Turning $27K into $1,000,000 in only 9 months...

This thread is about as funny as they get.

 

yes, this takes paper trading to whole new level.

 

I think it can be done but I also think there is a good chance of the account having a spectacular blowup.

I started a couple years ago with an account that I rolled into an IRA from a prior employer. The account had $97,000 at the start. I was heavy into selling condor spreads in the S&P 500 in the regular CBOE index option contract. I took the account up to $157,000 by the start of 2008. While I was trading this condor strategy and for a long time before, I was studying trend following and how to apply it to the futures market.

In eary 2008 I had a large draw down in my condor trading and by the start of June 2008 my IRA had shrunk down to the range of $75,000. This was a huge psychological burden for me because that account was my "goto account" in the event I needed cash to pay my house off in case of job loss or what ever other financial burden that might come up. It was my security blanket.

By June I threw the towel in on selling option spreads and moved my IRA over to a broker that would allow me to trade futures contracts without having to go to an outside trust company.

I applyed my trend following system with a little pattern recognition mixed in for good measure. After a few good whipsaws my equity was down to $47,000 then I cought some huge short trades in the grains, crude oil, cocoa and a few others. By the time November rolled around I had over $1.5 million in the account. From that time until now I have been in a drawdown but my equity after draws of close to $200,000, I have equity of close to $1.15 million.

So, can you do it? I say yes you can, but you can also blow the account up.

I wish you the best of luck in the endeavor.

 

Had a pretty good day despite extremely anemic volume and an abornally low number of trades.

Since the SEC fee on all sell side trades has now more than quadrupled, I'm adjusting my trading habits and strategies accordingly.

 

4/8/2009

 

HELLO - IT IS ILLEGAL IN THE US TO TRADE FUTURES IN AN IRA UNLESS IT IS THROUGH A TRUST!!! NO EXCEPTIONS. ALL YOU DID WAS BUY YOURSELF A HUGE AMOUNT OF TROUBLE

 

ib allows them.

 

so what did you trade? and how many shares did you trade?

 

I only trade equities.

I only did about 1.4 million shares today. That's very light for me, but I'm trying to trade more efficiency in light of the massive SEC fee hike.

 

sounds good...whats the average price of your stocks? it would have to be pretty cheap.