a much better understanding of how my trading mind works, and it’s also highlighted the problems in my trading.
 
You’ll be glad to know the golfing is coming along nicely
 
Thanks for reading and take care

 

[FTSE Beater]

Far too focused

Hi all
The last 2 weeks have been pretty intense for me. I haven't stopped thinking about the market, and it finally came to a head on Wednesday when I just needed a complete break from the markets. I tried not thinking about the markets at all on Thursday, but I failed miserably.
Over the weekend though, I've managed to take a step back and think about what's been happening over the last few months. I've noticed that my trading started to go down hill in December, and I believe it was because of the market conditions. I always knew that a bad run would take me out of the game, but I still got caught in the headlights so to speak.
I'm now looking for a part-time job, and that should enable me to take a step back from the markets, and reassess what I'm going to do next.

 

[timsk]

Hi FTSE,

I sense an undertone of desperation in your latest journal entry. I hope that this is just my (incorrect) interpretation of your post and not actually the case? Hang on in there FTSE - don't give up! I don't want to put you under any pressure, but, many people read and learn from your posts, so you have to carry on for the benefit of the rest of us! If YOU can't hack it, that's serioosly bad news for the rest of us amateurs and 'trainees' such as myself.

As for a part-time job? Well, I have one of those and I'm afraid to say that it won't help you one jot to stop thinking about the markets. I'm a gardener in beautiful Devon and I try to focus on the ways it effects my life positively. Namely, a (small) income, physical exercise to counter an expanding pot belly and a curious sense of contentment at the end of the day which I put down to physical exhaustion. This is important, as I have to deal with a certain amount of anger and a large measure of frustration each day at NOT being in front of my computer immeresed in the possible significance of the 10 period ema crossing the 50 period ema - or whatever! Do I WANT to be a gardener? No! Do I WANT to be a trader? Yes! However, at the moment I have to resign myself to the fact that gardening is more profitable than trading! I regard it as a small price to pay (with the above mentioned dividends) to help me on my journey towards being a trader. So, the bottom line is, IMHO, a part-time job is no bad thing - helpful even in some ways, but one thing it won't do is to stop you "thinking about the market".

If you do decide for a part-time job, I suggest you think about teaching - you'd be good at it. Whatever you do next, I think I speak for many who frequent these boards when I say that I hope you continue to trade and to post your ideas and views on T2W.

;-) Timsk.