I could survive on a 2k-acc., confident! If you're scalping heavily, like me (often 20-40 TPD), you can trade the ES/NQ, jump in and out and keep your losses really small, making 5pts on the ES is possible, so that would make up for $250/day. Like i.e. wait for momentum in volatility range per 1m-bar to decrease to 1-2 ticks (during momentum, range is low), then trail stop at -3T, as soon as your pos moves 4T in your favor, you halve position, then you're already b/e. Next, wait for continuation and if momentum stalls get out straight away and so forth. This is just one way of scalping I use - Hitrate is very high, but R:R ratio very low, so you need to be stable and disciplined. Another way of scalping is to have ultra-tight SAR's (stop-and-reverse) in order to benefit from fat-tail distribution. There are many many ways to scalp. However, let it be said that this is the most difficult form of trading. I wouldn't recommend anybody to start off like this, since it can wear you out mentally (R:R ratios are very low) and you need to be astute and lightning fast, with full overview of all systems, retracements etc in all timeframes. It's more likely to bleed you in commissions if you don't have an exact plan. So, I guess with $2k you could sort of make it to about $150-$300 per day with one contract if you're already good at scalping. Only problem would be that you can do no pos sizing, and I wouldn't trade more than 1 contract on $2k. But the main problem: Even at a mere 4T (1pt) SL, Your risk with slippage/spread on the ES is 6T (1.5pt) or 3.75% equity per trade - Very harsh figure, particularly if you're not disciplined. However, I believe that in the long run, with that kind of exposure, you'd have a losing streak or accident that would wipe you out. Trading 1 ES with $2k is definitely not very safe. In fact, I personally generally don't go below $5k-$7.5k per contract on the ES (at ~5T risk, that's ~1% capital risk per trade), so I don't always have the % return as shown by another trader here who makes $80 per day on 2k (which is 4% or 80%/month!) These days, I try to focus on just getting 2-4% per day on a consistent basis, rather than the super-duper returns attempted by many, but I do size, so it doesn't matter. Understandable that I don't want to take 3-4% risks on a single trade... This way I can relax and not max out my account. It's better not to trade so much margin once you've got a big enough account. Don't forget: It can always happen that you're in a trade and the CME shuts down and you don't get out for 20pts... It's all happened before! If you're in big size, you're f^%^ed... So yes - You can make very good returns if you're trading futures - But hell it's not easy! If you're a beginner - Forget it! I recommend you start off with minimum $5k if you're looking into that. $2k is really pretty harsh. Trust me, it's not safe. Futures's spread is too large to play it safe with that kind of cash. Try trading stocks to start off with. You could go with GreenTree Trading, I think if you open an account with them, they offer 10:1 leverage for equities trading. Much safer than futures. Just my 2cents... ~Scientist
So, Brother FastTrader, you're probably pulling $2.5k-$5k per 100-lot several times per day, let's say 5 times? That's $15k-25k/day. Nice. Could you share your secret with me? Cheers, ~Scientist
You sure you can handle this one Brother Scientist? Buy Low, Sell High. Or Sell High, and Buy Low. Sh!t...just gave away my edge -FastTrader :eek:
LOL, no I am a waiter. Not a bad job, lots of free food, keeps the trading hours free. I could get a real job with my biz degree but then I couldn't be my delightful combo of wannabe trader and ski bum.