Trading Summary Week Ended Friday 26th June 2015

11 Stock Trades:

5 AAL + 70.92 BPS.
4 BLT + 131.73 BPS.
1 RIO + 7.69 BPS.
1 STAN + 25.70 BPS.

7 long trades + 171.74 BPS.
4 short trades + 64.31 BPS.

9 intraday trades + 159.13 BPS.
2 overnight trades + 76.92 BPS.

Stocks net  + 236.05 BPS.

I traded 5 days this week.
Return on account for the week + 2.30 % net.
P:L ratio N/A.
No Index trades.

Thoughts

A very tough week's trading. Developments in the Greek crisis meant that markets were jumpy yet again, and I found it a very challenging market to trade. Some of my exits were very poor (mainly on the short side).
Miners found some buyers in the middle of the week but sold off on Thursday and again on Friday.

Below my 2.5% weekly target.

Hoping for better results next week.

Changes on my watch list stocks over the last week:

Stay disciplined.

Stay focussed.

Stay humble.

Trading Summary Week Ended Friday 19th June 2015

17 Stock Trades:

2 AAL + 55.92 BPS.
14 BLT + 221.71 BPS.
1 STAN + 48.36 BPS.

10 long trades + 224.54 BPS.
7 short trades + 101.44 BPS.

16 intraday trades + 314.52 BPS.
1 overnight trade + 11.46 BPS.

Stocks net  + 325.98 BPS.

I traded 5 days this week.
Return on account for the week + 3.24 % net.
P:L ratio N/A.
No Index trades.

Thoughts

A very tough week. Very choppy moves on stocks and indices. I had to scalp what points I could.
Above my 2.5% weekly target.


This shows 15 and 5 min charts of BLT, it's interesting how the first 30 minute highs and lows can often give good support/resistance levels later in the day (green/red dotted lines mark the 30 min high/low):

Hoping for more opportunities next week.

Changes on my watch list stocks over the last week, miners sold off again:

Stay disciplined.

Stay focussed.

Stay humble.

Trading Summary Week Ended Friday 12th June 2015

15 Stock Trades:

9 AAL + 251.30 BPS.
5 BLT + 131.64 BPS.
1 STAN + 168.53 BPS.

10 long trades + 293.40 BPS.
5 short trades + 258.06 BPS.

12 intraday trades + 338.18 BPS.
3 overnight trades + 213.29 BPS.

Stocks net  + 551.46 BPS.

I traded 4 days this week.
Return on account for the week + 4.65 % net.
P:L ratio N/A.
No Index trades.

Thoughts

A half - decent week. Had to be pretty quick, lots of choppy moves on stocks and indices.
Well north of my 2.5% weekly target, at any rate.

We saw some volatility on banks and miners. I made some poor exits. It's so easy to get spooked out a of a decent trade for no good reason. I should let good trades run, but that's not so easy in a choppy market.
Miners recovered some of their early losses later in the week, whilst oil producers were weak, with RDSA making a 52 week low.
Greek developments (or lack of them) contributed to market jitters.
Hoping for more opportunities next week.

Changes on my watch list stocks over the last week:

Stay disciplined.

Stay focussed.

Stay humble.

Trading Summary Week Ended Friday 5th June 2015

17 Stock Trades:

6 AAL + 348.16 BPS.
11 BLT + 413.50 BPS.

12 long trades + 551.50 BPS.
5 short trades + 210.17 BPS.

13 intraday trades + 617.48 BPS.
4 overnight trades + 144.19 BPS.

Stocks net  + 761.67 BPS.

I traded 5 days this week.
Return on account for the week + 6.03 % net.
P:L ratio N/A.
No Index trades.

Thoughts

A better week, and a pretty busy one by my standards.
Lots of volatility in the stocks I watch. A couple of very poor exits. I should have cleared over 1000 BPS, but I guess a profit is better than a loss. I missed a few nice opportunities on the likes of BARC and on VOD on Friday when it gapped up and immediately dropped over 500 BPS.
Still, well above my 2.5% weekly target.

All the talk of a Greek rescue / default produced some volatility on the stock and bond markets.
And then on Friday we had US payrolls, which added to the market volatility.

Hoping for more opportunities next week.

Changes on my watch list stocks over the last week, everything in the red:

Stay disciplined.

Stay focussed.

Stay humble.

