Dont try and trade for a certain amount of money everyday, just learn to trade consistently and pull as much out of the market as you can given your system and your skills. When you do, the money will start to roll in nicely. I hate when people say try to make X amount everyday and thats a good living....you are trying to justify an avg that equates to a certain yearly figure which is completely arbitrary in the realm of trading. Plus, placing limits like this will hinder progress, as you start to hit the upper end of your arbitrary figure, you'll most likely stop pushing yourself. Sorry, I just feel very strongly about this and had to throw my 2 cents in .
I really agree with this. You will fuck yourself up psychologically by trying to make a certain amount per day when starting out. The real learning takes place in always exercising fiscal discipline - getting stronger through repetition. Good trading has nothing to do with a monetary goal IMO. It is my strong belief that every trading situation should be started with asking the question "How much will this trade cost?". Generally, I mean this in terms of stop price, time spent and opportunity cost. To answer the original question: For Stocks - absolute minimum 30k. Plan on losing at least 15k over 1-2 years and adding to your account o stay over the PDT rule (so more like 45k minimum). Any less and you stand a greater chance to become part of the undercapitalized masses that consistently lose. Futures is more difficult IMO but the minimum entry capital is lower. Mike
start small until you you learn how to make money, maybe $10K... then you probably need about $100K capital to be able to make a decent living at it... but "decent" is all relative.
That is , is it a good entry point and thus good trade..... The only focus in the beginning should be identifying good trades/good trading conditions and playing those that have the most potential according to your model or plan. The trick to not losing money is to not overtrade - which typically means attempting low probability trades. Capital ? As much as your ability allows. That is if you are just starting then small amounts - as others have said - until you are consistently profitable. Then slowly ramp up while realizing that increasing size - depending upon the market - may require a different strategy....
It depends on your projected position size & a holding time of the trades. The smaller is a holding position time the bigger might be your exposure.
Obviously there is no one correct answer and a lot depends on the living costs in your area. For me I traded part time for years building up my trading capital. It wasn't until I got to over $250,000 to $300,000 that I felt secure enough to give up my other sources of income. And when you can focus entirely on trading without any other employment distractions, your results will dramatically improve. Anything under several hundred thousand and I would think you are pressured to force trades to cover living expenses, health insurance , etc. With a nice capital base you can also generate some interest income from your trading account. You know trading for a living is a heck of a lot more than simply earning a living wage. You also have to earn enough for to continually pad your retirement nest egg. What blows my mind are all the traders who come into the game thinking they are going to trade for a living yet without any history whatsoever of trading success.