Monday, December 17, 2007

Crossroads

If you've never had the opportunity to get phoned by your company at 9:28am and told that if you lose much more money that you'll be "cut off" then you haven't really lived yet.

That's right, the risk-manager at my company chose to take my current state of "mindfuckedness" up to a whole new level today by basically declaring me "dead" as a trader.

He could have at least called me last week and told me that I was almost dead.

To just be dead, came as somewhat of a shock.

Funny that I made over 10gs in November despite making the worst trade of my life (FSLR short) but that 2 weeks into December I'm "dead."

Ah well, it's a cold business and I don't take this personally.

That said, I've been with this company for 5 or 6 years. I've been writing them since April looking for help. I was told, in short, that "there was nothing they could do for me." The fact is, I've received loads more help from complete strangers over the Internet via this blog and others.

To those who've offered me constructive criticism, I sincerely thank you very much.

Unfortunately, it didn't help one damn bit.

I kid, I kid...

Now, it's true that I am almost out of trading capital. I can send this company another check and pretend nothing happened, or I can take this opportunity to test the waters at other companies.

I decided to test the waters. Perhaps, I thought, I need a fresh start.

So, by 9:45am, I had a job lined up with another firm. Unless something good happens with my current company before Friday, or unless I hook up with some rich "cougar" and move to Hawaii, as of January 2nd I'll be trading with a new firm.

In an example of "art mirroring reality" this company has a very active group of "remote traders" who work each day in a "virtual office." Just the kind of support I could use.

Speaking of art, I've decided to write a damn book, because this shit is twisted. It'll be like the "my history" posts, but with added sex and violence.

If you or someone you love is a book agent, contact me about the massive advance you're willing to pay me.

Anyway, I lost all of my money today in MOS. Most of it around 10:00am when the stock made a move that only the "hybrid architects" could love.



But really, my problem once again was my ratio of winners to losers. I'm still at a loss as to what I'm doing different these last 2 weeks that has made it nearly impossible for me to bag a winner.

Here's the stats:
P&L, -$713
Best, KMT, $351
Worst, MOS, -$794

20,800 shares traded.
10 stocks traded, 2 winners, 8 losers.

20 comments:

wincity said...

What a stupid company. Calling a day trader at 9:28! I go bananas if my wife bothers me with anything around that time.

It might help if you turn off CNBC? You seem to watch them a lot judging by the complaints. I feel the #1 issue with my trading is lack of concentration. I'm trying hard to tune off everything.

Good luck. I'm sure you'll rebound.

TraderCaddy said...

New year, new firm, new start. It's all good IMO. It will put less pressure on you which usually means profits. It sounds like you have been trading almost as long as me and I always stink up the place when I trade "under the gun."
You will do fine as you are a survivor.

artha said...

I guess congratulations are in order. You sure got this new job quick. No interviews?

As for a rich "cougar", I believe the Trading Goddess has expressed interest. :)

Unknown said...

I'm glad to see that your first move wasn't to start sending your resume out for a "real job." You're my primary real-life trading inspiration (no, I don't tell everybody that, and MissTrade is a robot after all).

Make it work.

AT

ainkurn said...

these last few weeks have been tough for everyone but Misstrade and Evolution. I have noticed that many equities are trading "abnormally" and end up causing a lot more churn. just keep working at it and I'm sure you will come out of this slump. hopefully a fresh start will be all you need.

let me know when your book comes out. As an aside, it might be cool to have a contest for all your readers to give your future book a title. My suggestion is ... Musings of A Dinosaur: Applying Stone Age Logic to Modern Day Markets

Unknown said...

bail on nyse & hybrid for the short term trades- or at least give nazdogs an honest shot. you keep posting the crazy ones that nail u - naz trades so much nicer.
pete

HPT said...

If I had lost 6k in 2 weeks, I would have been fired many times. That's BS. My critic-
Can you profitably trade SPY?
Why do you trade crappy stocks?
Do you average into winners?
Do you avg into losers?
What is your strategy? (correlations,inverse pairs, pairs, arbitrage, tape reading, or a simple candlestick formation?)

MissTrade said...

Well, fresh start clear you mind. Make you goal to be profitable every day. Leave it at that. Trade less

Dinosaur Trader said...

ainkurn,

"Musings of A Dinosaur: Applying Stone Age Logic to Modern Day Markets"

That's great. Perhaps that's my problem!

Thanks for all the words and advice Internet people. It doesn't look like I'll be trading tomorrow.. in fact, I may not be trading until I join a new company.

Instead, I may treat you all to a post about "toddler gymnastics."

We will see.

-DT

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
matte351 said...

You should give up trading for good.

Bluedog said...

Don't give up what you enjoy. Maybe trading a little less during the holidays and joining a new firm is just what you need to clear your head and get yourself out of that nasty rut.

I know I don't have to tell you this, but I find my biggest losses came at a time when I lost my focus on limiting risk. IMO, if you can figure out how to best limit your risk, the profits will come.

Good luck on your book! I think it's a great idea!!

-BD

Dinosaur Trader said...

newequity,

As always, you piece of shit, thanks for the encouragement.

BD,

Yeah, I think a change will be great for me. While it will suck to not make any money these next few weeks, it will also be great not to have to worry about losing any!

-DT

tapeworm said...

DT: i for one am looking forward to your book...hopefully, you're serious about that

as far as giving u advice...i have none for someone who actually has made himself rich over the last 8 years...with that being said, i have confidence that u will take whatever steps are necessary...a real trader (such as yourself) will weather any change over time...when u figure it out, let us minions know

new equity: at least you're consistent...btw, DT is old equity, and i have the confidence to know that someone as bitter as u will eventually be known as NO EQUITY!!! now get back to the fryer at McDonalds

Dinosaur Trader said...

tapeworm,

I am somewhat serious about the book idea. It's been a very interesting few years. We'll see.

And I really mean this, if I ever figure this shit out in a solid way, I will share it, free of charge to you "minions."

Meanwhile, "noequity" is "newequity's" new moniker around here. Nice one, tapeworm.

-DT

mOOm said...

I've tabulated your daily P&L since the blog started (I update the spreadsheet once a month or so). I thought it would give me inspiration of how you turned the slump in the early part of the year around. Since the start of the blog I have you at a gain of $104,566 - that's in 8 months. This drawdown is the largest in this period it is true, but in no way would it invalidate the great record you've achieved to date statistically. I only wish my drawdown I'm in looked like that (percentwise). The t-statistic (or z-score) that tests whether your daily mean trade is greater than zero is 2.94 which is very statistically significant - i.e. the series has almost no probability of being random. This statistic stood at 3.14 at the end of November. There's no real statistical difference between them.

Anyway, this is a geeky way of saying that you are doing great and that a slump like this is likely in the big picture.

Dinosaur Trader said...

Moom,

I'm a sarcastic prick but I really appreciate that. It makes me feel much better.

Thanks a lot.

-DT

YoungChuck said...

DT,

First time commenter, long time reader.

Good luck with the new firm. Hope you do the book your history posts are great.

OBAT said...

DT,

Good luck in your trading in your new firm. Change maybe a good idea. Back in 2002 I was trading with this firm for 6 months without getting anywhere. When I made a switch and got some new insights I was profitable in 2 months. Keep us posted on your results. Maybe I will join you in your new firm too.

Dinosaur Trader said...

Andrew,

Thanks, happy to have pulled you out of the woodwork. All I had to do was blow up a little, huh?

OBAT,

I'll be in touch. If it works out and you're looking for a change it could be perfect.

-DT