Realistic Goal

[Night and Day]

After say 2 years studying and practiscing day trading , what would be an a realistic monthly return if trading on small time frame spending say 6 hours a day totally dedicated in front of screen , in so far that one would be considered a very succesful day trader. Would greatly appreciate your comments in order that firstly I do not have any unrealistic expectations but at the same time an achievable goal that I know can make all the time , cost , pain etc worthwhile

Thank You

night and day

 

[Vaco]

That is a very subjective question and would depend on who your asking and their level of success so does not really matter. How much money you make is all about the size you are trading, if you can do it with 1 lot then you slowly increase your size using good money management untill you can not trade larger lots due to it interfering with your trading plan. At that point i am sure you will consider yourself sucessful.
If you still have your starting capital in tact and maybe even show a profit 6 months after going live then you have my respect.

 

[shadowninja]

There's a thread on this because people keep asking the same question. There is no guarantee, anyway. After 2 years, you may still be losing money.

 

[Hotch]

Well, everyone seems to agree that breaking even in your first year is good.

I'd say 10% a year in 2 years was amazing. So what .8% a month?

 

[Vaco]

There's a thread on this because people keep asking the same question. There is no guarantee, anyway. After 2 years, you may still be losing money.

After 10 years on and off i'm still in the red.....if i wasn't such a stubborn arrogant git i would probably be teaching by now.

On second thoughts now that i have moved out of london and into essex my luck should change.:cheesy:


I hear that mr marcus and mr charts are coming to your next meet up Sn as well as lee, not that your presence alone isn't worth the trip but with so many experienced traders there i would most likely make the trip if i had an invite.(missus and baby sitting permiting)

 

[FXSCALPER2]

There is no such thing as a 'realistic goal'. Either you make money or you don't.

 

[shadowninja]

10 years is some patience!

Look forward to meeting you.

 

[Vaco]

There is no such thing as a 'realistic goal'. Either you make money or you don't.

I agree completely, but you have to be able to do it over time. i made money for a cupple of months then i couldnt for the next two. thats when it gets painfall.

By the way how was the holiday, i've not been in the chat room for a while.

 

[0007]

After say 2 years studying and practiscing day trading , what would be an a realistic monthly return if trading on small time frame spending say 6 hours a day totally dedicated in front of screen , in so far that one would be considered a very succesful day trader. Would greatly appreciate your comments in order that firstly I do not have any unrealistic expectations but at the same time an achievable goal that I know can make all the time , cost , pain etc worthwhile

Thank You

night and day

Though you probably don't realise it, and I'm sure your question is well meant; you're just asking an impossible question. There are so many variables involved that it just can't be answered with any certainty. I can tell you that you will probably end up somewhere in the range from being really successful to losing your shirt ......... but there's no certainty in that..

Get yourself a copy of "Way of the Turtle" by Curtis Faith. He describes how a group of specially selected (ie they were not no-hopers) wannabee traders were educated by experts (only 2 weeks initial training) , given a load of money to trade and still managed to produce quite varying degrees of success. Having read this book you will have a better understanding of why it's impossible to answer your question. As a bonus, you will also learn of yet another trading methodology to further confuse what you already think you know and understand! It also contains lots of other very interesting information. It is a darn good read IMHO.

Do you remember the geniuses at school who mastered difficult maths & science in a fraction of the time the rest of us did and with a tenth of the effort? We all had the same teacher - well, that's life and as far as i can tell trading's no different.

 

[gamma]

Well, everyone seems to agree that breaking even in your first year is good.

I'd say 10% a year in 2 years was amazing. So what .8% a month?

Eeh!
If I only made 10% a year I would look for another profession.
this is trading not investing you should be making 10% a month

 

[Charlton]

Unrealistic question ?

After say 2 years studying and practiscing day trading , what would be an a realistic monthly return if trading on small time frame spending say 6 hours a day totally dedicated in front of screen , in so far that one would be considered a very succesful day trader. Would greatly appreciate your comments in order that firstly I do not have any unrealistic expectations but at the same time an achievable goal that I know can make all the time , cost , pain etc worthwhile

Thank You

night and day

Like the other commentators I would say your "realistic goal" question is an "unrealistic question". Let's start with the end of your message "make all the time, cost, pain etc worthwhile". You almost seem to be giving up before you begin - you focus solely on the return and not the process, the reduction of risk and maintenance of capital. Even with relatively small returns and avoidance of capital deterioration, compounding can produce some decent rewards. Why sit 6 hours in front of a screen necessarily ? You can do if that's what you want, but Daytrading and, particularly scalping, are not for everyone. You may decide that longer term position/swing trading costs less to you.

I think that, rather than ask impossible questions, give it a go. Spend time with the markets, establish a strategy and get to know about risk and money management - see how you get on. I suspect that long before the 2 years is up you will have come to a conclusion about whether the journey is worthwhile, in whatever terms you measure worth.

Charlton

 

[Hotch]

Eeh!
If I only made 10% a year I would look for another profession.
this is trading not investing you should be making 10% a month

Well, i think we all would if we expected to stay at that level. Either that or we'd be rich enough to retire.

Think we read the question differently.

 

[gamma]

Well, i think we all would if we expected to stay at that level. Either that or we'd be rich enough to retire.

Think we read the question differently.

The problem is everyone wants to compound their returns.

 

[piewka]

I would say, if you can make 1 dollar per day excl costs, you can call yourself a success story. Sounds as very little, but... Some new traders imagine that gains can be too small for them..Hehehehe. There is no sush thing as too small gains. If a trader can constantly make 1 dollar per day, he can make 1000. Trading is not about money. When you trade- money is just a daily a bonus. I dont even know how much I gained today. But I am proud I learned a new lesson today while trading- if a beloved dog wants to **** when I am trading, I need to grab a leash and go.