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Hello humseper
Congrats to your 28% which are by far more than if you are parking the money under the bed...
Indices are rising and falling - this does not mean investing on January 1 and let sleep it to December gives THE big
gain. The question is how much time will you invest over time for your gains. As long as you are consistent you might
optimize the strategy to invest less time or to risk more on the best moments.
About my own result you may follow the journal here:
two negative trades (-7 -9 points)
one postive trade (5 points)
weekly result -11 points
points since week 2/2013: 1030
GFIs1
Happy New Year!
the result over 2 years is to see in post 1104. All results are shown for 1 contract. Every trade is announced before
taken - and every result immediately posted after reached the announced time or when stopped out. Just read...
Good that you are using the S&P500 or similar index as a benchmark.
I don't measure in terms of percent return on my futures account because the balance is just a tool to facilitate trades and doesn't really represent anything more.
But on my retirement account I earned over 200% return in 2013 trading stocks.
I am not sure this is the correct question to ask in a professional speculators/traders world
True we are naturally tricked into thinking in returns on capital or investment... But I would have most probably asked my colleagues at the desk:
1. what was your win probability this year?
2. what was your profit factor (avgW/avgL) on the above win%?
3. how large was your biggest win versus your your biggest loss?
4. and what was your maximum drawdown?
And perhaps, to compare versus last year, ask how did each of the above four points change versus last year?
On a side note, and as Mike said, if you are trading futures the capital is there only to facilitate the trades and provide for the required margins but I don't think you can simply and directly relate the amount you gain to the original account size.
I for instance keep 40k in my futures account to be able to trade my strategy, and then every two or three months I skim that account back to the 40k mark and place the gains in the bank.
How would you expect me to report my %? versus the 40k in my futures trading account, or versus my overall net liquidation value / assets (which I don't even know how to calculate)?
Successful people will do what unsuccessful people won't or can't do!
I'd say the right way would be to check what you started the year with, or presume it was 40k. With that as your starting point, look at todays balance and all the amounts you've withdrawn to skim the account back to the 40k level.
What you should get is the overall return on investment. Random example:
Start of year balance: 40k
End of year balance: 45k
Gain in account: 5k
Total withdrawels throughout the year: 35k
=
Started with 40k, ended with 80k.
ROI: 100%
Edit:
The other factors you mention are all interesting facts to overview to get a better feel for the details/style of your trading. But, at the end of the day, i would argue its the actual bucks you've added to your bottom line which matter the most. The other factors just tell the story of how you made it - imho
