Mvic, Thanks for sharing your story... it is very rare that someone decides to reveal his true story with all the ups and downs. Good luck
What rare things to see on ET, honesty and humility. Most successful traders are not insightful or honest enough to admit the role of luck in their outcome. m
"We also assume that no money is drawn out of the trading account during this time period" LOL. Get real. Taxes alone will make your journey even longer.
Everyone had their share of down times, myself included. However, the original question is how long will it take to turn a $5,000 account into $100,000. My answer is you can do it within a year if you know what you're doing. However, it may take many years before you know what you're doing. For some people, it may be forever.
Correct: I didn't mention that it was gross revenue that we were looking at during this study and that taxes would have to be paid on that. And yes you're 100% correct in saying that would make the journey longer. You could easily work tax into the equation by adjusting the formula. In fact I think that you've come up with a good idea here and when I rework this article I will change the spreadsheet such that you can enter the rate of tax that you pay on gross profits such that you can calculate a time horizon with a target net profits based on your tax rate. Thanks EftTraderLives.
The original post ended with this in bold below. It was not merely a one line question. Forgive me if I caused the thread to go offtopic. I did not realize the work was incomplete and the author needed help to complete the article. Setting up defensively and trading defensively is still a valid way to determine trade size and the author might take a look at that too. Simply, an edge also has its drawdowns and survival is the name of the game. To hypotheticaly consider account growth with a simulated assumption is not fair to set up parameers with, to discover extremes. QUOTE FROM THE ARTICLE: This is a hypothetical example and no suggestion is being made that you will be able to do this. What I am giving you here is a framework around which to calculate your expectations. I say a trader should calculate the way Morty suggests to properly measure expectation and to do otherwise may be doing a disservice to a new trader. (lol I have not actually calculated the "defensive" way and compared it to the article, wouldn't it be funny if it was faster?, but i do not think so) Michael B. Comments and criticism welcome.
To dreaaaaaam the impossssible dreaaaaaaam To fighttttttt the unbeatableeeeeeee foeeeeeee To bearrrrrrrr with unbearable sorrowwwwwwwww And to runnnnnnn where the brave dare not goooooo To rightttttttt the unrightable wronggggggggg And to loveeeeeeee pure and chaste from afarrrrrrrr To tryyyyyyyy when your arms are too wearyyyyyy To reach the unreachable starrrrrrrrrr Dream on man.
I'd suggest creating two spreadsheets. One a margin account and another an IRA account. If you haven't already (I assume you work and contribute to an IRA), open up a brokerage account and roll your IRA funds into it. The disadvantages are that you cannot withdraw without penalty and that you cannot short (because no margin available). The advantage is, no cap gain taxes. It will make your trading a little more disciplined (and likely for the better anyway).
If you ask that question, you will probably never reach 100k. Master trading and the dollars can't help but fall into your pocket.