It's 5:30am, Dec 31 2009.
I'm sleepless.
Seabloke,
I WANT THIS TO START THE NEW YEAR:
http://www.realself.com/Latisse/reviews
I can't believe I actually spent half the day doing loads of laundry, and the bulk of the other half surfing the net checking out useless girlish stuff. After I'm done, I realize I need MUCH LONGER, THICKER EYELASHES to seduce D into paying someone to do my housekeeping job.
Thursday, December 31, 2009
2009 - Wrap Up
No wrap up.
Trading is a journey.
Ok, that figure was a real eye-sore. I'm putting it behind me (D keeps the score anyway), which I will, and am looking forward to 2010.
No trading today (12/30) and tomorrow (12/31). I want a green month (USD 4600).
Starting Jan 2010, I'll be posting monthly figures. Will still post trades, very likely not daily though.
Trading is a journey.
Ok, that figure was a real eye-sore. I'm putting it behind me (D keeps the score anyway), which I will, and am looking forward to 2010.
No trading today (12/30) and tomorrow (12/31). I want a green month (USD 4600).
Starting Jan 2010, I'll be posting monthly figures. Will still post trades, very likely not daily though.
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
Natural Gas Trades 12/29 (Tues) & Austin P
PnL for 12/28 & 12/29
NG 2min
Both short entries.Still really clumsy on execution (actually, always the entry). And a little generous on initial stops. Guess they go hand in hand. I can be less generous when I'm more precise. Not exactly great money management in the long run, but am working on improving execution.
2nd attempt after the first was stopped out was a little easier as far as setting stop is concerned. It was a USD 160 stop (less than half of what I set for the first trade). And I was able to move it to + USD100, then + USD 150 just prior to that plunge that hit my target.
It was a real struggle to see 300 disappear right before my eyes TWICE though.
Had I been trading like before, I would have taken the 300, and call it a breakeven day, effectively letting the vicious cycle continue forever.
I decided that since I had the conviction to get in again, I'm holding to target.
Besides, I wasn't going to be taking a loss if I get stopped out at the new stop.
Best case scenario: I get my net USD 400 profit; worst case scenario: -USD 200. I can live with the latter.
Was listening to Austin's videos the whole day, and totally tickled by him, even when I was in trade. A really, really lovely guy. Unorthodox, but definitely VERY wise. He most definitely was the reason that I stuck with what was a reasonable bet. Something about the voice I guess.
Monday, December 28, 2009
Gold Trade 12/28 (Mon) & An Exasperated Doc
GC 2min
Just 1 GC trade today since the last time I posted my PnL.
Basis of entry is a little complicated, but the main reason is MACD divergence (overlayed on main chart - I have difficulty focusing on 2 regions at the same time, so everything at ONE place).
Targeted exit was pivot at 11o3 (thick solid red line on chart), or on MACD bullish divergence, whichever's hit first.
I exited on extreme MACD reading instead, at 1106, leaving USD 300 on the table.
But it's ok. Holding for 10 hours for something I wanted, tightening my stop from 5 ticks above HOD to 2 ticks above breakeven while GC struggled to stay above 1110 - it's an experience I'll pay 300 bucks for, ONCE.
Basis of entry is a little complicated, but the main reason is MACD divergence (overlayed on main chart - I have difficulty focusing on 2 regions at the same time, so everything at ONE place).
Targeted exit was pivot at 11o3 (thick solid red line on chart), or on MACD bullish divergence, whichever's hit first.
I exited on extreme MACD reading instead, at 1106, leaving USD 300 on the table.
But it's ok. Holding for 10 hours for something I wanted, tightening my stop from 5 ticks above HOD to 2 ticks above breakeven while GC struggled to stay above 1110 - it's an experience I'll pay 300 bucks for, ONCE.
Again, if I see something in the instruments I want to trade tmrw til thurs, I'll trade. Otherwise, I'll listen to the good doc and stay in bed after taking my medication. I was at his yesterday (finally, after 4 days of asthma plus flu attack...Doc was gone during xmas...), and when we were almost done, I asked Doc a few innocent questions.
Me: Doc, do I have to stop taking chilli padi (really, really tiny chilli that's REALLY REALLY spicy) and fried food (I'm a steam food, soupy food, white meat, nearly vegetarian person, but for the past week I've been taking food that my system must find really repulsive)?
Doc: Well, if you're not used to it, then don't take it at all coz it's going to upset your stomach and your throat. If you want your system to get used to it, keep taking it after you get better (what a wise doc).
Me: So, Doc, do I have to stop smoking for the time being?
Doc: I THOUGHT YOU QUIT???!!
Me: ..........
Doc put me on Zyban twice and it worked the 2nd time. That was more than 7 years ago. I stayed clean for 5.5, or was it 6 years....anyway, I pointed my finger at D and said it was his fault.
I'M ONLY HUMAN.
