They are not blowing smoke - take a look at them. Here's something I wrote elsewhere on the subject which seems relevent... http://www.elitetrader.com/vb/showthread.php?s=&postid=324225#post324225 best Natalie
if thats the only strategy they teaching you, then you may want to go somewhere else. although this is still a viable way to trade, it is not as profitable as it use to be. i doubt there are that many traders making 100k-200k a yr using this method alone.
I trade stock to supplement my income. For me, I set up a low goal of making three thousand a month, so far this year I am way ahead of my target. Hundred grand a year is doable, for me, forty, fifty thousand a year is plenty, don't forget there are taxes.
Indeed there is alot to be said about the "big lots" but heres a thought. Has anyone considered changing your time horizon from lets say 1 minute bars to maybe 1-3 day bars? In other words one should have at least 2 systems going simultaneuosly. I use a daytrading system & a swing trading system. The use of the daytrading system is valuable for intra-day 1-3pt scalping & the swing trade model is useful for capturing at least 1/3rd of the weekly and monthly bar. Just some food for thought.
I think it would be possible to make $100k - $200k a year only if you trade bigger size. It's tough to find momentum out there, you get in way to late, etc... Need to rely on smaller moves, so have to add size for decent profits.
Quote from maptrader: momento, I actually did trade the emini S&P for a year and a half and agree that they were a great trade. However things seem to be changing. The book is getting extremely thick and the big institutions seems to be trading it more. Is that a good or bad thing? Who knows. Depends on our style. It seems like the thick book has killed a lot of the volatility. Maybe I'm in a rut, but it has been way harder this year to make money than before. I hear that the NYSE stocks are more consistent. That you can bang out a few thousand a day and make a good living. That's why I started this thread. To see if that's legit or just someone blowing smoke up my ass I have been reading your comments the one above opens up a lot of possibilities. The prior comment about 1000 shares, etc caused me to think you were broke. Girl power is a strong and credible person. She said: yes - it is Get a decent list of stocks combined with a few decent strategies and be disciplined in working them. As has been said - it's not as easy as 3 years ago and a trader has to be a little more inventive and intelligent about how they do it, because the easy money ain't there any more. But there is still plenty of profit to be had in stocks with a little bit of work. A clear thinking person also told you: I trade stock to supplement my income. For me, I set up a low goal of making three thousand a month, so far this year I am way ahead of my target. Hundred grand a year is doable, for me, forty, fifty thousand a year is plenty, don't forget there are taxes. And finally: two words.... High-Beta. Lots of real movers these days if you can stomach the swings. ....... Now my comments: You can merge all these ideas and do an excellent job trading equities. There is no upper limit on annual income. I specifically tried, before, here, to get you to speak about a net income that you think is achievable weekly. Now, I will suggest to you what is possible and I will back up my views as extensively as required with whatever is needed. I will do this based on what follows here as otherâs commentary on my views. You can easily choose the appropriate high beta stocks to trade. They are available daily to enter in a timely fashion. To do this you must change your thinking. People are blowing smoke up your ass in the sense that they are telling you what is possible, but, in fact, much more is possible if you escape their smoke blowing. Do not think intraday on equities trading. All people above are suggesting to you to use equities and they make money doing it and they make more than you are listening to from the smoke blowers vis a vis capitalization required and corresponding ROI. we need to turn the conversation to % gains per trade and money velocity over time. For now call it X. You need an approach. Here is the approach: Trade short term using a high quality pool of high beta stocks that are reliable performers. You will find the performance in todayâs markets takes place in a shorter time span (half the time span per cycle) than any other time in trading history. Almost everyoneâs approaches miss the signals because they have failed to adjust the defaults to the shorter time frame. The people above sited are on the ball and they get the job done. You can too. Use your annual income requirements and the capital you have to figure out X. This calculated value X will be lower than the value you will get by using the approach outlined as a beginner. You will improve over time, as you know full well. You have a go situation.