Because telling a new trader to expect returns anywhere near the 30-35 % range is irresponsible. It sets up an expectation that can not be achieved and encourages a trader to take outsized, aggressive positions that will lead to quick draw down that a new trader with a small account can not recover from.
As I said before, I am very conservative and I am not looking to get rich from this. I've set my risk per trade at 100$ which is less than 1% of my account. That means I am risking somewhere between 400$-700$ per month. That's not a lot for me, and I can tolerate those kind of losses for at least a year. Question is, how long should I expect to lose money. Is it reasonable to start making money after half a month? (I am not talking about becoming profitable, only about starting to produce income) And BTW, thanks for the answers!
You are not conservative at all if that is your plan. There is a very high probability in 2 years all your trading capitals will be gone. Best advice from the prior posters: Start with swing trade so perhaps you risk $100 per month per trade, if you are successful perhaps you can graduate to day trading. I have no basis for my statements, just my non professional, mom and pop retail trader's opinion and personal experience. I started with day trading but now swing trade options full time. Good luck.
Thats an easy one. When I was teaching everyone would trade a sim account until they consistently achieved the target numbers. Never a need to blow out an account. I probably should have touched on that earlier.
"Question is, how long should I expect to lose money." Everything depends on you and from your preparation, experience, trading skills, knowledge, gaming plan, strategy and many other factors. In theory you can start making money from tomorrow. In a real life you will probably lose more than one account during the next 2,...3 years and even more. The things is changing if you have a mentor who is a real "working" trader(no just a educator). If you have a such beside you - your educational period would be limited from 1 to 3 years. PS:Sorry about my dark forecast but it comes from my personal experience during the years.
Got to check with Trumpie about a pardon. Anyway what $100 (perceived) risk per trade are you taking? A stock, option, future, forex ... what?