I have 4 pills (for asthma, allergy, flu, and throat infection) plus a really foul smelling cough syrup to take 4 times everyday. I took 3 in the 10 hours I was in trade. What a record.
Saturday, December 26, 2009
Ziad, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 & 2013 (Cut The "The World's Ending In 2012" Crap!)
play around with what feels natural
don't let anyone mess up your swing
From Ziad.
I always love Ziad's emails. He writes in a way that I can fully understand. Reading him is like reading Enid Blyton. Not a single word bores.
I'm not paying Ziad a tribute. After all, he's well and alive and kicking ass.
Ha.
Sorry, Ziad.
The 2 lines came in 2 separate emails 2 months apart. I've been messing around with my swings since, and seriously, I enjoyed it. Tremendously.
Fun aside, the info gathered in the process is priceless. Had I not ventured/ fooled around, I wouldn't have found the missing pieces of the puzzle I've been searching for for the longest time.
Since the beginning of this year, D has been telling me over and over that all I needed to do was to stick to what I do best. Problem was, I hadn't the slightest inkling what that was. There was absolutely no proof that I was doing anything right in fact. D brought up the 200, 300, the occasional 400 and 500 daily gains - I mentioned the 800, 1000, 1200 and 2000 daily LOSS. D said that I was good at scalping. I said I needed to be good at LOSING. I know, I'm yawning too. Cut your losses quick, let your profits run. YAWN.
D's impression has always been that I am getting way ahead of myself, that I am not happy with my small consistent gains. He's totally right. I am indeed very unhappy. I have been miserable as a matter of fact. Trading was all about protecting whatever amount I had made for that particular week, and about not letting a few stop outs wipe them out. That's no way to trade!
Anyway, I really digressed.
This post is really to thank Ziad for his emails. If there's anything I do well, it's to have fun doing serious work. I just needed a reminder. And I will never let anyone mess up my swing. Not that anyone can anyway unless they know the way to my cave.
Something I found out about my trading in 2009 - the losses and the agonies were necessary. I don't know how else to put it across, and I won't attempt to.
That said, I'm not giving myself 10 years to enjoy the pain.
I graduated.
I'm serious. I always hated school.
don't let anyone mess up your swing
From Ziad.
I always love Ziad's emails. He writes in a way that I can fully understand. Reading him is like reading Enid Blyton. Not a single word bores.
I'm not paying Ziad a tribute. After all, he's well and alive and kicking ass.
Ha.
Sorry, Ziad.
The 2 lines came in 2 separate emails 2 months apart. I've been messing around with my swings since, and seriously, I enjoyed it. Tremendously.
Fun aside, the info gathered in the process is priceless. Had I not ventured/ fooled around, I wouldn't have found the missing pieces of the puzzle I've been searching for for the longest time.
Since the beginning of this year, D has been telling me over and over that all I needed to do was to stick to what I do best. Problem was, I hadn't the slightest inkling what that was. There was absolutely no proof that I was doing anything right in fact. D brought up the 200, 300, the occasional 400 and 500 daily gains - I mentioned the 800, 1000, 1200 and 2000 daily LOSS. D said that I was good at scalping. I said I needed to be good at LOSING. I know, I'm yawning too. Cut your losses quick, let your profits run. YAWN.
D's impression has always been that I am getting way ahead of myself, that I am not happy with my small consistent gains. He's totally right. I am indeed very unhappy. I have been miserable as a matter of fact. Trading was all about protecting whatever amount I had made for that particular week, and about not letting a few stop outs wipe them out. That's no way to trade!
Anyway, I really digressed.
This post is really to thank Ziad for his emails. If there's anything I do well, it's to have fun doing serious work. I just needed a reminder. And I will never let anyone mess up my swing. Not that anyone can anyway unless they know the way to my cave.
Something I found out about my trading in 2009 - the losses and the agonies were necessary. I don't know how else to put it across, and I won't attempt to.
That said, I'm not giving myself 10 years to enjoy the pain.
I graduated.
I'm serious. I always hated school.
Thursday, December 24, 2009
XMAS RANT
Fell really sick yesterday. Could barely move around. Managed to do a little reading, and spoke with an old friend who called after I text him. He must have figured I wasn't in trade. Told me he's moving to Australia with his family. I said good for him.
Life here can be quite a pain for those that cannot tell the pradas from the gucci's, cannot appreciate the soulless-ness of the country, cannot understand why everyone's flocking to the ION, and attending Halloween parties in ultra thick makeup and pretty, sexy evening dresses.
I took some time to log on to facebook to look at a picture that a friend was upset over. It was a picture of her husband. There was a lady in the picture. Her head was resting on his. In another, she was holding his hand. My friend's not the hyper-sensitive kind. After going over the husband's album, I know why she's upset.
