Trading Statistics For The Month Of February 2007

Total Gross for Month of February: +$10,429.30
Total Net for Month of February: +$6,872.95
Total Fees (Gross - Net) for Month of February: $3,556.35
Total Trades for Month of February: 1,274
Total Shares Traded for Month of February: 3,738,000

Best Day for Month of February: Fri Feb 9 (+$1,240.94 net)
Worst Day for Month of February: Tue Feb 27 (-$720.74 net)

Number of Positive Net Days for Month of February: 13
Number of Negative Net Days for Month of February: 6
Number of Trading Days Missed for Month of February: 0


Compared to Previous Month: +$908.72 (up 15.2% from previous month)
Compared to Same Month Last Year: +$5,124.41 (up 293.0% from same month last year)


Net Profit Distribution (# days):
(Excellent) +$1000 OR MORE: *** (3)
(**Good**) +$500 TO +$1000: ****** (6)
(*Average*) +$200 TO +$500: *** (3)
(***Poor***) -$200 TO +$200: *** (3)
(****Bad****) -$200 TO -$500: *** (3)
(**Terrible**) -$500 OR LESS: * (1)


Top 3 Stocks For Month of February (Total Net Profit In February):
EMC Corporation (EMC): +$2,547.78
General Electric Company (GE): +$840.50
Fortress Investment Group (FIG): +$716.13

Worst 3 Stocks for Month of February (Total Net Profit In February):
Tenet HealthCare Corporation (THC): -$581.60
Time Warner Inc. (TWX): -$532.07
Eli Lilly & Co. (LLY): -$442.04


Top 3 Most Traded Stocks for Month of February:
EMC Corporation (EMC) - traded on 17 out of 19 trading days
Time Warner Inc. (TWX) - traded on 16 out of 19 trading days
Alcatel-Lucent (ALU) - traded on 9 out of 19 trading days


Total Number of Different Stocks Traded for Month of February: 112

List of Stocks Traded During the Month of February (with total net profit in February):
Agilent Technologies Inc. (A): +$49.44
Alcoa Inc. (AA): +$78.69
ABB Ltd (ABB): +$55.72
Arch Coal, Inc. (ACI): -$22.58
Analog Devices, Inc. (ADI): +$186.86
Archer Daniels Midland Company (ADM): +$13.45
American Home Mortgage Investment Corp (AHM): -$42.78
The Allstate Corporation (ALL): +$17.99
Alcatel-Lucent (ALU): +$645.83
Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (AMD): -$293.10
AMR Corporation (AMR): -$37.76
Avon Products, Inc. (AVP): -$132.93
Allied Waste Industries, Inc. (AW): -$4.17
Blockbuster Inc. (BBI): -$49.78
BMC Software, Inc. (BMC): -$60.64
Bristol Myers Squibb Co. (BMY): +$17.40
Anheuser-Busch Companies, Inc. (BUD): -$200.54
Citigroup Inc. (C): -$3.37
CA, Inc. (CA): +$140.93
CB Richard Ellis Group, Inc. (CBG): +$98.41
Circuit City Stores, Inc. (CC): +$130.67
Cameco Corporation (CCJ): +$539.82
Coeur d'Alene Mines Corporation (CDE): -$60.81
Celanese Corporation (CE): -$342.60
Ceridian Corporation (CEN): +$75.11
Champion Enterprises, Inc. (CHB): +$141.59
Chesapeake Energy Corporation (CHK): +$114.26
Caremark Rx, Inc. (CMX): -$25.89
Campbell Soup Company (CPB): +$86.23
salesforce.com, inc. (CRM): -$8.27
Computer Sciences Corporation (CSC): -$5.95
CSX Corporation (CSX): +$194.50
Chevron Corporation (CVX): +$73.04
Deere & Company (DE): +$105.76
The Walt Disney Company (DIS): -$80.69
The Dow Chemical Company (DOW): -$29.41
DIRECTV Group, Inc. (DTV): -$119.07
Electronic Data Systems Corporation (EDS): +$285.39
The Estee Lauder Companies Inc. (EL): -$47.33
Elan Corporation, plc (ELN): +$80.11
EMC Corporation (EMC): +$2,547.78
Emerson Electric Co. (EMR): -$88.37
El Paso Corporation (EP): +$116.67
Embraer-Empresa Brasileir de Aero (ERJ): -$155.91
Ford Motor Company (F): +$525.38
Friedman, Billings, Ramsey Group Inc. (FBR): +$113.20
Federated Department Str. (FD): -$65.01
Fortress Investment Group LLC (FIG): +$716.13
General Electric Company (GE): +$840.50
Corning Incorporated (GLW): -$45.85
General Motors Corporation (GM): -$22.84
The Gap Inc. (GPS): -$27.83
Grant Prideco, Inc. (GRP): +$51.84
The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company (GT): +$118.92
Halliburton Company (HAL): -$30.31
Hanover Compressor Company (HC): +$41.47
The Home Depot, Inc. (HD): -$292.56
Hecla Mining Company (HL): +$607.14
Herbalife Ltd. (HLF): -$8.92
Health Management Associates Inc (HMA): +$40.63
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc. (HOT): +$99.32
Hewlett-Packard Company (HPQ): +$291.32
H&R Block, Inc. (HRB): +$18.32
Infineon Technologies AG (IFX): +$188.56
Intl Securities Exchange Hldgs (ISE): -$83.31
Nordstrom, Inc. (JWN): -$89.36
The Coca-Cola Company (KO): -$86.32
Lear Corporation (LEA): -$22.06
Laidlaw International, Inc. (LI): +$292.74
Eli Lilly & Co. (LLY): -$442.04
Lowe's Companies, Inc. (LOW): +$224.69
Southwest Airlines Co. (LUV): -$35.42
MasterCard Incorporated (MA): -$202.81
Masco Corporation (MAS): +$241.96
Medtronic, Inc. (MDT): -$92.47
Medco Health Solutions Inc. (MHS): +$13.69
The Mills Corporation (MLS): -$94.47
Motorola, Inc. (MOT): +$318.59
Merck & Co., Inc. (MRK): +$255.42
Arcelor Mittal (MT): -$24.78
Micron Technology, Inc. (MU): +$386.91
Nabors Industries Ltd. (NBR): +$134.01
Newmont Mining Corporation (NEM): +$34.83
New Century Financial Corp. (NEW): +$7.77
NovaStar Financial Inc. (NFI): -$66.28
National-Oilwell Varco Inc. (NOV):+$199.60
Nortel Networks Corporation (NT): +$59.57
Novelis Inc. (NVL): -$15.86
Novartis AG (NVS): -$18.31
Southern Copper Corporation (PCU): +$99.96
PepsiCo, Inc. (PEP): -$3.98
Pfizer Inc. (PFE): -$438.39
Prudential Financial, Inc. (PRU): -$96.30
Companhia Vale do Rio Doce (RIO): +$27.73
Sprint Nextel Corporation (S): -$68.37
Station Casinos, Inc. (STN): -$57.46
Safeway Inc. (SWY): -$24.81
Terex Corporation (TEX): -$254.85
Tenet Healthcare Corporation (THC): -$581.60
Titanium Metals Corporation (TIE): +$43.44
Triad Hospitals, Inc. (TRI): +$386.55
Time Warner Inc. (TWX): -$532.07
TXU Corporation (TXU): -$64.15
Tyco International Ltd. (TYC): +$67.16
United Technologies Corporation (UTX): +$83.91
Valero Energy Corporation (VLO): -$40.78
Wells Fargo & Company (WFC): +$76.52
Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (WMT): -$23.73
The Western Union Co. (WU): -$5.28
Weyerhaeuser Company (WY): -$77.85
United States Steel Corporation (X): +$18.22
Quiksilver, Inc. (ZQK): +$301.71

