The glumest challenge on earth! - February

[Caan Berry]

Hey everyone!!

Haven't been all that active on the forum of late, been pretty lazy in general really to be honest! Recently went full time.... was planning it for March but with my results in January i really didnt see the point in waiting, im not particularly bothered but since then i've found myself in a bit of a rut.
Outside influences are probably partly to blame but as far as im concerned and others might disagree February is most definately the glumest month of the year for trading the naggs!! (octember comes close) with the cold weather i've found it pretty uninspiring too... and so i thought back to when i first started maybe a little challenge is in order to keep me motivated and hopefully some of the forumites too!! Hopefully sparking a little interesting debate on the way

So the goals? not really gonna set a target £ wise but the goals to make a few quid by the end of the month, its more to keep me on the straight and narrow stopping me from falling in to a bit of a mental rut, the vicious circle as i like to refer to it... and provide some entertainment/inspiration on the way.

So here we go....

I'll start from yesterday as it thought it was ok with a little 'funny business' on the way, large stakes flying in taking the price out for 5 - 8 ticks in a go... at first i thought it could be the infamous bomber but wasnt too sure either way twice it managed to for want of a better term 'leave me up sheet creek without a paddle' :Boom the second time it didnt need to be that bad
but i lost my cool and had a childlike strop while trading... something this thread hopefully will deter me from continuing for the rest of the month... anyway here's the damage.....


And today.....

More of the same although i escaped in a slightly better position.... the worst trade of the day does not show as i was over £100 on that race and finally finished -£33, 20k bet come into the market and was dragged down, i took that as the bomber had popped in to say hello, was odd as it was dragged down but as you may have realised after i got a sizeable stake matched in front of his money it was duly withdrawn anyway got away lightly really........... after all that stopped for a bit went for a run (find this usually is a good way to clear the head) come back with a better attitude and powered on through kempton!


hopefully its a bit smoother tomorrow! Whats everyone else make of the behaviour last few days ??

[lcredd]

Good luck Chuck, I hope the challenge works for you. Very impressive results today, I can see where my money went. The market does seem erratic, is it the work of one trader with a large bank?
Do you make more in-running or pre-race? Your losses seem to be at Southwell and generally shorter races, do you have different strategies for these races?

[Caan Berry]

Hi Iccred, wasn't all that bad in the end today.... i did find myself holding back quite a bit at times and playing it safe probably when i didnt need to in the daytime but it could of been far worse if i got caught with a big stake and dragged several ticks the wrong way again so the powders dry for another day

All my trading is pre race, probably just conincidence it was at southwell i lost more today to be honest.

[WhyAlwaysMe]

Good to see you on here chuck and hope going full-time works out for you.

Just remember you can't force blood out of a stone, there is always another race/meeting/month etc. Wait for the opportunities to come rather than trying to force things to happen. Keeping on an even keel is the thing.

[1/4 of a millionaire fund]

Yep same as WAM, just slow down chuck, you've got to see the bigger picture rather than short term snapshots. Seems to me you're always looking at what you could achieve rather than what you have achieved and believe me you've achieved a hell of a lot in a short time span.

Take a step back and look at what you've managed to do so far rather than jumping into some pointless challenge. I've always seen the challenges as something people do when they need to either regain discipline,focus or show off for a little while, neither of which you really need to. It's crappy February so you shouldn't be expecting, or trying, to force yourself to get big profits, looking at your pnl you're doing oK anyway with £300+ days midweek. If you want to last long term you're gonna have to make trading as stress free as possible, might cost you a little in potential profits but that extra stress isn't worth the cost.

Sit back a little and relax for these months , it'll soon be round the clock racing with the night meetings. You'll never have a regular monthly pnl trading just accept it and make the most of the free time cos come March all hell breaks loose

[Caan Berry]

Thanks for the responses guys and its nice to hear what i thought was the case from yourself MF... just all seems a bit daunting from the begining and i agree with what you say, for me this is just about keeping focused this month and not loosing my cool... sending myself down that negative route which is so easy to find yourself on when ya have a tought few days/week!

Today wasn't alot better to be honest, i think in fact yesterday was better on the whole, clonelm seemed to ruin huntingdon and in general i just thought general flow in the markets was pants... Plenty more of this....


