Since some sceptics didn't believe my statement "daily 5% gain", here is a running trading competition (started April 1, 2009) which shows that it is very well possible to make 'exorbitant' profits, for me it's all simple maths behind successful trading: http://www.worldtopinvestor.com/pub/index Rankings (World League) At close of : 2009-12-03 Rank Name Gain% 1º Mariusz Ganczar +1972.26 2º Szabó Barnabás György +242.83 3º Hanqui Guo +171.22 3º Phillip Sha +171.22 3º Wei Wang +171.22 4º Hristo Grivnev +164.94 5º Paweł Blachliński +95.52 ... The competition ends March 31, 2010.
Here's a typical trade of mine (IB Demo Account): COP,OPT,JAN10,60.0,Put,,BOT,60,1.39,01:41:09,20091205,... COP,OPT,JAN10,60.0,Put,,BOT,40,1.19,01:49:00,20091205,... COP,OPT,JAN10,60.0,Put,,SLD,10,4.77,03:49:00,20091205,... COP,OPT,JAN10,60.0,Put,,SLD,90,4.75,03:49:02,20091205,... $34k bucks in 3 hrs, not bad IMO
It is statistically impossible to average 5% a day in a global marketplace with 20% implied volatility. You can point to some russian guy that invested 5000 EUR in a competition and returned 2000% in a year by buying calls at $1 that went to $20, but that does not make it any more feasible. Got a good laugh at your persistence though. To make 5% with a trading vehicle that moves in say a 2% range intraday, you would have to: nail the bottom, sell the top, short the top, have it return to the bottom, cover and buy the bottom and have it retrace half way to the top. Everyday? You must be exausted! Sie sind ein narr . . .
Another one: this time shorting a put: COP,OPT,JAN10,60.0,Put,,SLD,10,4.35,04:09:56,20091205,BOX,... COP,OPT,JAN10,60.0,Put,,SLD,10,5.00,04:13:45,20091205,BOX,... COP,OPT,JAN10,60.0,Put,,BOT,20,2.70,05:19:44,20091205,ISE,... Profit: $3.9k
It is very well possible, even more than 5% is possible (that's also the reason why I ask only for the excess profits I make beyond 5%). Even much more is possible if volatility is high (but then some other factors must match too)! That's outdated thinking. The instruments I trade have a much bigger intraday range. And: trading is how to win a war. I'm the general and I use my resources timely and efficiently; my success is guaranteed. BTW, did I mention that I trade 24h/day? Even on weekends... So you cannot compare me with others who only trade in the US RTHs (~ 6.5 h). Wer zuletzt lacht lacht am besten Mister
COP, as in Conoco? There has not been a day in the last month that COP traded in an intraday range more than $2. How could the DITM Puts have traded in a $3.58 range? Even on the outside day, these trades were impossible. Btw, the year high in COP was $55. How could the Jan 60's trade at only $1.19?
Why do you need such an exorbitant capital account to trade this strategy of yours? Huge risk profile? Large universive of stocks/options? You can't make what you don't risk . . . unless of course it's not your money that you're risking. Hmmm . . . that would explain everything, wouldn't it?
Yes, it's ConocoPhillips. The IB Demo System uses offsets in the prices, but other than that it is 100% real. I'm even "nogotiating" with the market maker(s) via my offers to them... And the MM reacts to my offers; either he rejects my offer or accepts it and pushes the prices accordingly... FYI: it is the market maker who makes the prices, not the crowd as gets wrongly tought everywhere... If you still doubt the trades then ask IB about their Demo System and other IB Demo traders whether the given prices are real or not. I just take what the IB system offers me.