ok. Perhaps 4k per month isa bit steep. Start by getting your self into a level where you continually make money, at the end of the month average your total per day income. That's gonna be your max loss in any given day. For instance if you made $500 last month, divided by 20 and you get $50, don't lose more than 50 in one day, and your target is to raise that level a little bit next month. Is not about making one big day, any monkey can do that [no offense intended to all the monkeys that make money now and then in the market], is about building consistency in your income. Raise the bar little by little, not risking more than what you're able to make... and yoú might just stand a chance.
I guess I give people more credit then they are due. Take yourself, at first I thought you just misread the situation. Then, I took another look at your post, and I realize you are just too fucking dumb to get it. Then I realize that you're writing seems familiar, so much so that I'm confident you are one of those wanna be's that have multiple aliases. In fact, you have insulted me before. That's the bitch about being stupid, it follows you no matter where you go. You can change your name, but your writing style leaves significant clues. The salary being something you put on a salad was a joke....obviously you and the other poster didn't get it. The senior moment is a joke,(note the smiley face)....a commentary on the fact that we all miss things once in a while. Whether it be a punch line to a joke, misplacing our keys, etc. Hardly and insult to senior citizens, and something I think everyone has experienced at one time or another. As for the last part of your post, I can't make sense of it. Try writing to express once in a while. Clarity can be a very powerful thing. There are many frauds on ET, however, I am not one of them. I just posted my August numbers on the P&L thread, feel free to take a look and see how everyone stacks up. I have a long way to go to before becoming a great trader, but I'm getting there. Enjoy the rest of your holiday!
Dont even explain yourself to a jerkoff like "tommyemini". The guy is here two days and has done nothing but be a complete ass for no reason. You are a well respected trader here, tommyemini is a joke. Just brush him aside like the insignificant dust that he is. He'll be gone from this forum before Thanksgiving anyways
Many reasons. Stress from inter-personal relationships at work (having to deal with idiot colleagues or management). Commuting. Need/desire to live somewhere that doesn't offer high-paying jobs (e.g. rural area). More flexibility regarding holidays and time off. More time at home with family (OK, this last one could be a reason not to trade as well I guess). Suss
I got it, I think you didn't understand that I got it and also I am no OAP, bloddy hell, whatever made the guy think that LOL
Mike, I think the last part was a joke (I hope) having to do with the first 2 letters of your screenname being "ms" -- like "Ms."
100K? In five years trading? I was making more than that ina regular job after five years. I'd abandon trading if that was my best after just one year. Ya need to shoot higher!
This is commentary several years past your initial post, but I believe I can help put things in perspective. As far as making $571. for a whole month's trading, sometimes that will happen. But, the biggest factor is relativity. Your $571 gain was relative to how much leverage? Meaning the position of a single trade or many trades? I've made as much as $8500 swing trading in a month making only 3 - 5 trades. My position size is rarely less than 10K and I tend to buy lower priced stocks, that offer more % gain on smaller stock share price increases. For those new to trading, it's not the price per share that is important when buying a stock, it's the % of return. It's not hard at all to see alot of stocks gain from 3% - 7% a day. So, if you are seeking a $600 return, then you'll need a 6% gain on a 10K trade. But if you are taking a 15K position, you only need to make a 4% gain to achieve your desired return of $600. A 20K trade and you only need a 3% return for the day. However, making trades using more leverage (high dollar amounts) will tell you alot about yourself. Do you have High Risk Tolerance to make such trades? Or do you have Low Risk Tolerance? It's not so much your total stake that determines your potential trading income, it's how many times you can turn that stake in a year's time. Example: Let's say you have 25K to trade. Let's say you want to average a 4% return on those 25K trades, whether it is one trade or 5 trades that make up the 25K wagered. Your goal is to make $1000. In order to make $40,000 per year, you got to make a total of $1,000,000 in trades or more simply put, you've got to turn your 25K stake over 40 times to make a 1 million in trades. Note: Turnover means to recycle, which means you are using the same 25K over and over again to make trades totalling the 1 million. If you use the whole 25K in one lump sum each time for a trade, then that means you will to buy and sell your 25K position 40 times, hoping you average 4% for each trade. And if you buy and sell the same stock several times over the course of a year, because you've found a great stock that fluctuates consistently in a trade range, -- you'll need at least 25K to beat the day trading minimum equity for multiple trades in the same stock during a week. As always, the risk is higher, making larger trades. But, the reward is higher too. In my estimation it's better to split that 25K into 8 - 10K size trades, so you don't get killed in a large single position, should a trade start clocking downticks immediately after you buy it and keep heading south. Also, as a former poster replied, you have to do your homework. Do you know a stocks moving average and general trading range? Don't buy falling knifes or stocks with a price chart that looks like a ski slope. Be smart. Be patient when making trades. Ask yourself if a downticks or external market factors are weighing in on your trade? I've panicked to watch a stock lose $2000 in a single day and sell. Only to watch the same stock gain $4000 the very next day, because I didn't pay attention to it's moving average and daily trading range. To me, trading is the absolute fastest way to make big money. Just do your homework. That means not buying risky stocks in companies with high betas, no EPS, no income, low liquidity, a technical chart that looks like stair steps, or a company that has huge balance sheet debt. And most important, trust your inner instinct and apply common sense. I remember looking at Nokia about 8 years ago, eyeballing several previous stock splits and immediately bought into the stock. The stock subsequently went nowhere and lost half it's value. The reason: Nokia was already at a saturation point in the cell phone market place. So, apply forethought and ask is their future growth for the company that you are buying? Or is it's marketplace already saturated or does it have a nitch? These same principals apply for swing trading as they do for long term investing. I don't find it that difficult to make money swing trading. Day trading, though, is a different animal, because you are technically closing out your position everyday, win or lose, to not expose positions to after hours and overnight trading. And as far as what you can make swing trading, it all depends on your leverage, what % return you are swinging, and how many times you are going to turn your stake over, during the course of a year. $400 - $500 a week on a 25 funded in your brokerage account, should not be that difficult. Of course, if you need to make $1000 a week, you should have a 35K - 40K stake and so on. The bigger funding you have, the greater your potential to meet your annual goal. One note: You might be tempted to take 25K and make ten $2,500 trades, to reduce your risk exposure per trade. And you will most definitely reduce your risk. However, think of going to a horse race. It's like trying to pick the winning horse in 10 races over the course of the race day. You might pick 2 - 3 winners, if you are really lucky, but picking 10 winning horses is damn near impossible. Most likely, half your stock picks will be losers and half winners. Now, you have to concern yourself, that the net losses of the losers, don't drag your gains from the winners. What I've found is a better strategy, is to do your quantitative and technical analysis and bet only on the best stocks with an upward moving average in stock price over at least 30 days -- more preferably 60 - 90 days of upward stock price charting.