Marathonchap's Blog

13 November 2002

It was a tricky day to try and get any trading done as I was very busy with some renovation work that needed doing. This morning I did place a trade on the Trade2win competition. I shorted OOM at 52 and the system automatically closed my trade a few moments later.. There are a few glitches with the comp still.

Hopefully tomorrow will be less hectic and I will manage to get some trading done.

14th November 2002

Well I had really good intentions this evening, I was going to trade for two hours, however somehow the time has just gone and I suppose I must have wasted it doing non-trading related activity.

I am in the process of changing over from looking at and trading UK stocks to trading US ones.

tonight I did manage to take a brief look at DELL but other than being able to say in it looking Bullish I was unable to trade it. I still have lots of questions and things I need to learn.

Like when does the US Market actually close, and also if there is any action between 19:00 and 22:00 GMT.

However looking on the plus side, at least I was here, at least I did do something towards my goals and that is a lot better than nothing.

Dipping my toe back in the water

A few months back when I reviewed my past trading I realized that I was on a terrible losing streak and I made up my mind not to trade for real ever again, until I had demonstrated on paper that I could win at this.

Today however I was tempted to dip my toe back in the water, not so much of a trade though. I would regard this more as an investment. In the T2W comp I have been trading OOM and I liked it so much I decided to buy some for my ISA. The blind squirrel has these as being bullish so I thought I would try and buy a dip.

I set my limit order at 53, and went away. I came back to check on things and found my order had got filled. As I said these are more of an investment, and I was very conservative in the quantity I bought so if they drop sharply I don't even think I am going to bother with a stop loss. I can afford to wait

I am just too busy at the moment to concentrate on trading. The house is upside down, I am having to re-do all the plumbing and I need to get that finished ASAP.

The Mytrack broker account application forms have been sitting on my desk for several months now and I haven't had a chance to open my account yet and read it all through.

Having started a discussion about this with some other traders the concensus is that trading US stocks and indicies through a direct access broker is the most desirable method where possible.

So thinking about it, my next step has to be to open an account. Maybe not to day trade with real money, but just to use the service they provide and paper trade.

Life and trading

Well it has just been impossible to trade or research or investigate anyhting in any depth over the last week or so. I am just so heavily involved in this DIY plumbing project that it is taking all my focus.

It seems to be the same with many people in the run up to Christmas. I find that with trading you need to give it time and focus to do a good job.

Also I need to work on my time management skills so that I allot enough time to the trading duing my week. But right now heat and water are more of a priority than trading.

Maratonchap

Life, Death and Giving up Tradiing

Well,
It has been an interesting time. I have had no time or inclination to trade.
Firstly I don't have the funds and secondly I have not had the time.
Recently someone I loved very dearly passed away and it has put a different perspective on my life.
I suppose the truth is that deep in the back of my mind I suspect that most traders are actually gamblers who lose. I imagine that nobody makes any money, but they perpetuate the myth that they can because it boosts the ego and it is too painful to admit that it can't be done, especially after having invested hours of time and emotion in learning and studying.
I cannot back this up but it is a suspicion I have and naturally thinking in that way acts as a block. 
I also believe there are easier, more fulfilling and less risky wasy of making money.
Finally I have discovered that since giving up all trading and even thinking about it, I have become  a happier and calmer individual. My creativity and imagination seem to have become unburdened and I feel more interested in life.
These feelings may have nothing to do with giving up trading at all, but more to do with a change in my perception about life.
The only way to discover if this is the case or not is to dip my toe back in and see if I like the temperature of the water.  

God Bless all
Marathonchap
 
 
 

Hi Dom,

I'm so sorry to hear of your loss. These events do tend to focus the mind on what is really important to you in life. Make you rexamine priorities.

Take care,

Love


Helen

Concur. There are many rewarding things you can do but in your situation trading would not be one of them. Be patient and take heart from your memories.

Hi,

It is great to hear from you both. Thanks for your comments.

I wish you every success.

Dom

My best 'not' trade ever.

OK, after admitting that I am not focused on trading these days, that doesn't mean to say I don't occasionally go and check on things.

I thought I'd take a look at my trading account i.e. my self select ISA with idealing. Just before Christmas I had basically used all the money in my account to buy a bucket load of shares in OOM at about 47p each. I had sort of forgotten about this because the events in my life have eclipsed trading. I had not bothered to even look for several months. At the back of my mind I had OOM down as just another "Go nowhere" long term investment. Best Forgotten.

Well today I looked up the value of my account and let's just say I was pleasantly surprised.

I now have back all the money I have ever lost through trading :0) i never thought I would get to write that.

This is an interesting world we live in where you can get rewarded for basically forgetting.

The cherry on top of the cake is that I also had a rather nice win on my premium bonds last week!

I am just a really lucky man.

