This is why 95% of retail traders lose!!! | Page 3 | Forex Factory

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This is why 95% of retail traders lose!!!

  • #41
  • Nov 29, 2019 3:02am Nov 29, 2019 3:02am
Quoting Powter
The numbers on the ratio of losers and winners. in fact, nothing is for sure. But overall, in my experience it is approximate. Because, the nature of a trader is not a school
Traders join in Forex trading with a huge expectations but when they face the reality of Forex; then they lose their momentum as well!
  • #42
  • Nov 29, 2019 9:58am Nov 29, 2019 9:58am
Quoting guttsman007
{quote} I don't understand the question at all. What's there to clarify?
"The nature of trader is not a school"? I am not sure what he's trying to say.
  • #43
  • Feb 28, 2020 8:21pm Feb 28, 2020 8:21pm
Quoting guttsman007
I started trading in January 2018.
I see! Perhaps if you weren't so quick to block people on your threads and actually listen to what they have to say, you just might find out they know enough about trading to be of help to you.
Learn from your mistakes and march on.
  • #44
  • Aug 26, 2020 2:16pm Aug 26, 2020 2:16pm
Most of the traders lose their money because of their low knowledge and experience. knowledge is very important to make money from this market.
  • #45
  • Mar 4, 2022 8:12am Mar 4, 2022 8:12am
Quoting guttsman007
{quote} Which is more reason why there's more against the retail trader than simply being misinformed. Although this thread isn't about brokers, I didn't really know spreads are better in the retail sector, not that it matters anyway since supposedly "95" percent lose. Honestly I wouldn't be surprised if the number is higher. Those that have made consistent profits are traders who have learned to adapt their strategy to market conditions or have inside information.

Is there any evidence to prove that ANY retail trader has EVER been consistently profitable over 5 - 10 years?

And if so, how profitable - did they still need to keep the day job and have 'alternative income streams'?

I haven't seen any evidence, ever, of a person earning a living from trading forex. Not once. Ever.
  • #46
  • Mar 11, 2022 3:32am Mar 11, 2022 3:32am
Quoting slyddar
Honestly, I have not seen a single trader in my career who didn’t make huge losses. And there’s nothing very surprising about this because that’s how the game works. You sometimes lose more than you win but if the value of profits is more than your losses, you are doing well.
Dude, it is 2018 year. Nobody will see this.
  • #47
  • Mar 11, 2022 3:42am Mar 11, 2022 3:42am
Quoting slyddar
Honestly, I have not seen a single trader in my career who didn’t make huge losses. And there’s nothing very surprising about this because that’s how the game works. You sometimes lose more than you win but if the value of profits is more than your losses, you are doing well.
yes , but after having a huge losses that is really difficult to keep control emotions , most of the traders trade over and over after making losses . due to this habit they lost almost whole equity.
  • #48
  • Mar 11, 2022 7:53am Mar 11, 2022 7:53am
Quoting JauntyLoon
{quote} Is there any evidence to prove that ANY retail trader has EVER been consistently profitable over 5 - 10 years? And if so, how profitable - did they still need to keep the day job and have 'alternative income streams'? I haven't seen any evidence, ever, of a person earning a living from trading forex. Not once. Ever.
You did not even search. Should they write emails to you about how successful they are?
Anyway, I saw successful traders, but they usually keep a low profile.
Risk Management is of utmost importance!
  • #49
  • Mar 14, 2022 2:08am Mar 14, 2022 2:08am
that's really true the traders who successful they for all time keep a low profile , difficult to make sure his real identity easily.
  • #50
  • Mar 10, 2026 8:47pm Mar 10, 2026 8:47pm
At the end of the day, those 5% that end up making is are the ones who didn't give up and kept doing and working on themselves.
  • #51
  • Mar 11, 2026 3:27am Mar 11, 2026 3:27am
Quoting JauntyLoon
{quote} Is there any evidence to prove that ANY retail trader has EVER been consistently profitable over 5 - 10 years? And if so, how profitable - did they still need to keep the day job and have 'alternative income streams'? I haven't seen any evidence, ever, of a person earning a living from trading forex. Not once. Ever.
Ok, this thread is several years old so I don't expect all the posters to see this, my reply is more for those interested reading today.

