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Bought back short position of 2792 at 2777 for profit of US$120.

Bought back too early as the index went to day low of 2737 before closing at 2765.

Executed above trades for profit of 5 points within 10 minutes. Bought since S&P futures still up 3.5 points but sell quickly when target reached as the TiMSCI cash about 5 points lower. Afraid TiMSCI suddenly slide down.

 Update ( 12.48 pm ):

TiMSCI now 3419 while TiMSCI cash at 3414 ( up 5 from previous day )

Snapshot ( 1.10 pm ) :

Managed to sell off long position of 3459 at 3465 for profit of 6 points after regional markets rose in late morning, especially Japan and Taiwan.

Today is last trading day for TW April contract. Thus expected volativity. Usually index either move substantially in either direction during the last hour or so. Bought 1 TW contract at 3459 after it fell from about 3500 in about half an hour. (12.20 pm ). Proved to be too early. After buying, TW index continue to drop, all the way to low of about 3420. Cash TW ( thus futures ) closed at 3422.  During last 20 minutes of trading ( after cash close ), May TW futures shot up to close at about 3442.

In future, better to buy not earlier than 12.40 pm.  many variations employed by the big boys. Sometimes skyrocket, sometimes index got slammed down and at times a sudden sharp up move immediately after a similarly dramatic selldown.

Now holding on to long position of 3459 overnight, unless index rose high enough during T+1 session.

Encountered slow and intermitten loss of connection at the beginning. Profit could have been at least USD150 more if not for this. Had to sell my position when index price hit the low end of my expected profit as the prices come on too slowly (afraid I may not be able to react fast enough). Anyway, its still a profitable day..not bad for a 3-hour work.

After selling at 316.8, index shot up further as shown above. On the other hand, I could have bought again when it was at 317.3. So will look forward to tomorrow as there will always be another trading day.  Had to stop when approaching closing of TAIEX as volatility increases and time factor not in my favour. Important thing is to trade with discipline according to plan daily to ensure survival and profitability in this extremely difficult endeavour. A single mistake could wipe out all accumulated profits and more.

Finally disciplined enough to trade according to devised plan. Not much fear or stress involved. And rewarded with USD370 profit. Sold after NK started to weaken after a run up. And also TiMSCI futures index getting close to underlying stock index… compared to 20 points discount earlier on. If traded without plan today, I could have lost.

Update: Lucky that I sold at 329.3 about 30 minutes earlier and not wait till near Taiwan market close at 1.30PM. Below images show how prices have fallen.. as we approach the closing of the underlying stock market. Difference of about 50 points in half an hour .. in dollar terms it’s USD500. ( The top right figure above every image is the underlying Taiwan MSCI stock index )

BID                                          OFFER                                  LAST DONE

( About 20 minutes before closing )

( Just before closing )

( Just after closing )

Last trading day for Feb contract. Volatility expected. TAIEX pushed up during last few minutes to day high. TiMSCI futures shot up in tandem. Before that, it shot up 40 points immediately after TAIEX closed at 1.30PM and came back down in less than 1 second. Would have benefitted if put sell order 30 points higher. ( never expected the index to shoot up 40 points in 1 second..could have been error by trader or deliberate action )

6 contracts:

First 4 – Disciplined enough to put stop loss order immediately after sell order. Lost 2 points when stop loss order hit.  Sold again at 326.7 and bought back at 325.0 after HK led regional markets down. Bought after HK starting to creep up.

Last 2 – After Lunch. Bought at 325.4 after seeing HK rose and sold at 326.0 after about 12 minutes when NK slightly weaker.

Strong support throughout session. During T+1 session, index dropped from high of 324.8 to around 323.0 by the time S&P futures closed. Could be due to Greenspan’s remarks that US could be in deeper recession this year, and also survey of economists indicates that recession increasingly likely in US this year. Initial losses due to stop loss orders being hit but turned losses into profit during T+1 session.

Above shows closing index price and prevailing DJIA. Could have made about USD120 more if buy back at this level. Don’t understand why those people supported the higher prices of 323.0 – 324.7 earlier on.

Updated : DJIA closed up 189 points instead ! Could that be the reason for the strong support the day before ?