Monthly Recap

This month was going along very well...until the last few trading days of February. In addition to losing over $1200 during the last 3 trading days of February, there was the cost of lost opportunities to make money over those 3 days.

This means that I really lost something like $3000 during the last three trading days (if you figure I make $500 a day).

To tell you the truth, this really hurts. My focus and determination were high at the beginning of the month and things seemed to be going according to plan as I tried very hard to keep that focus high throughout the entire month. I also thought I did a good job with consistency and I tried to keep my losses to a minimum on the losing days.

And I also thought the improvements to my trading were really going to show up this month and I really was on pace to finally net a $10,000+ month. I was thinking that finally, after all that tinkering with my trading plan, after all the hard work I've been putting into this and all the sacrifices I made that I would finally be rewarded.

With only 3 trading days left in the month I was thinking that there were be great improvements (in terms of profits) compared to last month. Unfortunately I sort of lost it near the end there and it resulted in only mediocre profit improvement over last month.

As I limped to the end of February, I really felt disgusted with what had happened. Sure, it was easy to blame the system problems, the glitches and all the other distractions, but there were others out there that played it smart and either stayed on the sidelines or they made a ton of money.

At the end of last year I had improved upon my trading plan and made minor modifications to it and in January I tested these new plans out. And February was the month I traded the plan in full force and I began taking bigger risks.

In January when I was testing things out, I stuck mainly with 500 shares when trading those stocks in the news. In February, I made it a point to work up the courage to use 1000 or 2000 shares at a time.

I also improved by strategy for trading the thicker, slower moving stocks and I increased the size of my positions on these stocks. Instead of using my token 10,000 shares, I began trading them with 20,000 and even 30,000 share positions.

On the very first day of February, I think I came out trying too hard and I lost money that day. But then, over the course of about a week and a half, my trading greatly improved and I was able to pull through with some fairly consistent numbers.

During the third full week of February, I came out of the gates rather slowly and I found myself struggling to maintain that consistency. I identified what was going wrong early that week (focusing too much on trading the thick, slower stocks) and managed to get my numbers back up late in the week.

Coming into the last half week of February and with only 3 trading days left to go, I was a little behind in where I wanted to be profit-wise for the month, but I still had a shot at getting to a $10,000+ month (at the time I was up almost $8200 for the month).

But then my trading just simply fell apart on those three trading days.

I started noticing system glitches on the Monday that I found terribly distracting to my trading, but I really thought nothing of it. I was assuming that those system glitches would probably be a one-day thing and even though I lost money on that day, I tried to keep things in perspective.

Then on the Tuesday (the day of the big drop), my trading day was quickly over as I lost a ton of money early in the morning. Basically I was completely lost as to what was going on with my position and I really didn't know if I had a winner or a severe loser. I watched the rest of the market go through a very impressive move from home and I felt as though I was really missing out on some good trading.

On Wednesday, the last day of February, I came in rather dejected knowing I blew it at the end of the month and in all honesty, my heart wasn't really into trading and even though I didn't lose much that day, it still stung as bad as losing a lot.

Even though my results for this month are not very impressive, I would still have to say I was proud of the way the month went (with the exception of the last three trading days of course).