Since I was logged on, I checked out a close friend's wife. The pair has had some problems before they were married and I was asked to mediate. I met up with them separately to listen to them. Shortly after, they tied the knot. That was almost a year and a half ago. Anyway, I was looking at her pictures and felt really sad for my friend. I could barely recognize her. While she was definitely really sweet looking before and had the most innocent smile, she is a complete sex bomb now. Pictures of her at numerous parties and holiday trips show an extravagant lifestyle (ok, I do recognize the brand of her shades, tote bags, dresses, even the fake eyelashes) that I think my friend is probably having a very hard time supporting (he's young, his family isn't rich, he just set up his own business and hardly surviving). Her bubble bath and bikini pics had me frowning the whole time I was going over them. I am judging. Yes. I can't help it. I am a rebel, but I am traditional. I believe that a lady that's married is a lady that has lost all her rights to flaunt her body for ALL to see. And I believe that a man who enjoys having others go gaga over his wife's body is a sick man. And I know my friend's not sick.
30 minutes on facebook made me feel 30 years older after I logged out.
I should be in bed, but I'll rather read and review my charts. These are things that always make me happy. Work makes me happy. Following the real life story of a woman from New York who travelled alone to Italy and India, spending a whole year away from people that she was close to but who hurt her - makes me happy.
Yes, I live in a world of my own. But I'm happy here. I wish I'd never have to step back into that ugly reality out there, where people pretend to like and care for others when they can barely spare a thought for their own spouse, where people genuinely feel sorry for homely looking poor Janes that are not invited to parties, where people would not lend a mobile phone to a kid whose friend was SEEN struggling for his life in a calm river (the kid drowned in the end - he was REALLY not a swimmer, and neither was his friend, and they really thought he could wait til the civil defense got there. It's a shame that the passerby - a swimmer - was not willing to dive into the filthy river to save the boy; neither did he want to hand over his phone. An incident from years back that I never forgot and won't ever want to).
I hated this place the moment I touched down. It was the day that I stopped a fight that hundreds of others could have done before I got there, But they did nothing. Not only did they not do anything to break up the fight, they gave the bullies enough space to beat the daylight out of a 15-year-old boy so they could watch with their wives and kids. The boy was bleeding. There were families on weekend outing, there were M1 service personnels promoting their service at booths just meters away from the scene. There were a dozen gangsters older than the boy and they were kicking and punching him - and a girl with her 3 inch killer heels was stepping on his face! And no one did a bloody thing. I yelled at them so loud I nearly broke my voice and approached them holding my cigarette (I was having my smoke break when I heard the commotion). I had really wanted to put out my cigarette on the girl's face. The gang was gone in less than a minute. None could be found afterwards. The boy asked if I could walk him to the opposite side of the street where he lived. He didn't want to file a report. Seriously, I don't care if that was some sort of a gang fight. A dozen against one is outright bullying.
Parents who chose to do nothing that day but stood by to watch are imparting a certain set of values to their children.
That was 12 years ago.
Today, I live among people who were taught from young to not meddle in other's business, to not care, to not feel, to not be interested in activities that do not generate immediate monetary benefits for them.
I live among people who are obsessed with their looks, with showing off their material possessions and with getting into the "right" social circles, people who cannot tell right from wrong.
Well, ok, they do know the right from wrong. Here, to be poor is wrong. Damn wrong.
D was collecting his pants from Armani last weekend, and while waiting, he overheard a lady demanding specifically for ANY pair of jeans that says "Emporio Armani". That particular outlet carries only "Armani Jeans" - which to her, is inferior to E A. She was clear in her instruction. She didn't care about design. She just wanted the brand name to be prominently shown on her jeans.
Yes, D likes Armani. And Gucci. And Dolce & Gabbana. And Valentino. And Versace too.
But D's compassionate.
D's like my Dad.
And D plays the piano.
Life here can be quite a pain for those that cannot tell the pradas from the gucci's, cannot appreciate the soulless-ness of the country, cannot understand why everyone's flocking to the ION, and attending Halloween parties in ultra thick makeup and pretty, sexy evening dresses.
I took some time to log on to facebook to look at a picture that a friend was upset over. It was a picture of her husband. There was a lady in the picture. Her head was resting on his. In another, she was holding his hand. My friend's not the hyper-sensitive kind. After going over the husband's album, I know why she's upset.
Since I was logged on, I checked out a close friend's wife. The pair has had some problems before they were married and I was asked to mediate. I met up with them separately to listen to them. Shortly after, they tied the knot. That was almost a year and a half ago. Anyway, I was looking at her pictures and felt really sad for my friend. I could barely recognize her. While she was definitely really sweet looking before and had the most innocent smile, she is a complete sex bomb now. Pictures of her at numerous parties and holiday trips show an extravagant lifestyle (ok, I do recognize the brand of her shades, tote bags, dresses, even the fake eyelashes) that I think my friend is probably having a very hard time supporting (he's young, his family isn't rich, he just set up his own business and hardly surviving). Her bubble bath and bikini pics had me frowning the whole time I was going over them. I am judging. Yes. I can't help it. I am a rebel, but I am traditional. I believe that a lady that's married is a lady that has lost all her rights to flaunt her body for ALL to see. And I believe that a man who enjoys having others go gaga over his wife's body is a sick man. And I know my friend's not sick.
