How You Trade and Your Definition of a Profitable Trader

I've been on Forex Factory since 2008 and there are, and were, a lot of talented people on here. Although I spend most of my time on the options thread nowadays, I've seen a lot of currency traders come and go on FF, some very successful and some that finally just gave up. Hundreds of ideas of trading parameters are discussed, and thousands of ideas of trading systems. I think it is always interesting (and good) to hear other viewpoints, but I've always had generic questions that are hard to find about how people trade without going through a million posts and getting into specific systems/strategies. So I thought I would ask here.

Please be honest and don't get too opinionated (i.e.: "If you trade over 50:1, you're got the brain of a toad" or "If you risk more than 2% on a trade, you will die a horrible death"...stuff like that).

How Do You Trade?
Do you trade real money or Demo account?
What leverage do you use? (10:1, 50:1, 200:1, 400:1, etc.)
What are the normal lots you trade? (Full/mini/micro)
What is your normal lot size number (1/5/10/etc.)
Do you trade with a set R:R?
Do you have a set pip number goal for each trade?
Do you have a max account % per trade?
How many trades do you make per week on average?
How long do you stay at your computer/phone daily (average # of hours)

Your Definition of a Profitable Trader
How much profit per month is a "successful" trader? (No %, but an actual dollar value)

I don't want to go into detail too much for myself but I can say one thing: the first $500 Dollar per month, STEADY making, is the hardest part. After that you get funded from all people you know of and your account value exceed $100000 Dollar very fast because they see you are really successful with what you are doing.

A profitable Trader for me is who knows:
- a system that works (avg. problematic, time consuming 6 months to 2 years)
- a system which suits into timeframe of life in general (that means a system which is profitable overall at a backtest of 5 Years with individual R:R in Year 1 of +/-0, next year -$5000 Dollar, next year +$20000 etc. is NOT good enough to make a living out of that,- except you want to spend 10 years until you can live of that) (hard problematic, can consume up to 5 years)
-a system which is CONSISTENTLY profitable over at least 3 months perdiod (that means: you have to be in plus after 3 Month, ALWAYS), better one month (very hard, some never achieve that)
-knows moneymanagement to gain wealth the fastest way possible (kelly-formula etc.) without busting his/her account (hardest part at all, because in the end that could mean you have to shift your whole, profitable system to another market/instrument/conditions etc. and must accept you did the best already, not going on researching and wasting your time)

I always say: I could fill up two PHD's titles with my time and analysis I spended all in all. Finally I get the grip. I often see successfull traders which don't really understand why they are profitable. Some can keep that up for years and get lucky to make their millions, some vanish over time due to market changes (and they cannot adapt then).

Trading is one of the hardest business in the world and I like that challenge. If you master it, money has no value anymore for you. That's the price you receive in the end. Crazsy enough.

-I trade real and and funded accounts..( the funded accounts are in demo so I guess I trade demo)

-leverage I use is 1:50 tbh leverage never bothers me with the way I trade

-the normal lot size I use is pretty irrelevant to me since I use ATR to calculate that so it varies on account size.

-I do not trade with a set R:R

-I have no set pip goal for each trade

-2% is max trade unless i’m competing in the World trading championship which I will be entering Q4

-average trades per week kinda varies but safe to say more 20-40 trades

-on the screen safe to say 8-12 hours a day if i’m not feeling well then 4-6 hours

-this is a great question because every experienced trader will always talk about how to look at % instead so to ME I think a “successful” trader is one who can make minimum $2500 dollars month in month out. If a trader can make $500 dollars per month that’s very impressive, just being profitable is a massive achievement. Only reason why I say $2500 is because that’s around the average take home people make around my age and my peers. Last question varies trader to trader

Becoming a pro trader is not easy, it takes so long years to get there.

profitable:
- you can settle your bills, by the end of the month
success:
- you enjoy doing it

how do you trade:
- rely on the size of your account and your tolerance for loss

plain and simple

I would like to add sth. In earlier stage I thougt: Find a system which works on almost all currency pairs and don't go into detail on every currency pair itself. - Unfortunately, for me at least, that did not really work out. I know lots of pros here who concentrate only one 1 single pair, getting to know every swing of more that 10 pips. Is that crazy? May be. But I can see today that this makes a huge difference in R:R Ratios because you can feel when the market for example stops to move (so you sell or buy here) - and other currencies move on (e.g. EUR/USD and GBP/USD).

For me I think, you have to dig much deeper than you think and hope in the beginning. ATR is only the start of it. That makes lots of things easier. That also has a reason: Behind the moves are sitting also human beings - even if the uses EA's or any automatic execution but in the end the program it in their way. That is one of the reason's why markets can move differently and you think: What is going on?? It makes no sense (for you at least).

One pro Trader I know, she is saying: The oil market in the last 8 years got like my 2nd living room or partner. Sometimes I feel like we are married. We know each other very well. I think phrases like that makes it so complicated to put that stuff into a single EA. It is very complex but you get a hang of it.

And yes, screentime, screentime, screentime. The reason for that is the Price Action. You have to get a feeling of it, how price moves or better say: How price moves before any big move is incoming. That makes a pro trader i would say.

Guys, I know everyone has an idea of what it takes to BE a successful and profitable trader, but I don't even want to go that deep into the philosophy of trading, but just the basics of how you trade (parameters/rules) and what you consider a profitable trader to be (profit per month ONLY). There are tons of threads on here discussing HOW to be a profitable trader, what mindset is needed, what philosophy is needed, and all that is very important to trading, but I'm only looking for how you trade and how much money a trader must make per month to be considered "profitable/successful" in your opinion.

