Friday, April 28, 2017

Trading Summary Week Ended 28th April 2017

29 Stock Trades:


8 AAL + 493 BPS.
2 BARC + 54 BPS.
3 BLT + 45 BPS.
5 GLEN + 202 BPS.
8 RIO + 206 BPS.
3 STAN + 42 BPS.


7 long trades + 238 BPS.
22 short trades + 804 BPS.
19 intra-day trades + 393 BPS.
10 multi-day trades + 649 BPS

Stocks  net + 1042 BPS.

Return on account for the week + 15.11 % net.
P:L ratio N/A.
Days traded: 5.
Longest trade duration: 6 days.
Shortest trade duration: 1 min.
No Index trades.

(All PNL expressed in basis points for the purpose of comparison.)

Thoughts


A five day week after a couple of short weeks due to Easter.

Monday saw a strong open, after Macron won the first round of the French elections.

Miners rallied on Monday but sold off on Tuesday, a downgrade of BLT, RIO and AAL from Goldmans didn't help.

Wednesday was very volatile with earnings out for STAN and GSK, also a production update from BLT.
We had another sell off in the mining sector on Thursday afternoon, then a rebound on Friday.
And then BARC announced disappointing results on Friday morning, after which the shares sank more than 5%.
In other words, ideal trading conditions.

Well  above my 2.5% benchmark, and the best week of the year so far.
Just under six trades per day average.

Hoping for more weeks like this. Next week is another four day week.



Stay disciplined.

Stay focussed.

Stay humble.

Friday, April 21, 2017

Trading Summary Week Ended 21st April 2017

28 Stock Trades:


7 AAL + 152 BPS.
2 BARC + 25 BPS.
5 BLT + 122 BPS.
14 RIO + 252 BPS.

6 long trades + 92 BPS.
22 short trades + 459 BPS.
21 intra-day trades + 335 BPS.
7 multi-day trade + 216 BPS.

Stocks net + 551 BPS.

Return on account for the week + 8.12 % net.
P:L ratio N/A.
Days traded: 4.
Longest trade duration: 22 days.
Shortest trade duration: 3 min.
No Index trades.

(All PNL expressed in basis points for the purpose of comparison.)

Thoughts


A four day week due to the Easter Monday bank holiday in the UK. 

A very volatile week, miners sold off heavily on Tuesday after the long weekend. They rallied on Friday after RIO issued a production update, only to sell off again later in the day.
Pretty busy by my standards with an average of seven trades per day.
Made some poor entries and a couple of very poor exits (including a short on RIO closed  3152, after which RIO broke down to 3080).

Well above my 2.5% benchmark, which is good.

Hoping for more opportunities next week.



Stay disciplined.

Stay focussed.

Stay humble.

Thursday, April 13, 2017

Trading Summary Week Ended 14th April 2017

13 Stock Trades:


6 AAL + 90 BPS.
4 BLT + 68 BPS.
1 GLEN + 14 BPS.
2 RIO + 20 BPS.

7 long trades + 101 BPS.
6 short trades + 91 BPS.
12 intra-day trades + 187 BPS.
1 multi-day trade + 5 BPS.

Stocks net + 192 BPS.

Return on account for the week + 3.04 % net.
P:L ratio N/A.
Days traded: 4.
Longest trade duration: 1 day.
Shortest trade duration: 2 min.
No Index trades.

(All PNL expressed in basis points for the purpose of comparison.)

Thoughts

A four day week due to the Good Friday bank holiday in the UK. 

Struggled to find decent trading opportunities this week. Miners sold off on Wednesday and Thursday as metal prices weakened.

Hoping for more opportunities next week (also a four day week).



Stay disciplined.

Stay focussed.

Stay humble.

Friday, April 07, 2017

Trading Summary Week Ended 7th April 2017

17 Stock Trades:


10 AAL + 188 BPS.
1 BARC + 16 BPS.
3 BLT + 33 BPS.
3 GLEN + 129 BPS.

9 long trades + 151 BPS.
8 short trades + 215 BPS.
14 intra-day trades + 196 BPS.
3 multi-day trades  + 170 BPS.

Stocks net + 366 BPS.

Return on account for the week + 5.21 % net.
P:L ratio N/A.
Days traded: 5.
Longest trade duration: 15 days.
Shortest trade duration: 2 min.
No Index trades.