30 minutes on facebook made me feel 30 years older after I logged out.
I should be in bed, but I'll rather read and review my charts. These are things that always make me happy. Work makes me happy. Following the real life story of a woman from New York who travelled alone to Italy and India, spending a whole year away from people that she was close to but who hurt her - makes me happy.
Yes, I live in a world of my own. But I'm happy here. I wish I'd never have to step back into that ugly reality out there, where people pretend to like and care for others when they can barely spare a thought for their own spouse, where people genuinely feel sorry for homely looking poor Janes that are not invited to parties, where people would not lend a mobile phone to a kid whose friend was SEEN struggling for his life in a calm river (the kid drowned in the end - he was REALLY not a swimmer, and neither was his friend, and they really thought he could wait til the civil defense got there. It's a shame that the passerby - a swimmer - was not willing to dive into the filthy river to save the boy; neither did he want to hand over his phone. An incident from years back that I never forgot and won't ever want to).
I hated this place the moment I touched down. It was the day that I stopped a fight that hundreds of others could have done before I got there, But they did nothing. Not only did they not do anything to break up the fight, they gave the bullies enough space to beat the daylight out of a 15-year-old boy so they could watch with their wives and kids. The boy was bleeding. There were families on weekend outing, there were M1 service personnels promoting their service at booths just meters away from the scene. There were a dozen gangsters older than the boy and they were kicking and punching him - and a girl with her 3 inch killer heels was stepping on his face! And no one did a bloody thing. I yelled at them so loud I nearly broke my voice and approached them holding my cigarette (I was having my smoke break when I heard the commotion). I had really wanted to put out my cigarette on the girl's face. The gang was gone in less than a minute. None could be found afterwards. The boy asked if I could walk him to the opposite side of the street where he lived. He didn't want to file a report. Seriously, I don't care if that was some sort of a gang fight. A dozen against one is outright bullying.
Parents who chose to do nothing that day but stood by to watch are imparting a certain set of values to their children.
That was 12 years ago.
Today, I live among people who were taught from young to not meddle in other's business, to not care, to not feel, to not be interested in activities that do not generate immediate monetary benefits for them.
I live among people who are obsessed with their looks, with showing off their material possessions and with getting into the "right" social circles, people who cannot tell right from wrong.
Well, ok, they do know the right from wrong. Here, to be poor is wrong. Damn wrong.
D was collecting his pants from Armani last weekend, and while waiting, he overheard a lady demanding specifically for ANY pair of jeans that says "Emporio Armani". That particular outlet carries only "Armani Jeans" - which to her, is inferior to E A. She was clear in her instruction. She didn't care about design. She just wanted the brand name to be prominently shown on her jeans.
Yes, D likes Armani. And Gucci. And Dolce & Gabbana. And Valentino. And Versace too.
But D's compassionate.
D's like my Dad.
And D plays the piano.
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
Poetic Energy Analyst
Cute Phil Flynn wrote this on FuturesMag:
T’was the last Energy Report before Christmas, while all through the pits
the oil had rallied before taking a hit.
T’was the last Energy Report before Christmas, while all through the pits
the oil had rallied before taking a hit.
The traders put on their positions with care,
yet a stronger dollar and stock-market gave the buyers a scare.
In the upcoming year the buyers will start fearing the FED,
while visions of rate increases will dance in their heads.
And with Obama as Chief, and trade that will be capped,
demand growth for oil might be in for a long winter’s nap.
Still Nigeria and Iran are starting to make a big clatter,
yet with a glut of oil and spare capacity it does not seem to matter.
Any production void will be filled in flash,
as oil producers are real hungry for cash.
You see OPECS production continues to grow. Even as Demand for oil is relatively slow.
When, what to my wondering eyes should appear,
the cartel thinks theses high prices can stay high next year...
But the little old cartel might be missing the trick,
if production exceeds demand growth oil could fall like a brick, as the dollar raises oil prices will quickly be tamed.
As the cartel will be cheating and I will call them by name! Now Iran! Now Iraq! Now Kuwait and Algeria, on Venezuela, on UAE, on Qatar and Nigeria. Libya and Ecuador have their backs to a wall, and Saudi and Angola may cheat for them all.
As the year ends the stock market continues to fly,
because when the Fed met with an obstacle, new rules did apply.
So up to the house-top the money supply grew,
with the sleigh full of dollars, and low interest rates too.
When rates will rise Fed is aloof.
But if inflation pressures rise stimulus could be gone in a poof.
The biggest threat to oil as things start turning around,
is that the battered US dollar may start to rebound.
Our soldiers are fighting in lands far away, and we should remember to pray for them each passing day.