Trading Summary Week Ended Friday 29th May 2015

4 Stock Trades:

2 AAL + 29.20 BPS.
2 BLT + 52.78 BPS.

4 long trades + 81.98 BPS.
No short trades.

3 intraday trades + 72.37 BPS.
1 overnight trade + 9.62 BPS.

Stocks net  + 81.98 BPS.

I traded 4 days this week.
Return on account for the week + 1.81 % net.
P:L ratio N/A.
No Index trades.

Thoughts

Another difficult week. Monday was closed for the bank holiday.
Miners were weak again, although they found a few buyers later in the week.
Well below my 2.5% weekly target.

Hoping for more opportunities next week.

Changes on my watch list stocks over the last week:

Stay disciplined.

Stay focussed.

Stay humble.

Trading Summary Week Ended Friday 22nd May 2015

2 Stock Trades:

2 BLT + 26.03 BPS.



2 long trades + 26.03 BPS.
No short trades.
Stocks net  + 26.03.

1 intraday trade + 18.34 BPS.
1 overnight trade + 7.69 BPS.


I traded 2 days this week.
Return on account for the week + 0.26 % net.
P:L ratio N/A.
No Index trades.

Thoughts

A very difficult week, miners were very weak. I am really poor at shorting big down moves, I find entries very difficult in such circumstances. A nothing week really.

Well below my 2.5% weekly target.

Hoping for more opportunities next week.

Changes on my watch list stocks over the last week:

Stay disciplined.

Stay focussed.

Stay humble.

AAL and BLT Charts May 2015

AAL pulled back to the .618 retracement level on Friday.




BLT pulled back to the .50 level

Trading Summary Week Ended Friday 15th May 2015

10 Stock Trades:

7 AAL + 181.71 BPS.
2 BLT + 56.87 BPS.
1 EZJ + 19.41 BPS.


8 long trades + 221.89 BPS.
2 short trades + 36.10 BPS.
Stocks net  + 257.99 BPS.

9 intraday and 1 overnight trade.


I traded 4 days this week.
Return on account for the week + 4.08 % net.
P:L ratio 17.32:1.
No Index trades.

Thoughts

A half decent week, although I missed some good opportunities due to other distractions. Some volatility on the miners later in the week.

Some poor exits, but above my 2.5% weekly target.
There was a huge sell off in EZJ after results, unfortunately I only captured a small part of the rebound on the stock.

Hoping for more opportunities next week.

Changes on my watch list stocks over the last week:

Stay disciplined.

Stay focussed.

Stay humble.

Trading Summary Week Ended Friday 8th May 2015

7 Stock Trades:

4 AAL + 114.11 BPS.
1 BARC + 23.68 BPS.
1 BLT + 8.79 BPS.
1 HSBA + 9.09 BPS.


5 long trades + 86.06 BPS.
2 short trades + 69.60 BPS.
Stocks net  + 155.67 BPS.

Intraday and overnight trades.


I traded 4 days this week.
Return on account for the week + 2.68 % net.
P:L ratio N/A.
No Index trades.

Thoughts

A shortened week, London being closed on Monday for the bank holiday.
Some poor exits. Above my 2.5% weekly target at least.
Friday saw a rally after the election result, although this was mainly in banks and utilities.

Hoping for better opportunities next week.

Changes on my watch list stocks over the last week:

Stay disciplined.

Stay focussed.

Stay humble.

Trading Summary Week Ended Friday 1st May 2015

 

4 Stock Trades:

2 AAL + 31.77 BPS.
2 STAN + 56.06 BPS.


1 long trade + 16.30 BPS.
3 short trades + 71.52 BPS.
Stocks net  + 87.82 BPS.

All intraday trades.


I traded 3 days this week.
Return on account for the week + 1.63 % net.
P:L ratio 63:1.
No Index trades.

Thoughts

A quiet week, struggled to find decent trades, although I missed a very strong reversal on the miners on Friday after Thursday's sell off.


Hoping for better opportunities next week.

Changes on my watch list stocks over the last week:

Stay disciplined.

Stay focussed.

Stay humble.

Resumption of This Trade Journal

I shall return to posting regular updates here shortly.

Summary Week Ended Friday 21st November 2014

 

8 Stock Trades:

1 AAL + 102.04 BPS.
7 BLT + 273.79 BPS.

4 long trades + 199.16 BPS.
4 short trades + 176.67 BPS.
Stocks net  + 375.83 BPS.

