You Only Need $5000 to Make a Living

Most pro intraday traders would be happy with 10-15% return per month.

If you are working with a 5K account we would be talking about $500-750

Pretty optimistic working a 5K account into something big.

Then we are only left to pay our trading cost including charts, broker and exchange fees leaving us with much less left at the end of the month.

Baldur

 

For me it was

1. Risk control

2. Leverage control (factors into 1)

 

How about you trade a $ 5,000 but manage a few $ 100,000 to $ 5 million accounts and have them pay you a % of the profits? I think that would work. Actually, I know it does.

 

It sounds you know some hedge funds.

 

Well as I do agree with those 4, here a few more

1. PROTECT YOUR CAPITAL!
2. Play with your offense not your defense
3.Make trades that have the best probability of gain, not the best dollar gain.
4. Have the wind at your back
5.Start liquidating not when you are wrong, but when you are NOT RIGHT
6.Define the edge of each trade
7.Don't rationalize your mistakes, or wallow in self pity
8.Never stand in front of a moving train
9.Always earmark your exit
10.There is no place for fear or greed!

Amen

 

LOL

 

Then I guess my weekly profit distributions really don't happen. I guess my standard of living is all just a dream. I'm not really typing this on my laptop as I take a dump during a trade. I'm not really living in a home paid in cash by trading. If what you say is true, then I guess I will be waking up anytime now, back punching a clock at some boring job. I guess I really don't take 3-day weekends every week because I take Fridays off. And I guess I never fly at 20,000 feet just to watch the sunset while everyone else only sees fog.

I started trading with $1,500 and that is all anyone needs, if they know what they are doing and have been working for years at developing their own system on a sim. Sure, I blew my account when it was small, when I was trading someone else's systems, when I should have been on the sim. Call it hunger to win. $1,500 is all anyone needs to make a go of it with emini futures. I did it, and how much profit I take per distribution is none of anybody's business. But if I lost it all tomorrow, I would get a few jobs, save money, and just start over again, with $1,500.

 

You hear all these stories about making 20% a year is good. I think trading a 20K ac where you can get in and out a trade easily . Trading a million$ i dont think you can daytrade with that. Customer will ask why do you have 3 breakeven trades in a day , Getting 20% a month trading 3 lots with tight stops and getting to break even stop asap is no problem . It not for new traders but experience traders with a high win ratio is no problem .

 

You did not read the post you responded to or seem to be unfamiliar with the concept of buying power. The value of 1 emini contract right now is $64,000... futures brokers give liberal margin.
I leave 10k with my firm now, but I started with 5k, so I too am proof that you can make a living with 5k... but ONLY if you can get more than 4:1 leverage which is not necessarily doable in equities for all individuals. That's all.

 

Eh.. trade three contracts of the YM, takes $5k, make 2 points every half hour during real time hours, you net $350 a day to live on. I would never argue that is not doable...