How many trade Forex, fulltime, for a living? | Forex Factory

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How many trade Forex, fulltime, for a living?

  • #1
  • First Post: Mar 5, 2008 1:48am Mar 5, 2008 1:48am
... without a second income?
  • #2
  • Mar 5, 2008 1:55am Mar 5, 2008 1:55am
Quoting scexglobal
... without a second income?

I have been trading forex for five years now full time, currently I make $100,000 a month so I don't need any additional income
  • #3
  • Mar 5, 2008 1:57am Mar 5, 2008 1:57am
Go to malaysia thread.there is a pool on that thread.yes, im without second income.cheers

Quoting scexglobal
... without a second income?
  • #4
  • Mar 5, 2008 2:03am Mar 5, 2008 2:03am
The reason why I asked this is because Igrok told me the following:

"Like I said, I don't really know anyone else making living almost entirely by trading FX for 15 years straight without being a part of some sort of brokerage firm of a bank. If you do really know someone else of this sort then, please, just let me know who the person is. All the experienced traders that I personally know from around the world usually do have some additional source of income besides making actual profits on the market whether it's an IB fee, various commissions or any other sort of income not directly related to their trading performance."
  • #5
  • Mar 5, 2008 2:36am Mar 5, 2008 2:36am
Quoting edward77
I have been trading forex for five years now full time, currently I make $100,000 a month so I don't need any additional income
Something smells funny here.

check out his previous post in the cable update (GBPUSD) thread.

http://www.forexfactory.com/showthre...03#post1853503

Quoting edward77
I just doubled my account in a week, from $5000 to $10,555
All winners no losers
  • #6
  • Mar 5, 2008 4:22am Mar 5, 2008 4:22am
How many traders trade forex full time without second income?

Answer: Probably about 1 %

Because 95 per cent are losers and 5 per cent are winners (Out of the 5 per cent winners I guess 4 per cent have second income)
  • #7
  • Mar 5, 2008 4:24am Mar 5, 2008 4:24am
Quoting edward77
So, what is your problem idiot? you are just jealous because I am successful and you are a loser? LOL
Yes, thats right, HE is the idiot because YOU got busted! Good Job, I don't think it is the fact that you are so successful, I think it is the fact that you lied. Let me guess, its one of your many accounts that is churning out $$$ for you huh? douchebag...

And as for the topic from scexglobal, this question has been asked SO many times before, couldn't you use the search function? Why do you (and so many others) concern yourself with what other people are doing or making? I never did understand that...
  • #8
  • Mar 5, 2008 4:34am Mar 5, 2008 4:34am
Quoting traderjai_inhi
Yes, thats right, HE is the idiot because YOU got busted! Good Job, I don't think it is the fact that you are so successful, I think it is the fact that you lied. Let me guess, its one of your many accounts that is churning out $$$ for you huh? douchebag...

And as for the topic from scexglobal, this question has been asked SO many times before, couldn't you use the search function? Why do you (and so many others) concern yourself with what other people are doing or making? I never did understand that...
Read my second post... that's why.

And anyway why noy heard from people's experiences... they do count for something don't they?
  • #9
  • Mar 5, 2008 11:04am Mar 5, 2008 11:04am
I primarily trade FX for a living, but do have a weekend job. It works out great because i can do lots of research at work and then have the whole week to trade. I get full insurance, 401K and the opportunity to socialize with my peers. Trading full time can be a very lonely experience if you never leave the house. I trade a lot on the road so that keeps me well refreshed and still give me a social life. In fact some of best trading has been done while on vacation.

Roland
  • #10
  • Mar 5, 2008 11:18am Mar 5, 2008 11:18am
Quoting Rolandlc33
I primarily trade FX for a living, but do have a weekend job. It works out great because i can do lots of research at work and then have the whole week to trade. I get full insurance, 401K and the opportunity to socialize with my peers. Trading full time can be a very lonely experience if you never leave the house. I trade a lot on the road so that keeps me well refreshed and still give me a social life. In fact some of best trading has been done while on vacation.