Why was I proud? Here were a few reasons why:

• Consistency was way up in February and for about half the month I was consistently bringing in $700, $800, and $1000 a day
• My focus was also fairly consistent for most of the month as I continued to stick to my altered game plan
• There were glimpses of great patience in my trades this month...some of my positions were now being held for 20 minutes or more...there was even one I held for over an hour
• Because of some of my displayed patience, I was starting to book bigger winners...50-cents, 75-cents, I even captured a 100+ cent winner one day
• Patience also presented itself in another good way - the patience to sit and wait for good setups
• I wasn't afraid to take bigger risks (in terms of position size) as long as the trade itself was low risk
• The "Net Profit Distribution Days" (see above) is starting to look much better with more "excellent" and "good" days
  

And what could have been better this month?

• About half-way through the month, I found myself focusing too much on trading the thicker, slower moving stocks and for a few days my profits suffered
• I also kept trading the same stock in which I had great difficulty trading - in particular Time Warner (TWX)...this stock is a thicker, slower moving stock, but for some reason I had a tough time pulling profits from it, but yet I continued to trade it
• I have to be able to identify what's not working more quickly and to reduce my risk when things don't seem to be going right - doing this would have lessened the impact the end of February had
• I was surprised I got frustrated so easily - I think this has to do with the fact that this month I kept a running record of where I stood for the month and I knew exactly where I needed to be to get to $10,000...this ended up affecting the way I was trading and the way I was thinking
  

So here's my plan for March:

• Continue what I'm doing while adjusting for changes in the market
• Keep my head up - when I felt down and depressed, my trading was also down and depressed
• Don't keep a running record of where I stand for the month....this can lead to added pressure especially if you're not where you want to be near the end of the month
• Keep a balance between trading thicker, slower moving stocks with the faster, thinner stocks-in-the-news
• Try to keep my feelings of "missing out on a move" at bay when trading - instead, focus on good looking charts
• Don't get too cocky - near the beginning of this month when consistency was showing itself, I started thinking about how great it would be to have all that money and I what I'd like to spend my money on....this played head games with me during the trading day and I took on positions that didn't make sense
• Try to avoid thinking of a specific monetary target I want to be at - I know I've had a $10,000+ month as a target for the longest time and I think this has become a great psychological barrier for me, HOWEVER, trying to obtain that goal, especially late in the month, only adds unnecessary pressure to my trading
• Lastly, just try to do my very best every trading day - to keep my focus and attention level as high as they can be, look after my health by sleeping appropriately and by maintaining a positive attitude!
  

Trading Statistics For The Month Of January 2007

Total Gross for Month of January: +$8,226.48
Total Net for Month of January: +$5,964.23
Total Fees (Gross - Net) for Month of January: $2,262.25
Total Trades for Month of January: 1,155
Total Shares Traded for Month of January: 1,994,640

Best Day for Month of January: Mon Jan 29, 2007 (+$1,132.10 net)
Worst Day for Month of January: Fri Jan 5, 2007 (-$615.98 net)

Number of Positive Net Days for Month of January: 13
Number of Negative Net Days for Month of January: 3
Number of Trading Days Missed for Month of January: 5 (4 for vacation, 1 after New Year's Day)

Compared to Previous Month: +$1,705.49 (up 40.0% from previous month)
Compared to Same Month Last Year: +$1,208.03 (up 25.4% from same month last year)


Net Profit Distribution (# days):
(Excellent) +$1000 OR MORE: ** (2)
(**Good**) +$500 TO +$1000: ***** (5)
(*Average*) +$200 TO +$500: **** (4)
(***Poor***) -$200 TO +$200: ** (2)
(****Bad****) -$200 TO -$500: * (1)
(**Terrible**) -$500 OR LESS: ** (2)


Top 3 Stocks For Month of January (Total Net Profit In January):
EMC Corporation (EMC): +$1,441.17
Motorola Inc (MOT): +$1,049.45
Wal-Mart Stores Inc (WMT): +$727.74

Worst 3 Stocks for Month of January (Total Net Profit In January):
MEMC Electronic Materials Inc (WFR): -$286.54
Corning Incorporated (GLW): -$242.92
Pfizer Inc (PFE): -$210.12

Top 3 Most Traded Stocks for Month of January:
EMC Corporation (EMC) - traded on 8 out of 16 trading days
ConocoPhillips (COP) - traded on 7 out of 16 trading days
(4 stocks tied for 3rd place - each traded on 5 out of 16 trading days)
AMR Corporation (AMR)
Hewlett-Packard Company (HPQ)
Motorola Inc (MOT)
Wal-Mart Stores Inc (WMT)


