first week of may done. +$520.
not amazing but way better than april’s weekly average (-$3k/week).
the numbers #
trades this week:
- total: 4
- wins: 3
- losses: 1
- win rate: 75%
- avg winner: $240
- avg loser: $200
- net: +$520
account:
- started may: $340,000
- current: $340,520
- weekly return: +0.15%
- annualized: 8.1%
what worked #
1. smaller position sizes
max loss per trade: $425 (down from $850)
meant my one loser cost $200 instead of potentially $400+. saved ~$200 by cutting size.
also less stress. can hold positions without checking every 10 minutes.
2. only 3 strategies
stopped trading momentum, crypto arb, calendars. only doing:
- IV rank premium selling
- vol mean reversion
- earnings fade
less complexity = less cognitive load = fewer mistakes.
3. fixed assignment bug
spent 6 hours wednesday fixing the early assignment bug that cost me $5k in april. no assignments this week but at least code is ready now.
4. weekly review process
every friday: analyze all trades, update strategy docs, plan next week.
this post is part of that. forces me to actually think about what’s working vs just grinding trades.
what didn’t work #
1. trade frequency
only 4 trades in 5 days. was aiming for 1-2 per day.
too conservative with entry criteria. raised IV rank requirement from 40 to 45 which filtered out 3 potential setups.
need to find balance between quality and quantity.
2. earnings fade
new strategy, tested once this week. lost $200.
bought back spread too early (panic closed when underlying moved against me). should’ve held for target or stop.
maybe not ready for this strategy yet. might pause it.
3. still not sleeping well
even with smaller size i’m waking up at 2-3am checking futures. old habits.
need to trust the stops and actually sleep.
lessons from week 1 #
- smaller size helps mentally - can think clearly instead of panic-trading
- 3 strategies is manageable - anything more was too much
- code bugs are expensive - $5k lesson learned in april
- quality > quantity - 4 good setups beat 10 mediocre ones
- weekly reviews work - forces accountability
plan for week 2 #
trading:
- aim for 6-8 trades (slightly higher frequency)
- lower IV rank back to 43 (from 45) to get more setups
- pause earnings fade strategy, focus on the 2 proven ones
code:
- finish assignment testing
- add correlation tracking between positions
- build weekly performance dashboard
personal:
- try to sleep before 2am at least 3 nights
- go to the gym (haven’t been in 2 weeks)
- maybe call that girl who texted me yesterday
may goal check #
goal: break-even to +$5k for the month
week 1: +$520 remaining: +$0 to +$4,480 in next 3 weeks
possible? yeah if i don’t fuck up.
need to average +$1k/week (or break-even on weeks 2-4). totally doable with current strategy performance.
one month since… #
parents died 18 weeks ago today (december 31).
some weeks i barely think about them. this week i thought about them a lot.
cleared out more of dad’s stuff from the garage. found his old trading books from the 90s. kept a few, donated the rest.
he would’ve liked that i’m trading algorithmically. was always into tech and automation.
trading gives me something to focus on besides the fact they’re gone. some days that’s worth more than the money.
2:22pm saturday. week 1 done, 3 more weeks to go. need this month to work.
-AK