7 intraday trades, 1 overnight.

I traded 3 days this week.
Return on account for the week + 31.82 % net.
P/L ratio N/A.
No Index trades.

Thoughts

A much better week, I caught some of the volatility on Friday when China announced a surpise rate cut.
A couple of very early exits.

Hoping for more opportunities next week.

Changes on the week:

Stay disciplined.

Stay focussed.

Stay humble.

Summary Week Ended Friday 14th November 2014

 

10 Stock Trades:

2 AAL - 304.25 BPS.
3 BARC + 49.38 BPS.
5 BLT + 24.22 BPS.

7 long trades + 69.51 BPS.
3 short trades - 300.16 BPS.
Stocks net  - 230.65 BPS.

9 intraday trades, 1 overnight.


I traded 5 days this week.
Return on account for the week - 21.95 % net.

No Index trades.

Thoughts

A very poor week, due to a poor entry (and exit) on a short trade on AAL.

Hoping for better opportunities next week.

Changes on the week:

Stay disciplined.

Stay focussed.

Stay humble.

Summary Week Ended Friday 7th November 2014

 

7 Stock Trades:

4 AAL + 29.68 BPS.
3 BARC + 27.81 BPS.


4 long trades + 34.10 BPS.
3 short trades + 23.39 BPS.
Stocks net  + 57.49 BPS.

All intraday trades.


I traded 3 days this week.
Return on account for the week + 4.87 % net.
P:L ratio N/A.
No Index trades.

Thoughts

A poor week, a couple of very poor exits on BARC.
Markets were rangebound.

Hoping for better opportunities next week.

Changes on the week:

Stay disciplined.

Stay focussed.

Stay humble.

Summary Week Ended Friday 31st October 2014

 

10 Stock Trades:

5 AAL + 166.82 BPS.
4 BARC + 227.57 BPS.
1 STAN - 172.33 BPS.

6 long trades - 5.51 BPS.
4 short trades + 227.57 BPS.
Stocks net  + 222.06 BPS.

9 intraday trades, 1 overnight.


I traded 4 days this week.
Return on account for the week + 16.70 % net.
P:L ratio 2.81:1.
No Index trades.

Thoughts

A difficult week, a poor STAN trade after results. Fortunately the STAN trade was small, so I actually produced a net profit for the week.
Markets were stronger, although the miners were weak, and both BLT and RIO made new 52 week lows.
STAN fell to levels it last traded at back on 2009.
Meanwhile BARC saw some volatility late on Friday after the BoE released new capital requirements for British banks.

Overall, October has been a bit of a disaster for my trading, and I have lost a lot of confidence.

Hoping for better opportunities next week.

Changes on the week:

Stay disciplined.

Stay focussed.

Stay humble.

Summary Week Ended Friday 24th October 2014

 

12 Stock Trades:

10 AAL + 119.14 BPS.
2 BLT + 37.74 BPS.

11 long trades: + 130.72 BPS.
1 short trade + 26.16 BPS.
Stocks net  + 156.88 BPS.

All intraday trades


I traded 5 days this week.
Return on account for the week + 13.29 % net.

No Index trades.

Thoughts

A better week, I avoided holding positions overnight during this period of high volatility. Just scalping mining stocks.


Changes on the week:

 

 

Stay disciplined.

Stay focussed.

Stay humble.

Summary Week Ended Friday 17th October 2014

 

16 Stock Trades:

15 AAL - 705.30 BPS.
1 BLT + 2.47 BPS.

10 long trades: + 104.26 BPS.
6 short trades - 705.30 BPS.
Stocks net  - 702.84 BPS.

13 intraday trades
3 overnight trades.

I traded 5 days this week.
Return on account for the week - 40.51 % net.


No Index trades.

Thoughts

A pretty awful week, I shorted AAL and closed pretty much near the highs.

Changes on the week:

Stay disciplined.

Stay focussed.

Stay humble.

Summary Week Ended Friday 10th October 2014

 

11 Stock Trades:

9 AAL + 119.23 BPS.
2 BLT + 17.36 BPS.

10 long trades: + 128.45 BPS.
1 short trade + 8.14 BPS.
Stocks net  + 136.59 BPS.

All intraday trades.