Total Number of Different Stocks Traded for Month of January: 87

List of Stocks Traded During the Month of January (with net profit):
Alcoa Inc. (AA): +$88.48
Abbott Laboratories (ABT): +$260.07
Alcan Inc. (AL): +$180.82
The Allstate Corporation (ALL): +$14.74
Alcatel-Lucent (ALU): -$78.42
Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (AMD): +$557.88
AMR Corporation (AMR): +$251.71
Alltel Corporation (AL): -$25.96
Avaya Inc. (AV): +$26.99
The Boeing Company (BA): -$99.71
Bank of America Corporation (BAC): -$94.86
BB&T Corporation (BBT): +$61.79
The Bank of New York Company (BK): +$381.82
Bristol Myers Squibb Co (BMY): +$228.63
Boston Scientific Corp. (BSX): +$20.03
Citigroup Inc. (C): +$223.03
Continental Airlines Inc (CAL): -$162.40
Chemtura Corporation (CEM): +$84.40
Countrywide Financial Corporation (CFC): +$245.73
Chesapeake Energy Corporation (CHK): -$95.07
Chico's FAS Inc. (CHS): +$13.55
Caremark Rx Inc. (CMX): -$105.86
Capital One Financial Corp. (COF): +$14.49
ConocoPhillips (COP): +$97.10
CSX Corporation (CSX): -$32.84
Genentech Inc (DNA): -$43.97
Diamond Offshore Drilling Inc (DO): -$11.71
The Dow Chemical Company (DOW): +$55.90
Amdocs Limited (DOX): +$89.65
Eastman Kodak Company (EK): +$130.62
EMC Corporation (EMC): +$1,441.17
Equity Office Properties Trust (EOP): -$201.71
ENSCO International Incorporated (ESV): -$13.89
General Electric Company (GE): -$12.12
streetTRACKS Gold Trust (GLD): -$78.92
Corning Incorporated (GLW): -$242.56
General Motors Corporation (GM): +$5.00
The Gap Inc. (GPS): -$57.54
The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co (GT): +$41.93
Getty Images Inc (GYI): -$76.73
Halliburton Company (HAL): +$46.18
The Home Depot Inc (HD): -$121.16
Health Management Associates Inc. (HMA): +$242.43
Harley-Davidson Inc (HOG): -$169.19
Honeywell International Inc (HON): +$33.06
Hornbeck Offshore Services Inc (HOS): -$54.41
Hewlett-Packard Company (HPQ): -$152.76
JPMorgan Chase & Co (JPM): +$83.18
Kraft Foods Inc (KFT): +$74.35
Lear Corporation (LEA): -$47.68
LSI Logic Corporation (LSI): +$195.71
Limited Brands Inc (LTD): +$308.49
Southwest Airlines Co (LUV): +$9.87
Mattel Inc (MAT): +$155.02
Mellon Financial Corporation (MEL): -$63.06
Altria Group Inc (MO): -$129.13
Motorola Inc (MOT): +$1,049.45
NBTY Inc (NTY): +$369.81
Nucor Corporation (NUE): +$402.64
Novelis Inc (NVL): -$110.29
Pfizer Inc (PFE): -$210.12
The Procter & Gamble Company (PG): -$1.06
Rite Aid Corporation (RAD): +$8.04
RadioShack Corporation (RSH): +$27.47
Sprint Nextel Corporation (S): -$49.52
SAP AG (SAP): -$6.85
Schlumberger Limited (SLB): -$170.23
Sovereign Bancorp Inc (SOV): +$32.23
Supervalue Inc (SVU): -$12.92
The Stanely Works (SWK): -$0.97
AT&T Inc (T): -$14.76
Tyson Foods Inc (TSN): +$190.60
Time Warner Inc (TWX): +$217.32
UnumProvident Corporation (UNM): -$22.40
United Parcel Services Inc (UPS): +$58.59
USG Corporation (USG): +$277.64
United Technologies Corporation (UTX): +$61.38
WCI Communities Inc (WCI): -$79.96
Wells Fargo & Company (WFC): -$63.74
MEMC Electronic Materials Inc (WFR): -$286.54
Weatherford International Inc (WFT): -$36.23
Washington Mutual Inc (WM): -$42.46
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT): +$727.74
Williams-Sonoma Inc (WSM): -$2.53
Wyeth (WYE): -$50.97
United States Steel Corporation (X): +$239.38
Zimmer Holdings Inc (ZMH): -$102.56

Monthly Recap

The first month of 2007 brought about more changes in the way I traded and I'm actually quite happy with the successes I've had with these changes so far.

As you can see, the totals were a bit more than last month's totals, but you must take into account a few trading days missed for vacation.

I continued to adjust and adapt to using 3-minute charts throughout the month and I tried to identify and create new entry rules with them.

I continued what I had started in December and that was to focus on stocks that were in the news or that had reported earnings. I would then focus only on those stocks that were gapping up or down. By doing this, I would have a better chance of capturing a move of significance (rather than trading the same lame stocks that don't move anywhere for the whole day like Home Depot or AMD).

I also tried to step up my new strategies by attempting to trade larger share sizes on those thinner, faster moving stocks. I stepped up my position sizes from my cautious 500 shares back in December to 1000 shares. I would continue to do this for most of the month and as I got more comfortable, I pushed myself to trade larger position sizes up to 2000 shares.

I also found myself having to rapidly adapt to the Hybrid markets and the new way stocks seemed to move. In a way, I'm kind of glad that the rapid implementation of Phase III of the Hybrid market coincided with my new game plan.

I had no pre-conceived notion of how the thinner, faster moving stocks moved before they Hybridized into Phase III, so in a way I was learning from a clean slate.

As usual, I started the month off on a good note as I came in aggressive and determined to get the year off to a good start. But as mentioned in some of my previous posts, my profits would slowly suffer as the week went on and then on the Friday of that first week, I lost a bundle of money. I lost focus on that Friday when we had some system problems and I felt as though I started the day unprepared as it took most of the morning for me to re-setup my trading software.

I also found that I had to adjust the way I traded because the fee structure for entering and exiting trades had changed and if I had continued to trade the way I had in the past, I would have been paying a lot more fees.

The second week of January I found a little more consistency as I continued keep an eye on those stocks that were making headlines and as I practiced using other ways of getting in and out of trades that would keep my costs to a minimum.

During that second week, I also found the my concentration and focus started to wane and I had noted several times in my posts that week that I had difficulty keeping my mind in the game so I took several afternoons off that week.

