About

“A profitable trade is calculated by what you have made from it.  But a good trade is measured by what you have learned from it.”

Quantisan.com is not …

1. A place to take investment advice from as I am wrong just as often as anyone.

Quantisan.com is …

1. A documentation of my personal trading development.
2. A website to share quantitative finance development ideas.
3. A platform for expressing genuine thoughts about the capital markets.

About the Author

My name is Paul. An engineer by training. My wife and I live in Ottawa, Canada. I made my first stock trade in 2000 using my interest-free student loan as principal and have actively managed my own portfolio since then.

To all intents and purposes, I consider myself an aspiring rookie trader first and quant analyst second.

Like most people, I was initially drawn to trading because of the excitement and the promise of great fortune. However, after having gone from rags to riches, and then back to rags again, I have awoken from my illusion. The reason why I still love trading now is because I love learning and problem solving.  And trading just happen to be the most challenging game ever.

Trading is a hobby that stresses self-discipline and offers ample opportunities for learning. If anything, I feel I am a better person, or at least a better engineer, because of my experience in trading. It sharpens my analytical skills, critical thinking ability, and overall discipline.

For information about my day job, see my profile on LinkedIn.

Paul’s Trading Experience

From 2000 to 2006, I traded solely on fundamental analysis in the U.S. markets on a long term basis (around a year or two).  Also known as a buy-and-hold strategy.  Or buy-and-pray, depending on who you ask. I have done fairly well during this time and averaged around 20% return a year.

Having been reasonably successful and with too much time and greed on my hands, I actively traded the OTCBB and pink sheet penny stocks for swing trades (1 to 3 days holding period) from 2005 to 2007. That didn’t turn out so well and I lost almost 100% (!) of my trading portfolio. The silver lining in this plunder is that it made me realize that trading isn’t as a smooth sailing as I’ve once thought.

In most of 2007, I focused on self-reflecting and learning more about trading. It is also when I became aware of my trading shortcomings and started to study technical analysis, risk management, and psychology of trading.

“There is nothing like losing all you have in the world for teaching you what not to do. And when you know what not to do in order not to lose money, you begin to learn what to do in order to win. Did you get that? You begin to learn!”

Reminiscences of a Stock Operator, by Edwin Lefèvre

In 2008, I experimented with day trading futures contracts and automated trading strategy development through TradeStation. This marked the beginning of my interest in quantitative finance to leverage my vigorous engineering background.  By the end of this futures market sojourn, I lost 40% of my play money.

What came out of this is a much more disciplined approach to trading and a better understanding of the intra-day markets. This also led to my realization of the importance of documentation for trading. The result of which is the creation of this blog to record my stock trades and thoughts.

In late 2009, I dabbled in the foreign exchange markets.  However this time around, I’ve learned my lesson and started out by paper trading for a few months instead of risking real money.

As of 2010, forex trading, Canadian stock market (for my RRSP), and quantitative R&D remain my focus.

My Trading Objectives

1. Application of independent and objective thinking
2. Understanding of capital markets
3. Prudent risk management
4. Identification of values
5. Study of quantitative finance

My Trading Style

Refer to my trade entries and exits blog posts to see up-to-date, real-world examples of my trades.

(As of the September 2008)

I analyse the fundamentals of the US markets, sectors, and companies to make my picks. Then I use technical analysis to time my entries and exits of US market traded equities or ETF’s. My preferred holding time period is 6 to 18 months. However, I am adaptable to the volatility of the market (i.e. 2008) and go with the flow. I will take swing trade opportunities (days) or hold for the long term (one to three year). I will not, however, deliberately day trade, as I have been burned in the past and found by experience that I lack the mental strength for it.

Definition of Quantisan?

In case you are wondering.  Quantisan is not a word in the dictionary. It is a word amalgam of quant and artisan. My idea is to juxtapose the vigorous method of a quant and the artistic craft of trading the market.

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