CFD Trading Report Monthly Wrap, a detailed look at where we made and lost money during the month.
We report our performance on a monthly basis, dividing our trades into three portfolios - Australian Stocks, UK Stocks, and Global Markets - which comprise commodities, currencies, bonds, and US. We report overall portfolio results for each of the three trading accounts, each in their home currency, AUD, GBP, and USD.
For each trading portfolio, we will provide:
- A table of the closed trades from the month, with a combined Profit and Loss (P/L)
- A Portfolio Performance Table. The information in this table is rolling, i.e. the trades for the month are added to this table on a continuous basis. This table contains trades that were opened after 1 Dec 2008.
Below are a few notes which provide further explanation.
Current Account Balance – includes all closed trades from 1 Dec 2008 to the current month end
Overall Return – Total P/L to date, as a percentage of our starting balance
Win % - Percentage of trades where we book a profit
Scratched Trades – Trades where we were stopped out at break even
Max % Draw down – This is the maximum amount, in percentage terms, in which our account decreases from our maximum equity line. Graphically, it is the maximum distance between our Maximum Equity (Pink) Line and our Current Account Balance (Blue) Line in the chart below.
AU Equities – October 2011
It was a matter of quality over quantity during the month of October on the Australian equity portfolio. Early into the month, we managed to almost pick the bottom of the decline on the ASX 200 index at 3,913. This lead to a swift profit being attained the following day, after a strong +3.70% move on October, 6. The market continued to storm higher, which did not allow us a second long entry, as no pullback followed. In effect, we decided that it was prudent to stay on the sidelines, rather than chase prices higher.
Towards the end of the month, we captured another winning trade on Iluka resources on October 28. Positively, our winning strike rate for the month was 100%, to finish the month +2.05% higher.
Over the past seven months, we have not had a losing month. This equates to a rolling return over this same period of +11%.
Closed Trades for October 2011
Portfolio Performance since 1 Dec 2008
Equity Chart since 1 Dec 2008
UK Equities – October 2011
Another solid month on the UK equities portfolio, which saw us finish the month +1.52% better. We started the month strongly and never really looked back.
Closed Trades for October 2011
Portfolio Performance since 1 Dec 2008
Equity Chart since 1 Dec 2008
Global Markets – October 2011
Our winners on gold and US equities saw us finish the month higher, returning +2.40% on the Global markets portfolio.
Early in the month our short positions allowed us to capture a number of winners. Towards the later stage of October, we swung our directional view to the 'long' side, enabling us to capture four more winning trades.
The since inception return pops through +50% once more to sit at +51.73%.
Closed Trades for October 2011
Portfolio Performance since 1 Dec 2008
Equity Chart from 1 Dec 2008
The Month Ahead
Our analysis from last month...
Major global equity indices have put in a major low, and looks destined for further upside. Likewise can be said about the EUR, GBP and AUD against the US dollar. With the US dollar set to retrace a portion of its gains, commodities will likely rally strongly for the month of October.
Our directional view proved to be correct once more. Looking forward, global equity indices look exhausted on the upside. We would expect a phase of consolidation to take place. Both the Dow Jones Industrial Average and FTSE 100 are forming a symmetrical triangle pattern, which is typical during periods of distribution. The ASX 200 index is slowly coiling higher, however a retest of support at 4,150 appears likely.
Currencies, major support is located at 1.3382 (EUR/USD), 1.5746 (GBP/USD) and 1.00 (AUD/USD).
As always, good trading!