This is an interesting discussion and I wish there was something for me to contribute, but sadly I think that I've forgotten more than what I know and worse yet -> now find myself no longer young enough to know everything!
sdtrader, welcome back to ET, ya gotta admit trading remotely its hard not to check in once and a while
lol i told ya! haha that was funny it works! Steve Tvardek, good post, i totally understand the 'aspiration' factor, i know it so well.. i actually try my best not to be totaly negative, but i think it's important for at least 1 person to say a little of the other side of the story.. read about the guy who's given up trading after 7 yrs and feels like shit in the other thread.. i know there are lot of great traders here whatever amount they make, but for others deciding, it's good to know not many people r successful at this day-thing. btw i didn't lie about having visited places, why would i lie.. anyways, there r lot of people here polluting how day-trading is profitable and everyone can do it if they try, and i think it's good to see the other 95% too. thanks
I agree, I never would tell anyone that the success rate is high. I know how hard trading is, I do it everyday. But, on the flip side, the rewards to those who do and do it well, are tremendous. This is the draw of course. But, as long as you know that it will be tough to make it, all you can do is give it your best shot. Unfortunately, most people just want to make lots and lots of money fast and the market is not the place to fulfill those dreams if you arent willing to pay your dues and learn the game first. BTW, if you want to see some daytraders that make money consistently, start following the P&L thread here. There are a bunch of guys who post everyday who make good consistent money.
My personal opinion is that you can make 1% a day by scalping. so its lets say $250 a day due to initial $25,000 start, $1250 a week, thats around $65000 a year. I mean its not but if you live somewhere in OHIO or north Dakota, but if you live in NYC like me or LA, SF, etc. good luck with that one. $65000 is not bad though, if you would think that average family of four in US earns around $75000, and you would make 10000 just for yourself, not that bad, but if you are a mexican mother with 12 kids, well then you have to get second and third job. Good luck with this one, best of luck in trading.
As a matter of exercise, I have been trying for years to get people to dear to put an upperbound on your figure. Is 10% a day feasable? Is 20% a day feasable? Is 20+% a day feasable? Any takers? I kind of feel that one can not say 1% is feasable without having some kind of an idea about an upper bound estimate.
Never know why people want to talk percentages. In my case, I only keep 10K in my account and sweep profits twice a month. Average month this year is 17,722. Upperbound, what is feasible? Hell, anything is feasible. I am very much on the lower end of the people I trade with. A couple guys are absolutely crushing me. So I don't know whats feasible, just as I would never answer a ROI question. Steelhead, I am not back. I can't believe it everytime I log onto this site. I remember the last thread a couple years ago with that Mecro?? guy and some other dude that kept whining trading was dead. That was the last thread I bothered with. Until this one I guess....you are right. Trading remote, you do find things to fill the dead time. How you doing btw? OTL is coming up huh? Travelingtrader- I am just a monkey on news/story stocks. Whatever is moving, I am trading. Just quick moves....but actually been working on holding my winners a little longer while adding size. Its a work in progress.
How is the point you've just made any different from someone running a failing restaurant buisness? Or a guy in job about to be outsourced, etc... I have heard numerous stories of failing entrepenuers in every buisness arena. I also personally know of many who dropped out of school, got fired becuase of incompetency, got laid off from a corporate job, etc. There are winners and losers in every aspect of life. Trading is no different. While an argument could be made that perhaps trading is slightly more competitive due to the low entry barriers, but, somehow I think people who believe this argument are not taking the steps necessary to REMAIN competitive.
Just curious. Why not "sweep" less frequently and make more? I can appreciate the value of playing a conservative game by "sweeping," but with the kind of performance you are talking about, I would think that there is ample room to maneuver. And if I may, I'd like to ask the usual questions of someone with your kind of stated performance. What do you trade, win/loss ratio and average $win/$loss? (Damn! Am I the only one here who isn't tripling his account every month? )