Welcome 2012 - The Year of Change

I cant believe it has been over a month since my last post.  I have taken some time to reflect on my trading and I have decided that changes will need to be made to make 2012 my most successful year yet.  I have lofty goals for the year:

• Reach my fundraising goal and finish the Fight for Air Presidential Tower Stair Climb race.
• Finish 5 half marathons = 3 Chicago, 1 Richmond, 1 Columbus
• Get married
• Get a new dog
• Leave job and trade full time

The last one is going to be the trickiest.  Parts of my trading plan have been coming together over the past month. I have determined my trading time frame, vehicle, style, and platform.  I will be day trading (scalping) the mini Russell 2000 futures contract (TF) using the NinjaTrader platform.  I have been paper trading over the past six weeks, and I believe I have an edge.  There is still plenty of research that needs to be done before going live.  Below is my schedule for achieving my goal of trading full time:

• January - program and automate strategy
• February/March - track strategy performance and research position sizing and money management
• April/May - begin trading live in the mornings before work (4am to 8am)
• June - wedding and honeymoon
• July - trade live in the mornings before work (4am to 8am)
• Post July - request 3 month leave of absence from work to trade full time

Currently, I am hording as much cash as I can to build up my equity.  I also will not request a leave of absence from work until I have been consistently profitable.  I need to average $100 a day to cover my expenses (rent, food, utilities, etc.).  It should be a challenging and rewarding year.  I am looking forward to it!

Bring it on 2012!