Is £30,000 per year achievable daytrading the FTSE? Is anyone doing it?

[MartinC-J]

I am a sort of newbie....to daytrading. I have traded the markets for years but always individual shares and always long. The last year has really stung me badly and I am now looking at new things.

For the last three months I have paper traded the FTSE and have achieved my target of 30 pts almost every day. I am still confirming my trading system and am even doing the odd trade with real cash so that I get the hang of IG Index's trading platform and chart package, and the subsequent pressure when the money is real.

I am looking to trade £4 per point and effectively that would give me an income of about £30,000 per year if I average 30pts per day. I use tight stops and look for reversals and continuations/consolidations. I am happy to close a position if it is vascillating and not impulsive in the direction I expect it to go. My stops tend to be between 10 and 15 points depending on the time of day. And if I am stopped out three times I walk away and sniff the roses somewhere else and come back later.

I like parabolic SAR and something called the Chande kroll stop. I also use RSI and stochastics but they are nowhere as important as trendlines drawn as quickly as you can get a best fit of the data. I don't use moving averages, but I do like Boly Bands for a bit of guidance.

What I would most like to know is that are there any full time traders out there who are achieving these sort of incomes and on a repeated basis? I am sure there are a few who are and many that aren't. Would any of you pros care to confirm this, please.

cheers

Martin

 

[minime69]

i'm sure most people on here are doing 30k++ on the ftse, join this chat.

http://www.trade2win.com/boards/uk-indices/48390-message-ftse-traders.html

 

[brutusdog]

I am a sort of newbie....to daytrading. I have traded the markets for years but always individual shares and always long. The last year has really stung me badly and I am now looking at new things.

For the last three months I have paper traded the FTSE and have achieved my target of 30 pts almost every day. I am still confirming my trading system and am even doing the odd trade with real cash so that I get the hang of IG Index's trading platform and chart package, and the subsequent pressure when the money is real.

I am looking to trade £4 per point and effectively that would give me an income of about £30,000 per year if I average 30pts per day. I use tight stops and look for reversals and continuations/consolidations. I am happy to close a position if it is vascillating and not impulsive in the direction I expect it to go. My stops tend to be between 10 and 15 points depending on the time of day. And if I am stopped out three times I walk away and sniff the roses somewhere else and come back later.

I like parabolic SAR and something called the Chande kroll stop. I also use RSI and stochastics but they are nowhere as important as trendlines drawn as quickly as you can get a best fit of the data. I don't use moving averages, but I do like Boly Bands for a bit of guidance.

What I would most like to know is that are there any full time traders out there who are achieving these sort of incomes and on a repeated basis? I am sure there are a few who are and many that aren't. Would any of you pros care to confirm this, please.

cheers

Martin

would not call myself a pro but yes.

 

[bullcar]

all of the ftse traders i know are making that in a month

 

[advfntrader]

30k a month , you're joking right....

 

[MartinC-J]

bullcar - that's very encouraging to hear and a little too enticing. I will stick to relative walking pace for now before increasing stake sizes. £30,000 a year is all I am asking for now. Technically if your system works the only thing that will determine your earnings is your stake size and reserves.

 

[KillPhil08]

30k a month , you're joking right....

your a spaz

 

[trigger]

your a spaz

I think you will find it is Scope! LOL

 

[vchohan]

£30000 a month nice!

 

[Claudia123]

If the system works make it £50 a point - make your target very quick and have a long holiday!!

 

[richi rich]

your a spaz

tried givin u rep points but dint work

 

[mauzj]

30k a month , you're joking right....

Why would that be a joke? I know someone who trades ftse, often hits more than 30k a month, yet spends most of his time smoking dope. He's a legend.

 

[Claudia123]

Why would that be a joke? I know someone who trades ftse, often hits more than 30k a month, yet spends most of his time smoking dope. He's a legend.

its all relative to how much ya playing with - at £1 a point 30k might be difficult lol. Trade futures with a huge account and 30k is of course a reality. Smoking dope probably helps coz he chilled and dont care whether he win or lose - that is half the secret of trading imo. (not the dope but being afford to lose without it hurting).

 

[shadowninja]

Spot on, Claudia. Apart from the dope part; might cloud judgement. Maybe he'd be on £90k a month if he didn't smoke.

 

[Claudia123]

Spot on, Claudia. Apart from the dope part; might cloud judgement. Maybe he'd be on £90k a month if he didn't smoke.

lol ja maybe is on 90k but spends 60k on dope

 

[trader_dante]

Spot on, Claudia. Apart from the dope part; might cloud judgement. Maybe he'd be on £90k a month if he didn't smoke.

Not unless he is a position trader.

The reduced liquidity in the FTSE Futures means that you reach a glass ceiling in terms of how much you can make if you are a scalper or very short term trader.

But the other guys are right. 30k per year is nothing to get excited about. I've seen new grads that have never traded before have several months on the sim and then take 1k+ per day consistently out of that market.

If you want to make unlimited amounts in the FTSE you need to position trade.

 

[Claudia123]

30k at £4 per point will take some doing especially for a retail trader who presumably is spread betting. For an average trader working from home at that level will have to be lucky just trading one market. t_d yo make some good posts and obviously work at a prop house using their funds which is a different game.

 

[ceydababy]

30k at £4 per point will take some doing especially for a retail trader who presumably is spread betting. For an average trader working from home at that level will have to be lucky just trading one market. t_d yo make some good posts and obviously work at a prop house using their funds which is a different game.

Not really Claudia. Thats averaging 30 points a day perfectly acheivable.

 

[Claudia123]

I accept that from math point of view but still say unrealstic unless you well capitalised. If you well capitalised why trade £4 a point. Its easier to make a 100k trading than 30k - if you have the capital behind you. Those trying to make 30k are usually the ones that lose coz of the huge pressure and therefore need to trade and therefore overtrade. Just my opinion cey.

 

[Adrian Success Gibbs]

MartinC-J it sounds like you are on the right path to developing a strategy for yourself to take money out of the market, and I would like to see you do well with it. The path to taking consistent profits is a long one so do not quit if you don't meet the optimal projections right away, because 30 pips a day will lend itself to more than £30,000 / year with the right trader behind it. However, calculating potential profits and looking at how much money you would have earned according to pips made on the demo is something I would personally stay away from. I am not saying your goals are not reasonable, I am just stating what looks good on paper is not always agreeable with our habits and behavior.

You mentioned you were stung badly this last year, I hope the goal of £30,000 isn't a revenge goal, is it?