Well what a year that was.  I don’t know about you but I am so glad to be rid of 2011.  From a trading perspective it was one of the harder years I can remember and I am not hearing from many people who had a great year.  Errr I haven’t heard from anyone saying they had a great year in fact!

But I have heard a few horror stories.  So if you generally held it together during 2011 then I think you deserve a pat on the back.  Anything around breakeven on the year seems like a good outcome and certainly nothing to feel ashamed about.

Throw in the fiasco of the MF Global collapse and its immediate dampening effect on the markets and you actually complete the picture of a pretty ugly year all around.

The highlight

For me the highlight of the year was the Century of Trading seminar with my great friends George Kleinman and Jeff Quinto.  We had a blast in Santa Monica and met such a great group of traders, many of whom have become good friends since the summer event.

You know, more than 9 out of every 10 people who attended have written saying how much they enjoyed and valued what was a very intensive learning experience.  That is so rewarding for us to hear and makes all the hard work worthwhile.  Who knows one day we might do another one, or maybe release the videos as a home study course.  That is something for us to think about for 2012 anyway.

2012 will be a great year

I can just feel it!  2011 was sufficiently challenging that the cycle is overdue for change this year.  When precisely that will be I don’t know, but I feel sure that 12 months from now we will be looking back on a really worthwhile year.

Fortunately we are entering 2012 from a solid position, despite the year just gone.  Our daily swing trading strategy (S-I-R) is sitting here right at equity highs and the 5min strategy in the Trading Den is also right at equity highs.  So not having a lot of ground to make up means we are in great shape to tackle the exciting year ahead.

But as I always say at this time of year – it doesn’t matter what happened last year, whether you were up, down or flat on the year, its time to wipe the slate clean and start all over again!  Bank the profits if you made them.  Forget the losses if you took them.  Zero the clock and focus exclusively on leaving the starting line as constructively as you can.  Which also means with a completely clear head and maximum discipline (New Year resolution perhaps?)

Projects for 2012

Every year I set myself the objective of tackling a number of projects.  Every year I also overestimate my ability to do everything planned by a factor of 2 at least!  Let’s see if this year I can get closer to delivering everything I hope to.

I plan to build upon our 3 out of 3 profitable years of running signal services by improving the existing services further as well as introducing 1, maybe even 2, new ones.  These have proven to be great in helping traders through the inevitably long apprenticeship that trading success demands.  I can’t make every member take every trade and similarly I make mistakes in my own execution at times just like everyone else.  But having a consistently profitable strategy to start with is a critical foundation and this has really proved it can give many people the staying power that they otherwise might not have had.

More and more people ask me for training courses and/or simple strategies that they can learn and become experts in themselves.  So in 2012 I will undertake to make more educational materials available than in the past.  There are several suitable things in R&D at the moment that I know have the potential to help people improve their game significantly.  So this will have more of my focus this year than in the past.

Finally this newsletter and several websites are due for a facelift and revamp which I think I can just about squeeze in too!  I have loads of insights to share with you this year and you can expect articles to start flowing again more regularly in a couple of months time.

I am currently buried under a pile of admin, accounting system changes and a significant change of business model in the way I manage money for other people at the moment, hence more radio silence then usual in the last few weeks!  This is my current priority and once it is all out for way I can set to work on some of these other projects for other people.

Let’s get cracking

So those are my plans for the year, what are yours?  Have you made your own plans and set your own goals?  Trading is a hard enough business when you have clearly thought out plans.  Without a plan to follow and to hold yourself accountable against is like trying to cross a busy road blindfolded.  So make sure you know what you intend to achieve in 2012 and you’ll have a far greater chance of actually achieving it.

It’s going to be a great year for many people.  I intend to be one of them and I hope you do too.  So what are we waiting for?  Let’s get cracking!

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