In the third week of January, I had a very difficult time trying to get things going. The shortened week was littered with poor performances. I found myself making mistake after mistake that week. My mind was not completely into trading as I was preparing to head off to the Bahamas for a quick vacation.

I was away for most of the fourth week of January as I was away attending a wedding for some friends of ours. I think I really needed that break because the results from the third week were really bothering me...that vacation took my mind off things and when I returned I was well rested and ready to tackle anything. I did trade on Friday, but not much happened.

Then during the last 3 trading days of the month, I really tried to turn on the afterburners and I ended January on a relatively high note. One of the things I did was to change my charts from 3-minute to 5-minute charts. I found that by doing this, a lot appeared clearer to me and I had great success using them.

Here's some of the good that was January:

• I continued to work on my new trading plan along with my new 3-minute (which would later become 5-minute) charts
• I started getting used to the movements of the thinner, faster moving stocks and I started to trade them with increased share size
• The hold times on my trades are slowly, but surely increasing and I found that my hold times started approaching the 5-minute mark...enough to capture more of a move than my usual few seconds or 1-minute
• Bigger moves were being pocketed...gone are the days of 2 or 3-cent winners...I was beginning to take 10, 20, and 50-cent winners; by scaling out of my positions, I was able to buy more time for the trade to work out
• With the longer-term charts (3-minute and 5-minute charts), I was able to more readily identify which stocks were trending and thus better trading candidates
• I really tried to make a conscious effort to not let losers run away from me...even though I was trading thin, fast moving stocks, I tried to be quick to accept a loser and exit those losing positions
• Not as many negative trading days as in the previous months and the distribution of my trading days are starting to look more favorable
  
• In short, just pure and simple progress with where I want to take this and I'm fairly pleased with what resulted in January

And now, some of the things that were not so good in January:

• I was constantly finding myself losing focus during the trading day...either I started getting tired and my mind started to wander, or I'd start putting on those "What was I thinking" kind of trades
• I really need to trade off the charts a lot more once I'm in a position...there just way too many times I exited my entire position because of the back and forth motions of those fast moving stocks...instead I should concentrate more on the charts and to let the charts tell me when I should exit
• Though I was good at keeping my losses at bay, I think I may have had my stop-losses a little too close...some trades eventually went in the direction I originally thought it would...this is something I really have to work out because I'm glad I got out of losers quickly (which may have saved me money in the long run), but I still feel I might be taking those losers too quickly
• There were times I felt that I could have exercised more patience in waiting for a good setup...there were times I took mediocre setups because I either I was bored or I needed to get myself out of a jam

Finally, here are some things I'd like to work on in February:

• Continue on with the current trading plan and begin taking those bigger risks
• I must continue to ask myself "Where should I add to my position?" instead of always thinking "Where should I get out of my position?"
• Try to integrate the thicker stocks into my trading plan...ideally my plan should be to incorporate both thinner, faster moving stocks in the news and the thicker, slower moving stocks
• Try to find or discover more efficient ways to finding stocks that are gapping up or down or that are in the news...I have a feeling I'm wasting too much time doing too much research, most of which I don't use
• Try to rest up as much as possible...if my mind starts wandering in the afternoon, really consider either going home or do something to keep me more alert
• Just remember that losers happen and don't let it get to you and more importantly, don't let it affect your trading

Trading Statistics For December 2006

Total Gross for Month of December: +$6,530.28
Total Net for Month of December: +$4,258.74
Total Fees (Gross - Net) for Month of December: $2,271.54
Total Trades for Month of December: 1,483
Total Shares Traded for Month of December: 2,234,320

Best Day for Month of December: Mon Dec 11 (+$1,116.29 net)
Worst Day for Month of December: Fri Dec 29 (-581.87 net)

Number of Positive Net Days for Month of December: 13
Number of Negative Net Days for Month of December: 6
Number of Trading Days Missed for Month of December: 1 (took day off on Canadian Boxing Day)
Number of Trading Days Lost Due To System Downtime: 0

Compared to Previous Month: +$842.46 (up 24.7% from previous month)
Compared to Same Month Last Year: +$3,453.81 (up 429.1% from same month last year)

Net Profit Distribution (# days):
(Excellent) +$1000 OR MORE: * (1)
(**Good**) +$500 TO +$1000: **** (4)
(*Average*) +$200 TO +$500: ****** (6)
(***Poor***) -$200 TO +$200: **** (4)
(****Bad****) -$200 TO -$500: *** (3)
(**Terrible**) -$500 OR LESS: * (1)

Top 3 Stocks For Month of December (Net Profit):
Rite Aid Corporation (RAD): +$1,133.72
Time Warner Inc. (TWX): +$845.53
DIRECTV Group Inc. (DTV): +$390.42

Worst 3 Stocks for Month of December (Net Profit):
ConocoPhillips (COP): -$471.21
Terex Corporation (TEX): -$237.35
Alcatel-Lucent (ALU): -$216.70


