One proprietary indicator that tells me when to start trading. Then it is just trading until I get told to stop trading. Have only about 4 ~ 6 trading days a month. Others may trade the chop, no thanks, not for me. Jesse Livermore: There is the fool who says the wrong thing all the time and then there is the Wall Street fool who thinks he has to trade all the time. Holmes
Paul Rotter (the "flipper" in the Bunds) is reputed to have had 1M Euro days. I believe he (or at least some of his compatriots) have posted here. Holmes
It's like Nitro said, it's simply a matter of sizing up and keeping the risk levels in line with your account size. I don't personally know anyone averaging 4-5k per day, every day, but I know a number of guys in the mid six figure annual range. I average about 2k/day myself. A couple are hardcore scalpers. Pure traders, just flipping in and out on liquid stocks with 5 or 10,000 shares. Really tough way to make money in my opinion, but can be done. The others all employ multiple, non-correlated strategies, most are fully or partly automated. A lot of the strategies are mean-reverting or arbitrage. Most of it is day trading, not a lot of swing trades.
You underestimate the money you can make without taking on massive size. If you trade Bund/Bobl/TNote with the right equipment and support, you can quite easily make $5k in a day with nothing more than a 20 lot riding at any one time. If there is enough data coming out and Mr Rotter is doing something you have picked out, there are plenty of people that can and do clear $10k in a day with 20 lot trades and wouldn't walk away thinking they are an outstanding hero. Also, it is possible to do it scalping as well as swing trading- one size does not fit all I suppose unless you have seen that world, it is a bit hard to believe or even know that it exists. This is not me trying to act up, I'm just telling you that you should have the belief that you can achieve big results- because you can. Do you guys all trade from home? If so, I commend you for turning a decent profit without the speed/support/commissions that are offered at a bank or prop shop. If you have worked yourself out a complete system (strategy, risk management, money management etc.) from working at it at home, you must have the ability to do a whole world more with the right environment and leverage.
actually the MOST proffitalbe intra day traders i have known are scalpers/momo guys...by FAR...i have know scalpers to have 6 fig days....with all due respect, i think this statement is an overgeneralization and a misnomer...
Exactly! Averaging $5K a day means nothing without knowing the capital base. $5K on a $10mil account is only about 14% p.a. compounded. $5K on a $100K account is 323,010% p.a. compounded. Spot the difference!?
I edited my percentage out of my previous reply but you are right - that is about the ONLY important figure. (plus risk:reward) Holmes
I think the most important figures are expected terminal wealth relative togheter with winning percentage. To determine if the method/signal/system you are trading is profitable in the long run, and is generating a positive holding period return.