Returns 2009


value-change_2009

31 December 2009. A slight drop from November, ending the year down 35%. Bah, humbug!

trading-net_2009
Net profit/loss (black/white bars) of monthly closes

30 November 2009. The winners and losers balanced each other out this month for net trades ever so slightly above $0. As for total value of the portfolio, it is still down 34% YTD.

28 October 2009. The Bears got grouchy this month, and I barely eked out a net gain for the month on trades, but the value of the portfolio went down anyway (trading costs). I'm out for the rest of the month.

30 September 2009. It's starting to look like a trend! The YTD number is still pretty ugly (-32%), but the line is moving in the right direction. In addition to increasing the value of the portfolio, net profits outweighed losses for the month.

31 August 2009. Wow! This is more like it. The value of the portfolio went up 9% over the previous month, but it is still down 39% YTD.

31 July 2009. Wow! My portfolio value actually went up 5% this month. I'm still down 44% YTD, but the slope is in the right direction.

30 June 2009. This is just ridiculous. Maybe I should just take this money to Las Vegas. I might still lose it all, but it would be more fun than this!

29 May 2009. Oh, how I yearn for February! May was another dismal month, down 21% for the month, leaving me down 38% YTD. As the value of the portfolio shrinks, percentage losses start to look horrendous, even though the dollar amounts aren't all that great.... not all that small, either, but....

30 April 2009. April ended with a loss of 3% for the month, leaving me down 17% year to date. It could have been a lot worse: at one point I was down much farther, mitigated by rallies that allowed me to bail out and contain the losses.

31 March 2009. March turned sour when I bet wrong on HELE, shorting it at just the moment it chose to break out to the upside. Ouch!

28 February 2009. February was a good month, ending up 31% over January. For the year, that erases the January loss and puts me up 5% for the year. This was not achieved through any particular brilliance on my part, merely by taking profits at the right time.

31 January 2009. January was not any kinder than 2008. I currently have only two stocks in the portfolio so when one or both takes a hit, the impact on the total value is immediate and obvious.