It is for freedom that they are putting up this incredible fight
So to them and all of you Merry Christmas and good Night!
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
Trades (Live) & Merry Xmas
Entire week's trading in 2 days.The rest of the time I sim traded, practising scaling in.
I'm not sure if this is the format I'll be using to blog about my results going forward.
I'm not showing charts and details of each trade for now until I can find a way to explain my trades without letting my explanation affect the way I trade the next day.
I keep a daily trading log and another journal for observation of how each of the instruments I trade behaves on a daily, weekly and monthly basis. So this blog is really just to document my results and my trading journey. It is of course also really my personal diary. I keep no private diaries coz I'm not big on writing to myself.
But I like to write. So, I'll just keep writing as and when I feel like it.
Oil & Beans
The potential of ZS and CL.Corn's a little slow, so is yen (and 6E and 6B) after US market opened.
All shorts.
I'm following a specific schedule in terms of the instruments I trade. I trade on days with events & data releases, and I trade divergences & spreads. Without any of these, I don't trade. I've wasted enough resources trading uneventful days and on days that no one's puking.
ok, I really just wanted to show that TF sucks. But that's what TF does at this time of the year.
I'm going live on ZS on 26 Dec. Will be trading on both AT and IB.
This is my last trading post for 2009. As mentioned, I will post live trading results in Feb.
I'm not going to wish anyone a Merry Christmas, coz, personally, I don't like Christmas. I dislike Chinese New year even more though.
I just hate holidays.
Update on AUD/USD Long - still holding. I'm prepared for USD to keep going up til March, maybe even to May. I just bought really expensive USD to top up my Infinity Futures account, so I'm really not loving USD. To make things worse, I bought EUR as well. I think I might just have to keep shorting 6E til March...I'm holding both AUD and EUR. They are not leveraged so unless both goes to zero, my account is safe. I won't be able to trade FX in the meantime though.
Saturday, December 19, 2009
ZS & 6E (SIM) Trades 12/18 (Fri) - Sell Everything Day
ZS 2min
6E 2min
ZS - same old same old. Just go with the trend. Not something I'm used to doing. Moving average helps.6E - just a crazy fight to figure out where it was going after a round of data releases. Delayed response almost a norm on Fri for FX futures. Everyone was waiting for US market to open I gather. Chart above shows only the final trade.
Sim trading on both AT and IB platforms til Jan. Am looking for a simpler way to enter and exit volatile instruments like CL. With IB, I get really clumsy with bracket orders (I'm dumb, IB's for smart people).
I really like ZS and CL's clean moves. Totally addictive.
Friday, December 18, 2009
Thursday, December 17, 2009
Gremlins, Seabloke & Dad - My All Time Love
Gremlins were literally poster babies. They were featured in magazines (for mothers, distributed in clinics), and highly sought after by commercial advertisers (Seabloke turned them down).
Now 6, twins are the most popular kids in school. They have the loveliest lips (extremely pillowy - like their father's), large, twinkling, talking eyes (large like their father's, twinkling like my Dad's), fair complexion (MINE), long dark silky hair (don't know who they take after - their father hasn't a lot of hair, Seabloke has hair long damaged by sea water, mine's simply unmanageable), and LONG, LEAN body (totally their father's genes). Models in the making.
Looks aside (we shan't be shallow), twins have the most magnetic personality - extremely inquisitive, and mischievous/evil and compassionate and considerate all at the same time.
Sea recounted that on one recent occasion when they were out having tea at Macdonalds, the younger twin (De) noticed an elderly lady huddling in a corner all by herself, with no food on her table. De asked her mother if she could get the lady a hot chocolate coz she looked cold and hungry. Sea went to get the drink, which De brought to the lady. The lady broke into a smile, stroke De's head gently, and told De that she was waiting for her daughter. The whole time that she was sitting there alone shivering, no one had approached her to find out if she was alright. No one cared. Except De.
De reminds me of my Dad.
Dad would always help the needy and those weaker than him. When we were kids, Dad would always have money ready for us so we can put them into the tins of elderly (we would never give to the young and healthy) folks that we found sleeping on the streets. He would always stop his car to help victims of car accidents, and he would always make bullies and bad people EXTREMELY SORRY. Dad had a piercing glare that would send shivers down the spine of the most unruly of characters. Yet the same pair of eyes would make any lady melt...
Dad always taught us to be very good to good people, and very firm with unscrupulous ones (we took it a step further - we were malicious in every sense when dealing with the latter).
De is now like Sea and me when we were kids. She terrorizes naughty boys.
V (the older twin) is sweet like her father. And extremely sentimental like my Dad. V is the one that fell on the ice-skating rink. She is extremely bossy - like Granny and Dad - gives very specific instructions - to adults - on how things are to be done. And like Granny and Dad, she likes to feed people. The many occasions that Sea had dropped by with a whole week's supply of food for me - V's orders.