(All PNL expressed in basis points for the purpose of comparison.)

Thoughts


A decent week's trading.

Well north of my 2.5% benchmark, in fact my best week of 2017.
A good start to the month.

Struggled to find decent trading opportunities early in the week, but Thursday and Friday saw more volatility. I made a couple of very poor trade exits.
Miners were strong midweek but sold off towards the weekend.

Hoping for more opportunities next week.



Stay disciplined.

Stay focussed.

Stay humble.

Friday, March 31, 2017

Trading Summary Week Ended 31st Mar 2017

15 Stock Trades:


5 AAL + 148 BPS.
8 GLEN + 194 BPS.
2 RIO + 12 BPS.


4 long trades + 74 BPS.
11 short trades + 280 BPS.
10 intra-day trades + 274 BPS.
5 multi-day trade  + 80 BPS.

Stocks net + 354 BPS.

Return on account for the week + 5.3 % net.
P:L ratio 181:1.
Days traded: 5.
Longest trade duration: 6 days.
Shortest trade duration: 3 min.
No Index trades.

(All PNL expressed in basis points for the purpose of comparison.)

Thoughts


A busy week's trading.

We saw plenty of volatility on the mining sector, and crude oil was weak early on, although it rallied into the weekend.

Well north of my 2.5% benchmark.

Hoping for some opportunities in April.



Stay disciplined.

Stay focussed.

Stay humble.

Friday, March 24, 2017

Trading Summary Week Ended 24th Mar 2017

9 Stock Trades:


6 AAL + 77 BPS.
2 BARC + 23 BPS.
1 BLT + 19 BPS.

5 long trades + 72 BPS.
4 short trades + 47 BPS.
9 intra-day trades + 119 BPS.
No multi-day trades .

Stocks net + 119 BPS.

Return on account for the week + 1.84 % net.
P:L ratio N/A (no losing trades).
Days traded: 5.
Longest trade duration: 360 min.
Shortest trade duration: 4 min.
No Index trades.

(All PNL expressed in basis points for the purpose of comparison.)

Thoughts


Another difficult week's trading.

Equities on my watch list traded in pretty narrow ranges. Hard to spot opportunities.

And I had other non trading stuff to attend to.

Well short of my 2.5% benchmark. I'm up a decent percentage for the month and I don't want to give any of that away, so I'll be vary selective in my trades during the last week of March.


Hoping for some opportunities next week.



Stay disciplined.

Stay focussed.

Stay humble.

Friday, March 17, 2017

Trading Summary Week Ended 17th Mar 2017

11 Stock Trades:


4 AAL + 223 BPS.
6 BLT + 77 BPS.
1 GLEN +  45 BPS.

3 long trades + 138 BPS.
8 short trades + 207 BPS.
7 intra-day trades + 158 BPS.
4 multi-day trades + 187 BPS.

Stocks net + 345 BPS.

Return on account for the week + 4.84 % net.
P:L ratio N/A (no losing trades).
Days traded: 5.
Longest trade duration: 4 days.
Shortest trade duration: 2 min.
No Index trades.

(All PNL expressed in basis points for the purpose of comparison.)

Thoughts


A difficult week's trading.

Equities on my watch list traded in pretty narrow ranges. Hard to spot opportunities.
BP declined after last weeks bid speculation - I guess I could have held my short over the weekend but that seemed a bit risky given that the bid could have been announced and the shares could have gapped up 10%.

Miners were very active on Thursday after AAL jumped up over 10% on bid news, the other miners were also very volatile. I shorted AAL but closed too early. Ditto BLT - I practically shorted the high of the week. BLT was very challenging to trade this week, felt like the algos were playing games with it (which they probably were).

Well north of my 2.5% benchmark. I'm up over 13% for the month and I don't want to give any of that away, so I'll be vary selective in my trades during the next two weeks.

I have plotted a breakdown of my trades by hour of entry over the last two months:




The first hour is by far the most profitable.

Hoping for some opportunities next week.



Stay disciplined.

Stay focussed.

Stay humble.

