Is it usually this easy??

R

ReturnKid

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Hi Guys,

I began trading on 15th September 2008 having read a couple of books, studied this and other sites and drew up an extremely simple trading plan.

I opened the following positions on a 'practice account' on 15th Sep 08;

Barclays 316 (short)
Bradford & Bingley 31.50 (short)
BT 174.90 (short)
Carphone Warehouse 180.90 (short)
Derwent 1,105 (short)
Enterprise Inns 208.50 (short)
F£C 90.80 (short)
Friends Provident 81.90 (short)
HBOS 232.50 (short)
International power 349.5 (short)
ITV 48.1 (short)
Ladbrokes 212.75 (long)
M&S 243.25 (short)
Premier Foods 84.08 (short)
Punch Taverns 235.50 (short)
Rentokil 74.00 (short)
Sage 205.00 (short)
Taylor Wimpey 45.75 (short)
Tomkins 150.75 (short)
Vedanta 1,492 (short)
William Hill 247.25 (long)
Xstrata 2,440 (short)

I closed my trades on Friday evening: The results below;

Barclays 316 (short) - CLOSED 75.30 - PROFIT - 240.70
Bradford & Bingley 31.50 (short) - CLOSED 20.00 - PROFIT 11.50
BT 174.90 (short) - CLOSED 74.90 - PROFIT - 100.00
Carphone Warehouse 180.90 (short) - CLOSED 103.00 - PROFIT 77.90
Derwent 1,105 (short) - CLOSED 584.50 - PROFIT - 520.5
Enterprise Inns 208.50 (short) - CLOSED 48.50 - PROFIT 160.00
F£C 90.80 (short) - CLOSED 68.75 - PROFIT 22.05
Friends Provident 81.90 (short) - CLOSED 68.30 - PROFIT 13.60
HBOS 232.50 (short) - CLOSED 46.80 - PROFIT 185.70
International power 349.5 (short) CLOSED 195.60 - PROFIT 153.90
ITV 48.1 (short) CLOSED 19.00 - PROFIT 29.1
Ladbrokes 212.75 (long) CLOSED 179.75 - LOSS (33)
M&S 243.25 (short) CLOSED 246.25 - LOSS (3)
Premier Foods 84.08 (short) CLOSED 28.50 - PROFIT 55.58
Punch Taverns 235.50 (short) CLOSED 36.00 - PROFIT 199.50
Rentokil 74.00 (short) CLOSED 45.75 - PROFIT 28.25
Sage 205.00 (short) CLOSED 168.30 - PROFIT 36.70
Taylor Wimpey 45.75 (short) CLOSED 17.75 - PROFIT 28.00
Tomkins 150.75 (short) CLOSED 118.75 - PROFIT 32.00
Vedanta 1,492 (short) - CLOSED 592.50 - PROFIT 899.50
William Hill 247.25 (long) - CLOSED 227.25 - LOSS 20.00
Xstrata 2,440 (short) - CLOSED 360.00 - PROFIT 2,080


SUMMARY:
TOTAL POSITIONS - 22
PROFITABLE - 19
LOSS MAKING - 3

TOTAL PROFIT: 4,818.48TICS


I am pretty happy with the performance of the positions above. I do however appreciate we are in the middle of arguably the worst economic crisis in 80 years and it does not take a rocket scientist to work out that most stocks will fall. So my question is: Is this down to luck or is it down to sound judgement in a volatile market?

I am really interesting in hearing you more experienced guys views...

Thanks for you reading.
 
ReturnKid said:
Hi Guys,

I began trading on 15th September 2008 having read a couple of books, studied this and other sites and drew up an extremely simple trading plan.

I opened the following positions on a 'practice account' on 15th Sep 08;

Barclays 316 (short)
Bradford & Bingley 31.50 (short)
BT 174.90 (short)
Carphone Warehouse 180.90 (short)
Derwent 1,105 (short)
Enterprise Inns 208.50 (short)
F£C 90.80 (short)
Friends Provident 81.90 (short)
HBOS 232.50 (short)
International power 349.5 (short)
ITV 48.1 (short)
Ladbrokes 212.75 (long)
M&S 243.25 (short)
Premier Foods 84.08 (short)
Punch Taverns 235.50 (short)
Rentokil 74.00 (short)
Sage 205.00 (short)
Taylor Wimpey 45.75 (short)
Tomkins 150.75 (short)
Vedanta 1,492 (short)
William Hill 247.25 (long)
Xstrata 2,440 (short)

