5 Day Chart of AUDJPY
The portfolio had a HUGE day yesterday, as Countrywide takeover mumble with Bank of America surfaced, pretty much exactly as I thought. Nothing like having $10,000 of a stock that jumps over 50% in one day lol! I hadn't been watching the markets yesterday afternoon, or I probably would have taken profits on it...we'll see how it opens.
Also the FTSE put options kicked in some P+L, my EUR/USD call option was which expires today was looking good after the ECB left rates unchanged, but is now against me. Was looking good for a while there.
Yours,
2and20
5 comments:
Hi pal, your blog smells good… you’re bookmarked!!! Just allow me a few silly questions:
a) I guess your trades are real and not paper ones... Do the figures reported below include brokerage fees and other commissions?
b) You’re supposed to be up of some $24,000 as of today, and that’s fine… But I cannot figure out how big a capital you’re trading on – $100,000, $1,000,000 or else – and therefore your performance in percentage terms is somewhat obscure. Would you please give further details on such matter?
c) Why “2AND20”?
d) Have you considered some kind of prize for being your first commenter?
Joking aside, you’ve done a fairly good job so far. I’m still going to be paper-trading for a while (i.e., till my home mortgage ends by next year – I’m not willing to be some kind of a “foreclosure collateral damaged” guy…), but I’ll certainly be reading your posts on a regular basis.
AT (from Italy)
hi AT, yes your prize as first commenter on the blog is a free subsription ;)
a) yes i am putting all of these trades on...i actually use spreadbetting here in the uk, so you pay the bid/offer and no other fees and that's it...so when i post prices, i am posting either the actual bid or offer i've traded on, so yes all "fees/commissions" are included here...profit numbers are EXACTLY what i've made. plus spread-betting here in UK is all tax-free, it's actually awesome, and i can trade virtually ANY market.
b) well, i thought a lot about it, but i have a credit a/c and use leverage (i get margin calls if i lose too much), so i haven't been able to set aside a set amount, so can't provide returns. personally, i've got a fair amount of cash but am not risking anywhere near my whole net worth, so using that wouldn't be right either. so that's why all i can offer is absolute cash numbers. if i can figure out how to use a certain amount of capital and provide returns on the blog, i'll do that, but for now, can't think of a way.
c) 2and20 is meant to represent the hedge fund fees of 2% of capital and 20% of gains...so "2and20" is a pretty common term in the market although i suspect a lot of folk may not get it!
cya, and feel free to contribute any ideas!!
…in the UK? I kind of thought you lived in the US…
Anyway, spread-betting is just beginning to spread here in Italy, after IG MARKETS opened its local desk early last year. Judging by the wide variety of markets you trade on and by the relative short-lived options you seem to prefer, you must be trading with IG MARKETS or someone like them…
As far as taxes are concerned, I also read that spread-betting is tax-free in UK, but things are a bit different here – all capital gains are currently taxed at 12.50% (likely to be raised up to 20.00%), no matter how you made ‘em. Taxation on FX gains is more controversial – some local brokers tend to promote their FX trading services as a tax-free market, but many tax pundits do not share such views…
As you see, I’m still getting my feet wet in the chaotic world of global financial markets but you can definitely count on me as a regular reader.
…2% of capital and 20% of gains – not bad for a living, but in case of losses?
AT (from Italy)
yes i'm doing everything in $ as i think more folk will be interested in that...if it was in £ most of the US would just ignore it! yes i use the major spread-betting firms in the UK, the tax-free thing is nice and simple, they claim the spread covers the betting tax here so no more needs to be paid.
2% and 20%...in case of losses, the investor loses, the hedge fund "only" gets its 2%...yep certainly a nice way to make a living!
if you're just getting started in the markets, i'd suggest the blogroll that i have. all v good, although none particularly focus on trading, more on economics/newsflow/macro stuff, which is why i started my blog. check out macro man for a good view on the markets and trading thoughts if you don't already.
Actually, I did get to know of your blog thanks to your yesterday’s post in the comments’ section of Macro Man - I like his posts and market views (even though he discarded my late November tentative call for shorting EUR/NOK…) and have been reading his blog since last September. I also read a lot of Nouriel Roubini, Brad Setser, Michael Pettis and Michael Shedlock. I liked Rodger Rafter as well, but he seems to have disappeared…
By the way, nice headline - 'Cos bloggers know best… Nothing seems to be truer, nowadays!
Have a nice weekend,
AT (from Italy)
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