Friday, March 10, 2017

Trading Summary Week Ended 10th Mar 2017

15 Stock Trades:


3 AAL + 35 BPS.
2 BARC + 16 BPS.
2 BLT + 34 BPS.
2 BP + 77 BPS.
2 GLEN + 105 BPS.
2 RDSB + 51 BPS.
2 SL + 28 BPS.

9 long trades + 228 BPS.
6 short trades + 118 BPS.
12 intra-day trades + 248 BPS.
2 multi-day trades + 98 BPS.

Stocks net + 346 BPS.

Return on account for the week + 4.90 % net.
P:L ratio N/A (no losing trades).
Days traded: 5.
Longest trade duration: 1 day.
Shortest trade duration: 2 min.
No Index trades.

(All PNL expressed in basis points for the purpose of comparison.)

Thoughts


A decent week's trading.

Well north of my 2.5% weekly target.

Miners saw a big sell - off on Thursday, as did crude and oil stocks. Oils bounced back on Friday as the price of crude found some strength. BP spiked up on Friday after bid rumours naming Exxon as a possible bidder.

Friday we had US payrolls. So a volatile end to the week.

Some very poor entries and exits (including shorting AAL at over 1233 and closing for a couple of points, a couple of days later it dropped to the 1140s).
That's trading I suppose.

Hoping for some opportunities next week.




Stay disciplined.

Stay focussed.

Stay humble.

Friday, March 03, 2017

Trading Summary Week Ended 3rd Mar 2017

10 Stock Trades:


3 AAL + 110 BPS.
3 BLT + 105 BPS.
4 GLEN + 65 BPS.

4 long trades + 48 BPS.
6 short trades + 232 BPS.
6 intra-day trades + 163 BPS.
4 multi-day trades + 117 BPS.

Stocks net + 280 BPS.

Return on account for the week + 3.98 % net.
P:L ratio N/A (no losing trades).
Days traded: 5.
Longest trade duration: 4 days.
Shortest trade duration: 3 minutes.
No Index trades.

(All PNL expressed in basis points for the purpose of comparison.)

Thoughts


A really difficult week, some pretty poor trade entries and exits.

Still, managed to exceed my 2.5% weekly target.

Markets saw a huge rally after president Trump's speech on Tuesday night.
Lots of volatility on the mining stocks, in the US Alcoa was up nearly 10% on Wednesday.
Of course this didn't last, and the sector saw a sell off  at the end of the week.
Overall pretty pleased with my net result after a challenging week.

It's a lovely sunny Friday morning here, and I fancy an afternoon off cycling along the coast.

Hoping for some opportunities next week.




Stay disciplined.

Stay focussed.

Stay humble.

Thursday, February 23, 2017

Trading Summary Week Ended 24th Feb 2017

13 Stock Trades:


5 AAL + 135 BPS.
1 BARC + 16  BPS.
2 BLT + 26 BPS.
1 GLEN + 52 BPS.
1 HSBA + 3 BPS.
2 RBS + 36 BPS.
1 STAN + 16 BPS.

9 long trades + 180 BPS.
4 short trades + 104 BPS.

12 intra-day trades + 272 BPS.
1 overnight trade  + 12 BPS.

Stocks net + 284 BPS.

Return on account for the week + 3.63 % net.
P:L ratio N/A (no losing trades).
Days traded: 5.
Longest trade duration: overnight.
Shortest trade duration: 2 minutes.
No Index trades.

(All P & L expressed in basis points for the purpose of comparison.)

Thoughts


A very difficult week, struggled to make decent trades.
A couple of very poor entries and exists (shorted AAL at more or less the early high of the day and moved my stop down way too soon). Also managed to lock myself out on Thursday morning so managing an overnight position I had was somewhat tricky (!).

Stocks saw a very sharp sell-off on Thursday afternoon. Not sure what sparked that move. Friday was very volatile as well. The miners were very volatile.

Over my 2.5% weekly target.

I have been trying out a new charting package this week - Tradingview.com. The charts are pretty good, although I'm still not fully up to speed with the site. I was using MT4 but I can't find a decent feed for all the markets I watch. 

Hoping for some opportunities, (and fewer domestic issues) next week.




Stay disciplined.

Stay focussed.

Stay humble.

