'NB #2 SPY' Generated an Exit Signal for Wednesday's Close. The position was held for 1 Day as is directed by the model. The Money Managment Stop was not hit. The position generated a profit of about 0.8%, very close to the average trade return of 0.7%.
The position had been up nearly 2% by late morning but then pulled back prior to the FOMC announcement at 215pm. Market participants found things to dislike about the announcement and the SPY continued to drop and just about filled its opening gap up. A rally during the last 45 minutes brought the SPY back up to close about 0.8% higher than yesterday.
A bit of a roller coaster but with System Trading this is par for the course. Once the model has been built, the 'plan the trade' portion is complete and I can put my IQ on the shelf. Once an entry signal is generated and the position is put on, I have to pull my EQ off the shelf and 'trade the plan'. Now, no matter what kind of ride the market goes on and no matter what my emotions may go through, I have to follow the rules of the plan.
I was not happy to give back the near 2% intraday gain, but there was nothing I could do about it except to 'trade the plan'. Needless to say, I was happy to see the EOD bounce back to decent profitability. Interesting how my 'happiness' was strongly corelated to how this position played out. I bet my 'happiness curve' would have been higher and steeper if I was not monitoring this position minute by minute today, but rather playing with my son and/or hanging out with my wife. I think one of the skills I need to continue to develop is to emotionally detach myself more and more from the outcome of any individual trade, knowing that if my overall System Trading Portfolio is full of robust trading models, then the profitability will come over following 12 months. Currently, I would give my System Trading Portfolio a B+ for robustness. Emotionally digesting the Portfolio's robustness and profitablity is a work in progress.
However, I did greatly enjoy the telephone conversation I had with my trading friend JE (over at http://myestradingjournal.blogspot.com/). He found a unique way of using the ATR Volatility Bands that I developed and have written about. It just goes to show that the creative process knows no bounds, and what one has not concieved of, another has already put into motion. Nice job JE!
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