Hi there, I've read a lot about trading now and done some myself the last few years. I've done a bit better than breakeven last year with very few drawdowns. But I wonder what's really possible trading? I'd like to do this discussion using Rs instead of % of account etc. because this always depends on how much a person is willing to risk per trade. 1R is the initial Risk you take when you enter a trade. So let's say you're willing to risk 1000$ and you make 3000$ with that trade you made 3R. I'm not interested in daytrading, what I'm interested in is swing-trading futures, mostly currency-futures on the daily-charts. How much can you make per trade in a consistent way without risking your head? I didn't find anything that gives me more than +0.3R per trade yet on backtesting. Now per months in reality I usually was able to make +1R per month doing 3-4 trades. How much is possible in a consistand way per trade? How much do you make? How good are the pros? I guess you can do a lot better than +0.3R per trade or is that already good? I really have no clue here because usually people say "I do 5% per month" or whatever. But this doesn't tell me much, I can do 10% per month if I risk 10% per trade but I don't want to risk that much. So how much is it in R that you can make? Also what way do you trade? Do you have a clear system that gives you both entries and exits right away? Or do you have a setup you watch out for, set your stop and then manage the trade? Do you make lots of small profits or every few trades a really big one and that's it? And how many trades do you do? (No daytrades, just position-trades). Watching out for your comments! Daniel
You will find position trading is not as "set in stone" as daytrading. My day trading involves using a solid setup that I look for while my position trading doesn't really have any rules. I incorporate fundamentals, technicals, cot reports, etc in to my position trading but not into my intra day trading. The risk reward can also vary at times with position trading. One time you might be risking $500 to make $1500. Other times you might be risking $500 to make $500 and even other times you might be risking $1000 to make $500. It all depends on the situation and the likelyhood that the trade will work out. If im dead positive the trade will work and I might have to risk a little more than what my profit goal is than I do it. Its all about probabilities man!