Love and peace to all
Dom

I'm so pleased for you Dom

Just shows that better fortune can be around the corner when you least expect it.


Love Helen

Mind you don't get the bit between your teeth again, I am a long term investor and have been pleasantly surprised the last week.
Can it last???

Hi Helen and Bill,

Let me address your points:-

Yes Helen, I would have to say that worrying about things is of very little use since fortune can turn on a dime. Mental energy is far better devoted to more productive persuits than worrying about losses or disappointments.

On BBC breakfast last week I heard someone compare worry to a rocking chair. It seems like you are doing something useful however it gets you nowhere.

Bill, Can it last? Well I am mindful of one very well known bear raider who stated 2500 for the FTSE 100. I spoke to a stockbroker about this and I was told that it is very pessimistic. However I believe it will happen I also believe this will be a once in a lifetime opportunity for long term investors. Vast fortunes will be made from the crash of the early 00's.

You can't do it - Oh yes I can

Story in today's metro. I found it inspirational.

A jobless equity dealer who could not get work in the City has shown traders what they are missing by becoming a top investor.

Andrew Charamlambous was laid off from Mizuho Bank in April 2002. After several failed attempts to find a new job, he started his own investment group, the Dinner Club. With just six members, £10,000 and working from home, the 39 year old made the club a success, earning a £437,000 return in a year. The club was named the Best performing investment club ofr 2002 at the Proshare awards, a national body set up by the Government to encourage private investors.

"I am officially giving up looking for a job," said Mr Charamlambous, of Upminster, Essex. Despite his success, he is not letting anybody else join the club - for now. MrCharalambous said: "I want to see this year out. If I am right we will make some good money and then share that out between six people - not sixty."

Good stuff. Just goes to show, when everyone else has written you off, it doesn't matter, you just go out and make it happen for yourself.

Peace and Love
Dom

Failure is good - The Leonardo Approach

I was watching the recent BBC documentary about Leonardo da Vinci. I was glad I did because I was able to use something from it in my defense.

Someone came up to me and said, Dominic, you are always starting lots of new things long before mastering any one thing.

Actually the conversation had been sparked because of my inability to choose just one career. Here is my list of things I have wanted to be (it starts with ambitions I had as a child of 5)

1. Ballet Dancer
2. Stunt man
3. Dentist
4. Film maker
5. Record Producer
6. Solicitor
7. Property developer
8. Trader
9. Heating Engineer
10. Life Coach
11. Funeral Director
12. Driving instructor
13. Stand up comedian.

As I explained to my friend. Leonardo Da Vinci was well known for pursuing many different avenues of knowledge, not always completing projects and then moving on. In the short term this conveyed an impression of going nowhere. In the the long term it created an incredible life of achievement.

How is this relevant?

Firstly my advice to any trader is to drink long from the fountain of knowledge. Don't narrow the focus to just one thing.

Second it points to the value of taking a long term perspective to trading results. Five years of going nowhere and doing nothing as a trader might seem very depressing if you give up after 5 years. However continue for another 20 years and get twenty years of profitable results and that small 5 year bad run is going to seem insignificant.

Every failure teaches us something useful. The primary lesson is if that approach doesn't get us what we want then do something else. To put this in a more succinct way using the language of NLP, don't focus on too small a chunk.

When your hopes and ambitions do not produce fruit immediately remember this from J R R Tolkein "Little by little, one travels far."

Marathonchap

Control issues

A few weeks ago I started a new company.
www.itsdonehavefun.com.
We provide a concierge service for people in the London area. It takes a great deal of effort, time and money to build a company. It is also tremendous fun.
I have noticed that on the days where I take active steps to promote "It's Done Have Fun" the number of visits to the website dramatically increases. I monitor traffic to the site and as a T.A. my favorite part is looking at the statistics plotted on a chart.
One of my  goals is to achieve new highs in website traffic. Having identified resistance I now know what I have to do to reach the next level.
I find it fascinating the way I can influence the chart through my promotional efforts. In the early stages I am finding a great deal of elasticity, however, I can see that as a company grows larger, even bigger and more conspicuous activities are needed to make an equivalent difference in demand.
As a trader I have no way of knowing for sure how corporate activities are going to affect price movements or what those activities are going to be. (Unless it is a decision about the Euro in which case everyone knows what will happen long in advance!)
So how can I get the same amount of control in my trading as I have over traffic to my website?
The answer is by imposing my own parameters and my own targets. By fitting a frame around what appears to be chaotic and unintelligible some very striking and obvious patterns become clear.
Peace and love
Marathonchap

Totally off subject but I think you look a bit like Andy Kaufman.

http://andykaufman.jvlnet.com/

It is funny you should mention that because I have long been a fan of Andy Kaufman. You're the first one to point out the resemblance.

why did you stop posting?

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