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!

Thanks for asking, Felix.

Here’s a recap for 2006:
IRA: trading long stocks only: +5%. Not great. Pathetic, actually. But better than last year’s $3,000 loss. Things are looking up.
ES Minis: -$600. Perfect. After losing $5000 in 2005, I switched to a sim account. Realistic simulation for $50/month. Don’t remember what I lost in 04. My account this year is actually in the red, but the maximum cost is a predictable $600. I figure when I can profit in sim mode, then I will re-activate my real account. Until then, I’m having a great time trading and learning. Discipline is my problem. I love to trade, and can’t resist taking a position.

Without a doubt, 07 will be better!

Thanks for starting this thread Felix!

I don't like to discuss what I am making or losing so I will not go into figures and facts. I also don't make any claims about what I am making so I do not feel that I am under no moral obligation to reveal or support the figures.

However, I would like to contribute to this thread so I will confirm that 2006 is a profitable year for me trading the E-mini S&P500's only.

thanks for sharing your '06 results felix.

i think you made the right choices for '06 in response to your '05 experiences. but i also think you are running the risk of getting a little comfy with the sim thing, and thus the simulated trading at some point may hinder your progress as a trader.

sim trading is something that when used correctly will permit the trader to gain confidence in their system or method. Unfortunately, it can be mis-used as an escape from pain, specifically the pain of taking a loss. To avoid this problem, I suggest a fixed target date where the trader commits to live trading. This has a way of focusing the trader on the goal of moving forward, progressing forward.

If you will permit me to ask, would you say you have settled on a basic trading strategy or method. Or are you still tinkering ?

The year is not over yet but it looks like I am going to be down around $4k to $5k on my emini trading. Unless I have a few fantastic days to the end of the year but that is unlikely.
In 2005 I was up $2,500 and I am not going to talk about 2004 which was a complete disaster.

Thanks for sharing, all.

PT, I do follow a basic method, based on price action. But I'm always tinkering, always looking.

felix, what do you mean by price action? no indicators?

quote:

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Originally posted by elite trader

felix, what do you mean by price action? no indicators?

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Elite, I just look for simple setups on a bar chart, along with pivot lines. If you're following BruceM's pitbull setups, notice he got a buy signal at 2:00 EST. Well, if you look at a 3 minute bar chart, the bar shape and position right at 2:00 is a perfect example of a strong buy signal.

But don't ask me too many questions. I'm losing, remember?

Do you have a chart of that?

I jumped the gun. I see the charts that you are talking about that Bruce posted here: http://www.mypivots.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=1287&whichpage=2

I'm have been a loser trying to daytrade the last 10 years and lost over $400,000.00 and still am stupid enough to chase my dream. Currently I met a friend in a paid member room that is coaching me. The guy is awesome and he is holding me by the hands and hopefully I won't be a loser in 2007.

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:

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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!

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