More random large lumps doing odd things and stopping half way through i thought on the whole, got caught quite hard in the 4.35 race which practically burnt the profit which i found pretty infuriating.
Coupled up with a schoolboy error missing the start listening to the wonderful lydia hislop in another i think in total i burnt about £70 in stupid mistakes... that woman just cant stop talking i find if ever i miss a start its usually because she's nattering away a good ten seconds into the race.
Anyhow, was exceptable today i thought given the circumstances so anything in the bank is helpful.

[Morgans Choice]

More random large lumps doing odd things and stopping half way through i thought on the whole, got caught quite hard in the 4.35 race which practically burnt the profit which i found pretty infuriating.

Hi Chuck,

I thought that I was imagining it. First I saw of it was the week after Xmas a £20k bet knocking the price in 15-20 ticks, I got caught a couple of times after that before adjusting my strategy,

cheers, MC

[Caan Berry]

Very unfortunate early on, treading water for a bit, then it happened again twice in a row..... in summary. Cant be arsed... rest the day off, enough said.





Might come back and do some wolves later depending on how i feel and if this rediculous staker sods off.

[Caan Berry]

Came back last night as i just couldnt leave it alone, really happy i did as i think it could be the confidence boost i really needed at this point in time... anyway finished up like this

Went out after and ended up drinking till about 4 this morning.... heavy duty stuff but im gonna have a go today anyway, always a waste not to do a saturday afternoon in my eye's, probably update tomorrow or something as im feeling pretty rough! Hopefully the loonie knocking the price about dont show up today, could do with a stress free smooth one

[Caan Berry]

9th & 10th ......

Well as i said previously i went out Friday night and it got pretty messy!! ... too messy infact, saturday it left me thinking why did i do it?? afterall all week id pretty much been waiting for saturday to turn a decent result and when it came i had a hangover that would kill the average person it was completely irresponsible of me to be honest, i tried to trade on saturday afternoon but just couldnt focus at all.. i had a stinking headache untill about 6pm, the end result was on saturday although after a few hours of trying on and off the markets seemed ok but i just had a to chuck the towel in before i did something silly.... a right waste but i suppose it will deter me from doing the same again for some time!

Sunday was a better experience, i dont always do sundays although after saturdays missed opportunities i felt like i had to, was only a few hours racing on so it wasnt like it was a whole day infront of the screen... the verdict - the crazy punter was having the day off (thank god) and it felt pretty smooth, how i like it... pretty stress free.

Re-learnt an old lesson this weekend, dont bother getting really drunk the night before.... its an obvious one but reality sinks in a little harder when this is ya main income!
How'd everyone else find this weekend?? Had snow here yesterday, hopefully it wont mean more cancelations.

[Morgans Choice]

Hi C,

I didn't trade Saturday, that's two in a row, I need a new girlfriend.

Sunday was a washout for me, too little action, in fact I didn't get a single "offer" taken, so I was glad when it finished and I could go on to the dogs,

cheers, MC

[StuT]

Sunday was a washout for me, too little action, in fact I didn't get a single "offer" taken, so I was glad when it finished and I could go on to the dogs,

Was that describing your hunt for a new girlfriend or your trading.
Sorry, I couldn't resist that.

[Morgans Choice]

Lol, I'm tempted to say both,

cheers, MC

[Caan Berry]

Wouldn't worry about it MC, theirs more to life than lost of :Kerching ! Something i've started to realise haha... still want more though!

the dogs? ya make a few quid from them? always found it fairly frustrating myself.

Monday was a day off btw, last week put me off bothering this week

[Caan Berry]

Afternoon all, back on track! looks like so far im doing ok, a week without loosing my cool in February... today i thought im just gonna reign in the stakes a bit and take my time as i had monday off and tuesdays not always brilliant day, markets felt pretty smooth on the whole to me with some half decent turnover at points. The best race of the day i managed to make a complete hash with and probably tried a little hard as i was aware it was a better turnover and maybe pushed a little much.
Anyway on the whole it seemed better than usual, looking forward to the summer when theirs some evening cards too as today i feel i started to get my groove on half way though the day and as im ready for more it suddely ends!!

Fairly happy with that for a tuesday, off to the gym now!!