I closed my trades on Friday evening: The results below;

Barclays 316 (short) - CLOSED 75.30 - PROFIT - 240.70
Bradford & Bingley 31.50 (short) - CLOSED 20.00 - PROFIT 11.50
BT 174.90 (short) - CLOSED 74.90 - PROFIT - 100.00
Carphone Warehouse 180.90 (short) - CLOSED 103.00 - PROFIT 77.90
Derwent 1,105 (short) - CLOSED 584.50 - PROFIT - 520.5
Enterprise Inns 208.50 (short) - CLOSED 48.50 - PROFIT 160.00
F£C 90.80 (short) - CLOSED 68.75 - PROFIT 22.05
Friends Provident 81.90 (short) - CLOSED 68.30 - PROFIT 13.60
HBOS 232.50 (short) - CLOSED 46.80 - PROFIT 185.70
International power 349.5 (short) CLOSED 195.60 - PROFIT 153.90
ITV 48.1 (short) CLOSED 19.00 - PROFIT 29.1
Ladbrokes 212.75 (long) CLOSED 179.75 - LOSS (33)
M&S 243.25 (short) CLOSED 246.25 - LOSS (3)
Premier Foods 84.08 (short) CLOSED 28.50 - PROFIT 55.58
Punch Taverns 235.50 (short) CLOSED 36.00 - PROFIT 199.50
Rentokil 74.00 (short) CLOSED 45.75 - PROFIT 28.25
Sage 205.00 (short) CLOSED 168.30 - PROFIT 36.70
Taylor Wimpey 45.75 (short) CLOSED 17.75 - PROFIT 28.00
Tomkins 150.75 (short) CLOSED 118.75 - PROFIT 32.00
Vedanta 1,492 (short) - CLOSED 592.50 - PROFIT 899.50
William Hill 247.25 (long) - CLOSED 227.25 - LOSS 20.00
Xstrata 2,440 (short) - CLOSED 360.00 - PROFIT 2,080


SUMMARY:
TOTAL POSITIONS - 22
PROFITABLE - 19
LOSS MAKING - 3

TOTAL PROFIT: 4,818.48TICS


I am pretty happy with the performance of the positions above. I do however appreciate we are in the middle of arguably the worst economic crisis in 80 years and it does not take a rocket scientist to work out that most stocks will fall. So my question is: Is this down to luck or is it down to sound judgement in a volatile market?

I am really interesting in hearing you more experienced guys views...

Thanks for you reading.
Click to expand...

Hi RK,
Nice going.
Bulk of profits made by just 3 stocks.
Just wondered what made you decide to close them all?

Best Regards,
Neil
 
bansir said:
Hi RK,
Nice going.
Bulk of profits made by just 3 stocks.
Just wondered what made you decide to close them all?

Best Regards,
Neil
Click to expand...

Yes, why did you close? this may be easy going due to the market conditions between the stated dates.

If you was to try it from today it could prove a little more difficult.
 
Sometimes it can be easy, sometimes not so. This was a practice account. Would you have acted exactly the same if there had been real money on the line? 3-4 days (19th Sep) later when the price turned against you and you were down a significant amount would you have held onto those positions or would it be looking like it was going up?

If you got in on those on Sept 15th, then your timing was very nice. Was there something about your strategy that told you to get in then? If not, then you may have just been fortunate. You went mostly short (a few longs there) and you got in at a good time. It could have been a consolidation period and your the price would have gone nowhere or against you. The stock market could have gone up and your positions would have been killed. Yeah it is a bear market so they should go down, but I'm sure a few people got killed on Volkswagen for example (a result of a takeover and hedge funds getting caught in a bad position)

My results look amazing on practice accounts, and even better on backtesting. In reality, my results range from being great to poor. And in the average, the results are just ok, but nothing special. You could try with a small amount of real money if you think there is some value in your strategy.
 
Good range of sectors is a good start to hedge your risk, however, if you are not already keeping an eye on commodity prices and foreign exchange, I suggest you do before trading mining stocks.

Also if you are looking for bigger moves in the current market, stick with the banking and mining sectors, but do remember they can go 2 ways!!

I would not take this quick profit as a sign from the skies telling you that you are the one :LOL:

It is all to easy on a practice account to cancel out money management, you have to consider how much you have to play with and how much you can afford to lose.

