End of Month 1

Meh... its 10AM and i'm done for the week. Markets went ape-shit in the A.M. and left little opportunity as they consolidated their 20 point burst upwards this morning. No trade setups occurred.

Soooo... weekly recap. No B-dub's for me yet. Sad. We traded better this week than we ever have before but we still have a long way to go. I only screwed up once this week but one little screw up does affect the bottom line. So I can't honestly say I traded a perfect week yet. But it leaves something to strive for next week! Overall, I think most would agree it was a tough week in the markets and profits were scarce. But we made money this week and that counts for something.

Today also ends the finish of month one. January 5th to February 5th is now over and we have some reflection to take care of. First things first, our profit goal of $2,000.00? Failed. The stats go something like this:

• Gross Profit: +925.00
• Account Growth: +17.26%
• Win Rate: 71.43%

Look, while I can't say i'm happy with the end results I can't say i'm too ashamed either. We made money EVERY week we traded. Furthermore, the first 60% of the month we didn't trade two of our most profitable setups AT ALL. More than that, we didn't take profits on par setups that would cover commissions during that same time period either. We missed trades, not a lot but that first week there was at least 500.00 in profits I didn't take because I wasn't properly focused and I missed the entries. It all adds up. Backtesting results in that perfect environment would have easily surpassed our goals, but the first month out of the gate things go wrong, and its just part of the profession. The end fact remains that this is the first month I have made money in the better part of a year. Furthermore, I made more money this month than I have in three years - since I started trading. That is progress in my eyes.

So what did we do to improve our results for next month?

• Improved and refined existing setups.
• Realized errors in our trade plans and fixed them.
• Stop to par take 1 tick of profit to offset commissions.
• Added "The Untouchable" setup.
• Added the "You're Screwed" setup.
• Changed the no reversal rule out of our two setups (this one thing could've saved 600+ in profits)
• Relaxed entry rules on our DB/DT and YS setups to allow for more entries.
• Increased focus intraday so setups are not missed anymore!

All of these changes are just part of the evolution of my method that I was fully expecting to take place during this month. We didn't expect to make tons of money and in the back of my mind I was afraid that we wouldn't make any money at all. We hit our first goal at 500.00 and was able to get a haircut (thank god - it had been 3 months). We failed to hit our second goal by 75.00 this week, again attributed to the one mistake I made. But the point is we are making progress. I am without a doubt a better trader today that I was last week and I am without a doubt a better trader today than I was on January 5th. Did we make millions? No. But we did turn a profit and we are already trading in a much more efficient and profitable manner than we were at the start of the month.

Bring on February!

Trade Result:

No Trades Taken.