Sea popped by with V yesterday with my favorite food and dessert, and a bottle of the strangest looking concoction that's supposed to invigorate me (so I won't fall asleep while trading....I'm absolutely loving the smell of my home now!). They didn't stay long - Sea figured I needed to get back to my charts.
This morning, Sea sent me this:
on our way back V asked why yeeyee doesn't leave home..
V: issit cos yy doesn't want anyone to see her face?
me: why do you ask that? do you think yy is ugly?
V: no.. yy is pretty!
me: who's prettier, yy or mummy?
V: mummy..
me: (nod in approval) yy vs V?
V: me!
me: yy vs De?
V: yy
(muahahaha!)
me: yy vs ah jiong (D)?
V: yy..
me: yy vs gu por ("gu por" is how Chinese address their parent's aunts - twin's "gu por" is my very pretty 62 year-old aunt, my Dad's only sister)?
V: yy..
me: yy vs keisha (my cat - the one that eats my rugs, carpet and books and watches National Geographic)?
V: YY!
ok, i'm rest assured they know the hierarchy :-D
lunch good? dessert good? We had a whole pack of famous amos the other day. We passed by one just now and V insisted must buy for YY so i said no.. yy will become fat cos yy is a cookie monster, once start cannot stop. She was so smart i tell you... she said "then we get the smallest pack so she can't eat that much?"
D finished the cookies. He is the bona fide cookie monster.
Now 6, twins are the most popular kids in school. They have the loveliest lips (extremely pillowy - like their father's), large, twinkling, talking eyes (large like their father's, twinkling like my Dad's), fair complexion (MINE), long dark silky hair (don't know who they take after - their father hasn't a lot of hair, Seabloke has hair long damaged by sea water, mine's simply unmanageable), and LONG, LEAN body (totally their father's genes). Models in the making.
Looks aside (we shan't be shallow), twins have the most magnetic personality - extremely inquisitive, and mischievous/evil and compassionate and considerate all at the same time.
Sea recounted that on one recent occasion when they were out having tea at Macdonalds, the younger twin (De) noticed an elderly lady huddling in a corner all by herself, with no food on her table. De asked her mother if she could get the lady a hot chocolate coz she looked cold and hungry. Sea went to get the drink, which De brought to the lady. The lady broke into a smile, stroke De's head gently, and told De that she was waiting for her daughter. The whole time that she was sitting there alone shivering, no one had approached her to find out if she was alright. No one cared. Except De.
De reminds me of my Dad.
Dad would always help the needy and those weaker than him. When we were kids, Dad would always have money ready for us so we can put them into the tins of elderly (we would never give to the young and healthy) folks that we found sleeping on the streets. He would always stop his car to help victims of car accidents, and he would always make bullies and bad people EXTREMELY SORRY. Dad had a piercing glare that would send shivers down the spine of the most unruly of characters. Yet the same pair of eyes would make any lady melt...
Dad always taught us to be very good to good people, and very firm with unscrupulous ones (we took it a step further - we were malicious in every sense when dealing with the latter).
De is now like Sea and me when we were kids. She terrorizes naughty boys.
V (the older twin) is sweet like her father. And extremely sentimental like my Dad. V is the one that fell on the ice-skating rink. She is extremely bossy - like Granny and Dad - gives very specific instructions - to adults - on how things are to be done. And like Granny and Dad, she likes to feed people. The many occasions that Sea had dropped by with a whole week's supply of food for me - V's orders.
Sea popped by with V yesterday with my favorite food and dessert, and a bottle of the strangest looking concoction that's supposed to invigorate me (so I won't fall asleep while trading....I'm absolutely loving the smell of my home now!). They didn't stay long - Sea figured I needed to get back to my charts.
This morning, Sea sent me this:
on our way back V asked why yeeyee doesn't leave home..
V: issit cos yy doesn't want anyone to see her face?
me: why do you ask that? do you think yy is ugly?
V: no.. yy is pretty!
me: who's prettier, yy or mummy?
V: mummy..
me: (nod in approval) yy vs V?
V: me!
me: yy vs De?
V: yy
(muahahaha!)
me: yy vs ah jiong (D)?
V: yy..
me: yy vs gu por ("gu por" is how Chinese address their parent's aunts - twin's "gu por" is my very pretty 62 year-old aunt, my Dad's only sister)?
V: yy..
me: yy vs keisha (my cat - the one that eats my rugs, carpet and books and watches National Geographic)?
V: YY!
ok, i'm rest assured they know the hierarchy :-D
lunch good? dessert good? We had a whole pack of famous amos the other day. We passed by one just now and V insisted must buy for YY so i said no.. yy will become fat cos yy is a cookie monster, once start cannot stop. She was so smart i tell you... she said "then we get the smallest pack so she can't eat that much?"
D finished the cookies. He is the bona fide cookie monster.
