Day Trading & Forex Forum

donaldduke

What exactly is 'stable'?

I suppose an acceptable definition for most people would be to make enough money nearly every month. So that trading feels like a stable job or a stable business.

Speculative trading is probablistic and to have a high chance of making a profit every month means you have to do enough trades so that you come out ahead.

If you make just 1 trade a day, its unlikely that your system will have a high enough chance of making enough money nearly every month. (Lets say we are aiming to be adequately profitable for atleast 95% of all months).

But if instead you average 10 trades a day you have a much better chance of being profitable at the end of the month.

Really only those active enough (ie those making >100 trades a month) can expect to enjoy a monthly income from trading.

Long term trend traders, swing traders and even most day traders will have to tolerate longer periods of unstable income.

tableturn

That's a terrible hypothesis. That sort of attitude won't get you anywhere. Giving up or not getting involved because you are guaranteed to make a loss won't make you a good trader, and that sentiment is complete rubbish.

Did you stop trying to learn how to drive a car because of the distinctly high probability that you couldn't master it from the word go? Didn't you have to take several driving lessons in order to be deemed good enough to drive, let alone possess a license? If you had given up, then you would never have known whether you could drive anyway.

Traders need to learn the hard way - end of story. Whether you're full-time or just the occassional sniper/scalper. You're gonna lose money, and you're gonna have to put the hours in.

Mr. Charts

Trading for a living = self-employment = large variation in income = no stability

That does not mean it is an unstable way of earning a living, it means you must do it for a long enough period in different market conditions and then look at average income over that long period.
Richard

__________________
Mr. Charts
Full time US Share Trader

To see just one of the ways I trade for a living:

http://www.trade2win.com/boards/us-s...g-markets.html

Newtron Bomb

An interesting point.. one which a lot of people dont give any thought about.

Trading is a business just like every other business in the world. Where trading is different is that most dont treat it like one, and I'm not talking about dim or stupid people some very bright individuals dont grasp this concept either.

If you were looking to start a business say on the high street, the first thing you would do no matter how big or small it would be is to write a business plan

So whats the first thing a trader should do.... guess what, write a business plan
Step up and take trading seriously, know what your going to do and when your going to do it.

going back to the high street shop comparison, you would not expect a customer every day to buy something, sometimes you get a lot of people browsing, other times you issue refunds for unwanted items.

Trading is the same, dont expect every trade to be a winner... Is a monetary loss a looser? not if you did everything you said you ere going to do according to your plan before the trade.

So can you make a stable income from trading? Of course you can, but dont expect it to be easy or happen overnight. Most business statistic tout that new start ups last about 3 years before they make or break it... funny thing, thats about the same as trading.

Have a plan
follow the plan
be consistent

__________________
This is my opinion... Yours will be completely different

Aiming to be long term successful, not short term lucky

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Bobsurbull

Trading success depends on may factors , but in general it will take 3-4 years to earn a living from it. Many successful money managers today will have screwed up previously and have possibly lost plenty of money along the way, for previous employers and clients. The current market behaviour is different to that which most traders had been used to before last summer and many seasoned traders and fund managers have been caught out, some very badly.

Success depends on one's ability to adapt to different market conditions and to control one's discipline. Risk management must also be reviewed and altered to meet the changing market conditions. A strategy that might have worked like a dream 12 months ago probably would not work at all today, because market fluctuations have changed dramatically. The recent reluctance of currency pairs to retrace in a meaningful way has burnt off many experienced positional traders, while price fluctuations of the order of 2 cents a day on an old reliable pair like EUR/USD has killed off a huge volume of the intra-day merchants. Many of the 'successful' traders may have opted out in recent times and these are possibly the only ones with any hair left, or money for that matter.

gmdline

It took me about 5 years to trade with 25% loosing trades and 75% winner.And some days it's the reverse.The most important at the beginning is to learn how not to lose....not easy...
At the beginning trading seems easy...you buy low and sell high or you short high and buy low...easy isn't.
I remenber some of my bloody trades with a lost of more $1000 ....why...allways the sames mistakes HOPE.... and during this hope phasis , your trade is going down or a little up and when it becomes too painful, you sell...but it's too late , you just have to take your loss.....and cry....!!!

jayjay121

only just beginning to make money and that has only been for the last 6 months, since then my account has grown each month but its so hard to describe the complete journey ive been on and the crap thats out there that really set me back....I hope it continues but I have personally found that having money coming in also from my businesses has taken the pressure off me having to make a living trading, this has definately been the key for me, if I had to make my income purely from trading im not too sure i could do it, but then ive never tried. Taken me 8 years to get to finally start making money and the difference is now im quite confident it will continue

luckyd1976

Well said...