This is the running total taken from my broker’s daily statements.
4/23/18: It’s been 12 months since I opened this account and traded at “retail” level for the first time. Seems like a good time to pause, take stock of what I’ve done, jot down some lessons, share some insights, and… stop the bleeding. Yes, because sometimes the only way to stop a drawdown is to stop trading.
If I were to give my trading a grade, I would say it’s a B-. While most traders would sign up for a 40% annual return (that’s the geometric return – I’ve actually generated $5,410 from the original $10,000), there are two factors that I consider more important than just the geometric return. The first one is how I’ve executed my trading plan. The second one, how the returns stack up again the risk I’ve taken. In both of those instances, there have been stretches of good performance, but overall, I’ve taken significant risks relative to the size of the account. A 40% return is pretty meager compared to those risk (see, Calmar Ratio below). I’ve also not executed the plan well. My plan was developed over six years of trading a multi-million dollar account and it was tough to adjust it down to $10,000. Therefore, all in all, it’s been ok, not great.
Numbers are here below.
Last updated 4/23/2018.
Since Inception
Note: the numbers are generated by the broker, including the benchmarks (SPX = S&P 500 Index; EFA = non-US stocks ETF; VT = World Return ETF). Not ideal benchmarks for commodity trading, but they are the most easily understood by the wider audience.
