contact support@elitetrader.com. tell them you want to create a poll on an existing thread which u started.
The professionals traders on this site probably eek out a good living. Some are having terrible problems. On the other hand, if retail traders did only this, they would have a greater chance of succeeding in the long term: Get a job outside of trading hours that pays bills. Most retail traders jump into trading with their $25k and find out that they can't pay their bills. So they become a statistic. If you use non-scared money to trade, you can wait to acquire the experience necessary to be successful at some level, and you can wait for nice juicy edges without having to worry or press prematurely. Having a job and not having to draw money from trading account also helps huge. In addition, I have said this before - it is amazing what a huge difference it makes if you learn this business instead of figuring it out. Go and work for someone that does it for a living. You may then understand what sort of things work. Don't underestimate luck. I know a trader that made $90 millon dollars last year for his firm. His style and system was such that it was tailor made for the events we saw, i.e., credit crisis. This year he is "struggling". My point is though, it wasn't pure luck - he is at a firm where he could take advantage of a special situation because he had access to lots of capital. He had to work hard to get there though and has great [quantitative] trading skills - firms don't take anyone that breathes. Finally, when your number comes, you have to have the balls and the courage to press hard. This is probably the difference between someone that makes $50k a year, and $2M a year. Traders with true edge almost always squeak out some sort of living. But there is always a year that defines a trader for life.
I suspect more retail traders are a lot closer to $5-10K. If they have $25K, they first spend $8K on a shyster promising: --- our methods is "things that professional traders don't want you to know." --- you can be profitably day trading within 3 days --- you only have to spend 25 minutes a day looking for potential trades (1-2-3 patterns, Fib levels, look for the mostly green lights, etc.) --- you spend 2 minutes entering your trades --- you spend 3 minutes a week, depositing all your profits.
Right, don't pay to learn to trade, get paid to learn to trade. Unfortunately, this opportunity is only given to few.
I've posted my trading awhile back on here and included the fact that I went off plan and blew up. I believe I also posted that I restarted with more discipline, did well, but managed to go off plan awhile later and blow up again. I have been on plan since and it has been a few years now and I'm making steady money. I restarted with ~$15,000 and made more than $50,000 that year. I have since made more each year, but have more or less leveled off. I pull out extra cash for living, savings and toys. I love when I get the calls from the brokers selling the latest systems and they tell me I'm full of crap and can't be making money, but their systems make money. None of them can come up with the $10,000 to trade these great systems themselves, what a laugh. I trade my systems with my own money everyday. I usually get them to hang up before I do.
" Just curious how many people here make at least $50,000 per year doing trading." quote by Crimson This is a business of attrition, traders who have been on elitetrader for awhile make alot more than $50k.
Results of a retail trader using IB, sweep profits couple times a month. Yr. Starting cap. Profit 02 35k 61k 03 28k 47k 04 29k 39k 05 28k 103k 06 50k 128k 07 52k 337k 08 108k 528k 09ytd 160k 231k Worked as a broker from 1995-2001. Discretionary trading, in front of my screen from 5:00-3:30 PST. It takes a lot of commitment, but it is possible to make a living at this.
what in heavens name do you live on if you pay taxes then plow all your money back into the account? Poverty level shit geez! And this is success????