Friday, February 17, 2017

Trading Summary Week Ended 17th Feb 2017

5 Stock Trades:


2 AAL + 191 BPS.
1 BARC + 18 BPS.
2 BLT + 97 BPS.

2 long trades + 45 BPS.
3 short trades + 262 BPS.

4 intra-day trades + 140 BPS.
1 overnight trade + 167 BPS.

Stocks net + 306 BPS.

Return on account for the week + 3.17 % net.
P:L ratio N/A (no losing trades).
Days traded: 5.
Longest trade duration: 1 day.
Shortest trade duration: 3 minutes.
No Index trades.

(All P/L expressed in basis points for the purpose of comparison.)

Thoughts


Not a bad week, although not many trade opportunities.
The miners and banks saw some decent volatility.
A couple of poor entries and exists.
Equities were strong early in the week, as the US indices made new all time highs. Not sure how long this bull run can continue, but it's not wise to fight it...

Bullish metals prices driving the miners too.

I exceeded my 2.5% weekly target.

Next week is a biggie for earnings:

21st Feb: AAL, BLT, HSBA.
22nd Feb : LLOY.
23rd Feb: BARC, GLEN.
24th Feb: RBS; STAN.

Should be some volatility.

Hoping for some opportunities next week.




Stay disciplined.

Stay focussed.

Stay humble.

Friday, February 10, 2017

Trading Summary Week Ended 10th Feb 2017

7 Stock Trades:


2 BARC + 65 BPS.
1 BLT + 70 BPS.
2 BP + 34 BPS.
2 GLEN + 27 BPS.

5 long trades + 175 BPS.
2 short trades + 21 BPS.

6 intra-day trades + 126 BPS.
1 overnight trade + 70 BPS.

Stocks net + 196 BPS.

Return on account for the week + 3.68 % net.
P:L ratio N/A (no losing trades).
Days traded: 5.
Longest trade duration: 2 days.
Shortest trade duration: 1 minute.
No Index trades.


Thoughts


A better week, the miners, oils & banks all saw some decent volatility.
Exceeded my 2.5% weekly target.

I made a couple of very poor (premature) exits, the net BPS figure could have been double, but that's trading. Miners had a pop on Friday after stronger then expected trade data from China.

Hoping for some opportunities next week.

Stay disciplined.

Stay focussed.

Stay humble.

Friday, February 03, 2017

Trading Summary Week Ended 3rd Feb 2017

4 Stock Trades:


2 BARC + 42 BPS.
1 BT.A + 16 BPS.
1 GLEN + 29 BPS.

2 long trades + 51 BPS.
2 short trades + 35 BPS.

All intraday trades.
No overnight trades.

Stocks net + 87 BPS.

Return on account for the week + 2.19 % net.
P:L ratio N/A (no losing trades).
I traded 4 days this week.
No Index trades.


Thoughts


A tricky week, couldn't find many decent opportunities. Below my 2.5% weekly target.

Hoping for better results next week.

Stay disciplined.

Stay focussed.

Stay humble.

Saturday, September 17, 2016

Trading Summary Week Ended 16th September 2016

13 Stock Trades:


1 AAL + 26.92 BPS.
1 BLT + 131.66 BPS.
2 GLEN + 13.62 BPS.
1 RBS + 18.85 BPS.
9 RIO + 256.29 BPS.

6 long trades + 64.17 BPS.
7 short trades + 383.19 BPS.

12 intraday trades + 275.69 BPS.
1 overnight trades + 171.67 BPS.

Stocks net + 447.35 BPS.

Return on account for the week + 3.70 % net.
P:L ratio N/A.
I traded 5 days this week.
No Index trades.


Thoughts


A decent week, above my 2.5% weekly target.

Hoping for better results next week.

Stay disciplined.

Stay focussed.

Stay humble.

Saturday, October 17, 2015

Trading Summary Week Ended Friday 16th October 2015

16 Stock Trades:


14 AAL + 423.48 BPS.
2 STAN + 53.99 BPS.

5 long trades + 164.44 BPS.
11 short trades + 313.03 BPS.

13 intraday trades + 408.00 BPS.
3 overnight trades + 69.47 BPS.

Stocks net + 477.47 BPS.

Return on account for the week + 13.54 % net.
P:L ratio N/A.
I traded 5 days this week.
No Index trades.


