Weekly Total Equity Tracker

MARGINAL STOCK TRADER tracks his BPITrade trading account weekly equity balance through this post. For that purpose, we have adapted the system suggested by Jason Van Bergen in his Investopedia article Limiting Losses.

Week	Date	Cash Position	Stock Position	Total Equity		% Gain/(Loss)		Remarks
	17-Jul-09	10,000	-	10,000				beginning equity, this year
29	18-Jul-09	970	8,325	9,295		(7.1%)		stopped trading
30	24-Jul-09	6,816	2,900	9,716		(2.8%)		closed 2 of 3 positions
31	31-Jul-09	6,816	3,000	9,816		(1.8%)		ending equity, this month
32	07-Aug-09	9,567	-	9,567		(2.5%)		traded 30 shares, closed all positions
33	14-Aug-09	9,567	-	9,567		(2.5%)
34	20-Aug-09	9,567	-	9,567		(2.5%)
35	28-Aug-09	9,567	-	9,567		(2.5%)
	31-Aug-09	9,567	-	9,567		(2.5%)		ending equity, this month
36	04-Sep-09	9,567	-	9,567		-
37	11-Sep-09	9,567	-	9,567		-
38	18-Sep-09	9,567	-	9,567		-
39	25-Sep-09	9,567	-	9,567		-
	30-Sep-09	9,567	-	9,567		-		ending equity, this month
40	02-Oct-09	9,567	-	9,567		-
41	09-Oct-09	9,567	-	9,567		-
42	16-Oct-09	9,567	-	9,567		-
43	23-Oct-09	9,567	-	9,567		-
44	30-Oct-09	6,544	2,925	9,469		(1%)		bought 10 shares @ 300
	31-Oct-09	6,544	2,925	9,469		(1%)		ending equity, this month
45	06-Nov-09	6,544	2,950	9,494		0.3%
46	13-Nov-09	6,544	3,025	9,569		1.1%
47	20-Nov-09	6,544	3,025	9,569		1.1%
48	27-Nov-09	6,544	3,000	9,544		0.8%
	30-Nov-09	6,544	3,000	9,544		0.8%		ending equity, this month
49	04-Dec-09	9,481	-	9,481		(0.7%)		sold 10 shares @ 297.50
50	11-Dec-09	9,481	-	9,481		(0.7%)
51	18-Dec-09	9,481	-	9,481		(0.7%)
52	25-Dec-09	9,481	-	9,481		(0.7%)
	31-Dec-09	9,481	-	9,481		(0.7%)		ending equity, this month
	31-Dec-09	9,481	-	9,481		(5.2%)		ending equity, this year

Last updated: February 22, 2010
Marginal Stock Trader calculates his equity each week. This includes all of the cash in his BPITrade trading account, cash equivalents and the current market value of all open positions in the account. This weekly total is compared with the equity total on the last trading day of the previous month and, if we are approaching the 6% threshold, we prepare to cease trading.

In fact, when our 6% loss-limit level is breached, we may -- depending on our appraisal of the situation -- go even further and close all of our outstanding positions, and spend the rest of the month on the sidelines.

Employing a 6% monthly loss limit allows Marginal Stock Trader to hold three open positions with potential for 2% losses each, or six open positions with a potential for 1% losses each and so forth. For more, read our previous post Loss-Limit System for Traders.