There are a few of us here. I've been trading for more than 18 years and trading full time for more than 5 years. Having said that I don't trade FX because there are better trending asset classes like commodities and equities. Like others have mentioned, I just focus on my process when trading, keep a low profile both online and IRL when not trading, and post occasionally when I get bored.

You can recognize the successful traders on here by their humility, modest attitudes and what they write about: analyzing market conditions, advanced risk management, importance of minimizing losses, process adherence, mental preparation, challenges of trading for a living, covering expenses and taxes etc., i.e. stuff that most struggling traders would find extremely boring because real profitable trading is extremely boring. The pro traders that I personally know find excitement in the evolving markets and investor positioning as well as customizing and improving their own processes, not so much in the actual trading / buying / selling / making money.

Rarely do you see successful traders posting about trading systems, strategies, indicators, win rates, TP/SL ratios, how much they've made etc.
  • #52
  • Mar 13, 2026 2:13am Mar 13, 2026 2:13am
they treat profits and losses with two completely different systems.
  • #53
  • Mar 13, 2026 5:21am Mar 13, 2026 5:21am
Quoting CoffeeFreak
{quote} Ok, this thread is several years old so I don't expect all the posters to see this, my reply is more for those interested reading today. There are a few of us here. I've been trading for more than 18 years and trading full time for more than 5 years. Having said that I don't trade FX because there are better trending asset classes like commodities and equities. Like others have mentioned, I just focus on my process when trading, keep a low profile both online and IRL when not trading, and post occasionally when I get bored. You can recognize...
It applies to many rich people too. Look how humble they’re, not showing off with Rolex and with fancy cars. All you see on the internet it’s just another “gurus” or influencers that try to sell something. What is the point of sharing your winning system? Happiness likes silence, while profit likes simple and boring things, like discipline and rules. You’re 100%, not 1000% right about this.
  • #54
  • Mar 13, 2026 5:22am Mar 13, 2026 5:22am
Quoting CoffeeFreak
{quote} Ok, this thread is several years old so I don't expect all the posters to see this, my reply is more for those interested reading today. There are a few of us here. I've been trading for more than 18 years and trading full time for more than 5 years. Having said that I don't trade FX because there are better trending asset classes like commodities and equities. Like others have mentioned, I just focus on my process when trading, keep a low profile both online and IRL when not trading, and post occasionally when I get bored. You can recognize...
Trading for 18 years is insane… I guess you have seen it all in the trading space already, but you said you are trading 5 years fully now. what held you back from going all in earlier? Does it really take 10+ years to see consistent results, or was that more specific to your situation because of work or other commitments?

Plus, if you don’t mind sharing, can you tell us what you trade and how you trade? Are you running an algo, or did you develop your own strategy over the years? I'm not asking for your secret sauce or anything, just hoping to learn from someone who's been in the game this long and pick up a bit of knowledge. Of course, only if you're comfortable sharing.
  • #55
  • Edited Mar 14, 2026 4:19am Mar 13, 2026 9:51am | Edited Mar 14, 2026 4:19am
Quoting jSandoval
{quote} Trading for 18 years is insane… I guess you have seen it all in the trading space already, but you said you are trading 5 years fully now. what held you back from going all in earlier? Does it really take 10+ years to see consistent results, or was that more specific to your situation because of work or other commitments?
For me, it was all of the above, but the main reasons were:

  1. I was too undercapitalized
  2. After 10 years of obsessing, I acquired a lot of trading knowledge but I had very few actual trading skills

As a trader, you have to understand that you are up against institutions, hedge funds, banks, macro funds and various other professional participants who do this full time. Your profits will come from them and they take no prisoners.

Becoming good enough to compete at this level is going to take time and will involve a much deeper learning than the conventional trading advice found on the internet. This is true for all professions: It took me 6 years to get my university degree, another 6 years working for a company before I figured out how to get ahead in my career and then another 3 years before I could leverage my professional experience to stand out and make the big money.

Quoting jSandoval
{quote} Plus, if you don’t mind sharing, can you tell us what you trade and how you trade?
Sure, no problem.

What I trade: equities, metals, energy and commodities via stocks, futures and ETFs.

