$10K to $2Mil in 2 years consistency getting 1% day return

how long does it take to be like one?

Hi SP, dropped you personal message earlier today

traits to be developed as a day trader.
1. discipline
2. patience
3. adaptability
4. mental toughness
5. independence
6. forward-thinking trading
https://www.thebalance.com/day-trader-traits-4025905

have you not been trading a while? seems like it from your analysis...

what is your average % a week/month?

if you click on my profile posts, i have been rather active in various threads and making calls at times.
if i state a number, it's meaningless to others because we have different experiences and do not trade the same way.
probably come january next year, i put aside some money (from non consumption of this year's overseas vacation) and open a new account and journal recording my performance, but just a weekly recording, nothing else.
a long and winding road, with beautiful destination i hope.

This is the thing that I really dont understand

I think a lot of traders make more than 1% a day, they just don't disclose it.

Many articles and common opinion to write that 25% a year is doable, but I can't understand this if you are risking 1% per trade. If you are risking less than 1% a trade then you may as well trade a smaller account no?

the below is approximate without a calculater to demonstrate my point:


If you are risking 1% a trade a "daytrading" then you are really trading the 1min - 1hr timeframes in which case over say 10 pairs you probably have around 1-10 setups a day, and if you consider margin requirements then maybe you can have around 4 positions running over 24 hours and if your rr is a minimum of 1/1 or 2/1 5/1 then you should be realising you edge over a weekly time frame as you would of closed around 10 - 20 positions as a sample size, which should be enough to see if your edge is preforming.

so:

I have a 10k account and my sample size is 10 -20 trades as I day trade so I can realise my edge over 1 week

I risk 1% a trade and over approx 15 trades I know I will be up 2%

so over a month, I make around 10% and a year I make around 120%

or

I have a 10 k account and I make 25% a year but I risk 1% per trade still and take around 10 - 20 trade s a week "daytrading", lets say on average I make around 750 trades a year, which means to make 25% on my account, out of the 750 trades a year only 400 are profitable and around an astounding 300 losses - all this tells me is that the edge is not good enough no?

I think a lot of traders make more than 1% a day, they just don't disclose it.

i also think so. there is no real need to disclose. there are a lot of dramas in FF, they come to have a laugh or two in between trading.

If you are risking less than 1% a trade then you may as well trade a smaller account no?
If you are risking 1% a trade a "daytrading" then you are really trading the 1min - 1hr timeframes in which case over say 10 pairs you probably have around 1-10 setups a day, and if you consider margin requirements then maybe you can have around 4 positions running over 24 hours

different people have different opinions on what a small account is. so it's according to one's ability for account size.
i start looking from d1 for trend and moving down the time frames for confluence and entry.
for me, it's more like 1 pair per asian, european, and/or new york sessions. so 2 or 3 setups per day. therefore it is very selective looking for good set ups.

if i trade on a $10k account, i put on 0.7 units looking for 12-35 pips move (i find that i am comfortable for that kind of range move during period where there is momentum).
or i can do smaller 0.35 units looking for the same range move. i can still do 1% per day. or even add on another 0.35 units if there is opportunity to do so when happen to catch the momentum.

1% is just but a reasonable gauge, a guide for consistency and not to over trade. if it happens to catch a trend run, one do not just stop at 1%.
probably 5% week is more relevant as one may not be winning everyday, thereby lessen the pressure to do so and a healthier way to look at performance, and analyze what was done right or wrong for the week.

what i must say is that throwing out a number is not applicable for everyone.
we all gather different experiences throughout the years of trading and each with their own style and technique.
that's why when someone is teaching a certain method to 10 students, their performances can differ a lot.
same method, different results.

In the box
My first post here so please bear with me as it is going to be quite long I suspect.

Like every other trader I began day trading with the same illusion. I lost for the first six months regularly. Then hit upon a statergy that I followed to the T. Began to make good money for some six months. Then I began to curve fit my indicators and trade lower tfs. I made good money but lost it all on one bad trade. This happened regularly. I would have an impressive win rate but end up in the red. I began to tweak and tune my indicators, began to learn more complicated stuff. I remained in the red all through the second year. The third year I went back to the basics and began trading heiken ashi as my core and the 20 nl and 200 moving averages, exponential both. The third year was a revelation. I did good for the first half. Then I jumped from forex onto the micros (us 500) and once again landed in the red. The last two months I took a break and poured over my log books. I realised that the main breach in my hull was my money management. My capital of 3000 cad was not enough to trade the micros. Forex was the best with this capital as I was being forced to have my stops placed at breakeven rather than at areas of value. I paper traded well and began to iron out and work on my known areas of weakness. Now I am ready to give it a serious last shot. I will be starting with 3000 cad in forex. Intend to start a journal here to so I can maintain an online record or log book.

Best run I had was when I was trading forex in my first year and went from 5000 cad to 27500 cad in three months.

