2004 Annual Review

Time to tackle the annual performance review. Why, when I type that, do I picture me sitting in some obfuscated conference room undergoing a checklist of what I did and didn't accomplish for the prior year? Then receive my performance bonus or lack thereof. Ha!

Here we go. I posted a 26% gain for the year. This marks the 4th consecutive year of gaining 25% or more on the market. Most of the returns came from my systems. The account being measured does not use margin and does not trade options. All positions taken for the year were U.S. Stocks and the QQQQ. The overwhelming majority of those stocks are listed on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange.

Here's the breakdown:

Three losing months for the year. Two of those occurred back to back. The worst month was a -0.77% loss in July. Second worst month was a -0.68% loss in April.

Nine profitable months for the year. Five of those occurred back to back. My best month was a +6.14% gain in October. Second best month was a +3.79% gain in December.

Overall, a really good year. But, thanks to the big intuition mistake I made back in November...it cost me about 8% in overall equity gains. In other words, I posted a gain of +2.61% in November...if I wouldn't have liquidated my system positions and sat out that one week...my gain for November would have been 10% or more. What a difference a week makes.

On a lighter note...

My year was made when I found out my performance topped Rusty's. Maybe I will get that bonus after all. :)

Daily System Updates

One long trigger for QQQQ at Tuesday's market open. The TrueRange system generated this trade. This system has a 78.43% win ratio with an average profit of 3.67% and an average loss of -2.22%. This system is based on an expansion of the average true range. Not one of my favorites since the average profit isn't much larger than the average loss.

One long trigger for WAG at Tuesday's market open. The BreakUp system generated this trade. I'm sorry, but do not have the performance statistics available for this system tonight. Too tired...going to bed. :)

Closed the following positions today at market open:

• Closed 1 QQQQ (BBLower) long with profit of +1.24%;
• Closed 1 QQQQ (Tii100Low) long with profit of +1.73%.

Sorry, previous posts had the system's profit percentages reversed with each other.

Please read the disclaimer on the website. This is not a recommendation to buy, sell, or trade securities. Just a journal of my travels through Wall Street. I can buy, sell, or hold any positions mentioned on this website at anytime. So, be warned.