I traded 4 days this week.
Return on account for the week + 7.46 % net.
P:L ratio was N/A (no losing trades).

No Index trades.

Thoughts

A better week.

Changes on the week:

Summary Week Ended Friday 3rd October 2014

 

5 Stock Trades:

2 AAL - 494.79 BPS.
2 BP - 1691.28 BPS.
1 SBRY - 1936.29 BPS.

All trades.


Stocks net  - 4122.36 BPS.
1 intraday trade, 4 overnight.
I traded 5 days this week. Return on account for the week - 77 % net.

No Index trades.

Thoughts

Another disasterous week.
I closed the remainder of my positions in SBRY and BP.

This is the worst couple of weeks of 2014. I may need to take a break after this.

Summary Week Ended Friday 26th September 2014

 

12 Stock Trades:

7 AAL + 57.25 BPS.
1 BLT +  15.40 BPS.
1 BP - 815.31 BPS.
3 SBRY - 3682.19 BPS.

11 long trades - 4432.42 BPS.
1 short trade + 7.58 BPS.


Stocks net  - 4424.85 BPS.
8 intraday trades, 4 overnight.
I traded 5 days this week. Return on account for the week - 37.81 % net.

No Index trades.

Thoughts

A disasterous week.
I held onto a position in SBRY and paid the price, same in BP.


Changes on watchlist stocks for the week:

This has been quite a shock for me, and I need to take stock.

Stay disciplined.

Stay focussed.

Stay humble.

Summary Week Ended Friday 19th September 2014

 

6 Stock Trades:

6 AAL + 74.92 BPS.
6 long trades: + 74.92 BPS.

Stocks net  +74.92 BPS.
6 intraday trades, 0 overnight.
I traded 4 days this week. Return on account for the week + 1.28 % net.
P:L ratio was N/A (no losing trades).
No Index trades.

Thoughts

A quiet week.
Well below my 2.5% benchmark. Choppy markets, and I found it difficult to find decent trades this week.
Markets were fairly quiet in the run up to the Scottish independence decision.
We saw a bit of a rally after the 'NO' vote on Friday, although the miners remained very weak.

As for Salmond, I see no reason why he should not dragged to the Tower and tried for High Treason. After that, he should be boiled very slowly in a vat of Brown Windsor soup, in public of course, maybe at Tyburn.

But I bet that won't happen...

Changes on the week:

Hopefully more opportunities next week.

Stay disciplined.

Stay focussed.

Stay humble.

Summary Week Ended Friday 12th September 2014

 

7 Stock Trades:

5 AAL + 75.05 BPS.
2 BP + 73.23 BPS.

6 long trades: + 148.28 BPS.

Stocks net  + 148.28 BPS.

4 intraday trades, 3 overnight.

I traded 4 days this week.
Return on account for the week + 2.37 % net.
P:L ratio was N/A (no losing trades).

No Index trades.

Thoughts

A quiet week after last week's debacle.
Below my 2.5% benchmark. I found it difficult to find decent trades this week.
Miners were weaker, the FTSE mining index was down over 230 BPS over the five days.

Changes on the week:

Hopefully more opportunities next week.

Stay disciplined.

Stay focussed.

Stay humble.

Summary Week Ended Friday 5th September 2014

 

9 Stock Trades:

6 AAL + 115.34 BPS
3 BP - 1320.85 BPS


5 long trades: - 1279.47 BPS.
4 short trades + 73.96 BPS.

Stocks net  - 1205.51 BPS

5 intraday trades, 4 overnight.

I traded four days this week.
Return on account for the week - 18.47 % net.

No Index trades.

Thoughts

A terrible start to September trading.

I got hammered by BP after they lost a US court ruling. I had closed a part of the position on Thursday morning for a small profit, but held the rest as the chart showed strength and I thought it might test the 50 DMA at around 490. It was trading around 487.50 at the time, having tested 488.80.
Then the news hit and the stock fell very quickly, too quickly to get out (didn't help that I was distracted by something else at the time).
So annoying that I could have closed the remainder of the position flat... I was only looking for another 2p..


This is my first losing week on stocks since Oct 2013. And it hurt.
I will have to give this some thought over the weekend. The irony is that I had never lost money on a BP position before Thursday.

We saw some volatility on Wednesday when a ceasefire was declared in the Ukraine conflict. The ES futures made new all time highs @ 2010.5.

