Question to those that have been successfully day trading / scalping index futures consistently for a long time. How long does it typically take you to double your account balance and how much do you risk per trade in % of account balance ( not liquid net worth).
I've seen someone who brought a 35K account to 200K in 4 weeks. He sent me his trade blotter and account balance everyday, sometimes in the middle of the day while chatting. He was a scalper in stocks for 10 years at first but switched to NQ futures this year trading 1 or 2 contracts average and up to 4 contracts max. There's obviously liquidity and slippage issues to scaling up in these markets for this type of scalping. I tried learning from him but it requires a lot of research and internalizing volume rhythms at micro time frames(sub 1 min and tick charts), while keeping up with general levels and patterns on a higher time frame such as 15mins. Caused an information overload for me and was hard to keep up. Was impossible to have win rates he had (90%ish).
Damn, you just described my trading techniques also, but have not started with $35K and haven't 6x in 4 weeks either (but maybe it will happen in the next 4 weeks).
There was no set risk per trade. It was more about reading the DOM and volume pace before determining he was wrong. For example, if he was expecting volume to push prices and nothing happens for longer than he thought, that means something changed or he read wrong so he would exit at market.
I made last year $12.32. I was very successful as I beated that year 85% of all daytraders, as they all lost money. This thread should be in Chitchat, not in Trading. For most daytraders on ET it will take forever and many will still not reach that point. How long does it typically take you to wipe out your account balance and how much do you risk per trade in % of account balance ( not liquid net worth)? I think there are more people on ET who can answer that question from live experience.LOL
Maybe I should have put this under risk management instead but this a serious question. It's obviously faster to double your trading account if you are risking more per trade as a % of the account but that increases your risk of ruin if you have a series of losing trades. It also messes with your psychology too. Since we are dealing with leveraged instruments its prudent to withdraw money all the time and maintain a certain account balance that is enough to cover your margin and some max draw down parameters. Its really not that hard to double your account balance in futures day trading, I am more trying to see what are sustainable runs that people have had over the long term. Obviously this is very individual and depends your skill level and your personal win rate / risk reward parameters.
Really? LOL! Ask anyone here and if they are honest 99% will disagree. Considering you aren't going for +20% return per trade and just get crazy lucky. Anyway, if your objective is doubling your account as fast as possible you are never going to succeed since that is the wrong way to go at it in the first place.
If you understand the current move on a higher time frame perspective, its is not so complicated to take day trades / scalps in the correct direction. This can lead to fast account growth. The issue is that mistakes are inevitably made especially if you are still learning and this is why its important to limit risk. If you don't think its possible to double your account day trading futures why even bother? I am not talking about taking all your life savings and putting into an account and trying to double that. I am talking about an account size which you determine is sufficient to cover margin and inevitable draw down based on forward testing your ability to read the market. Someone trading $10,000 for 1 ES, or $1,000 for 1 MES should be able to grow the account pretty quickly if they actually know what they are doing.