So this is Christmas.....

And what have you done?
Another year over
A new one just begun..

(John Lennon)

So, looking back....

Was it a good year?

Did you make money:
a: enough to pay the bills
b: more than I would have made in my previous career
c: significantly more than other career
d: more than last year
e: didnt lose
f: broke even

Are you trading:
a: substantially as I did at start of year
b: some minor changes to main plan
c: radically altered my strategy

What element is your biggest change to your trading?
a: better entries
b: better exits
c: lower risk
d: higher reward
e: better money management

What element is the worst part of tradng?
a: boredom
b: isolation
c: coping with drawdown
d: sticking to plan
e: lack of meaningful returns

Hope you all had a good trading year, and have a good Christmas week and New Years week, and get raring to go for 2009.

"Santa Claus writes ...

On cheques, I write 'J Santa Claus'. I tell people the J stands for Jolly, but actually it's Jason

The Guardian, Monday 22 December 2008

Hello, boys and girls. As you might imagine, this is a very busy time of year for Santa. I have, quite literally, a million and one things to do before Christmas Eve, and I haven't even started my shopping yet. Yes, Santa must shop too. Do you think Mrs Claus would be happy with something I knocked up in the workshop? She would not. And Christmas shopping here in the Lapland/north pole area is not exactly straightforward. We've got an Ikea, and a branch of Next, and that's about it.

A lot of people ask me, "What the worst thing about being Santa?" Have a guess. No, it's not the hours. No, it's not having to eat four billion mince pies in the course of an evening's work (the secret is to take just a small bite from each one). It's the paperwork.

There's my licensing agreement with Nintendo, for a start. It runs to 114 pages, and if I don't sign it, then the 1,200 elves churning out Wii steering wheels downstairs right now may as well go home, but Santa's lawyers (yes, Santa has lawyers - many, many lawyers) want changes to the wording regarding south-east Asian distribution rights.

There's my annual coal order - Santa is one of the biggest buyers of coal, after China - which this year I thought I would do in the summer, to get a jump on things, but I bought at the top of the market and now, of course, the price is plummeting. If you get coal in your stocking this year, it's not necessarily because you were naughty; it's because Santa can't give the stuff away.

On top of the present list and the Naughty/Nice List, I have to finish the Naughty/Nice addendum for 2009, because if you don't give people a clear idea of which activities constitute naughtiness, they can get litigious later on (another reason why Santa has many, many lawyers). Every year I have to do an update. So, for example: piracy - naughty; pyramid schemes - naughty; looking for my house on Google Earth - very naughty. When it's done you'll be able to download the whole thing from my website as a pdf. You'd better watch out for it.

Finally there are the inevitable customs declarations, immigration cards, visa waivers, and more. It's hard enough delivering toys to children all over the world in one night without all this red tape. Two years I was held up at the Mexican border for three hours because some official decided the picture in my passport didn't look like me. It's true that I was a lot heavier when the photo was taken, but I mean, come on. I'm Santa.

• I also get asked lot of questions about my name. Last year when I was on my rounds some kid came up to me and said, "So what should I call you? Santa Claus or Father Christmas?" I said, "It's four in the morning. What are you even doing up?" But I do understand the confusion the name thing causes for some people, so it might be helpful if I give you the official explanation. Father Christmas is the office I hold. Santa Claus is my name.

On cheques I write "J Santa Claus". I tell people that the J stands for Jolly, but actually it's Jason. I know - that's why I don't use it.

Santa, however, is not the politically correct sort, and I don't stand on ceremony. You can call me Santa, Santa Claus or Father Christmas, or for that matter St Nicholas, Père Noël, Papa Noel or Babbo Natale. In Germany they say Weihnachtsmann, which means "Christmas Man", and that's fine too. I don't mind Kris Kringle, even though I have no idea where it comes from. Santa Baby is the only one I really don't like; I find it presumptive and patronising. It's the kind of thing waiters say when they recognise me: "Hey, Santa Baby!" I'm like, ho, ho, ho. Then I pay the bill with coal.

• With everyone so worried about the credit crunch, it's worth pointing out that for some people the downturn has proven to be a blessing, and that includes Santa. For me it means smaller lists, a lighter sack and fewer Rolexes and Damien Hirst works to produce. The elves really hate making that stuff. But what do elves know? If you left it to the elves everyone would get a Jack Vettriano painting this year.

No, my friends, the biggest threat to Christmas is not the recession - it's global warming.

Every year we see the changes here at Christmas HQ. Normally we've got deep drifts of pristine white snow right up to the window sills year round, but this summer the ice and snow retreated further than ever, leaving bare earth visible for the first time in many centuries. The good news is, I found my bike. The bad news is, we're having to make snow for the sleigh's take-off ramp. Global warming - naughty. You heard it here first."

Santa Claus writes ... | Comment is free | The Guardian

Merry Christmas everybody and have a great New Year !

Hi guys,

I have had a great year.

I started out in November of last year, knowing absolutely nothing about forex, Japanese candlesticks or money management. I began with Babypips and subscribed to free emails as far as I went. (probably where my spam problem started )

Never having been on a chat site before, I stumbled onto T2W's library, looking for a book recommended in one of the emails. Ironically, I never found the book but I did find "Making money trading" by Trader Dante.

Needless to say, there has been a lot of ups and downs, but I've finally been consistently profitable for four months now. I know the toughest part is yet to come, but I'm really looking forward to opening a real account in January.

Merry Christmas everybody. Hope you all have a happy, healthy and profitable new year. :cheers:

Have answered in bold italics

trendie said:

Was it a good year?..yes

Did you make money: yes
a: enough to pay the bills yes
b: more than I would have made in my previous career will never know now
c: significantly more than other career see above
d: more than last year no
e: didnt lose
f: broke even

Are you trading:
a: substantially as I did at start of year yes
b: some minor changes to main plan yes
c: radically altered my strategy

What element is your biggest change to your trading?
a: better entries yes
b: better exits yes
c: lower risk by extension, yes
d: higher reward yes
e: better money management

What element is the worst part of tradng?
a: boredom yes
b: isolation yes
c: coping with drawdown
d: sticking to plan
e: lack of meaningful returns

Click to expand...

My biggest advance this year

1. Nailing potential support/resistance/sbr/rbs into a methodology that suits my need for format/process.
2. Understanding more clearly the highest probability circumstances to act at certain of the set-ups that make up my trading edge.

That's great Rider, that's a really steep learning curve.

Best of luck with the real account in the New Year !

No career like trading.

Think there are also some trading prop firms in SA if that's something you'd want to look into, at least I remember a feature in Trader Daily § The Online Home of Trader Monthly Magazine about one with spectatcular views in Cape Town I think it was.

Thanks BSD, that's a nice compliment, especially coming from a successful trader like yourself.

Thank you also for the link, quite an interesting magazine.

As for becoming a professional trader, who knows, maybe someday.