Stock changes for the week:

Stay disciplined.

Stay focussed.

Stay humble.

Summary Week Ended Friday 29th August 2014

 

8 Stock Trades:

6 AAL + 87.28 BPS
2 BLT + 38.69 BPS

6 long trades: + 108.25 BPS.
2 short trades: + 17.72 BPS.

Stocks net  + 125.97 BPS

6 intraday trades, 2 overnight.

I traded 4 days this week.
Return on account for the week + 1.33 % net.
P:L ratio was N/A (no losing trades).

No Index trades.

Thoughts

A shortened week, due to the bank holiday. Markets were volatile with events in Ukraine. Seems like there was an new announcment from the Ukraine/Moscow every few minutes throughout the trading day.

All in all, a very tough week, and I am very glad that it's Friday afternoon.
Well below my 2.5% benchmark.

August has been a difficult month, the breakdown of trades was as follows:

AAL was by far the most frequently traded strock again, accounting for 68% of trades. I made some very poor trade exits, especially on the short side, where I scalped a couple of points before the stock tumbled sharply.
I have rather neglected the banks this month, with not a single trade in BARC. Hopefully next month will provide more opportunities.

Changes on stocks for the month of August:

SBRY was sharply lower today after a profit warning from Tesco.

Stay disciplined.

Stay focussed.

Stay humble.

Summary Week Ended Friday 22nd August 2014

 

17 Stock Trades:

14 AAL + 244.11 BPS
3 BLT + 22.84 BPS

13 long trades: + 253.83 BPS.
4 short trades: + 13.12 BPS.
Stocks net  + 266.94 BPS

15 intraday trades, 2 overnight.

I traded 5 days this week.
Return on account for the week + 4.24 % net.
P:L ratio was N/A (no losing trades).

No Index trades.

Thoughts

A better week.


Scalped a few points on AAL, despite some poor exits. Not bad considering AAL is more or less flat on the week at the moment (Friday morning). Again, it's all about exits.

AAL has been trading in a nice range recently, although I don't know how long this will last. I do find it hard to fathom the reasoning behind the buying near or at obvious resistance and the selling near support, but it takes all sorts to make a market I suppose.

My normal multi - timeframe chart setup for AAL:

Well above my 2.5% weekly target.

August is proving to be a tough month, and I have beaten my 2.5% benchmark in only two weeks of the last four. At least we have some volatility in the equity markets.

Stock changes for the week:

Stay disciplined.

Stay focussed.

Stay humble.

Summary Week Ended Friday 15th August 2014

 

12 Stock Trades:

11 AAL + 126.31 BPS
1 BLT + 4.96 BPS

8 long trades: + 102.02 BPS.
2 short trades: + 30.24 BPS.

Stocks net  + 131.27 BPS

10 intraday trades, 2 overnight.

I traded 4 days this week.
Return on account for the week + 1.67 % net.
P:L ratio was 28:1.

No Index trades.

Thoughts

Another difficult week.
I struggled to find decent opportunities.

Markets were strong, although there was a sell off late on Friday on some Russian/Ukrainian news.

Stock changes for the week:

Stay disciplined.

Stay focussed.

Stay humble.

 

Summary Week Ended Friday 8th August 2014

 

20 Stock Trades:

7 AAL + 72.87 BPS
1 BLT + 4.97 BPS
4 BP + 51.92 BPS
2 HSBA + 58.12 BPS
2 SBRY + 62.20 BPS
4 STAN + 30.51 BPS

17 long trades: + 203.68 BPS.
3 short trades: + 76.91 BPS.

Stocks net  + 280.59 BPS

19 intraday trades, 1 overnight.

I traded 5 days this week.
Return on account for the week + 3.28 % net.
P:L ratio was 24.11:1.

No Index trades.

Thoughts

Another difficult week. Markets were volatile once again, with events in Ukraine and Iraq making the news headlines.

I had to scalp what I could. Rallies were sold off pretty quickly this week. The FTSE made a new 30 day low on Friday morning, before staging a bit of a rally. Most stocks on my list still well down over the course of five days.
Still above my 2.5% benchmark for the week.

Made a few very poor exits, especially on STAN after the results on Wednesday. Missed some excellent shorting opportunities. Another week when exit levels were all important.

August is definitely turning out to be tougher than the last few months have been, at least for my style of trading.

