I'm glad to say January 2008 is behind me.

What a wild ride. Well, I did not make any of my goals for this month. I did make a few of my daily goals, where I quit trading early because I had already made $500.00 profits in trades. I believe that this was a mistake. All that this accomplished was that on days that I was timing the market well, I quit trading. Days when I was not timing the market well, I traded all day. I can not find any logical way to say that makes sense. The whole point of making this work is running what is working right.

So, as for my realized gains, I ended up making about 1/3 of my first goal. I could look at this as a failure in many ways, when I look back on my January goals. However, this performance is a huge improvement over my performance in November and December. Actually looking back over the past few months, I am seeing a marked improvement. In November, I had realized losses of a large amount, we will call it X. In December my losses were 1/3 of X, and in January I realized a small gain. I'm really glad that I keep that monthly tracking scorecard. It shows a definite upward trend in realized results as I move my way up the learning curve. Having a tangible goal to strive for has helped me improve my performance, despite the fact that I haven't yet successfully achieved one.

That being said, I am going to keep a similar goal structure for February.

Goal 1: Realized gains = monthly withdrawal.

I have a set amount of money that I need to withdraw from my trading account each month for my share of the household contributions. Goal one is to achieve realized gains equal to that amount.

Goal 2: Realized gains = monthly withdrawal plus 10% of account balance as of Jan. 31.

If Goal 2 is achieved, a percentage of realized gains will be contributed to my IRA.

Goal 3: Realized gains = $500.00 per trading day.

There are 20 trading days in February. February 18th the market is closed. This is my most challenging goal. If I am successful, I will make 10,000 in one month.

2/1 - 500.00
2/4 - 2/8 - 2500.00
2/11 - 2/15 - 2500.00 [option expiration]
2/19 - 2/22 - 2000.00 (Market closed the 18th)
2/25 - 2/29 2500.00


Always perform your own due diligence before making any investment.