Well, when I reviewed my monthly statements for March and April of this year, I discovered a curious thing. I had indeed lost money during both these months. I have been in the habit of reporting my gains and losses for a month as complete as of the last Friday of a month. (Manufactured win #1 — see my triumphant return to profitability at the end of March 2008) My futures statement makes no such artificial break. It calculates the value of my account (including open positions) at the beginning of the month and at the end of the month.
So what do my statements say? Four straight months of losses. The difference in accounting methods accounts for much of it, but in order to get here, I had to have one of the worst trading weeks on record in the last week of April. Those losses erased my monthly gains and then some, and put me at a new 13 month equity low.
Ouch ouch ouch…risk tolerance eliminated, ego bruised, etc etc.
To top it all off, I am afraid of May. The British Pound isn’t acting well for Cable Glider, and the month of May has never been kind to the system. Luckily, the Euro system has been printing money again…enough to offset the dreadful performance of the Cable Glider this month to date. As of tonight, the account is up about 0.7% for the month…no accounting tricks necessary. ;-) And so, I’m taking the rest of the month off. (Manufactured win #2…and a two week break.)