Stock changes for the week:

Stay disciplined.

Stay focussed.

Stay humble.

 

Summary Week Ended Friday 1st August 2014

 

18 Stock Trades:

9 AAL + 145.70 BPS
2 BARC - 190.10 BPS
4 BP + 66.36 BPS
2 SBRY + 24.31 BPS
1 STAN + 34.02 BPS

Stocks net  + 80.31 BPS

17 long trades: + 46.30 BPS.
1 short trades: + 34.02 BPS.
16 intraday trades, 2 overnight trades.


I traded 5 days this week.
Return on account for the week + 0.45 % net.
P:L ratio was 1.14:1.


No Index trades.

Thoughts

A poor week's trading. I held onto a BARC long, sold it early into the rally on Wednesday morning, a poor entry and poor exit, although it could have been a lot worse.

Thursday and Friday saw a lot of volatility after the sell off in New York, prior to the US payrolls data release on Friday.

I caught a few moves on AAL and BP.

Short of my 2.5% benchmark.
Still well positive for the month of July, which is something I suppose.

Trade breakdown for July 2014:

Watch list stock changes on the week:

Hoping for a better week next week.

Stay disciplined.

Stay focussed.

Stay humble.

Summary Week Ended Friday 25th July 2014

 

22 Stock Trades:

16 AAL + 251.58 BPS
4 BARC + 79.68 BPS
1 BLT + 2.44 BPS
1 BP + 3.05 BPS

Stocks net  + 336.75 BPS

12 long trades: + 213.25 BPS.
10 short trades: + 123.50 BPS.
21 intraday trades, 1 overnight trade.

I traded 5 days this week.
Return on account for the week + 4.42 % net.
P:L ratio was 24.9:1.


No Index trades.

Thoughts

A busy week.
I shorted AAL a tad early, I was long BARC and again my exits were pretty poor, and closed a long trade on BP criminally early, but that's the trading business.

This week I was reminded of a golden rule regarding trading:

"It's all about exits !!"
With this volatility, it's so easy to let a profit turn into a loss.

North of my 2.5% benchmark, which is good.

Overall, markets were strong this week. Miners were bid up, with BLT and GLEN made new 52 week highs. Oils were weaker, with BP making a 30 day low on Monday, before rebounding sharply.

AAL was volatile, so far this month I have scalped 685 BPS on it, and so far this year AAL has netted me a tad over 2000 BPS.

AAL is a good trading stock, plenty of volatility and decent liquidity as well. 

Changes on the week:

I feel the need for a break from the markets, and therefore I may take some time off in the next few weeks.

Stay disciplined.

Stay focussed.

Stay humble.

Summary Week Ended Friday 18th July 2014

 

11 Stock Trades:

3 AAL + 291.83 BPS
5 BARC + 175.90 BPS
3 STAN + 45.03 BPS
Stocks net  + 512.77 BPS

8 long, 3 short trades, intraday and overnight.

I traded 4 days this week.
Return on account for the week + 7.18 % net.
P:L ratio was N/A (no losing trades).
No Index trades.

Thoughts

A decent week, exceeded my 2.5% benchmark comfortably.
I caught a nice short in AAL on Wednesday. Scalped a few points on STAN and BARC.


I missed lots of trades, and had some poor exits. Had connection problems at the open on Thursday morning, not what you need when short overnight. But thankfully the connection was back up in time for me to lower my stop orders and get out for a decent return on the position.

I hope these recent excellent trading conditions persist. I'm due a negative week soon I feel.

The market finished the weak mostly higher, despite falling late on Thursday after news emerged of an airliner having been brought down over Ukraine.What a terrible tragedy, really shocking.

Changes on stocks over the week:

Looking forward to more opportunities next week.

Stay disciplined.

Stay focussed.

Stay humble.

Summary Week Ended Friday 11th July 2014

 

13 Stock Trades:

5 AAL + 53.04 BPS
5 BARC + 66.69 BPS
1 BP + 9.92 BPS
2 EZJ + 188.48 BPS 

Stocks net  + 318.13 BPS

10 long, 3 short trades, intraday and overnight.

I traded 4 days this week.
Return on account for the week + 3.3 % net.
P:L ratio was 5.36:1.
No Index trades.