Roland
Same here. Traded full time for about 8 months. Made plenty of $$$ but a very lonely time. I now fix a few computers on the side mainly for the customer interaction. It has made me a better trader.
Pip By Pip
  • #11
  • Mar 5, 2008 12:47pm Mar 5, 2008 12:47pm
The problem with this type of question is survivorship bias. You won't be hearing from the thousands (millions?) who attempted full-time trading and lost everything. You're only going to hear from those who are long-term successful (<5%), or short-term successful and haven't yet joined the former or latter group (though statistics tells us which group they're more likely to ultimately join..).

Only hearing from the successful ones paints the false picture that trading full-time is a worthwhile endeavor for most (when it clearly is not). Forums aren't the only place that paint this picture, it's all media: hundreds of trading books, thousands of trading websites, TV shows, etc. There's a LOT of money to be made in selling the dream.. That's why so many intermediate traders end up going that route (or at least partaking in it), Igrok, the PFX guys, it's easy money.

I trade full-time, no secondary income. A word of advice to anyone attempting this - there's a significant opportunity cost in choosing not to work full-time and advance one's career. Make sure your profit goals account for such an opportunity cost.
  • #12
  • Mar 5, 2008 12:54pm Mar 5, 2008 12:54pm
Quoting Trader KGB
The problem with this type of question is survivorship bias. You won't be hearing from the thousands (millions?) who attempted full-time trading and lost everything. You're only going to hear from those who are long-term successful (<5%), or short-term successful and haven't yet joined the former or latter group (though statistics tells us which group they're more likely to ultimately join..).

Only hearing from the successful ones paints the false picture that trading full-time is a worthwhile endeavor for most (when it clearly is not). Forums aren't the only place that paint this picture, it's all media: hundreds of trading books, thousands of trading websites, TV shows, etc. There's a LOT of money to be made in selling the dream.. That's why so many intermediate traders end up going that route (or at least partaking in it), Igrok, the PFX guys, it's easy money.

I trade full-time, no secondary income. A word of advice to anyone attempting this - there's a significant opportunity cost in choosing not to work full-time and advance one's career. Make sure your profit goals account for such an opportunity cost.
So you're going to start selling that trading system soon eh? :
Patience + Humility + Study = Success
  • #13
  • Mar 5, 2008 12:55pm Mar 5, 2008 12:55pm
Quoting DutchTrader
So you're going to start selling that trading system soon eh? :
Don't ask.
  • #14
  • Mar 5, 2008 12:58pm Mar 5, 2008 12:58pm
Quoting Trader KGB
Don't ask.
All jokes aside, I agree with your post, but then if you think about it FX trading is a business. How many "small businesses" survive? Not many.
Patience + Humility + Study = Success
  • #15
  • Mar 5, 2008 1:09pm Mar 5, 2008 1:09pm
Quoting traderjai_inhi
Why do you (and so many others) concern yourself with what other people are doing or making? I never did understand that...


Those that watch what others are doing, trade the same way -following the crowd instead of going against. And as we know the crowd is almost always wrong at key turning points.
  • #16
  • Mar 5, 2008 5:38pm Mar 5, 2008 5:38pm
Quoting Trader KGB
The problem with this type of question is survivorship bias. You won't be hearing from the thousands (millions?) who attempted full-time trading and lost everything. You're only going to hear from those who are long-term successful (<5%), or short-term successful and haven't yet joined the former or latter group (though statistics tells us which group they're more likely to ultimately join..).

Only hearing from the successful ones paints the false picture that trading full-time is a worthwhile endeavor for most (when it clearly is not). Forums aren't the only place that paint this picture, it's all media: hundreds of trading books, thousands of trading websites, TV shows, etc. There's a LOT of money to be made in selling the dream.. That's why so many intermediate traders end up going that route (or at least partaking in it), Igrok, the PFX guys, it's easy money.

