home traders: how much can you make?

[CityTrader]

Move on quickg, you rookie.

Such questions are overasked and totally miss the point.

They do? I don't think so. I find the answers interesting, and open up the potential for more debate :-

Not that I know the answer but how many replies are based on truth or more on the " well, if I had sold xyz at that level I would have made £250,000 last year" etc etc

And the distribution spread of answers is also interesting. Maybe a better question to have asked, would have been " What percentage return have you made on initial funds employed?" or have 2 polls one for traders having worked on their own for more than 3 years and one for traders of less than 3 years to see what the distribution patters would be like then.

CT

 

[nobrainer]

Tend to agree with CityTrader. Its hilarious how so many of the 'wise sages' on T2W find this question amateurish or unimportant.
As a 'home trader', its actually very important to know where one stands in relation to other traders.It probably also explains why so many traders don't actually improve too much cos they tend to be stuck in their own comfort zone.Personally I've always met the cfd providers whom I use as often as possible to get such info and naturally to negotiate the best dma commission in the country.
Quickg, I can only speak for 'home based'uk dma cfd traders but the band is between losing and 1 or 2 making 750k a year( the majority of successful traders are barely scraping 150k fwiw). There are only 3 uk dma providers of note so those figures are very accurate esp. as the number of big players can be counted on one hand!
Would love to know what a good 'home based' US stock daytrader makes but perhaps I'm being amateurish to ask such a question !!

 

[timsk]

Quickg, I can only speak for 'home based'uk dma cfd traders but the band is between losing and 1 or 2 making 750k a year( the majority of successful traders are barely scraping 150k fwiw). There are only 3 uk dma providers of note so those figures are very accurate esp. as the number of big players can be counted on one hand!
Would love to know what a good 'home based' US stock daytrader makes but perhaps I'm being amateurish to ask such a question !!

nobrainer,
The poll results don't really tally with your figures. The reasons for this could be that:-
1. Your information is inaccurate
2. Most traders making >£200K don't trade U.K. markets
3. Peeps responding to the poll are a tad prone to exaggerating their income :cheesy:
Of these options, my guess is that 2 & 3 account for the bulk of the discrepancy.

In answer to your question about U.S. stock traders, my impression is that many of them look to bag a dollar-a-day with a typical size of 1,000 shares. Certainly, Naz refers to this as his 'day's money' which he likes to secure as early on in the trading day as possible. I have a similar impression about Mr. Charts, although I suspect he will be reluctant to offer direct comment in order to avoid an avalanche of criticism and vitriol from his detractors.
Tim.

 

[donaldduke]

I am interested in the home traders only.

You can make 200K a year consistently trading futures from home.

However expect to take three of four years to learn how to do so and another two or three years before starting to see that kind on money appearing in your trading account on a yearly basis.

If you are a loner at home then expect lots of pain and lots of learning before you figure it out.
You also need to be properly capitalised.

Most people give up in the first year after losing most ot their accounts.

My advice is to trade but dont give up your day job and also to start of off betting small.

 

[CityTrader]

2. Most traders making >£200K don't trade U.K. markets

Just wondered where on earth you got this snippet of info?

CT

 

[orion69]

this question has been asked endless times before. The ££ figures are irrelevant because there are so many different factors that influence the ease or difficulty with which one might make say £200k

if I were trading with say £10m capital, would you be impressed if I said I was making £200k+ per year? what if I only had £10k in my account instead?

My question to you would be does it really matter, and why do you want to know?

"if I were trading with say £10m capital, would you be impressed if I said I was making £200k+ per year? what if I only had £10k in my account instead?"

M D,

You have surprised many with that quote/post!

You dont impress me much [in voice of Shinia Twain]


069

 

[the blades]

Just wondered where on earth you got this snippet of info?

CT

Hello CT,

I suspect timsk was offering some possible reasons why, rather than stating facts, though I could be wrong.

Merry Christams to one an all.

UTB

 

[orion69]

I am interested in the home traders only.

Hello friend.

Your question is good and it deserves a good honest reply. It shows you want to learn how best to trade by picking the brains from other traders but most on here are unwilling to share their knowledge or trades with others, especially with the newbies.

Dont be discouraged by their replies, please continue to post and you will meet one or two that are happy and willing to teach you.
I belong to a special group trading club whereby we all share our trades and we explain why we have selected those trades.

I manage several accounts for friends and clients on power of atorney. This means i open and close trades on all those accounts. The account holders can also trade on those accounts if they wish. The account holders ONLY can withdraw money from the account and NO other.

I trade mainly derivatives. I have been trading since 1984. You can contact me thru Socrates or Mr charts should i in future get banned on here.

All my acounts are available for inspection. For the last 3 years every account including my own have produced profits of over 50%gains.

You can contact me by PM [private mesage] if you wish should you have any questions and i will not reply by riddles or parables or insults.



Kind regards and happy new year.

O69

 

[damianoakley]

I am interested in the home traders only.

Hi Quick,

The general consensus of replies on this thread seems to be that you should be measuring returns based on percentages instead of actual currency - I tend to agree.

As was stated earlier, someone could say "I make £100k per year" from trading, which sounds great.....until you find that they are trading with total capital of £10m - this means that they have only made a 1% return all year.

To answer your question in percentage terms, I normally make about 50% return on my capital each year. My best ever year was 108%. People will judge my typical 50% return in different ways. For me, I am pleased with such a return because I only spend 1 hour a day at the markets to achieve this return. However, for an active intraday trader who is at the computer for several hours a day, they would proably view this return as quite low for the hours they are putting in.