Total Number of Different Stocks Traded for Month of December: 77

List of Stocks Traded During the Month of December (with net profit):
Advance Auto Parts Inc. (AAP): -$72.11
AK Steel Holding Corporation (AKS): +$97.55
Alcatel-Lucent (ALU): -$216.70
Advanced Micro Devices Inc (AMD): -$178.34
American Express Company (AXP): -$33.24
Bank Of America Corporation (BAC): -$24.60
Best Buy Co. Inc. (BBY): +$49.46
The Bank of New York Company (BK): +$385.01
BellSouth Corporation (BLS): +$110.97
Peabody Energy Corporation (BTU): +$7.58
Biovail Corporation (BVF): +$13.03
Citigroup Inc. (C): +$304.10
Christopher & Banks Corporation (CBK): -$25.26
Circuit City Stores Inc. (CC): +$183.40
Celanese Corporation (CE): +$239.35
Chesapeake Energy Corporation (CHK): +$24.10
Caremark Rx Inc. (CMX): +$141.68
The Cooper Companies Inc. (COO): -$30.06
ConocoPhillips (COP): -$471.21
CSX Corporation (CSX): -$22.36
Cemex (CX): +$41.47
Cypress Semiconductor Corporation (CY): -$22.07
DuPont (DD): -$84.98
Walt Disney Company (DIS): -$2.22
Darden Restaurants Inc. (DRI): +$86.17
DIRECTV Group Inc. (DTV): +$390.42
Duke Energy Corporation (DUK): +$8.78
EMC Corporation (EMC): +$348.86
Ford Motor Company (F): -$145.43
Family Dollar Stores Inc. (FDO): -$77.82
General Electric Company (GE): +$64.32
Corning Incorporated (GLW): +$153.19
General Motors Corporation (GM): +$363.99
The Gap Inc. (GPS): -$155.68
Realogy Corporation (H): -$3.99
The Home Depot Inc. (HD): +$200.61
Harrah's Entertainment Inc. (HET): +$16.27
Honeywell International Inc. (HON): +$9.08
Hewlett Packard Company (HPQ): +$60.36
The Hershey Company (HSY): +$7.18
Intl Business Machines Corp. (IBM): -$6.63
Interpublic Group of Companies Inc (IPG): +$18.69
Jabil Circuit Inc. (JBL): +$110.26
J.C. Penney Company Inc. (JCP): -$26.87
Johnson & Johnson (JNJ): -$157.25
CarMax Inc. (KMX): -$124.43
The Coca-Cola Company (KO): +$226.05
The Kroger Co. (KR): +$185.28
L-3 Communications Holdings Inc. (LLL): -$48.68
Eli Lilly & Co. (LLY): +$40.94
Lowe's Companies Inc. (LOW): -$11.39
LSI Logic Corporation (LSI): +$12.07
Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK): -$53.96
Morgan Stanley (MS): -$117.11
Micron Technology Inc. (MU): -$20.73
Nortel Networks Corporation (NT): +$16.55
Nucor Corporation (NUE): +$33.04
New Corporation (NWS): +$206.63
NYSE Group Inc. (NYX): -$84.13
Pfizer Inc. (PFE): -$180.12
Rite Aid Corporation (RAD): +$1,133.72
Red Hat Inc. (RHT): +$160.63
Safeway Inc. (SWY): +$104.08
AT&T Inc. (T): +$103.21
Terex Corporation (TEX): -$237.35
Time Warner Inc. (TWX): +$845.53
Texas Instruments Incorporated (TXN): +$164.63
UntiedHealth Group Inc. (UNH): -$93.53
U.S. Bancorp (USB): +$267.65
United Technologies Corporation (UTX): -$16.95
Valero GP Holdings LLC (VEH): -$17.38
Valero Energy Corporation (VLO): -$34.92
Walgreen Company (WAG): +$39.86
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT): +$174.16
Worthington Industries Inc. (WOR): -$97.61
Weyerhaeuser Company (WY): +$287.87
Quiksilver Inc. (ZQK): +$106.23

Monthly Recap
Wow! Would you look at the number of stocks I traded this month!

December was a month of trying new things and trading new stocks. I mainly focused on trading stocks in the news, but I found that I had to also continue trading stocks that I'm used to trading for whenever the stocks-in-the-news weren't doing anything.

Usually the number of stocks I trade during the month hovers around the 20 - 30, but this month it was 77!

When I did trade the stocks-in-the-news, I kept my position sizes small - usually around 500 shares or so. I'm finding that my patience when trading these stocks needs to improve greatly if I want these kinds of trades to really work out.

But if I want to move on to the next step, I'm going to have to cast my fears aside and go in with positions that count. This will mean that in the months to follow, I either have to go in with a bigger position, or I have to scale into a large enough position for any substantial move to matter.

I'm glad that these past few months my numbers are on the way up again...but I've stated many times before that my numbers must improve way more than where they currently stand.

In the month of December, I decided that enough was enough and I was tired of trying to do the same things over and over again with results that did not please. I'm glad I had the courage to begin trading thinner, faster moving stocks and I'd have to say I got used to it fairly quickly.

Unfortunately I tried doing this in the month of December - a month that slows down and news-related stocks slows to a trickle. BUT, I'm glad I go started on this game-plan during this last month of 2006, which I'm hoping gives me enough practice to go into 2007 full steam ahead.

Also in the month of December, I started posting my "On Tap" posts and I'm finding it to be of great help. Instead of just writing down in my trading journal the stocks that are in the news, I'm finding that if I post them up, they are more concrete in my mind during the following trading day and that I seem to retain a lot more details about the stock.

Anyways, in short, December was a month of testing the waters and I'd have to say it was fairly successful. I shall continue with this strategy in 2007.

What was good in December?

• A little more patience with my positions, both in riding winners and in waiting for the trade to work itself out
• I was actually willing to take on more risks and to try something new (as I was tired of the same-old same-old)
• For most of the month, I was fairly good at sitting, waiting, and observing and for waiting for trades to show themselves
• There were many more 10-cent+ winners this month, mainly due to the fact I traded more stocks that were moving (however, most of these trades were on small share size)
• I GOT NEW CHARTS! I no longer had to second guess myself as to what I was seeing on the charts and I had one less distraction during the trading day (what with all those application restarts I had to do)
  
• By constantly looking for stocks in the news, I was able to keep myself out of boredom trades a lot more, simply because if a trade didn't look very good, I'd want to change stocks to see if there were possibilities elsewhere (whereas before when I mainly watched only a few stocks, I traded what looked the best at that moment)

And things not soo good in December?

