To make a living daytrading or scalping, what is a fair expectation for % profitable days. From the Trader P/L thread, it looks like some of you wizards are making money 9/10 days!
If you can successfully maxamize your winners and minimize your losers the ratio carries less weight. Also consider any swing trade may apear to be hurting a trader for days or weeks before it "pops". Many times a few good swing trades combined with a handfull of good intradays make for a great month.
There are different ways to make money. It all depends on your personality, along with the winning method you employ. Richard Dennis, a famous trend follower made all this money from 5% of this trades. So, if he was a day trader.. that would roughly equal 1 winning day per month, with 19 Break Even/losing days.
If you are new to the game....you should focus on just making money today. A high win rate does a world of wonders for your confidence. And in trading confidence is everything. Once you have a substantial amount of money, then you can start to take more risk and go for the larger rewards associated with it. Ideally, a trader would trade a multi time frame, multi market, and mulit strategy approach. Playing both reversion and break out strategies. That's my approach, and a few other great traders I know are following a similar approach.
Currently I'm working at 10 out of 10 profitable days. Sometimes I'll get 8 out of 10 days. Sometiems I'll get 7 out of 10 days. But losers will be by most $100-150 a day Winners will be , 1000 2000 3000 4000 + In this business, Its not how much you make, Its how consistent you are Take in money day in day out NOBODY STEALS FROM THE PIGGY BANK ESPICALLY THE MARKET.
I'm day trading a nicely profitable system with about 65% losing days. Sometimes I can lose or tread water for weeks. It can be tough psychologically but no-one ever said that trading was easy right? I tell myself that the losing days are how I earn the winners.
I don't know if I could trade that system.....the challenge to would be the constant question of what if this is my final drawdown? I commend you on being able to stick to that system.
************* It really helps to chart the system's results in excel. The drawdowns (so far) have stayed within consistent standard deviations from the trendline. Also my method is automated and I'm certifiable, so that helps.