I agree, only few people have more info than an average trader or have them earlier. But they can trade with big size... On one hand - competition is hard, on the other - sometimes "the crowd" over-reacts and its easier to make nice profits ( 1999/2000 for example ). My point is: don't expect too much, set a realistic goal.
In my experience, (obviously the exceptions are the audited funds' published results), the only small-time traders who will claim amazing results and never back it up with paper are the gurus, chat rooms, and other snake oil merchants who have something to sell you. Odd how the folks who seem to make the most coin always are the ones who are most willing to sell you their advice...if I could make 20 points per contract per day, I don't think I'd speak to anyone about trading. Ever. Just my experience.
Sturgeon's Law "Ninety percent of everything is crud". Derived from a quote by science fiction author Theodore Sturgeon, who once said, "Sure, 90% of science fiction is crud. That's because 90% of everything is crud." Sturgeon himself called this "Sturgeon's Revelation," and it first appeared in the March 1958 issue of "Venture Scienve Fiction"; he gave Sturgeon's Law as "Nothing is always absolutely so." Oddly, when Sturgeon's Revelation is cited, the final word is almost invariably changed to `crap'.
I quite agree bung.. I would be spending every moment of my spare time relaxing in the cafes, bars, restaurants and beaches of Monaco and the south of france.... but thats just me.. Neil (and telling everyone I had made my money from writing bestselling novels.. under a nom de plume of course..
only 5% make money..........where the fuck do they come up with these stats??? cracks me up!!! This really is true I worked for a brokerage firm and I would say that is right on the ball.
i would ride around the US in a huge conversion van travelling around the US to luxury hotels which feature broadband access. i would work from those hotels in various places in north america - nyc, seattle, la, bc, san diego, denver, etc. i would also follow panic around as long as they were playing in cool places with luxury hotels for me to be comfortable in. the reason for this is not because i really like panic, but because i would pick up hot hippie chicks that pass me doobies at shows, and take em along with me, one or two at a time, to tour with me and enjoy the luxury hotels that my 20points per day would afford. occassionally i would spark a doobie at the run time of the moon cycle and get bare-nicked with two hippie chicks at once, and enjoy a hot jacuzzi ride at my luxury hotel. all of this i want to do before all my hair falls out... "if i had a million dollars."
Aphi, Assume you start with ONE contract the first 3 month, The LAST 3 month of the second year you will be trading 2**7 = 32 * 4 = 128 contracts per position. How many people do that size?
According to all the former brokers in here, about 5%. However, you have to keep in mind that some people reach a comfort level. Even if the system is still very sound, can everyone handle the pyschology of having $25,000 drawdowns in one day? Probably not. If 10 contracts is someone's limit, then so be it. They're still making great money. If someone is doing 100+ contracts, they are probably a very serious trader and wouldn't be using the most familiar tools that we use (IB, eSignal, etc). My point is that if you are consistent, the only limits are the psychological one's that you impose on yourself. Not everyone is comfortable with dealing with 7 digits of capital on a daily basis.