Thoughts

A difficult week. We saw quite a bit of volatility after worries about a Portuguese bank on Thursday. The market finished the weak lower (see table):

I caught a bounce on EZJ, unfortunately I got stopped out at a poor price due to slippage on half my position.
Miners were volatile again, as were the banks. BARC made a new 52 week low.


I took a loss on Thursday (on BARC), which was my first losing day since early February. I realise that losing days are part of the business, but I'd rather not have too many of them. I am due a losing week soon I feel.

Above my 2.5% weekly benchmark anyway.

Looking forward to more opportunities next week.

Stay disciplined.

Stay focussed.

Stay humble.

Summary Week Ended Friday 4th July 2014

 

12 Stock Trades:

8 AAL + 88.80 BPS
3 BARC + 79.44 BPS
1 STAN + 11.00 BPS
Stocks net  + 179.24 BPS

4 long, 8 short trades, intraday and overnight.

I traded 5 days this week.
Return on account for the week + 2.75 % net.
P:L ratio was 8.22:1.
No Index trades.

Thoughts

A decent week.
A profit, just scraped past my 2.5% weekly benchmark. Trades were difficult to find.
Miners were strong after an upgrade on RIO.
Friday is a holiday in the US (for some obscure reason) so London was pretty quiet.

The month of June was a decent period for me, with a total of 76 trades completed.
The breakdown was as follows:

BARC was the star performer for the month. Over the course of June, BARC declined just under 14%. I hope to continue to find decent trades.

Going forward, I remain cautious on the equity markets for now, although the US market remains very bullish with new highs made on the SPX500 this week.

Now we have completed the second quarter, I will be looking for signs of a possible reversal in the equity market, although most of the shares on my watch list are still well off the highs of the year.

Changes on the week:

Looking forward to more opportunities during the rest of the month, as well as more World cup drama and the Tour de France which kicks off this weekend.

Stay disciplined.

Stay focussed.

Stay humble.

2014 Stock Trades By Company Cumulative

Summary Week Ended Friday 27th June 2014

 

26 Stock Trades:

2 AAL + 69.43 BPS
9 BARC + 315.22 BPS
5 BLT + 75.46 BPS
2 BP + 31.71 BPS
4 SBRY + 90.95 BPS
4 STAN + 74.15 BPS

Stocks net  + 656.92 BPS

22 long, 4 short trades, intraday and overnight.

I traded 4.5 days this week.
Return on account for the week + 11.04 % net.
P:L ratio 8.63:1.
No Index trades, I am concentrating on stocks.

Thoughts

Another fairly volatile week, which I like to see. I was pretty busy, I even traded my old friend BP for the first time for months.

A decent return, well north of my 2.5% weekly benchmark. Would be nice to acheive this every week, but rather unlikely I think.

The benchmark has been exceeded for all four weeks of June (so far), which is good. The equity market has been a very friendly place recently, but I have no idea how long this will continue. July is normally a quieter month, I believe some people take holidays at this time of year.

We saw a bit of a sell - off on Wednesday after the US dropped.

BARC and STAN were down sharply on Thursday on news. I caught some of the move, but some exits were poor.

These charts of BLT show how the 1st 30m high/lows (Red and green dotted lines on the chart) often act as support or resistance. I watch these levels closely during the rest of the trading session.

Looking forward to more opportunities next week. I'm up a decent percentage on the month, and I will be cautious in what remains of June (one day...).

Changes on the week:

Stay disciplined.

Stay focussed.

Stay humble.

Summary Week Ended Friday 20th June 2014

 

17 Stock Trades:

3 AAL + 94.94 BPS
3 BLT + 25.09 BPS
6 SBRY + 96.59 BPS
5 STAN + 106.66 BPS

Stocks net  + 323.28 BPS

All long trades, all intraday.

I traded 5 days this week.
Return on account for the week + 4.87 % net.
P:L ratio was 13.1:1 - I had one losing trade....
No Index trades, I am concentrating on stocks.

Thoughts

Another fairly volatile week, which I like to see.

A decent return, well above my 2.5% weekly benchmark.


A couple of poor exits, and a few missed opportunities. Frustrating that I practically caught the lows of the week on BLT on Tuesday in the low 1830s, but didn't ride it into the highs on Thursday. Same on AAL.
I guess I didn't fancy the risk of a gap down overnight. Of course, both AAL and BLT gapped up on Thursday morning after the FOMC.

