Then - could you tell me - does a trader of equities today have anything to worry about with placing a trade? Things like people being able to see what you're trading before it gets filled and then playing your order "against" the market in anyway that hurts your fill position, etc? What are the dangers and/or things I will experience that I might not expect having never actuall placed a trade before? And finally - what changed in the last 7+ years to which you were referring? Were people actually doing any kind of "stealing" or using information against others? I'm really unclear exactly what it was you are referring to - and would like to understand better the history - if you have a moment to spare. Thanks again!
Percentages on daytrading will be that high. I read alot of post where they are talking of ROI. I have tremendous excess capital but the funds that I use for daytrading a meager. If I use $100 in actual Max intraday, I would say that is alot. The maintenance requirement would be $25k. I would be a blow hard to advertise that I make near 100% a month on my capital. I am 100% certain that if I were using $1mm, my net would go up. However, my ROI would go down significantly.
So you were trading all the markets 24/7, Europe, Asia etc? Watching trend lines is different than lines being the trend.
I have adapted my strategies over the years and went from trading M&A with leverage to taking some large positions in front of size in the specialist book (on pre and post market moves due to news ), to arb'ing debt securities. I haven't done anything new or even kept up with all the black and grey (or is it gray) box stuff that has gone on in the past 5 years. In fact, I have pretty much given up trading with leverage--I'd like to give up trading entirely but it's in my blood and I just have to wake up and watch CNBC World on DTV. I know I am way behind the curve now. I probably should not have posted my earnings (I did pay an average of 32-33% income tax during that period so that's not the reason) because , well, it's kind of stupid as it sounds like bragging. In math terms, I have always tried to trade somewhere near the intersection of fear and greed, with a little extra fear (and a lot of anxiety, unfortunately). I never did see any other posts from long-term successful traders listing yearly income,so this is going to be my final one on the subject. I really don't have any secret for success, other than waiting for opportunities to come your way.
You're giving away the fact that you've just started trading. Those years were huge, even for a lot of newbs. Many of those newbs subsequently lost it all, but that type of performance wasn't uncommon, so it seems. rcanfiel, you always stick your foot in your mouth, don't you? We can always count on you. By the way, why did you change usernames?