• I still didn't have the courage to put on bigger, more meaningful positions - even when everything told me it would be a great trade, I still was hesitant to put on a bigger position
• Near the end of the month, I succumbed to boredom trades, mainly because there were fewer stocks in the news and a lot less movers out there
• There were 6 trading days in which I ended the day negative...this is tied for the most in a single month; many of those negative days could have easily been avoided
• Though more patience was demonstrated in December, a little more could have been welcomed
• Again, another month in which I trusted the Level II more than the charts - I always ended up dumping most of my position because of something I saw on the Level II (even though the chart looked good)
  

Here are some things I'd like to work on in January:

• Trade the charts more than the Level II - there were many times I only caught 1/3 or 1/4 of a move simply because I saw something on the Level II and exited my position
• Be braver and take on bigger positions
• I've got to change my thinking a bit - instead of constantly asking myself "Where should I exit my position?", I should be asking myself "Where should I add to my position?"
• If I'm going to trade the thicker stocks, I should use a minimum of a 10,000 share position - no more measly 5000 share positions...this should have me looking for better setups
• Continue looking for opportunities to trade any stocks that are in the news or stocks that are gapping
• I must be more mindful of how the Hybrid stocks move and not panic when it does something I'm not used to seeing
  

A Quick Summary Of 2006
I'd also like to make a few comments about my trading year that was 2006.

I had started 2006 excited as ever - full of confidence, full of hopes. Well, 2006 didn't turn out as I had expected and I can definitely say that it was an emotional roller coaster ride.

I kept my trading strategy more or less in place for most of the year. I did have trouble trying to cope with larger share sizes and it took me a few months to adjust and by the middle of the year, I THOUGHT I was on track to where I wanted to be.

But then the 2nd half of 2006 turned out to be a total disappointment. My profits sagged along with my confidence, morale and my emotions. As the months went on, I found it harder and harder to trade...perhaps it was the emotional baggage I was carrying from the disappoints of the previous months, or perhaps it was from me trying too hard.

Near the end of 2006, I had enough of going nowhere with my trading strategy and forced myself to start looking elsewhere....that's where the stocks-in-the-news trading came about.

If I were to sum up my trading disappointments in 2006, I could do it in one word: fear.

As I look back and reflect, I can clearly see that fear was the one component that had the most impact on my trading and the one thing that is probably preventing me from being where I want to be.

It seemed like just before I get into any position, I stop and I get fearful of how much money I can potentially lose on the trade. As a result, I always found myself reducing my share size just before getting into a position.

And this seemed to dictate everything I did.

Fear didn't only appear before getting into a position. It would also appear while I was in a trade...I would always take my profits too quickly because I was fearful I would lose those profits if I didn't take them right then and there.

It was also fear that had me miss many great trades in 2006.

Whenever a new year rolls around, it gives people hope that it will be a great year and it often gives people an excuse to make changes. With that, I too am going to try to change the way I do things in 2007.

If there is a year in which I have to prove to myself I can do this, it will be in 2007. I've said it many times before, but I never seem to be able to follow through on my words: I must take on more risks if I want to get to where I'm going.

This'll mean that my daily P&L SHOULD fluctuate a lot more. In all of 2006, I was comfortable with what I was doing because it was SAFE, but I was not happy with the results. Well, if I wanted to be safe, I might as well get a regular 9-to-5 job. If I want to play this game, then I have to actually PLAY this game.

If 2007 is the year in which I must prove myself, then I've got to do everything in my power to make it happen or go bust trying!

Trading Statistics For November 2006

Total Gross for Month of November: +$6,745.36
Total Net for Month of November: +$3,416.28
Total Fees (Gross - Net) for Month of November: $3,329.08
Total Trades for Month of November: 1,705
Total Shares Traded for Month of November: 3,226,826

Best Day for Month of November: Wed Nov 8 (+$720.57 net)
Worst Day for Month of November: Tue Nov 7 (-$530.67 net)

Number of Positive Net Days for Month of November: 14
Number of Negative Net Days for Month of November: 6
Number of Trading Days Missed for Month of November: 0.5 (missed day after US Thanksgiving)
Number of Trading Days Lost Due To System Downtime: Ha! Don't ask! Countless morning and afternoon trading hours were lost on almost every trading day in November!

Compared to Previous Month: +$300.26 (up 9.6% from previous month)
Compared to Same Month Last Year: +$1,303.01 (up 61.7% from same month last year)


Net Profit Distribution (# days):
(Excellent) +$1000 OR MORE: (0)
(**Good**) +$500 TO +$1000: ***** (5)
(*Average*) +$200 TO +$500: ****** (6)
(***Poor***) -$200 TO +$200: ***** (5)
(****Bad****) -$200 TO -$500: ** (2)
(**Terrible**) -$500 OR LESS: ** (2)


Top 3 Stocks For Month of November (Net Profit):
AT&T (T): +$1,265.40
Disney (DIS): +$569.53
Walmart (WMT): +$509.05


Worst 3 Stocks for Month of November (Net Profit):
EMC Corp (EMC): -$360.49
Exxon Mobil (XOM): -$291.21
Micron Tech (MU): -$143.65


