Trading is fun and (sometimes) profitable...
These are actual US equities trades, using a fairly aggressive strategy that I have previously mentioned in What is your Trading Style?
I have many more 'paper' entries, but these are the few that happened in an actual trading account. I will talk more about the actual parameters of my strategy as time goes on.
Risk Management
With more closed trades in the account, you will see that even though position sizing varies, the loss in percentage of portfolio is very similar. I am sizing my positions based on the recent volatility of each stock... to cap potential losses from each trade at a particular amount.
While everything else about an open trade is established at entry, the ‘stop loss’ order will be periodically adjusted over the life of a trade. The idea is to move the stops at key intervals and let the profitable trades keep running.
Friday I Bought
I didn’t have good entries on new positions…
Today I Shorted
I didn’t have good entries on new positions…
Today I Closed
I stopped out of several open positions.
ADM @ 40.66
CSX @ 72.42
THRM @ 40.45
Open Trades
WPM and CLVS have two rows now, as I have added onto the positions. In my exploratory paper-trading, I have tracked multiple entries and found that I get the best results when I take part of my position initially and then build on it after some movement in my favor.
| Ticker | Entry | Direction | Size* | Date | Stop Target |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| WPM | 25.5141 | Long | 8.43% | 7/17/2019 | 25.67 |
| CLVS | 12.45 | Short | 2.75% | 7/17/2019 | 12.97 |
| GWPH | 161.88 | Short | 4.88% | 7/17/2019 | 170.17 |
| WPM | 25.99 | Long | 8.32% | 7/18/2019 | 25.67 |
| BAX | 82.94 | Long | 14.10% | 7/18/2019 | 81.16 |
| ALNY | 75.44 | Long | 6.04% | 7/18/2019 | 71.42 |
| PCAR | 68.75 | Short | 10.31% | 7/18/2019 | 70.75 |
| CLVS | 11.66 | Short | 2.80% | 7/18/2019 | 12.97 |
Positions sizes are approximate, and given as a percentage of trading account. Position sizing is based on perceived risk, with effective Risk Management as critical to strategy. Use of leverage is intended, so % of portfolio will sometimes exceed 100%
Closed Trades
Since nobody is looking over my shoulder intraday, it would be very easy to exclude these losing day-trades from my list each day... and totally dishonest! The strategy closes out losing trades quickly, but lets winning trades run as far as they are able. That's a little painful at the beginning, as the first few trades print losses before any wins come in, and it makes the strategy look terrible until a large enough sample is built for sampling. But... with losses limited to < 0.50% of capital on each trade, I need 20 consecutive losses to even face a 10% account drawdown! That's incredibly unlikely.
| Ticker | Gain/Loss | Size | Days Held | Opened | Closed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CSX | -2.72% | 10.52% | 0 | 7/17/2019 | 7/17/2019 |
| EBAY | -2.54% | 11.97% | 0 | 7/18/2019 | 7/18/2019 |
| ADM | -2.52% | 12.69% | 1 | 7/18/2019 | 7/19/2019 |
| CSX | -3.90% | 8.36% | 1 | 7/18/2019 | 7/19/2019 |
| THRM | -5.28% | 7.68% | 1 | 7/18/2019 | 7/19/2019 |
*Gain/Loss given as percentage on notional value of trade, with size a percentage of trading account. G/L x Size = % change of account value based on trade outcome. Days Held shows as 0 when a position was opened and closed in the same day (day trade).
Evaluating all position outcomes from Closed Trades, over a large enough sample, could support an approximate calculation of total portfolio return. Actual results may vary.
This is my trading journal. Results are published for entertainment purposes. This is not financial advice. This is not legal advice. This is not even advice.*
