Good systems or even excellent systems in the hands of an unskilled trader....well....on the other hand mediocre systems in the hands of skilled traders...well... Are the brokerages filled with skilled traders or unskilled traders?
He was never really in the red, you have to switch to the IB commission (top right corner) to see the normal returns. He is up almost 50% that way...
He's been trading 5 YM lots out of hours, that includes todays big winner. Realistically you need a $40000 account to do that (to cover overnight margin requirements plus a bit more) So that 50% becomes 12%, and thats before deducting any slippage on his paper trades.
Maybe at IB but not necessarily at other brokers. For instance at AMP overnight margins only apply between 5pm and 6pm US ET ie when the futures exchange is closed. All other times ie.nearly 23 hours a day only $500 is reqd for YM margin. Not saying if this is good or bad - just stating what it is. PS of course overnight margins apply across the weekend as well.