BLT high back on 9th June was 1918, then on Thursday (the 19th) it peaked at 1917.5 before falling below 1900... who says price doesn't have memory ?

STAN was weak, making a new 30 day low on Friday. BARC remained weak too.

BP and RDSA/B made new 52 week highs.

Changes on the week:

Although the Fed continues to swamp the financial markets with cash, I remain cautious on the equity markets for now. Not sure how this is all going to end, but it will probably surprise a lot of market participants.

Friday lunchtime here and I think I'm done for the week.

Looking forward to more opportunities next week. I'm up a decent percentage on the month, and I will be cautious in what remains of June.

Besides, lots of quality football to be enjoyed....

Stay disciplined.

Stay focussed.

Stay humble.

Summary Week Ended Friday 13th June 2014

 

20 Stock Trades:

6 AAL + 77.71 BPS
5 BLT  + 37.74 BPS
3 EZJ + 144.43 BPS
1 SBRY + 5.54 BPS
5 STAN + 34.23 BPS

Stocks net  + 299.65 BPS

All long trades, intraday and overnight.

I traded 5 days this week.
Return on account for the week + 3.40 % net.
P:L ratio N/A as there were no losing trades.
No Index trades, I am concentrating on stocks.

Thoughts

Another fairly volatile week, which I like to see. Volatility picked up on Thursday and Friday, after a quiet start to the week.

Over my 2.5% weekly benchmark again this week.

Miners were volatile on thursday, with AAL and BLT gapping down - see chart.

Both AAL, BLT and RIO made 30 day lows this week.
Most of my watch list stocks finished the week lower

BP made a new 52 week high on Friday, crude was also strong following the events in Iraq.

A couple of poor exits, and a few missed opportunities. That's trading.
I remain cautious on the equity markets for now.
Looking forward to more opportunities next week.

Stay disciplined.

Stay focussed.

Stay humble.

Daily Stocks Spreadsheet Week Ended 6th June 2014

Summary Week Ended Friday 6th June 2014

 

12 Stock Trades:

4 AAL + 81.36 BPS
3 BARC + 78.53 BPS
3 EZJ + 91.51 BPS
1 SBRY + 22.99 BPS
1 STAN + 4.53 BPS


Stocks net  + 278.92 BPS

11 long and 1 short trade, intraday and overnight.

I traded 4 days this week.

Return on account for the week + 2.90 % net.

P:L ratio was N/A as there were no losing trades.

No Index trades, I am concentrating on stocks.

Thoughts

A volatile week, which I like to see.

Above my 2.5% weekly benchmark, which is good.

Most of my watch list stocks finished the week higher:

A few missed opportunities this week.

Looking forward to more opportunities next week.

Stay disciplined.

Stay focussed.

Stay humble.

Daily Stocks Spreadsheet CoB Friday 30th May 2014

Summary Week Ended Friday 30th May 2014

 

11 Stock Trades:

6 AAL + 16.80 BPS
2 BARC + 6.53 BPS
2 BLT + 10.10 BPS
1 SBRY + 10.85 BPS


Stocks net  + 44.28 BPS

All long trades, intraday and overnight.

I traded 4 days this week.

Return on account for the week + 0.42 % net.

P:L ratio was 1.39:1.

No Index trades, I am concentrating on stocks.

Thoughts

A short week due to the bank holiday on Monday.
Very difficult to find decent trades and I struggled to make a decent return this week.

Well short of my 2.5% weekly benchmark.

I missed a lovely rally on SBRY, despite buying near the low of the week. - BE PATIENT !!

Over the month of May, I made 44 trades, net + 675 BPS and return on my account of just over 16%.
My P:L ratio was 5.2:1.

I'm sure there are lots of traders out there making over 20% per month, but it's better than a savings account.

The breakdown of the trades in May was as follows:

12 AAL
15 BARC
13 BLT
2 EZJ

2 SBRY


This week the ES finally broke through 1900, and the Dax may want to test 10,000 soon.

Changes on stocks I watch over the month:

The fall on the miners can be seen in the moves on RIO, AAL, and BLT, although GLEN actually rose over the period. UU has been very strong.

The miners sold off at the end of the week, the mining index falling over 3.4% on Friday. Gold fell below the $1250 level.

Looking forward to more opportunities next month.

Stay disciplined.

Stay focussed.

Stay humble.