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Soybean Trades
The ZS (Soybean) is a very nice instrument to trade. I've sim traded it for a while (as I did with CL before trading live), paying close attention to its movement compared with CL. Still watching and learning.IB's Booktrader showing my ZS sim trade (Highlighted in blue is the HOD and that's my targeted exit for an opened position. 1 tick or 0.0025 cent = USD 12.50):
Chart below shows my 2 ZS entries. With the first, I haven't done anything too different except that I held it overnight (I really doubt that I'll do the same for live trades. As a matter of fact, I don't think I will ever hold a futures trade overnight. I won't be able to sleep. That's the difference between sim and real money trading.). Just prior to the start of the trading session yesterday, I was already in the 300 - 400 profit zone. Holding contract to target added another 700. Nice daily range.
ZS 200-Tick
Not trading live at all for the rest of Dec. Will take the time to study grains and energy futures, possibly gold too.Update
2nd ZS trade closed:
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Ok, Fine, It's Christmas
For those who are interested: I found this market report on energy futures on CFTC (I like to know everything).
Here's a monthly report on all commodity futures. Again, for those who like to complicate their life.
I am officially VERY sick of the market (nothing to do with the market, it's just me and my eyes). So I'm going to take the rest of the month off to study my oil, soybean, wheat, corn, 6B, 6J, 6E and TF charts.
About my comment section (I know, I know, I'm a broken record) - I am the only one that can comment on my post (if I wish to, that is, but I don't know why I would want to do that YET), so please do not think/feel that you have been excluded from my circle. I love all that I regard as friends. If only I have the time to write to each and every one of you...
Here's a monthly report on all commodity futures. Again, for those who like to complicate their life.
I am officially VERY sick of the market (nothing to do with the market, it's just me and my eyes). So I'm going to take the rest of the month off to study my oil, soybean, wheat, corn, 6B, 6J, 6E and TF charts.
About my comment section (I know, I know, I'm a broken record) - I am the only one that can comment on my post (if I wish to, that is, but I don't know why I would want to do that YET), so please do not think/feel that you have been excluded from my circle. I love all that I regard as friends. If only I have the time to write to each and every one of you...
Monday, December 14, 2009
6J, 6B, 6E, TF Trades 12/14 (Mon) - BAD Tobacco
Total : - USD 1566B 5min
Missed the above 6B trade, and totally lost my cool after that.I blame nicotine.
It was shortly after I came out of my 6J trade when I spotted the 6B trade.
Put in a buy order and waited.
Then I got listless coz I haven't had my morning nic fix.
Pulled the order and went out for a quick smoke break.
Came back in to see price soaring towards my entry price.
Went in at market right at where I had initially placed my stop order, not realizing that I had unarmed the DOM before I stepped away from my workstation (Keish loves to do her catwalk on my keyboard), and so the order didn't go through.
Decided not to chase. I refused to go in at a lousy price.
My 4-point target was hit - took just three 5-min candles.
When D got home, I told him I am quitting smoking for good, coz cigarettes are really bad for trading.
I've stayed away from cigarettes for a good 6 years before picking it up again in early May 2008 - exactly when I started blogging and trading (one of the darkest periods in my life, NOT coz of trading of course) - so I'm sure I can do this without the help of drugs that make me puke.
I'm going to miss nic breaks with D. We don't talk to each other a lot inside our cave coz we are always too engrossed by work, and smoke breaks are the only time that we have our casual chats. They are always fun. We would hold hands and enjoy the cool evening breeze. Sometimes we stare at the moon and marvel at clouds, stars and lightning bolts. Most times we check out strange looking insects and gigantic moths, and joke about "smoked grasshoppers" for Alberto.
Targeting for next week to quit. I still want to trade this week (I'm prepared to get really edgy during the cold turkey period so I'll halt all trading for 2 weeks - probably the best time to take a break anyway).
Just one of those losing days that makes no sense.
6J Trade 12/14 (Mon)
6J 5min
I'm having a difficult time figuring out where everything's heading. It wasn't the way I felt when I was doing my analysis over the weekend. Somehow everything changed this morning. Typical Dec.6J was about the only thing that was moving. Oil is dead. For now.
Friday, December 11, 2009
Loose Ends
There won't be any trading for me today. I'm spending the day taking care of non-trading matters, and finishing a few books that I'm currently reading.
Gremlins made me a lovely bookmark. They must have noticed that besides trading, my only other passion is reading. Absolute darlings.
AUDUSD Long position - I have a small 10k non-leveraged position I'm still holding. I might let it go next week. For now, daily chart's not giving me any signal to exit trade.
Blog comments - I've deactivated comments (meant to be "off" by default anyway) again. I don't mean to be rude/mean/cold/anti-social - I'm merely doing everything I can to eliminate distractions during this intensive learning phase.
My business plan for 2010 is still in skeletal form. I wonder if it'll ever materialize into the thesis that I thought I wanted it to be. While I've always been extremely goal-oriented and unrelenting in my previous job, I'm just not the same person now. I guess it has a lot to do with my impression of the market, that it's something that's completely fluid - formless, border-less, sometimes seemingly completely clueless - and no amount of planning on my part is going to help me navigate the terrain better.
