End of the quarter….how the heck are we 1/4 of the way through 2013 already???
I just did a quick calculation and for Q1 2013 I am up +14% in my trading account. I say not too shabby at all. Now keep in mind my trading account is small as I consider it more of my “gambling” account. Not like I’m making 14% off of a $100mm account. That would be cool though :) It’s also been during a crazy bull market run so who knows where that goes. Although I am more concerned about my conservative buy and hold 401k in that scenario.
My biggest win for the quarter was my decision to buy LNKD before earnings. Second biggest win was buying some NFLX options as it was on its first tear after it reported earnings. I *wish* I bought them before earnings!! Also did very well with RIMM (pre BBRY), RDN, UA, DNKN and FB.
Biggest loser *by far* was CALL. But I’ve learned my lesson there. Other losers were MOS, CRUS and WFM (lesson to NOT play ER.)
Besides my few gut calls or lucky ER plays, I am still basically following trades in the 12631 trading room made by chessNwine and a few by RaginCajun. I have way, way more winners than losers by doing this. As I said at the end of 2012, I will keep this successful action up.
I still have been a giant pile of fail in learning more about technical trading. Really is voodoo to me :) But I am pretty good at listening to my gut. And finding smart people to follow who practice this form of voodoo :) The trading room at iBC is full of them.
April 15th is my 1-year anniversary of leaving my “regular” job to work from home part-time while spending more time trading (best decision EVER.) I forget my actual 1 year anniversary date with iBC and 12631 but it’s right around the 15th. But you can be sure I will be renewing.
Yesterday I went over my trading account portfolio for the year. Up 21% for 2012. I’ll take that. I also put some long-term ideas into my 401k that Chess had profiled in his blog posts but I did not count those in the 21% (if I did, I would be up more as they are up nicely as well :) )
I left my full-time job in April (YAY! I liked you guys but YAY!!!) and have been working from home on a part-time basis since then. So after I left work, I also signed up for a premium trading service (had never done that before.) I had been following chessNwine and TheFly on twitter since mid-2011 but with my work schedule I didn’t have a lot of extra time to devote to trading other than my “gut” feelings (which is how I typically trade AND gamble :).) But I knew that once I left my job, and could devote some more time to trading, I wanted to try out their premium service(s).
I keep a chunk of my money in more conservative investments. And physical gold/silver in my quest to become Scrooge McDuck. And Star Wars collectibles (doh!) But I wanted to use my trading account as a learning tool. Also, my shopping fund. So I signed up in April 2012 and while I still don’t spend enough time on it (I need to do MOAR studying!), I have done pretty OK following on trades discussed in the 12631 trading room.
I’m usually pretty quiet in the trading room and don’t post much. LURKER! But it’s a pretty great group of guys (I say guys because I don’t see many names that indicate there are other girls but maybe they are quiet like me) and I am VERY glad that I signed up.
I typically just follow on Chess’ trades but also some of RaginCajun and The Fly’s. And also a few based on other traders in the room mentioning them or me finding them. But mostly – follower. I hope to be more of a contributor to the room this year but will still follow on the trades because #1 Rule: Don’t change successful actions!
So a big thank you to Chess, RC and The Fly for creating fantastic content, great products and a fun, interactive place for traders. Oh yeah…and profitable trades :)
Go here if you want join in the fun: http://ibankcoin.com/
