What is the realistic profit goal from forex?

sKaLpZ... long time no see.

 

Thanks for your good points. Perhaps the markets do not respect any perfect systems, when requiring high degree of consistency.

 

Drawdown

When I said that 10% is a joke (which obviously can be very serious money depending on capital in works), I meant that if ones goal is 10% why not just invest in S&P 500 and focus on other things in life. 70 years a pretty good statistics, which encapsulates included major global event including WW2.

I am trading for a sole purpose which is to MAKE MONEY. I do not care about excitement, being right or wrong and other such things. There are plenty of other things in life which are much easier that I can do to experience all types of emotions.

2006 is the first year when my strategy is finalized, and it looks like I would be able to make 100%+ this year. I obviously do not know this yet, and if I can extract more from the markets great, less I am also fine with it. I do not know nor care what will happen in the markets tomorrow. I observe and react, in and out all day.

I day trade futures on Eurex exchange.

Regards,
redduke

 

Turning $1,000 to 7 fugures in 18 months!!!

http://www.elitetrader.com/vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=69429&perpage=6&pagenumber=22

 

RedDuke,

Thanks for your kind reply.

Having the goal to "MAKE MONEY" is OK... IF your risk (to make upwards of 100% if you can) does not go off the charts.

I finally reached the point where I made 100% in less than 6-months.

Would I do that with my own capital on an ongoing basis? No, because the risk level is so high (in excess of 50% DDs, etc.) it's not worth it.

I guess I should clarify that the 10%+ I take in nowadays is for me trading "live" (in the market) only about 10% to 20% of the time that I used to trade (even though my money's in the market live 24/7 in one direction/structure or the other).

Plus... the 10% I reference is minimum (not my "goal") - that's almost all interest without even making a trade. By opening and closing some trades in addition, I hope to exceed 15% this year. And that is taking on bear-minimum risk.

Now we're in a different ballpark.

While those numbers don't compare to gains you're talking about... my trade risk level is near non-existent.

Plus, as I mentioned before, I get to do the trading (as opposed to an S&P 500 fund where others trade for me).

Like you, I too find the overall trading environment engaging and rewarding when I can pull off a trade that beats the rest of the global market.

It gives me a feeling of self-respect and accomplishment.

If you clear ANYTHING over 30%... 40%... and, egads, even 50%!! ... you're already doing better than just about everyone else in the world of trading and you should be happy with yourself.

You may want to consider the shear risk involved in reaching for the higher earnings... and the time involved.

Life is more than 50%+ gains a year. -- And, unless this is what really floats your boat, you may also want to (re)think about all the things you're missing while you try to "MAKE MONEY."

Good luck,

The DrawDown

 

Did he? I can't seem to find a reference to the $1,000 figure. And what about his ever-so-casually mentioning "additional deposits"? Even successful people may engage in self-denial at times.

"That was 18 months ago. I started with a small amount and had no major problems until through additional deposits and successful trades I approached 7 figures in my account. This is when major problem started to happen."

Assuming for the moment that the story is true, "a small amount" could be $50K, and "additional deposits" could be $1.9M, finally ending up with $975K.

 

Hi DrawDown,

My risk is minimal. I trade very short term moves. If I have a loosing week, it will be orange alert for me, 2 loosing weeks will be a red alert, where I would stop trading and revaluate what went wrong.

I said that my main goal in trading is to “MAKE MONEY”, it is not the goal of my life. I have been blessed with great family and great circle of friends and enjoy life as much as possible.

50% a year is difficult, but nothing special if the capital that is being used is small. Paul Tudor Jones said that 100% not too difficult to attain depending on capital involved. Turning 10K into 20K is not impossible, same with 100K to 200K, almost the same with 1 mil to 2 mil. The reason for this is due to most major/liquid markets being able to handle block sizes to attain these returns. Now 10 to 20 mil is a bit different and 100mil to 200mil is almost impossible. Major players these days operate with billions thus 20-30% is very respectable.

Regards,
redduke

 

Q
I funded an account with $1000 18 months ago. I now have a solid strategy and over 7 figures.
UQ