How I trade: I use technical analysis to position myself ahead of the institutional capital flow, which is a fancy way of saying I get in at the beginning of new long term trends ahead of the big money and then let them drive the market higher. For example, today, institutional capital is shifting out of financial assets & cyclical equities and flowing into hard assets such as precious metals, energy, uranium, lithium and the broader commodities sector.

Quoting jSandoval
{quote} Are you running an algo, or did you develop your own strategy over the years? I'm not asking for your secret sauce or anything, just hoping to learn from someone who's been in the game this long and pick up a bit of knowledge. Of course, only if you're comfortable sharing.
I don't mind sharing at all, but you're asking the wrong questions, my friend!

I don't run an algo and my current strategy is my own that I developed over the past few years. However my strategy isn't the secret sauce because I can be profitable with virtually any strategy, including random coin flips, i.e. no strategy, no edge.

Unfortunately there is a lot of misinformation and unrealistic expectations in the retail trading community. Here are some hard won insights:

  1. When I was struggling, I focused 90% of my time and energy on strategies, indicators, win rates, TP/SL ratios and trading psychology. This is actually the least important part of trading.
  2. A position that is aligned and in sync with the market will win, a position that isn't will lose. It doesn't matter what strategy was used to put on that position.
  3. The most important part of trading is reading the market / analyzing the market conditions: is it trending or ranging, what is the probability of the market moving higher / lower, how much further is it likely to run, what is the risk-to-reward potential of the current setup (note: this is not the same thing as a strategy's SL-to-TP ratio). Based on this analysis, is this an A+, B, C, D or F opportunity?

Hopefully you've noticed that struggling traders can name their strategy, indicators, TP/SL ratio and win rate. But how much can they actually answer about what the market is doing or the current setup in front of them (questions in #3)?

EDIT 1: I'll add a little more context for those that are interested. Looking back, I struggled for so long because I took shortcuts and the online trading community is full of them. I wasted years searching for the perfect strategy because that was easier (=shortcut) vs taking the time to properly learn to read a market. After 10 years, 100s of books on trading & psychology, countless strategies & indicators, I had very advanced trading knowledge but couldn't understand why I was still emotional and inconsistent.

EDIT 2: The first breakthrough came after I made the decision that I was going to make a living from trading, no matter what it took. That's when I realized that I needed to stop taking shortcuts / chasing strategies and learn to objectively identify when the market turned against my position. So I didn't take a single trade for 1½ years and focused that time 60+ hours a week on improving my market analysis and chart reading skills. Eventually I got so good at it that I became profitable with a coin flip, i.e. cut losers quickly and let winners ride by ignoring the open P&L and staying in a trade until the market turned against my position. This was the breakthrough realization---profitable trading is about being aligned with the market not strategies & win rates.

EDIT 3: After realizing that any strategy could be profitable, I started designing one to suit my personality and preferred lifestyle. My goal was to maximize profitability, minimize screen time. I wanted to be a first class passenger on a luxury high speed train, i.e. get in at the beginning of new major trends ahead of the institutional capital and professional money, then let them push the trend as far as it would go. So, I focused on learning where the current ongoing major trends would end and to identify where the next major trends would be.

Hope this helped.

  • #56
  • Last Post: Mar 18, 2026 4:27am Mar 18, 2026 4:27am
Quoting CoffeeFreak
{quote} For me, it was all of the above, but the main reasons were: I was too undercapitalized After 10 years of obsessing, I acquired a lot of trading knowledge but I had very few actual trading skills As a trader, you have to understand that you are up against institutions, hedge funds, banks, macro funds and various other professional participants who do this full time. Your profits will come from them and they take no prisoners. Becoming good enough to compete at this level is going to take time and will involve a much deeper learning than the...
Wow, I really appreciate such a detailed and honest answer, even tho I wasn’t the one asking for it. It's actually rare to find someone willing to share the hard won insights instead of just selling another perfect strategy online for thousands of dollars.
Your point about market analysis being mmore important than indicators or win rates is spot on!! too many retail traders, not gonna lie myself included sometimes, chase setups without actually reading the context. If you can cut losers and let WInners run, alignment with the market matters more than the entry method, that is right. Anyway, thanks for the reality check on shortcuts and the REMINDER that real skill and getting profitable takes time. Respect.
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