Does anyone here actually make money trading?

[JTrader]

Yes - 1,977,103 & counting!
I plan to retire within weeks.

 

[superfly]

Can it get any better



His website shows him enjoying the high life in the company of beautiful girlfriends.

 

[Jack o'Clubs]

..."Hedge funds and banks now offer talented mathematicians the chance to earn the sort of money more usually associated with top professional footballers...

LOL - I thought it was the other way round. Wasn't that long ago that footballers earned just enough to keep themselves in flat caps and meat-pies, with enough put by to get a tatty pub when the knees eventually gave out. On the other hand, before the pro-game most rugby players got a nice job in the club Chairman's stock-broking office, unless their frontal lobes were too badly impact damaged.

By the way - don't think much of that trader's house if it's the one three pictures down in the BBC article

 

[BSD]

Nice one Jack, that comparison was a bit far fetched I'd agree, lol, I think the richest entertainer in the world is Paul McCartney, and it's taken him his entire career to make what the best hedge funders can make in a year, same goes for sports richest, Michael Schumacher and Tiger Woods.

Now the only thing that remains to be done is dig up William Hoopers mysterious and elusive web site to see him enjoying the high life in the company of his beautiful girl friends ;-)

Sincerely hope the BBC reporter didn't draw that out of his sleeve as the result of a few drinks too many in said dazzling company

 

[mbps]

I beg to differ. Doing exactly the opposite of what you did won't make you money neither.

Example:
Suppose my strategy is going long each day on a (clearly defined unambigious) signal, with stop 5 points and target 10 points... my win rate is only 25% so I lose money (theoretically I would need a win rate of 33,33...% not deducting commissions).

So, which if the following is the "opposite"?

(1) I short on each of these signals with a stop of 10 points and a target of 5 points.
(2) I short on each of these signals with a stop of 5 points and a target of 10 points.
(3) I go long on each of these signals with a stop of 10 points and a target of 5 points.

The exact opposite is (1) in my view. Does this mean I will now all of a sudden have a 75% win rate? You have no way of knowing that. Nor does that mean this strategy will turn out to be profitable.

If you think (2) is the opposite, than what if the reason your original strategy failed was because your stop was 1 point too small, and the market reversed and rallied each time after that? Doing the exact opposite of the original strategy, will definitely not turn you into a profitable trader overnight.

I'm sure you can think of some examples for yourself... the opposite of losing might be winning. But reversing or mirroring your trades won't make you profitable.

My intention is to show that without the psychology of your mind interfering, trading is just math and simple probabilities. You came up with the 25%, 75% yourself. The exact opposite in your example would be (1). And yes if you had a 25% win rate and then did the opposite, mathematically you would have a 75% win rate. I am not debating which one would make money but unless they both break even then mathematically one scenario would lose and the other would have to win, there simply is no other possibility.

 

[TickCOM]

But what is the fun if you make money, but are chained to the computer.

I know several daytraders, they make good money, but are the most busy people I know, and are dead bored during the day waiting for the trades to play out.

I wouldnt recomend to become a daytrader, rather do what you do best, like this fellow William Hoopers - if you are good at making algorithms, make them and sell them - if you are good at managing automated trading platforms, buy or lease algorithms and run the system. If you are 2-3 good friends with different skills, make a group and milk the markets

 

[damianoakley]

But what is the fun if you make money, but are chained to the computer.;

Hi TickCOM,

Completely agree with that.

I think it takes a special kind of person to sit at a computer and watch the markets for many hours.

I have tried intraday trading in the past. At one time, I thought that day-trading was the only way to make a living from the markets. But whenever I sat at my computer trading during the day, I always felt that life was passing me by as I looked out of the window at other people living their lives.

Daytrading works for many people, but for me it robs me of the personal freedom that I was trying to create when I first got into trading.

As always, though, each to their own....one man's meat is another man's poison....


Thanks

Damian

 

[TickCOM]

I made a firm decision 3 years ago never to daytrade ( manually) again.

I will trade automated, or use a service like trending123 to tell me twice a day what to do with my portfolio.

 

[Ponce]

Simple question,
What do you have control of in a trade?

The probability of 40% winners is not unreasonable.A w/l of 5 is modest.I still find it hard to understand why most make it so hard.Since trading full time,the traders I know are very pleased with 30% win rate,and 4 w/l,I doubt there are any trading at a firm with .5 math,if so why make that cash for someone else who cant?

 

[dilesh23]

your screen name cracks me up everytime i suppose it could be worse the P could be replaced with a N

 

[sujithsstorock]

DAYTRADER ..!!!

am one. i watch many markets. its my hobby to see charts playing with patterns ,levels n eating stops of many people. i make out calls by studying these charts n trade them n call them as well. why do i give calls?? >> my every call has a entry level,a stoploss n targets set. so i easily knw my risk and i adjust my stake according to it ( its easy as i do spread betting). my win percentage is 80-85 % . so i dont mind making daytrade a daily routine. its just tht , if u get impatient,..u loose ur cool .

visit my thread . its the most visited n most popular thread at t2w
http://www.trade2win.com/boards/met...edium-term-intraday-calls-gold-here-1109.html

 

[jeffsmith]

I have seen people making money in this market but their ratio is very less. Only those people can make money here who have some knowledge about forex and can understand the sentiments of the market. Who use the tools of trading and refer daily charts and news updates too.

 

[bhavin]

my bottom line has improved a lot since i started to follow my plan ruthlessly
following was difficult, but my religious beliefs helped me with the discipline

i started Yoga and mediatation

 

[willbr1]

My point is that I am yet to find, or find anyone who has found, any rewards in trading, let alone sufficient rewards as to fund one's chosen lifestyle, be that hugging trees on the side of a Swiss mountain or enjoying the company of naughty young women on a big boat. We all want things that cost money - my purpose isn't to stimulate discussion as to the credibility of one person's choices compared to another's, but to ascertain precisely how that money can be obtained by trading, and if, in fact, anyone on this forum has actually succeeded in doing so.

Hi Mitch,
Just something to think about. This is a sum zero game. The profits of the winners come out of the pockets of the losers. You are on a battlefield against a million other warriors. Is the best warrior on the field going to teach you how to pick his pocket so you can support "naughty young women?"

 

[london88]

Zero sum it is and will be for the foreseable future (the government may in some weird way alter that, i think they are trying by hedging themselves owning more and more bank P/Ls)

Anyway my point is, is what you are doing and following making a difference to YOU, whether it is help pay the mortgage or go on that extra holiday. If so then you are a winner!

 

[everyonerich]

Trading is NO-LONGER zero sum game since 1971 when USA dropped the gold as standard..

all tradeable instrument on market is 'floated' and 'price maker' is the one who able to steer the market. doesnt matter how chaos the market is, all you need to know is look at IMF for the ability to supply 'infinite' numbers from their computers to the 'price maker'..

 

[peloton1]

1000 days

I borrowed this from another board (have advised OP and will withdraw if he is unhappy). Its a variation on an old theme but I thought it was more perceptive than others I have read.

Cheers

I just want to thank u for this post of yours. I believe it accurately portrays the trading success/failure calender. I was an options trader many years ago. I have just recently entered the foray once again.
I come from a background of trading other commodities outstide the framework of an exchange. And i will tell u, that it took me almost three years of winning and losing(mostly losing) to reach a level of confidence and understanding. What i would call the 1000 days internship. There were also many formulas available in my field. But when it came right down to it, it was my own which led me to a modicum of success.
So, thanks for reminding me of this, i will just dip my toes into the waters and hopefully not lose my shirt completely in the options or forex markets.
Thanks again,
Peloton1