Can't tell if you're being sarcastic or not. $1500 per day on $50k is $378k, if you compound it then it's a whole lot more. That would put them well in the top 1% of traders.
Yes, I've had my fair share of getting stupid with weekly options because their so enticing to make large sums on little bucks. Someone can get mesmerized looking at DE's Weeklies that were trading at $.18x$.25 and ended up at $6.00 and higher on certain strikes. Apple and Facebook have made a few people very rich while others get crushed, good answer!
Theoretically there are offers starting at $300 margin per contract. But commissions will be much higher. Reality is depending of many things, a few of them: mostly $500 minimum for small size mostly $1000 minimum for medium size, like 100 contracts brokers want to see your performance before you can trade size and low margins But even these margins are very dangerous. Except if you are really good and have proof of that. So, thinking you are good, and that's what most people do, is not valid.
OK, how many ES contracts do you think a discretionary trader in the top 10% in the world could trade with a $50k account, 5 contracts? To cut to the chase, I reckon this trader can 1. trade up to 5 contracts 2. achieve a net profit of 24 ticks per day. 5 x 24 x 12.5 = $1500 Maybe i'm being a touch unrealistic but I dont think im too far away.
A really good trader can do easily more than 10 contracts. But now the bashers will start to react so I will not tell how many he can trade exactly. Depends of the stats of his trackrecord.
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/almost-no-one-can-beat-the-market-2013-10-25 "Fewer than 1% of mutual fund managers persistently beat the market based on superior market-timing or stock-picking skills." "found that only about 1% of active traders outperformed the market. The more frequently people trade, the worse they do," For 99% buying an index etf is more profitable and saves one hell of a lot of time but as Scott Adams said "Nothing defines humans better than their willingness to do irrational things in the pursuit of phenomenally unlikely payoffs. This is the principle behind lotteries, dating, and religion."!
Religion doesn't have a payoff. With lotteries you cannot influence it at all, with trading it's what you make of it. Most businesses fail, so we shouldn't ever be entrepreneurs?
veQUOTE="birzos, post: 4320739, member: 493411"] "Nothing defines humans better than their willingness to do irrational things in the pursuit of phenomenally unlikely payoffs. This is the principle behind lotteries, dating, and religion."![/QUOTE] And that is exactly what you should change. Reprogram your brain. The human brains in not fitted for trading. Most people has, conscious or not, a form of self destructive behavior. That kills a lot of opportunities. Instead of saying: Just do it! They say: Don't do it!