2006-08-18 Week in Review

This was a better week for me than last week. Last week, I could only find one trade I liked. This week, I found seven, and got close to a 60% win rate. My personal preference would be to get as close to 80% as possible, even if that means smaller gains per trade. I don’t mind getting rich 1.5 R at a time–it’s the drawdowns I hate. On with the stats:

This week I learned some important lessons about market tone. Most importantly: Don’t assume you know what’s going to happen for the rest of the day. I left a lot of profit behind, assuming that the market would turn. I need to think harder about reliable ways to gauge market mood. I’ve got some sector ETFs/Indices on my screens, and the QQQQ, and the TICKs. Maybe I should start looking at futures quotes.

On a more positive note, this week I had two trades where I actually entered a stop order, picked an exit target, and walked away. I’m especially pleased that, both times, my target was hit. This is really good positive reinforcement for me. Obviously my brain knows that it wouldn’t mean anything if two trades were stopped out while I wasn’t watching. But, emotionally, it’s always good to start off on a winning streak when trying something new. Maybe I will somehow become a hold-til-the-close guy after all.

My two goals are pretty much unchanged… I still want to make more like 12 or 15 trades a week, so I’ve got more progress to make, there. And, I want to let my winners run more. I think I’m making a little progress in that regard, but overall I’m still failing at that.

I am so tired of August! I can’t believe there’s still two more weeks of it… I thought July was difficult, but August has been the most punishing stock-picking month of the year, in my estimation. Still, I have been green every week, so I can’t complain too much.