Top 3 Most Traded Stocks for Month of November:
Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) - Traded on 19 out of 20 trading days
Home Depot (HD) - Traded on 19 out of 20 trading days
Walmart (WMT) - Traded on 19 out of 20 trading days

Bottom 3 Most Traded Stocks for Month of November:
DirecTV (DTV) - Traded on 1 out of 20 trading days
Merck (MRK) - Traded on 1 out of 20 trading days
Valero Energy (VLO) - Traded on 1 out of 20 trading days


Total Number of Different Stocks Traded for Month of November: 17

List of Stocks Traded During the Month of November (with net profit):
Advanced Micro Devices (AMD): +$239.99
Disney (DIS): +$569.53
DirecTV (DTV): +$18.41
EMC Corp (EMC): -$360.49
Ford (F): +$229.14
General Electric (GE): -$23.83
Corning (GLW): +$288.52
Home Depot (HD): +$118.29
Hewlett Packard (HPQ): +$158.13
Motorola (MOT): +$498.09
Merck (MRK): +$92.92
Micron Tech (MU): -$143.65
AT&T (T): +$1,265.40
Time Warner (TWX): +$153.51
Valero Energy (VLO): -$1.83
Walmart (WMT): +$509.05
Exxon Mobil (XOM): -$291.21

Monthly Recap

Okay - this month is not as bad as I had originally thought it would be, but still, I'm still in the dumps in terms of my past performances.

The month of November felt like a hard month to trade. It was another month in which I had high hopes, but to me, it felt more like aimless wandering - I felt like the whole month had no purpose, no goal, and I really don't think I did enough things to try to improve my trading.

As you can see from my profit distribution chart, there were many poor days, two bad days and two terrible days (in which I lose $500 or more).

Maybe it was because of a completely demoralizing October that I came into November without a real plan. Maybe I came into November thinking I've already lost the battle with the mentality of "let's just do whatever I can do and see what happens".

It was almost as if I lost my passion somewhere along the line. I think because November marked my one year anniversary of becoming a full-time trader and it made it more painful for me to see how little progress I've made as a trader.

What made November worse was that every day that I came in to trade, I never felt confident that I could pull off a profitable day.

I had 6 negative days in November - the most I've ever had in a month. In previous months, I would come into the office and be confident of a profitable day and the only question was HOW profitable I'd be. Believe me, having this uncertainty feeling is not a good one to have and probably means you've lost faith in what you're doing.

The beginning of the month started off great. I had decided that aiming for $10,000 a month or $1000 a day was keeping me back and I accepted that fact that $500 a day is good enough for me...and it seemed to work...for a short while.

The following week I was welcomed with two fairly bad trading days. This came after a weekend of thinking how great it was that things appeared on track and money started floating in my thoughts. I started that week aggressively, thinking that $500 seemed easy to come by and that more could be made. I managed to catch myself thinking this way and rebounded the rest of the week for only mediocre gains.

During the third week of November, I just couldn't get anything going to start it off. The first two trading days of that week I ended up relatively flat and the rest of the week saw only slight gains.

The next week was the US Thanksgiving week and I was somewhat inspired by a conversation I had with the newest Master Trader at the beginning of the week. My confidence was boosted....however I fell quite ill and I made the mistake of trying to trade the rest of the week....with disastrous results. I went into the Thanksgiving weekend on a sour note.

On the final week of November I tried to recover what was left of a month that I thought went by too quickly. Nothing too impressive was done during that final week and perhaps out of a need to push myself to do something on the final day of November, I goofed and lost a bundle.

Some good things that happened in November:

• A lot more good days (+$500 to +$1000) appeared this month
• I accepted the fact that $500 a day is good enough for me (at least for now) - this led to less pressure during the trading day to get things done
• I tried to actively do more things so that my trading could be as pressure free as possible
• I knew things weren't really going my way and so I reduced share size
• There appeared to be fewer "bad trades" made; however they came in bunches on the bad trading days
  

Some not-so-good things that happened in November:

• There was an emotional "spill-over" from the previous month that had my morale fairly low
• I tried to trade while quite ill (I had a fever, chills, aching joints, dizzy) - not a good idea!
• There were a couple of days I came in not really caring about trading as I usually do
• Even though November was slightly better than October, I felt as though the emotional aspect really hit harder - especially on those bad trading days
• Confidence in what I was doing also slipped - I was no longer confident I could pull off a profitable day
• Upon review, there seemed to be a lot more "bone-headed" type trades - possibly from lack of focus
  

So what are my plans in December?

• I'm going to have a serious review of my trading rules and strategies - the last time they were even looked at was back in September
• I have to work harder on trading only those trades that have a good probability of working out - this will probably mean trading a little less than what I currently do
• Really find out what works well using the 3-minute charts (which I've recently converted to)
• ALWAYS be mindful of when to trade and when not to trade - I always say this and yet I always find myself not listening!
• I also have to be better at determining what kind of day it is (pop n' chop, choppy, trendy) and really adjust my trading accordingly
• DO NOT care what my P/L is at - it only matters once the day is over!
• I should start looking into things that help me keep focused, especially during the middle of the month - I'm starting to find that the beginning and end of the months are fairly good, but the middle I somehow lose that focus and determination

For whatever reason, I find myself coming into December as confident as ever. And my morale seems to be quite high as well. I can't quite explain it - perhaps it's because a new month is upon us and I feel as though I'm turning a new leaf.

Now that November is behind us, I'm ready to do some serious trading this month. I wish good luck to all of you during this final month of 2006!