Where I landed

So, I mentioned that I left my previous trading home and struck out again to find my fortune. In some ways, I feel like a prospector heading west in the rush of '49...full of hope and anticipation, blind to the perils that may lie ahead and intensely focused on just one goal.

This isn't my first rodeo, I've moved or rebranded or regrouped at least 10 other times in the dozen years that I've spent in the financial markets. It is part of the game. Most contracts are a year long, they have a graduated payout that peaks as the contract expires. While I was writing this, I took the trip down memory lane and dug up a few statistics about my career path thus far.

• I've been fired 1 time, it was my first trading job. I learned that you don't trade against Goldman Sachs when they come in to buy a ridiculously 'over valued' put. 
• I've had a 12 positions ranging from clerk to junior trader to trader to partner to owner. The spectrum is pretty broad and the pay scale didn't always match the titles.
• Speaking net income, the smallest yearly total I've made since striking out on my own {circa 2003} is an abysmal AGI of $18,750. Ugh, that was a nasty stretch.
• I've traded the following: 
• Indexes
• SPX options/futures
• NDX options/futures
• Equity options in: 
• TYC
• BAC
• HOG
• KO
• CIT
• CPN
• QQQ
• Yield Curve 
• ZB options/futures
• ZN options/futures
• ZF options/futures
• Commodities
• Nat Gas options/futures
• Copper futures
• Corn options/futures
• Wheat futures
•  Soybeans futures
• I've had 3 partners, all three have eventually quit. 2 have left the industry completely
• I've been with 5 different clearing houses
• Paid one fine for $30,000.00

Seems pretty tame when you write it all down and piece it all back together. But that's my story and I'm stuck with it. My goal has always been the same. Provide for my family and my lifestyle while doing something that I really love. I've often said, "I would have no idea how to assimilate into the corporate world." This career in trading is a dead end. Once you really taste it, really taste it...there is nothing like it.

Back to spreaders. Updates and predictions next post. Also, a pretty decent set of calls happened HERE.

~LH

Where the Summer Went

It's been a long time since I got around to writing. It's not that I've not wanted too...simply put, I haven't had the desire for a strange set of circumstances.

In terms of an update, here is a quick recap of the last few months.

• The spring was pretty steady. We were running two sizable books with a decent amount of PnL. Our Fed Funds book was like a constant rockstar and my partner was doing a better than average job at moving inventory and locking in profits on a daily basis. Unfortunately, my Eurodollar strategy was becoming more and more sporatic. In an effort to grow PnL's, I began trading some of the front flies on a mean reversion basis but this meant assuming more risks. Though I wound up taking in some profits, it wasn't an easy trade and some of the geopolitical aspects burned me for substantial losses.
• We take profits once a quarter, as June wrapped up, we were less than gangbusters on the P side. Summer is usually a slower time in the interest rate complex. Most of NYC goes to the Hamptons and turns off the markets with the lights as they leave. On a personal note, my wife and I were expecting a baby in early July and I was looking forward to taking some time off. 
• The summer took an unexpected twist when my partner asked to dissolve our partnership on July 23rd. He wasn't comfortable with the risk of the Eurodollar book and wasn't pleased with the return on my half of the partnership. In fairness, he was shouldering a majority of the profits so I can't say that I completely blame his decision. However, that meant a couple of things.  
• I would need to decided what to trade. If that was going to be Eurodollars...then steady as she goes. But if I wanted to go back to Fed funds, or options or yield curve or ANYTHING else, I needed to clear off a pretty sizable position that stretched out to 2017.  
• Was I going stay where I'd been for the last 30+ months, in the same office as a former partner?
• In some ways, I took a cop out on deciding what to do. I hit the eject button on a majority of my Eurodollar book. I think it cost me about 20K to simply liquidate it at the market. In hindsight, a very nice move...it cleared my head and I was able to move forward. I stepped back into the Fed Funds and began to trade it but with a new caveat. I left it intentionally small as I began the quest to do something new.

Ultimately, I reached the conclusion that it was time to pack up and leave. I needed a fresh start, new office and some change. The quest to find a suitable landing spot actually proved remarkably difficult. But I'm here...fully set up and running at roughly 50% capacity. Over the next few weeks, I plan on ramping up fully and I'll get back into the habit of writing weekly. I have nothing else to do since I'm now all alone in a 7'x15' box with a couple of windows. That story is next time.

Special thanks to @GeneratingAlpha for forcing me to write again. I appreciate the nudge and I'll get back to it.

~LH