"I feel a moral obligation to share my negative experience with Interbank FX. I opened an account with them because of a recommendation of a friend and felt a benefit being in the same city as their corporate headquarters. That was 18 months ago. I started with a small amount and had no major problems until through additional deposits and successful trades I approached 7 figures in my account. This is when major problem started to happen.
About 3 months ago I was in the middle of a successful trading session and out of nowhere I couldn’t get in trades. I got a message from them shortly thereafter saying my leverage was cut to 25:1 and to contact Todd Crossland (President). I went down to their office and had a face to face meeting with this so called President. He made me feel really comfortable and assured me that They could handle my account. He said he had several large money accounts and institutional relationships with Barclays, UBS, and “Other” major banks and that he was moving my account with one of these institutional relationships. That is what I needed to hear. He increased my leverage to 50:1 and assured my that I would have no problems up to 10,000,000 in my account. This is when the real problems began.
On Interbank’s website they tout, among other things, that there is:
1)Instant Execution
2)Guaranteed Liquidity up to 10,000,000 per trade (100 Lots)
3)Black Box Trading (Meaning no one knows “WHO” is trading, just that a trade is happening)
The day after I was supposedly moved to this institutional relationship I ran into this problem. I would click the buy or sell button and nothing would happen. The trade window would sit there for 30-45 seconds with nothing happening. It would then come back as “Price Changed”. I called Interbank and after a series of tests they pulled server logs and saw some problem and said, “Let me call the bank”. 20 minutes later I could trade as normal. The next day, the same thing happened. I made the same call, went through the same test, and they responded with the same thing, “Let me call the bank”. 20 minutes later I could trade as normal. Day three…….. SAME THING. I am not even exaggerating. Step for step, the exact same thing. I asked, “Can’t you see a record of the last 2 days that I called?” They said, “We don’t keep those records.” So, I went through the same tests that I knew would not work, and they finally said, you guessed it, “Let me call the bank”.
Lets fast forward 1 ½ months. After calling EVERY DAY for 45 days, that’s right EVERY DAY FOR THE SAME PROBLEM AND GOING THROUGH THE SAME PROCESS BECAUSE OF THEIR LACK OF RECORD KEEPING. I mean how many million dollar accounts do they have that are having this type of recurring problem EVERY DAY for 45 days. I feel I am very easy to work with. A very patient guy. I don’t blow up at a waiter for poor service. I pay my bill with 20% tip and leave. I let people in when I drive. I let ridiculous recurring problems from my broker occur 45 days in a row. Get my drift. I patiently went through the process knowing that eventually they would fix it. I mean, I at least could trade normally after the hour process of getting it fixed. I was doing 2-3% a day on the account and felt I could last through the problems until they got fixed. They got worse.
At this point, starting day 46, the problem was not fixed. Literally it took 1 minute for trades to execute and only if it moved against me. The same for getting OUT of trades. When I went to manually close a trade is would not let me unless the trade kept going in my favor for the minute it took to react. It was costing me thousands of dollars daily. Each call daily yielded no result. The trades were not “INSTANT”. There was no liquidity on my average 25 lots per trade, ¼ of the size that they guarantee. I consigned myself to the fact that I had to do stop or limit orders until they could fix the problem. It was then that I had additional problems. I would try to put in an order. It would execute and then disappear. It would show up in my history as cancelled. I called them on that. Can you guess their response? Yep, “Let me call the bank”. The orders that I could get to stick were often not filled. The last straw was when the TRUE story came out.
The day of my daughters pre-school graduation I had an limit order for a buy on the EURUSD 10 pips below the current market price. My wife called to me telling me we needed to leave right when I WATCHED the ask price hit my order price. The trade didn’t execute. I felt confident that Interbank would fix the problem with my daily phone call. I left for 2 hours. When I returned the market had moved in the favor of this non-executed trade and infact had gone to my take profit on this trade of 20 pips. I called interbank and got Arthur on the phone. I told him I had an limit order that should have hit and didn’t and it should have hit my Take Profit. He said let me do some research and get back with you. He called me back and said “It never hit your price” I couldn’t believe it. A bold faced lie. Remember, I WATCHED the ask hit my price. I called him on it and said, “Excuse me? Arthur, I watched it hit my price” Dead silence. He said, well that is what the bank told me. That spreads had widened because of volatility and the ask never hit.
Give me the biggest break. Are you telling me that Interbank doesn’t know where EVERY bid and EVERY ask is every second of every day? Of course they do. I had caught him in a bold faced lie and he blamed the bank and said they don’t have that info. Bottom line he said, “we will not honor the trade”. After all the *@%^ I had gone through, this is how they treat me. I was dumbfounded. I demanded to speak with Todd Crossland. After all, he was the one who looked me in the eye and told me I would not have any problems. Todd gets on the phone and blames me for the problem. He said, “The only reason you are calling is because the trade was good. If it was bad, you would not have called. Besides, we DO NOT GUARANTEE YOUR ORDERS.” I could barely respond. I said, well you have lost a million dollar account. His response you ask? “That’s Fine”.
He tells me that they are attempting fix my issue. He says the reason I am having lag between execution is that the bank had to MANUALLY execute my trades. WOW. 2 claims on the website shot down. No instant execution and no Black Box trading. The bank had to see me, yes me trying to execute and manually get me in. He said give us two weeks and this will be fixed because we are about to be approved with UBS and we are switching our large accounts to them. Wait a minute. Didn’t you tell me Todd 3 months ago that you already had institutional relationships with UBS? Are you honest in your dealing with your fellow man brother crossland? You may want to think twice before you answer that question next time. Another lie. WOW. Did I say WOW. Hear is the bottom line. I am a success story. I funded an account with $1000 18 months ago. I now have a solid strategy and over 7 figures. Isn’t that what everyone who gets in this game is aiming for? If so, DON”T USE INTERBANK. Whether you have $1000 or millions, find a broker that will be honest, communicate and do their best to truly honor the claims they make as a broker. Interbank is not that broker from my very real experience."

 

Awesome. Nice job.

 

Guys, please read carefully. That could be an over 7 figures of Negative amount (probably due to not meeting margin calls). Ha!!