We'll see.
Gremlins made me a lovely bookmark. They must have noticed that besides trading, my only other passion is reading. Absolute darlings.
AUDUSD Long position - I have a small 10k non-leveraged position I'm still holding. I might let it go next week. For now, daily chart's not giving me any signal to exit trade.
Blog comments - I've deactivated comments (meant to be "off" by default anyway) again. I don't mean to be rude/mean/cold/anti-social - I'm merely doing everything I can to eliminate distractions during this intensive learning phase.
My business plan for 2010 is still in skeletal form. I wonder if it'll ever materialize into the thesis that I thought I wanted it to be. While I've always been extremely goal-oriented and unrelenting in my previous job, I'm just not the same person now. I guess it has a lot to do with my impression of the market, that it's something that's completely fluid - formless, border-less, sometimes seemingly completely clueless - and no amount of planning on my part is going to help me navigate the terrain better.
We'll see.
Thursday, December 10, 2009
CL Trades 12/10 (Thurs) - Stopped, Stopped, Bingo
Total: + USD 208
CL 200-Ticks
I can't help it. $70 is a bargain - for now at least.I've used rather tight stops for the first 2 entries (red arrows). After all, price hasn't broken beneath a bear channel that started at the most recent peak (71.20), and so I wasn't sure...
3rd Shot (Blue Arrow)
70.44 was the upper range of a zone support, and also where price had hit a bear wolfe target (an overshoot in fact). Most importantly, price has overshot the black bull channel (I love overshoots), and I was betting on price to bounce off 70.44 on a strong bull reversal.
Stop was at 70.39, and subsequently moved to 70.71. No breakeven stop for this trade.
Target was wherever price hit the bottom of the pink wedge (connecting point 1 to 4 of the wedge is the thick pink trendline along which lies the target for a wolfe setup short from 71.20).
I'll stop for the day. Taking a break before I start losing perspective.
Oil, Long & Wrong & Skating Incident
I'm turning on comments for my heartthrob (HUGH DILLON) lookalike, Long & Wrong
Am not going to be trading for the rest of the week (ok, maybe just 100 - 200 shares of ETFs) anyway...
Comments on skating incident most welcome!
I had a scare today. Lost time and was trapped in a CL trade for what seemed like a century when oil inventory data was released. It was much easier to follow US time during their daylight saving period. For now, 10:30am ET is 11:30pm my time, and I keep losing track of data release time.
To cut a long story short, I was long CL and everything was good, I was making about 200 when all of a sudden, price disappeared from IB's booktrader. I hit "re-centre" and was astounded/appalled/petrified and felt totally screwed when my PnL column showed -500, then straight to -1000, all before I could blink my eyes ONCE. D was in the shower. When he got out, he was quiet. I was quiet. Got out at a place that's 15 cents (1.5 points) lower than my previous target. Price continued to soar a couple of points above my initial target (I was targeting for a 3-point target - where pivot was). But I was just glad I got out unscathed. The point plus profit's a bonus.
D put his ear on my chest, and was beyond amazed to hear NORMAL heartbeat.
Somehow, I'm the calmest when under severe stress. D asked why I hadn't gotten out when price plunged to -500. I replied that so far, I've never been killed by spikes. I die slow deaths.
Anyway, that's why I need my break. I think I've had a scare. My brain just didn't register I guess.
Am not going to be trading for the rest of the week (ok, maybe just 100 - 200 shares of ETFs) anyway...
Comments on skating incident most welcome!
I had a scare today. Lost time and was trapped in a CL trade for what seemed like a century when oil inventory data was released. It was much easier to follow US time during their daylight saving period. For now, 10:30am ET is 11:30pm my time, and I keep losing track of data release time.
To cut a long story short, I was long CL and everything was good, I was making about 200 when all of a sudden, price disappeared from IB's booktrader. I hit "re-centre" and was astounded/appalled/petrified and felt totally screwed when my PnL column showed -500, then straight to -1000, all before I could blink my eyes ONCE. D was in the shower. When he got out, he was quiet. I was quiet. Got out at a place that's 15 cents (1.5 points) lower than my previous target. Price continued to soar a couple of points above my initial target (I was targeting for a 3-point target - where pivot was). But I was just glad I got out unscathed. The point plus profit's a bonus.
D put his ear on my chest, and was beyond amazed to hear NORMAL heartbeat.
Somehow, I'm the calmest when under severe stress. D asked why I hadn't gotten out when price plunged to -500. I replied that so far, I've never been killed by spikes. I die slow deaths.
Anyway, that's why I need my break. I think I've had a scare. My brain just didn't register I guess.
Trades 12/9 (Wed) - Crude Oil Day
Total: + USD 30I hope I am in the process of morphing into Solfest.
Taking a break tmrw. I think I need it.
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