Skanger said:
Being a newbie, I'm desperately trying to think of a polite way of asking that question that dare not speak its name. But there is none, so here goes:-
How much in annual terms are people making trading FOREX only 
?
I'm really hoping to hear from those who trade full-time from home. I am well aware that this is a "how long a piece of string"-type question, but am just interested in a ball-park scenario.
Most of the threads say that only 5% of traders are successful. Is this true? What sort of annual incomes are these guys making? How many years does it take them to develop their winning systems. Please forgive my naivety
Your first question on entering any new business venture is of course to ask "whats my liability and risk", Im assuming youve got that covered and now your looking at the potential rewards, after which I guess you'll ask "is this something I can do", however back to your question.
I understand your frustration. In one sense it looks like an easy question doesn't it, for example you could phone the personnel department of a large business, lets say McDonalds for sake of argument, and ask your question “I'm considering a management position with your company, what kind of salaries can I expect”, and Id expect that you'd get a reasonably detailed and satisfactory answer.
Your enquiry however is a little more complex, and there may be a whole host of reasons that your not getting the answer you seek
Firstly there is no motivation on the part of a successful trader to answer your question.
There may be a reluctance to share confidential information
Maybe no one posting here is an experienced or profitable trader
If I were a highly experienced trader making 30 million a year, or a hopelessly addicted gambler frittering 3 million of the family fortune away each year that doesn't mean that you'll experience a similar success or failure so answering your question wont help you in the slightest.
What conclusions would you draw if I said yep, I started in 2001 with 10K and I'm now earning 80K a year, the next guy says, I started in 2003 with 5K and I earn 190,000 a year, the next guy says I started in 2001 and last year I broke even, the next guy says I started with 100K and blew my account in 6 months. I'm not sure how that helps you. Even if we all fully disclosed our methods, strategies, statements it simply wouldn't help you other than to show some people make money trading.
This shouldn't come as a surprise, there'll be a small group of people in any business or industry that do very well, using our earlier example there'll be people working in McDonalds earning the most phenomenal salaries, does that mean you should apply for a position with them ?
The potential to profit from trading is important, but its even more important is that you enjoy the process, in my experience its far easier to succeed at something you enjoy doing rather than grinding away doing something you hate. People also generally get exactly what they want, Its pretty obvious but a point many fail to see.
regards
