Saturday, August 30, 2008

The Weekend Trader (Saturday Edition)

Reviewing August's results got me thinking about taking a more detailed look at my monthly performance trends throughout this year of the grand experiment, yet doing so in a way that would keep me out of all of the dangers of looking back in the middle of the race in progress so that I keep pushing ahead.

So, this crazy 47-year old mind got out his QuickBooks, Excel, and -- get this -- some virtual crayons to craft the above monthly performance chart that will hopefully balance a quick rear-view mirror analysis while keeping the eyes on the road ahead to avoid a possible loss of focus and crash. (I think I finally figured out how to make sure all charts are expandable ... click to enlarge.)

If you've been following any part of this blog for long, you'll probably be able to quickly understand why the chart appears the way it does without my needing to comment. Suffice it to say it's an Excel chart based on a QuickBooks download, with several adjustments including adjusting the horizontal X-Axis from zero to a level above my best performance (ground level) so that my goal remains to break through from my starting hole to above ground ... which hasn't yet been achieved. Each sequence of lines reflects a sequence of daily performances within a single month.

Taking this larger look-back does provide some interesting observations, including putting the post blog-starting performance (last two sequences) into greater perspective. It also shows how I was apparently more aggressive in March and July, resulting in greater volatility in results -- including the July brain cramp -- yet ranking 1st and a virtual tie for 2nd of the 8 months. Perhaps this is the most useful conclusion as I begin yet another attempt to "break ground". Maybe I need to find that lost aggression and be willing to accept the swings (sans brain cramp) that accompany the final result. On the other hand, I'm not sure what the April & May lackluster attempts mean.

I'm going to study this some more, but thought you might be interested in the approach. Heck, you'll probably see something that I don't as a third party observer, so feel free to comment.

Four months left and I need to break through to that surface. I need to breathe some air.

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