An NYSE Scalper's Tale - A Trader's Diary

Friday, March 31, 2006

Trading Statistics For The Month Of March

Total Gross for Month of March: +$6,575.94
Total Net for Month of March: +$4,497.10
Total Fees (Gross - Net) for Month of March: $2,078.84

Total Trades for Month of March: 1,166

Total Shares Traded for Month of March: 1,972,648


Best Day for Month of March: Wed March 1, 2006 (+$742.41 net)
Worst Day for Month of March: Tue March 14, 2006 (-$477.25 net)

Number of Positive Net Days for Month of March: 18
Number of Negative Net Days for Month of March: 4
Number of Trading Days Missed for Month of March: 1

Top 3 Stocks For Month of March (Net Profit for March):
Walmart (WMT): +$1,028.60
Corning (GLW): +$797.99
Home Depot (HD): +$539.82

Bottom 3 Stocks for Month of March (Net Profit for March):
Bank of America (BAC): -$91.98
Disney (DIS): -$91.17
Electronic Data Systems (EDS): -$81.61

Top 3 Most Traded Stocks for Month of March:
Pfizer (PFE) - Traded on 19 out of 22 trading days
Walmart (WMT) - Traded on 14 out of 22 trading days
JP Morgan (JPM) - Traded on 13 out of 22 trading days

Bottom 3 Most Traded Stocks for Month of March:
(8 tied for last place - each traded on 1 out of 22 trading days)
Cendant Corp (CD)
Electronic Data Systems (EDS)
Motorola (MOT)
Merck (MRK)
North Fork Bankcorp (NFB)
AT&T (T)
US Bankcorp (USB)
Verizon (VZ)

Total Number of Different Stocks Traded for Month of March: 31

Stocks Traded During the Month of March (total net for March):
Advanced MircoDevices (AMD): +$79.33
Bank of America (BAC): -$91.98
Bell South (BLS): +$377.15
Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMY): +$35.41
Boston Scientific (BSX): -$11.45
Citigroup (C): +$349.36
Cendant (CD): +$35.17
Disney (DIS): -$91.17
Electronic Data Systems (EDS): -$81.61
EMC Corp (EMC): +$180.27
General Electric (GE): +$275.80
Corning (GLW): +$797.99
Home Depot (HD): +$539.82
Hewlett Packard (HPQ): +$66.40
Johnson & Johnson (JNJ): +$106.45
JP Morgan (JPM): +$287.63
Coca-Cola (KO): +$15.64
LSI Logic Corp (LSI): +$124.74
McDonalds (MCD): +$18.85
Motorola (MOT): +$58.39
Merck (MRK): +$34.46
Micron Tech (MU): -$59.99
North Fork Bankcorp (NFB): -$69.84
Pepsi (PEP): +$50.85
Pfizer (PFE): +$307.71
Sprint-Nextel (S): +$139.69
AT&T (T): -$10.10
Tyco (TYC): -$22.46
US Bancorp (USB): +$5.22
Verizon (VZ): +$33.81
Walmart (WMT): +$1,028.60

Monthly Recap
I had high expectations for March as there were 23 trading days during this month. This was also the month in which I was given an unlimited number of shares to trade with (I was previously given a limit of 4000 shares) and I really thought I could produce some big numbers.

Instead, I found myself having to re-adjust my trading strategy to incorporate the larger share sizes and I had to identify some bad habits I was starting to pick up when trading 5000 and 6000 shares.

Not only that, I basically had to re-learn a few things with regards to trading bigger share sizes (like which stocks could handle the size and how I could exit a large position without scaring a stock).

I also had to cope with a trading slump that occurred around mid-March in which I had 4 straight trading days that were either negative or less than $100 net. I missed one trading day to try to figure things out after this slump and it worked somewhat.

There were also far too many days in which I was positive, but less than $100 net (there were 5 days in which this occurred). Upon review, those days occurred because a lack of discipline and my disregard for the trading rules I had set-up.

Nonetheless, I feel I have learned a lot in March and I hope to continue to improve. In fact, I believe that this blog has had a lot to do with it. I was forced to look deeper into the issues I was having and by clearly identifying them in this blog, I was made more aware of the problems and I always made it a point to not to repeat the same mistakes on the following day.

Without this blog, I think I would probably try to forget what happened on the bad days and I would probably be more apt to repeat the same mistakes over and over again.

Some positive things that I noticed this month include:

1. The ratio of positive net days to negative net days remains fairly good (18:4) (though there is always room for improvement)

2. The worst stock traded this month was Bank of America (BAC), but I was glad to see that I lost less than $100; that compared to the best stock Walmart (WMT), in which I made over $1000

3. I am able to take more risks more comfortably and I seem willing to try trading new stocks - in the past, I mainly stuck to just a handful of stocks

4. I noticed that when I started having problems with a stock, I identified them and I avoided trading them

5. It was another month in which I really controlled my losses and it appears that this is the main feature of my trading strategy that I can rely on and follow (in other words, it's one of the rules I seldom break - unlike my other trading rules).

6. Out of the 31 different stocks I traded this month, 8 had a net monthly total that was negative (again there's always room for improvement)

And finally things that were not so good this month:

1. I needed to have the courage to hold on to positions longer

2. I have to learn to balance every aspect of a trade. At one point during the month, I focussed too much on share size and not enough on entry points. I compensated, but then I focussed too much on entry points and not enough on my exit strategy. Then I focussed too much on my exit strategy and not enough on proper share size!

3. I was surprised that revenge trading reared it's ugly head this month. In the past, I never really succumbed to it, but I think it was because of the larger share size which caused every losing trade to hurt much more than before

4. Overall lack of discipline on several of the trading days. From my trading journal, all the negative days and all the sub $100 days were all caused by a lack of discipline and my reckless abandon of my trading rules.

5. I have to learn how to trade! I'm talking about holding positions for half an hour or more to try to make 20-cents or more!

6. I have to try to step it up and be a little more riskier. I'll need to start doing more trades for 8,000 or 10,000 shares soon. That's right folks - it's time to separate the men from the boys...

Bring it on April!

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