If you dont know what this is all about then please read the very first post from this blog - should be either at the bottom of this page or from the links at the side.
January 2006.
Well, January has been heartbreaking to say the least - A good start to the month put us onto a new high of the equity curve to over £18k and since then we have been in drawdown.
The drawdown is worse the last one we had in November and again this is the part that is heartbreaking.
Let me tell you the reason for grail. Grail is 100% mechanical that requires no user input throughout the trading day.
To me this is trading nirvana. After more that four years as a trader you get to a point where it bores the pants off you hour after hour and you start to look for something that can take away this tedious existence in front of 5 screens all day. To me that is what grail is.
Grail is not, (nor was it designed to be) a 100% winning trading strategy. To me the holy grail of trading is a system you dont have to think about or have decisions to make as to when to close or enter etc.
The trouble is, as many of you will know, that the first ten minutes of any trade is the hardest to keep your cool, that is where we are at in grail. the first six months is like the first ten minutes of a daytrade.
as a trader you will know that once in the money with a good stop in place covering some profits its a breeze to hold a position. well in the case of grail - the first 100% is the hardest and once the initial capital of 10k has doubled to 20k in safe position (ie 28k as 28K minus max expected drawdown of 40% = 20k) we cannot feel safe.
This month we saw £18k drawdown to almost12k - a drop of £6000 doesnt feel right unless you are playing with a six figure account, which we aren't. guess ill just have to get used to that.
It is also our first losing month on the system for a year, last February being the last one.
We are of course going to continue, if the last 4 months has told us anything it is that grail has this amazing ability to bounce back from the doldrums and suprise us in just a few days.
Im hoping that next month's report will be much better that the one which follows.
Till then, happy trading.
Monthly Report - January 2006.
- Opening balance:£17,088
- Closing Balance: £ 13,940
- P/L: -£3,148
- % Gain on account: -18.42%
- Lowest account value: £ 12,239
- Highest account value: £18,697
- Maximum Drawdown: £6,458 = 34.5%% peak to valley