Academic trading on a practice account is very different to the real thing, no emotion, no stress, no pain, also, no real profit.

Research is key, you will gain more ideas of how to trade with experience..

Good luck
 
To be fair i don't think you'd ever manage that again.

you found 2 Banks that were taken over for next to nothing

2 pub companies that were beaten up over the leverage

and 2 miners in a large commodities bear market.

How often does the FTSE lose 50% in 6 months?

sorry to be so negative but it's he same as making money long in the dotcom boom, easy in that 1 year window but tough if you didn't get out a the right time ot tried to do the same thing for the next year.
 
I always find that when it starts to get "easy" is the time that I have to be very careful - for me it's the early-warning sign of overconfidence. And it can be very dangerous (ie expensive).

As for demo accounts: yes, they always work well (no requotes or refusals etc). I have found them extremely useful for trying tactics and working out my bad trading habits. I find them realistic on about the same level as an aircraft simulator - never exactly the same as the real thing but very close.
 
Guys, thank you all for you valuable advice. I will take away all your views and consolidate and hopefully take a step (in what looks like a long journey!) to becoming a better trader.

bansir/jaet1989- I closed as I had planned to quantify how my newely developed strategy (which is mid-long term) would cope over a period of around 6 months before committing any capital. Over this time I wanted to gain more knowledge and experience of trading before moving into real money. I wanted to hear you guy's views on my results and then really consider moving onto a real account....

Calinor - I appreciate that using real money will add a completely new dimension to my trading, and that I is something that I have already begun to consider: psycological aspects etc. My entry timing was considered, but was obviously a lot better than I could have anticipated.

jaet1989 - Thanks for the advice on the banks and mining stocks. I did aim to hedge risks as part of my strategy. As I mentioned above, money management is going to be key for my next step. I'd love to hear any recommended reading/sites/tips on that!

Foredog - I agree that the results were an exception to the rule rather than the rule, and thanks for adding your views which have made me realise that I am still a very inexperienced trader starting out who probably got a bit lucky! I'm looking forward to seeing how my strategy works in a much less volatile market....if it ever goes back to normal...

Black Swan - I have taken on board that it appears I am going to encounter more difficulties when I start to involve my own money. Have you got any advice/recommended reading etc to help prepare myself for it?

0007 - Great analogy there - I am really glad I wrote this post and I am sure now not to get over confident and to ensure that I continue to be disciplined when it really matters



A massive thanks to everyone who has taken their time so far to offer some really invaluable advice. It is really appreciated and hopefully makes me a slightly better trader!

I look forward to chatting again soon
 
ReturnKid said:
Guys, thank you all for you valuable advice. I will take away all your views and consolidate and hopefully take a step (in what looks like a long journey!) to becoming a better trader.

bansir/jaet1989- I closed as I had planned to quantify how my newely developed strategy (which is mid-long term) would cope over a period of around 6 months before committing any capital. Over this time I wanted to gain more knowledge and experience of trading before moving into real money. I wanted to hear you guy's views on my results and then really consider moving onto a real account....

Calinor - I appreciate that using real money will add a completely new dimension to my trading, and that I is something that I have already begun to consider: psycological aspects etc. My entry timing was considered, but was obviously a lot better than I could have anticipated.

jaet1989 - Thanks for the advice on the banks and mining stocks. I did aim to hedge risks as part of my strategy. As I mentioned above, money management is going to be key for my next step. I'd love to hear any recommended reading/sites/tips on that!

Foredog - I agree that the results were an exception to the rule rather than the rule, and thanks for adding your views which have made me realise that I am still a very inexperienced trader starting out who probably got a bit lucky! I'm looking forward to seeing how my strategy works in a much less volatile market....if it ever goes back to normal...

Black Swan - I have taken on board that it appears I am going to encounter more difficulties when I start to involve my own money. Have you got any advice/recommended reading etc to help prepare myself for it?

0007 - Great analogy there - I am really glad I wrote this post and I am sure now not to get over confident and to ensure that I continue to be disciplined when it really matters



A massive thanks to everyone who has taken their time so far to offer some really invaluable advice. It is really appreciated and hopefully makes me a slightly better trader!

I look forward to chatting again soon
Click to expand...



One of the most important traits of an successfull trader is that he can accept being wrong. Reading through your post, I think, you could well be on the right track :)

Keep being a student of the markets and find out, what is good for you.
Everybody can learn to be successful in this business, most lack the effort :LOL:

Cheers Carlos
 
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