Here are the original questions of the thread:

How Do You Trade?
Do you trade real money or Demo account?
What leverage do you use? (10:1, 50:1, 200:1, 400:1, etc.)
What are the normal lots you trade? (Full/mini/micro)
What is your normal lot size number (1/5/10/etc.)
Do you trade with a set R:R?
Do you have a set pip number goal for each trade?
Do you have a max account % per trade?
How many trades do you make per week on average?
How long do you stay at your computer/phone daily (average # of hours)

Your Definition of a Profitable Trader
How much profit per month is a "successful" trader? (No %, but an actual dollar value)

I trade 4 different 5- and 6-figure accounts. All but 1 are IRA accounts. One of the 6-figure ones is a Roth account that I've grown from an initial deposit of $3,500, about 10-12 years ago, and there were some years where it got $0 contributions.

I will trade up to 50-60% of my total margin, which is pretty risky. I am risk tolerant because I am trying to set up trades with low to very low risk. I trade only defined-risk trades. At any given time, in any given account, I am in I'd say an average of 8-10 active trades. Most trades are on a 1-2 week cycle, but I also do day trades and 45-day to 60-day trades. I'm just trading options, >90% index options, mostly SPX, XSP, RUT, NDX & QQQ, with some individual stock options sometimes, usually around earnings.

I have been profitable in options for about the last 5 years. I first started trading options about 12 yr ago, and there were a few years in that run where I did not trade at all. Some of those years I had some awesome returns and some were just a little better than break-even. 2023 was a shitty year; 2022 was the best ever. I have high hopes for 2024...

I work a normal 40-hr a week professional level job. I've worked steadily in my profession for almost 40 years. I'd hate to know I had to trade for a living, but, at this point, I know I could. I'll be retiring pretty soon, will continue trading for income then, probably until I'm too senile to continue.

I guess I spend an hour or so planning/managing trades each day, on average. However, I am always watching markets, listening to financial news. I trade around events a lot, try to time trades around those. Sometimes it works well.

A profitable trader is one whose winnings exceed his/her losses. (No duh, TF.) I've had several respected traders on this forum (acumen, Pipple, etc) tell me: if you're breaking even, you're a good trader. Not sure I'd go along with that 100%, but I know what they meant. Trading is hard. Until it's not. If you can survive long enough, you will probably have a chance to learn from all your mistakes and become a profitable trader.

Honestly speaking it's been 3 years in the game. I started trading in May 2021. All I can say is that patience is virtue. I can not say that I am an expert in this game. I am just a rookie.
If you can risk more than 2% of your account. it's okay as long as you have good money management skills. let's take an example. if on monthly base you take 1 to 4 trades with high probability setups and you risk 2% of your account and it works for you, I think that's your way and you should keep your way without switching strategies. 2% per trade would be a problem if you frequently trade. for me I take 1 to 5 trades per month on 1% risk per trade, by trading Daily time frame and weekly time frame and it has been working for me. I try to reduce frequency of trading because in this market, I know that I reached the point where I burnt and feel depressed because frequently trading. I remember the time I had good profit and later in loosed my profit because I had mindset of trading every day and every week. About leverage I trade on 1:100.

How Do You Trade?
Do you trade real money or Demo account?

Real money and funded prop (so officially demo)

What leverage do you use? (10:1, 50:1, 200:1, 400:1, etc.)

200:1 on personal account. 30:1 on funded account. Doesn't make much difference though as 30:1 is plenty for me.

What are the normal lots you trade? (Full/mini/micro)
What is your normal lot size number (1/5/10/etc.)

Position sizes change depending on the size of the SL/TP, somewhere between 5-20, average around 10.

Do you trade with a set R:R?

Yes, 1:1. However, SL is often moved to entry and loses cut short manually, so on average, actual R:R is working out around 1:7 at the moment.

Do you have a set pip number goal for each trade?

No. The number of pips gained on a trade is irrelevant. TP is set from the size of the SL, with position size calculated accordingly. I've never got the whole "I made X pips today". It means nothing without context of risk and position size.

Do you have a max account % per trade?

Yes, I risk 1% of my account per trade.

How many trades do you make per week on average?

Ahh, a great question. I have got up to about 30 but tend to do better when I trade less, sometimes as little as 2-3 trades. I like to trade every day if I can, it's hard to walk away not having traded at all, and this is something I am working on.

How long do you stay at your computer/phone daily (average # of hours)

Another thing I am working on. I only trade the start of the NY session now so 2-3 hours. Life is also for living, I get grumpy if I sit for too long, there's a whole world out there and I'm not getting any younger. So, a balanced, healthy life while still making money is my goal.

Your Definition of a Profitable Trader
How much profit per month is a "successful" trader? (No %, but an actual dollar value)

This is such a personal thing and depends on an individual's lifestyle, where they live etc. I actually believe a profitable trader is any trader who achieves a consistent profit, regardless of the amount. However, in answer to your question, I would say a successful 'full time' trader would be making enough to pay the bills, while building a nest egg, so in the UK we'd be looking at 50-100K a year, depending on location, lifestyle and expenses, so say 5-10K a month on average.

Just my opinion... I'm sure there are plenty of happy traders making around 2K a month, mortgage is paid off, pension is paying the bills, no-pressure trading income is paying for treats and holidays.

Still trying to learn to be a profitable trader, maybe my experience and trading skills are far less than all my trader friends who can earn thousands of dollars per month, my profit of just hundreds of dollars is already better than wasting money, although still not yet consistent