Worst was when I slipped from 29000 cad to some 10000 cad next year.

I have friends who quit highly paying careers at sea to day trade for a living. Two that I know of are doing very well.

To cut short the story. It is possible to make absurd returns now and then. Consistently is not easily or I might say, improbable. Now I realise that the right approach to trading is not reaching for the stars but to prevent sinking into the abyss. After all only 5 things can happen when you enter a trade: Win big, win small, breakeven, lose small, lose big.. each time you enter a trade just avoid the last and things work out fine. Of course this is assuming your money management, statergy, trade plan is in place and you are tuned to it.
The reason most traders fail I feel from my experience is that once you get into a groove so to say it becomes massively boring the thrill is no more there as you discard emotions and follow your trade plan signboards. That is when the slip up takes place. If one can make 100 pips a week it's very good. Be consistent and once you are increase the lots,not the pips. I learnt this the hard way. The market is very harsh and it can wipe out ones ego and account in just one trade.
If trading were complicated we would all make money but it it so simple that we slip up even easier. Of course to view the market as simple one must have paid his dues first in the form of blown up accounts as that is the easiest and most effective way to learn.

To sum it up, yes it's possible, but the finish line is likely to be deserted or very lonely at the least. But then, unless we try it, how would we ever know.

Take care and wish all a highly disciplined trading year ahead.

greed and fear.
the usual stuff that newbies normally go through for 3 years or so.
that's the problem with winning at the beginning. we thought that it's easy money and ended up trading bigger lots, not knowing that all along it happened that we were riding the trend. we were being sucked in without our knowing.
then market ranged most of the time, because of bigger lots we lose it all in double triple quick time just because market moved 200 300 pips against us. at times, it could be a one day move.
became fearful in placing trades and lose the opportunities to do so even though there's good set ups.
then another few years of searching all over again.
in the midst of searching, we see others in forums making money.

we keep on looking outside of ourselves, outside the box, at other people.
and forgot to look and search in the box (ya i know), inside ourselves, our personality whether we are suited for scalp, short term, swing, investing trades.
after years of searching and knowing so many methods, but did not come up with one that suits ourselves.
https://www.forexfactory.com/thread/...3#post13310853

i am also starting a new journal but it's a weekly recording of my performance and a review of the best and worst trades for the week.

Look forward to your fruitful year ahead! I see you are knowledgable and have the sense to trade successfully.

Yes fear and greed is biggest issue. I think if you are going for an aggressive growth goal and write a journal with it, you may feel pressure to achieve and/or influenced by others’ comments.

It is good we are in the more wealthy part of the world so $10K should be something really spare and stress-free to lose, maybe from a full time job or what you have earned in trading.

if you feel clinched on the numbers and win/loss much, oddly enough, playing some idle games with big numbers can desensitize myself from pressure looking at those after the $ sign.

anyway, look forward to your story and know that people will be happy for your success. Good luck and Merry Christmas!

thank you.
if after 2 years, "the long and winding road" journey is still alive, not having blown it, will be good enough for me.
whether i arrive at the destination or not is another story altogether.
i reckon that at the same time, i will be going through lots of detours, that's where the dangers lie.
no matter what, there will be times where emotions get the better of us, refusing to admit mistakes and making u-turns.
that's why everyday we have to go back to basics and check ourselves.

many talk it about the fear and greed that causes the loss of trading.
but my god, if you have a tested and working system then it dictates the rules as well.
so there is no fear ........

yes only if the SLTP are predefined and the trade is set and forget type.

try to trail a stop, you will know what fear is in a winning trade

I see that you are a very experienced trader or have had many, many years behind you.

LOL.

I am only in forex for 1 year and trading live since Jun, but I consider myself experienced in statistics and “trend” analysis as a general skill from my academic and career path in Science and Marketing (eg market size in $ for COVID vaccine in 2021 based on data in 2020 and past flu vaccines)

Same rules apply, numeral or not, forecast and prediction is just expectation. No one can know what will happen in next moment. In FX it is losing a trade, reducing P/L. For commercial it is affecting earnings of a company and employees’ bonus.

I see many trader’s channels and forums, having them openly admitting their mistakes based on fear/greed even they are consistently in profit.
Missing a pending order by <1pip, a pull back just before TP/SL, winning/losing streaks, spike in market, increased capital/lot size... different people get triggered by various stressful situations. As long as a trader is in front of the chart and able to interfere the trades, good and bad moves can happen.

it is good on you having strategies with mechanical rules and can 100% stick to the rules. You can consider to automate the trades so you can hands-free

All that compound interest (1% day = 1m in a year/two) works only in your excel spreadsheet. In reality you will withdraw some, you will lose someday etc.

Also you can check Trades section here on FF. And you will see that top traders have no threads/answers. Why? Because they have found their golden edge and have no time for all that stuff.

events outside of ourselves we have no control.
what we can control are those inside of us and keep on improving the method that suits our personality.
as they say, to each his own.