By consistently profitable I mean a track record of 3+ years with profits of at least $50k per year. As you can probably guess, I'm interested in getting into this. It would be great to hear back from those who have proven profitable retail trading is possible.
Year 16 of full time as of April 3. Have adapted and rewrote, and added to a trading plan a few times. The last 2 years I am hitting the wall of boredom. I may transition more of the day trading account to long term money and more or less retire from the day trading. Main problem is what I want to do instead of trading at this point.
I'm pretty sure that everything I was "taught" is now unsuccessful. it is undeniable that that the people I worked for many, many years ago have made many millions of dollars in commissions, trading profits long ago and hedge fund fees.
20+ years retail also a couple years prop. Constantly trying to adapt and improve. It’s a marathon not a sprint. Take your small losses and move on. There’s always another winning trade.
Yup. Bought my first stock when I was in my low-teens. Was an "investment banker" with a penny stock firm until '90. Worked my way to assistant trader on OTC trading desk at that firm. Self taught futures trading from that point. Converted apartment closet into a desk/office for part-time learning, while holding a high salary IT "job". Full time independent futures trader since 2004/5.
I'll agree with this statement only in as far as the market conditions have changed to the point where the old methods I learned do not work now, and it has to do with ranging and price action. I "graduated" from my trading training at about the beginning of 2017. I was prepared for what the market was giving me. Then the market went apeshit by the time I felt comfortable enough and started making good money in beginning of last year. I remember it being a ghastly and rare day when an equity future ranged more than a few hundred bucks in a day. Now, it is ranging multiples of that. My training did not prepare me for that, so I have had to try to adapt. The lessons I learned are still applicable, but the timescale to apply them are now "tighter", if that makes any sense. I am the world's worst student because I have not been following my mentor's teachings as close as I could or should, but that is pretty much because I am my own creature, and I will flesh out into my own being when it comes to trading. If I stuck to his teachings closer? I might be in a better place now than I am. Had I not branched out on my own and found something that worked better for me? I might be in a worse place than I am now. It is a most curious phenomenon. As to the OP's point... I know it is. All we have to do is follow our plan and be smart with the implementation of our trading system.
And that is where our trading styles differ I suppose. In the past, I learned that I could hang onto an equity future position and expect a 30 point move over a day. Now, that same instrument can move ten, twenty, thirty times that in a day. That changes things when it comes to position/risk management. Sorry if you don't understand how that changes how I think about trades. *shrugs* I'm not on about percentages, because percentages mean nothing to me. Only number of ticks/points. P.S. I suddenly crave maple syrup on waffles. WTF is that? Geez! Maybe we should be looking lumber soft futures? Is Canada burning or something? I blame tiddlywinks.
At a minimal you should have at least 4X capital of what you need to live on, and another 1-2 years stashed away outside of your trading accts. Quitting your job to trade for a living after you have taken at least $250-$500k out of the market while at your job is confirmation that trading full time may work for you and its smart to fund your new trading career from profits already made. It always takes a lot more capital, a lot more time to hit your stride, and costs a lot more in market tuition than most could have ever imagined.