If you are interested in how much people are making from trading, I recommend that you also consider what hours those people have to put in to achieve their returns.


Thanks

Damian

 

[Directional]

"if I were trading with say £10m capital, would you be impressed if I said I was making £200k+ per year? what if I only had £10k in my account instead?"

M D,

You have surprised many with that quote/post!

You dont impress me much [in voice of Shinia Twain]


069

a hypothetical example demonstrating the difference the amount of starting capital makes when factoring possible returns.

I would not be expecially impressed if someone with $10m in their futures account were only making $200k, however I would be much more impressed if $200k returns were being made on a $10k account.

The first example demonstrates a 2% return per year... which for $10m you could probably get much better return from a bank with only nominal risk exposure.

the second example demonstrates 2000% return.

Which is better?

 

[orion69]

a hypothetical example demonstrating the difference the amount of starting capital makes when factoring possible returns.

I would not be expecially impressed if someone with $10m in their futures account were only making $200k, however I would be much more impressed if $200k returns were being made on a $10k account.

The first example demonstrates a 2% return per year... which for $10m you could probably get much better return from a bank with only nominal risk exposure.

the second example demonstrates 2000% return.

Which is better?

MD,

We know which is better! We also know that 5,000 % is also better than 2,000%
What Mr Quickg wanted to know is what you are making in percentage returns each year. He is not asking for hypothetical /stupid replies. The guy is genuinely seeking info and knowledge to advance his understanding further.

O69

 

[Directional]

The guy is genuinely seeking info and knowledge to advance his understanding further.

good, well if the OP understands the difference the amount of starting capital makes on the ease or difficulty with which he might make the >$200k he mentioned in his example, then he will have further advanced his understanding & knowledge as you suggest, would you agree?

 

[timsk]

Just wondered where on earth you got this snippet of info?
CT

Hi CT,
Pure speculation on my part! As 'the blades' points out correctly, I was merely offering possible explanations for the apparent discrepancy between the poll results of traders who claim to earn >$200k and what 'nobrainer' states he has on good authority re. U.K. cfd traders. Sorry if I've misled you.
Season's greetings,
Tim.

 

[tsmalley]

Please, don't start.

There are at least three threads like this started every year, asking the same questions from different angles again and again, it gets to be a bit tiresome, specially when in the past all these things have been discussed endlessly, ad nauseam.

Boring, it is.

I laugh when I see guys like Socrates ridicule those who come in and ask so called "beginner questions" Reason being is this trading is not everyones LIFE like it is for others probably like yourself, and that is okay. There are other things in the world to do besides spend your days starting at a computer screen. What you deem as a stupid question is quite relevant to many others. Sorry if not all of those people live up to your "Legendary Member" status you hotshot you.

 

[bhavin]

Socrates the "Master Trader"

Repetiive silly question, seconded. Boring, isn't it ?

Guess it would be a silly question to you Socrates! - why is it that people bother to focus their energy on negative issues - can you imagine the thoughts that went through your mind, when reading and writing the comments?? Had you focussed on some positives than i think it would have helped you! - LOL

Anyways for me it was not a silly question - it is interesting to know the performance of traders, provided they are truthful. These statistics can help me decide when to dump my job!

I have successfully traded the UK stocks and am just starting US and forex.

My motto is to read everthing that you want, ignore that you dont want, and keep learning.
i always accept that what could be silly to me will be useful to others.
GOT IT!

 

[starspacer]

Guess it would be a silly question to you Socrates! - why is it that people bother to focus their energy on negative issues - can you imagine the thoughts that went through your mind, when reading and writing the comments?? Had you focussed on some positives than i think it would have helped you! - LOL

Anyways for me it was not a silly question - it is interesting to know the performance of traders, provided they are truthful. These statistics can help me decide when to dump my job!

I have successfully traded the UK stocks and am just starting US and forex.

My motto is to read everthing that you want, ignore that you dont want, and keep learning.
i always accept that what could be silly to me will be useful to others.
GOT IT!

Don't give up your job bhavin. I respectfully submit that you have a lot to learn. You would do well to read (that is really read) Socrate's posts.

Only when you have trodden the path and think like a Master, will you be ready for the great Game. Otherwise, you will bust out like the other 95%.

 

[Olipro]

The bottom line is whether you can make money or not and end up net profitable; argueing X, Y and Z is irrelevant.

But hey... a bit of elitism never hurt anyone right?

 

[pigbear]

It is better to gain 2% of your original capital and maintain that day in and day out. If you could do it lets say over 400 trades in a year and lose 2% of your original capital on 300 trades. (I know thats lousy but realistic) Than you would have doubled you money. If your trading £100 million like a hedge fund your laughing If your trading £400 in a spreadbet account the bookies are laughing
My penny or cent worth is small gains, small but flexible losses, some kind of money management and being adequetely capitalised. By the way I am still losing but I love the game.

 

[laptop1]

I laugh when I see guys like Socrates ridicule those who come in and ask so called "beginner questions" Reason being is this trading is not everyones LIFE like it is for others probably like yourself, and that is okay. There are other things in the world to do besides spend your days starting at a computer screen. What you deem as a stupid question is quite relevant to many others. Sorry if not all of those people live up to your "Legendary Member" status you hotshot you.

Ignore him Legendary Member means nothing, its only the amount of times he have posted on T2W....looking at socs post well over 4000, I am surprised where he finds the time to trade :cheesy:

 

[CityTrader]

(really read) Socrat

Only when you have trodden the path and think like a Master, will you be ready for the great Game. Otherwise, you will bust out like the other 95%.

Last time I heard/read something like that it was David Carradine's graduation speach in Kung Fu !!!

CT