I trade full-time, no secondary income. A word of advice to anyone attempting this - there's a significant opportunity cost in choosing not to work full-time and advance one's career. Make sure your profit goals account for such an opportunity cost.
May I frame this post?
  • #17
  • Nov 23, 2010 5:54am Nov 23, 2010 5:54am
Quoting PipStar
How many traders trade forex full time without second income?

Answer: Probably about 1 %

Because 95 per cent are losers and 5 per cent are winners (Out of the 5 per cent winners I guess 4 per cent have second income)
The 5% winner 95% looser figures look probable to me and you can find them on every second web page on Forex trade.
But it is many days now and I still have not found a shred of solid statistical evidence that these figures are real. Anyone has references to a publication?
At the moment I am under impression that there is a conspiracy not to reveal the true figure such as 0.001% to 99.999.
(may be Forex brokers pay for the silence in order to protect their golden goose)
I want to learn and build a small business but I would not be bothered if the odds of being succesfull were similar to those in casino's roulette.
Many of you guys in this forum sound like succesful people are you sure you are not one of 0.001%?
  • #18
  • Edited 7:47pm Dec 26, 2010 7:32pm | Edited 7:47pm
I am new to Forex, but have calculated that if you have a large enough initial deposit to handle 1 lot per trade ($10 per pip), then to get, for example, a $4000 a month income in Forex you would only have to aim for 20 pips a day 5 days a week. That is of course if you had no 20 pip loses during the month. Factoring in some 20 pip losses even $2500 - $3000 monthly income would be enough for some of us to live off of comfortably depending upon lifestyle choices and whether we have buried ourself in debt or not.

You would think there is a EA (Expert Advisor) trading robot out there that can consistently produce one 20 pip win a day (and then turns off until the next day) - perhaps a EA you can set to trade only during the most probable 2 hours (like the London Breakout), and then only allow 1 trade a day so it does not trade around the clock and erase all your wins with losses. More risky would be to trade only twice a week (Tuesday and Wednesday London breakout) and aim for a 50 pip gain each of those two days, and then don't trade again until the following week. That too would give you a large monthly income if the losses are minimal.

But it also depends upon your definition of "large income". $10,000 yearly may be a large income for one person where as, depending upon location and lifestyle choices, someone else will require over $100,000 a year. For such you would have to up it to 50 pip (1000 pips a month at $10 a pip) wins a day 5 days a week...and so on and so forth. That would be more difficult then aiming for half that amount or less.
  • #19
  • Dec 26, 2010 8:31pm Dec 26, 2010 8:31pm
Quote
a $4000 a month income in Forex you would only have to aim for 20 pips a day 5 days a week

This will sound elitest, but I think people who think that way are generally destined to struggle. My bet is that the aim of most successful traders is to grow the account, not to make x pips over y time period. If I required $4k per month to live, I'd want to average at least double that to feel comfortable, and more again to ensure significant capital growth.
  • #20
  • Dec 26, 2010 10:19pm Dec 26, 2010 10:19pm
Quoting Mr J
This will sound elitest, but I think people who think that way are generally destined to struggle. My bet is that the aim of most successful traders is to grow the account, not to make x pips over y time period. If I required $4k per month to live, I'd want to average at least double that to feel comfortable, and more again to ensure significant capital growth.
The aim should be to grow your account, but differences such as trading mini lots versus full lots, to grow the account by a specific amount requires much different pip amounts...and possibly a different strategy. So looking at both aspects (pips needed/amount wanted) helps to determine the goal that is right for that individual.

One thing to not forget (if a US citizen, anyway) is the tax aspect. You may make $4000/month, but it is not all yours to spend as you wish....you need to take all the federal, state and city taxes into consideration. A good rule of thumb is to determine what you need as an income and double that. And as you make money, put some away for taxes, because you still have to pay even if you wind up losing your profits later on! What you don't want to do is have to write a check to the IRS that makes a big dent in your trading account!

Just my 2 pips...
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