I think this usually scares them away. http://elitetrader.com/vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=84538&perpage=6&pagenumber=1
By professional I guess you mean they handle million dollar blances daily... i'm sure they have better things to do with their time. The others are just to humble. FX teaches you this.
Where and how do you see in my post as belittling another trader? The worst words I used were directed at the "brokers". I think it's a pretty obvious fact that many are drawn to fx trading because they can open an account and trade with a couple K or less, if you can find a more common reason when you ask a sample of people who seem to suddenly have taken interest in currency trading, please let me know. But I always try to mention the word "bucketshop" when I speak of retail fx, to get anyone to think twice about trading at one -- not to belittle another trader at all. I've eaten more humble pie than you can ever imagine, you've really taken things the wrong way. You seem to have more of a problem with the statements I've made in the past about return figures for futures (weren't you the one who scoffed when I said something like 10%/month?), and you want to project them as coming from some boasting braggart. Returns are an illusion in futures trading for the individual, the level of margin required is such a joke, you just can't compare it with the average return of the S&P or a basket of stocks. Any lucky bastard can catch a decent multiday move in the euro and grab "50% in one week" (take a 10K account, sell *one single* contract of ech7 the first trading day of this year, calculate how much the account has now). The point in what I wrote, and in just about all the (serious) posts I put up in ET, is that you need to find ways to make sure it isn't largely due to luck, to ensure all the things you are doing will work for the long haul, and not just from present conditions. I've posted a few times about what I've made and lost over the years, figures and % returns don't impress me at all and neither should they make you think otherwise about what anyone writes. There are people on these boards who have traded for decades and seem to be very prosperous but also seem to give horrible advice for others who are in different situations. If you've been around, you can see through them like used neutrogena. If you think you see through me, then by all means tell everyone on these boards what I "get" out of mocking another trader, as you seem to assume, or by stating what I truly believe the ultimate goal of self-sufficiency as an individual trader should be (why the f*ck else do we bother trading?).
We should really only allow traders to quote returns on the notional underlying rather than on margin. Then the account size comparisons wouldn't matter.
Oh and one more thought: Being humble as a trader has nothing to do with how much you are prepared to make from the markets. I think that when the struggle takes years to overcome, the natural instinct for this trader, when he does figure out something for himself, is to want to "take less, not be so greedy, 'they' say that this $# is enough' etc". It's something you need to stamp out asap. Learn to keep your mouth shut when it comes to your own successes, but be that "jock bully asshole" you knew from high school vis a vis the markets and your own account. You're welcome to read that the wrong way too.
Illiquid, Thats what I mean in a previous post. He seemed to have some sort of tension towards you out of the blue. Must have been from a previous post on the forums. Your reply to this topic was in no way wrong, and definetly welcome. Thanks again. - secxces Actually, respectively and not such in as rude way, I would say having better things to due with there time may be true, but not be so far fetched to not post on these boards. Maybe you should take a random walk through the P&L threads. Many professionals here. And for the people that misunderstand what I mean by professional, well those who are professional im sure will know the difference. A million dollar balance is not a requirement, but thanks for the educational post. - secXces ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- I dont know why this simple thread stirred up so much emotion. I mean seriously I was just asking a simple question and asking some of the more educated and professional trader, alike, to just comment. And it turned into a smart remark fest. Not sure why. Nonetheless, I dare say, Can we stay on topic? - secXces
I've said it before and I'll say it again. I consider the forex market to be the most difficult market to daytrade. I know of no successful(making 100k+/year) long term forex daytraders. All of the "advantages" of forex, like 24-hr global markets, extreme liquidity, minimal spreads, limited contracts, are the exact reasons why you CAN'T make any money. Its too efficient. The reason why you see so many posts on ET about forex is because of its low capital contribution and because its a great business for bucket brokers. I've been trading stocks full time for 4 years now. Notice how all the big money posts in the Trader P/L thread are stock traders? There's a reason.
I think currencies are no more/no less difficult than any other widely traded futures market in terms of efficiency, as for liquidity it's definitely not as deep as treasuries or sif's but for smaller players that's not a problem and the volatility would be an added plus. It's just a different market, even if you've traded equities or sif's for years you'd still need some time to acclimate yourself to currencies, but the same would be true for the reverse case as well. I put bonds and stock indices on my screen but rarely trade them, they're in the corner of my eye daily but because I don't focus on them, I just don't have a good handle especially on an intraday scale.
Illiquid, I think me and you are on the same page throughout this discussion. I can not help but to believe that the forex isn't examined as thoroughly, or enough, by as many professional traders as it should. I know personally, two forex traders, one trades fx futures and the other trades spotfx and box options, both of which make well over 100+ a year. I think maybe it has just received a bad reputation with all of the publicity by what keeps being referred to as bucket shops. Nonetheless, I love it, and may branch out, but will never leave. I guess theres not too many FX traders out there. - secXces