ok, you are right ,just consider a guy funded by TopStepTrader ,what are his chances to grow his account ?
IMO, this is placing an unreasonable expectation on yourself. Your goal should not be to become rich with $5K in 2 years, but to become consistently profitable so you can grow a business around trading.
What am I missing about risk reversals ? There is a short leg, which is margin intensive, considering margin one isn't able to catch similar homeruns as when long options only (not meaning that long option is better than risk reversal, just that I don't see the position as an obvious way as growing on's account hundreds of times in a short time, but then my basic options knowledge won't suffer from some extra input)
Zero, You're goals or expectations are not realistic. Try this for goals... 1) First pass your combine with TopStepTrader. 2) Pass the review process to get funded 3) Trade markets that are in unusual market conditions similar to those that occurred in the markets all those millionaires you've been hearing about (most likely TopStepTrader doesn't offer access to markets like that or else you would have mentioned them...such as Soybeans). 4) Become profitable If you can do the above, you will then have a slim chance and then cross you're finger that whatever markets you're trading...something unusual (very volatile) happens with them and you're then able to exploit such. You're trading in the right market at the right time
Sure, happens all the time. But most are private, or you never hear about them. What you hear or see in the news or on websites or on forums is only the tip of the iceberg. But I wouldn't say it's common though...to say, for example, to turn a $2K account into a million -- these guys or gals...are the exception, rather than the rule. Accomplishing this is kind of like the equivalent of trying to make it in professional sports or winning at the Olympics. ...Most traders or investors are barely skirting by...making meager returns, if lucky.
I have a friend who went from $100k to $20 million in a little over a decade. Dan zanger went from like $10k to 18 million during the internet bubble
In the late 90's twenty-something year olds were becoming millionaires by the hundreds/thousands in prop shops all across the country...with little or no money up. Most of them lost it all in the internet crash because they were AWFUL traders. Just a product of the market and had better technology than the MM's and Specialists.
We have an ET member who made just under a million in a single day, EricP: http://www.elitetrader.com/et/index.php?threads/trader-p-l-2008.113193/page-411#post-2078776 I believe he started a few years earlier with a modest account. And also Szeven who started very small and had made over a million a couple years later: From here: http://www.elitetrader.com/et/index.php?threads/trader-p-l-2005.50472/page-5#post-768843 To here: http://www.elitetrader.com/et/index.php?threads/trader-p-l-2007.83837/page-514#post-1728994
Wow... after following through with these links... clicking on some names... scanning other threads they participated in, etc., its amazing to see how different this place used to be, and hardly any names that I'm familiar with. Interestingly as well, these posters are by no means long gone as they seem to pop in every now and then given "recent" posting history. It just goes to show that the most successful guys are also the quietest. (No offence NoDoji... LOL.... its of course good to also have successful people post frequently too!)
One of the things that inspired me when I started in trading was Mark Minervini's book...... If you click on the book cover you can read the introduction where he tells his story. I don't know how he has done since then. He still markets himself with his 1990's performance without mention of any recent performance. Maybe he already made his money and has no further incentive to deal with the stresses and risks of trading?