Thoughts


A tough week, above my 2.5% weekly target.
The equity markets were quieter.

Changes on watch list stocks for the week:



Hoping for better results next week.

Stay disciplined.

Stay focussed.

Stay humble.

Friday, October 16, 2015

Trading Summary Week Ended Friday 9th October 2015

21 Stock Trades:


9 AAL + 331.98 BPS.
5 BLT + 93.84 BPS.
7 STAN + 190.10 BPS.

4 long trades + 34.59 BPS.
17 short trades + 581.33 BPS.

19 intraday trades + 640.70 BPS.
2 overnight trades - 24.78 BPS.

Stocks net + 615.91 BPS.

Return on account for the week + 17.86 % net.
P:L ratio 8.19:1.
I traded 5 days this week.
No Index trades.


Thoughts


A decent week, well above my 2.5% weekly target.
The equity markets were volatile again



Hoping for better results next week.

Stay disciplined.

Stay focussed.

Stay humble.

Friday, September 25, 2015

Trading Summary Week Ended Friday 25th September 2015

6 Stock Trades:


3 AAL + 126.57 BPS.
4 BLT + 128.60 BPS.
1 STAN + 15.76 BPS.

1 long trade + 15.76 BPS.
6 short trades + 255.17 BPS.

6 intraday trades + 202.02 BPS.
2 overnight trades + 68.92 BPS.

Stocks net + 270.94 BPS.

Return on account for the week + 1.20 % net.
P:L ratio N/A.
I traded 5 days this week.
No Index trades.


Thoughts


A difficult week, well below my 2.5% weekly target.
The equity markets were volatile again, with miners getting badly hit. GLEN traded under a pound, which is pretty amazing given the float price was around £5.
Elsewhere STAN made new lows for the year.. in fact it last traded at these levels back in 2009.
A very difficult market to trade (well for me anyway).

Stock changes on the week (UU replaced with GSK in the watch list):



Hoping for better results next week.

Stay disciplined.

Stay focussed.

Stay humble.

Saturday, September 19, 2015

Trading Summary Week Ended Friday 18th September 2015

22 Stock Trades:


5 AAL + 150.53 BPS.
16 BLT + 627.71 BPS.
1 RIO + 13.32 BPS.

6 long trades + 132.96 BPS.
16 short trades + 658.61 BPS.

15 intraday trades + 531.61 BPS.
7 overnight trade + 259.95 BPS.

Stocks net + 791.57 BPS.

Return on account for the week + 4.84 % net.
P:L ratio N/A.
I traded 5 days this week.
No Index trades.


Thoughts


A better week, well above my 2.5% weekly target.
The equity markets were volatile, and I was fairly busy.
Some poor exits but a profit is a profit.
The Fed held the interest rate on Thursday evening, and the markets sold off a bit in response.

Stock changes on the week:



Hoping for better results next week.

Stay disciplined.

Stay focussed.

Stay humble.

Trading Summary Week Ended Friday 11th September 2015

17 Stock Trades:


5 AAL + 254.46 BPS.
9 BLT + 509.78 BPS.
3 STAN + 93.78 BPS.

6 long trades + 356.96 BPS.
11 short trades + 501.06 BPS.

14 intraday trades + 654.64 BPS.
3 overnight trade + 203.39 BPS.

Stocks net + 858.02 BPS.

Return on account for the week + 4.79 % net.
P:L ratio N/A.
I traded 5 days this week.
No Index trades.


Thoughts


A better week.
Above my 2.5% weekly target.

Changes on the week:



Hoping for better results next week.

Stay disciplined.

Stay focussed.

Stay humble.

Trading Summary Week Ended Friday 4th September 2015

15 Stock Trades:


6 AAL + 294.84 BPS.
8 BLT + 486.08 BPS.
1 RIO + 14.01 BPS.

6 long trades + 193.01 BPS.
9 short trades + 601.91 BPS.

9 intraday trades + 440.29 BPS.
4 overnight trade + 354.64 BPS.

Stocks net + 794.93 BPS.

Return on account for the week + 4.28 % net.
P:L ratio N/A.
I traded 5 days this week.
No Index trades.


Thoughts


A better week.
Above my 2.5% weekly target.



Hoping for better results next week.

Stay disciplined.

Stay focussed.

Stay humble.