Poll: % Total Return % 2002

Discussion in 'Trading' started by Zuizo, Dec 31, 2002.

  1. The number 5 showing in the people who actually admit
    to blowing out their account, is maaaaaaaaaaaybe, close
    to the number of real traders on this board who
    actually made 150% or more returns.
     
    #11     Jan 2, 2003
  2. Dustin

    Dustin

    My guess for the average account size on ET would be about $30k. If that's true, why would it be so hard to believe that 27 people were able to make $45k or more???
     
    #12     Jan 3, 2003
  3. omcate

    omcate

    Hi,

    I think that it is easier to make money on a large account than a small one.

    Suppose there is a trading strategy with 60% chance of profitability. If it is executed only five times, the outcome may be a loss. However, if the same strategy is carried out five hundred times, winning is almost a certainty. Am I missing something ?


    :p

    :cool:

    :D
     
    #13     Jan 3, 2003
  4. CalTrader

    CalTrader Guest

    Exactly .... you can start small but to make a decent living you need a nontrivial amount of capital - unless you are trading someone elses money.
     
    #14     Jan 3, 2003
  5. ElCubano

    ElCubano

    I think it is easier to make 10% on $30k than 10% on $10,000,000....Am I missing something????
     
    #15     Jan 3, 2003
  6. Janitor

    Janitor

    I turned $4K into $16K in 2002. Did it all in penny and BB stocks. Lost money on the majority of my trades, but had several doubles+ and one big triple (RMEC) on which I had bet over half my account.

    Do I expect to turn my $16K into $64K in 2003? No, but I'll try!

    N.B. -- From late '99 to late '01, my account depreciated from $90K to $4k. Now there's a learning curve, haha.
     
    #16     Jan 4, 2003
  7. Janitor, look into trading futures. You can easily flip that $16Gs into $64Gs. My first MONTH trading minis, I flipped $12Gs into $33Gs. No problem. Consistent returns everyday.
     
    #17     Jan 4, 2003
  8. Janitor

    Janitor

    Reitburg, all I know is that, when I find myself idle during the trading day, I will pretend like I'm playing Nazdaq eminis (though I never have in real life).

    I have come to the conclusion that I wouldn't make jack doing that. MAybe you are better at calling intraday and short term index moves than me, but I know for sure I would have only lost money in the past 2 weeks in this market.

    But I really am interested in the tools/systems you guys use to make $$ with ETFs. I like to think I can predict the market with more accuracy than the average dood, but I am just convinced I wouldn't make money this way. Too much manipulation; too much unpredictable econ data/world events; too much big-money BS trying to fool too many people.

    Give me some hope that even I could have a chance, because as it is I'm not interested!
     
    #18     Jan 4, 2003
  9. It gets harder on a larger acct, but I don't think that really matters much until you're at a few million dollars for 95% of the traders here.
     
    #19     Jan 4, 2003
  10. KEF

    KEF

    "what is a good profit?" This has always confused me. I have about a 35K account and take money out regulary as profit. If I spend the whole day trading I can average over 1k per day. I have had draw downs where I had to put more money back into my account, and had weeks where I took out 20k and left 30k in the account. If it wasn't for the opportunity cost, I could spend 5 days a week doing this, ( I currently spend only 1-3 days per week). with 5 days per week I would expect to average 20k-30k per month....and yes, this is a 35k account. Am I just outside the norm? I don't know, but this would be several hundred percent gain. As it is, part time gain is about 80k on the account, before tax.
    Oh...my learning curve was about 1.5 years, and had cost about 60k. (2000)
     
    #20     Jan 4, 2003