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How much money can a seasoned semi-pro make with trading on Forex?

  • #81
  • Aug 30, 2008 7:42am Aug 30, 2008 7:42am
Quoting hanover
No offense to anybody, but if I could capture even 10 pips per day, four days out of every five, I'd be a forex millionaire within a few years. At 100:1 leverage that's easily possible.

Let's be more realistic. Here's a post by a pro trader who's widely acknowledged as a master at his craft (he's a frequent contributor to magazines like Trader's World), and has more than 30 years experience. Of course his is not the only way to trade, but I'd say it's a safe bet that he's looked at plenty of different approaches throughout his career. Recommended reading, IMHO.

David
You will be a millionaire in less than a year with 10 pips a day and compounding trust me.
  • #82
  • Aug 30, 2008 11:07am Aug 30, 2008 11:07am
I never sayd it is/will be easy, in fact, it is needed a huge experience, YEARS (not days or months) of pratice and studies, and a solid self-control, and of course it is impossible that EVERYDAY you end in profit, there are always bad days, but.. damn it is not impossible, and it is not soo crazy, i'm not saying 90% of people can do it, but i'm SURE that many traders trade this way, and are successful doing it. It is not crazy.
  • #83
  • Aug 30, 2008 10:13pm Aug 30, 2008 10:13pm
Quoting fxRichard
You will be a millionaire in less than a year with 10 pips a day and compounding trust me.
Richard, I was generalizing. Much depends on profit factor (accuracy of system determines return vs drawdown); trading timeframe (obviously scalping is going to allow more frequent compounding than position trading); position sizing (compounding 3% per trade will get you there more than 3x faster than 1%); and (of course) starting account balance.

Projecting the numbers is all too easy to do; winning consistently (at least in my experience) somewhat less so.

David
  • #84
  • Aug 30, 2008 10:20pm Aug 30, 2008 10:20pm
amen to that.

Quoting hanover
Projecting the numbers is all too easy to do; winning consistently (at least in my experience) somewhat less so.
  • #85
  • Aug 30, 2008 11:15pm Aug 30, 2008 11:15pm
Wow, some of you guys seem to trade really low risk or just have very little confidence in yourself so you trade very little lots.

Seriously, from a few of these posts I'm seeing 12% return a month. That would kill me. I work 10 hours a day looking for Mexicans to stop from crossing the border and then to come home and only make 12%? So all what I would do is strain my eyes all day for a 12% return.

Seriously grab some balls, you lose money, it sucks, but when you get a big return its awesome. I currently got 2 trade that got 558 pips that are from the 27th. Now at a .10 lot that would be $558 or at size 1 $5500, but I did one for a size 4 and the other size 8, so I'm at 30k.
  • #86
  • Edited 5:00am Aug 31, 2008 12:45am | Edited 5:00am
that's great. i wonder how you'd be feeling if the trades went against you? would you still have this gung ho attitude?

everyone's risk tolerance is different. if i had a 25K account, i'd trade it a hell of a lot differently than a 10K account.

well, scalping and risking a huge percent of my account on a single trade was never my style. some people swear by it, but you're bound to get burned eventually.

i would say "keep it up" but the market is gonna decide your fate on way or the other. thanks for serving America.... as a former DoD contractor, i appreciate the perpetual effort in keeping America strong.

Quoting sf0d
Seriously grab some balls, you lose money, it sucks, but when you get a big return its awesome. I currently got 2 trade that got 558 pips that are from the 27th. Now at a .10 lot that would be $558 or at size 1 $5500, but I did one for a size 4 and the other size 8, so I'm at 30k.
  • #87
  • Aug 31, 2008 3:03am Aug 31, 2008 3:03am
Quoting sf0d
Wow, some of you guys seem to trade really low risk or just have very little confidence in yourself so you trade very little lots.

Seriously, from a few of these posts I'm seeing 12% return a month. That would kill me. I work 10 hours a day looking for Mexicans to stop from crossing the border and then to come home and only make 12%? So all what I would do is strain my eyes all day for a 12% return.

Seriously grab some balls, you lose money, it sucks, but when you get a big return its awesome. I currently got 2 trade that got 558 pips that are from the 27th. Now at a .10 lot that would be $558 or at size 1 $5500, but I did one for a size 4 and the other size 8, so I'm at 30k.
Is this post a joke? This guys thinks 12% per month isn't worthwhile? If you are making these returns then you are overleveraging and have gotten very lucky. I expect to see you in the trader graveyard very soon, if that's the case. I hope you enjoy your border job.

I love your logic: just trade more lots and you make more money. Brilliant. Why didn't I think of that? But I wonder why you don't just trade 1000 units. You'd be a bazillionaire. And how right you are. Screw the losses. It's all about that rush of the winner.
  • #88
  • Aug 31, 2008 4:39am Aug 31, 2008 4:39am
I'm talking about the beginning where they said you could make 2,500 in 2 months off of 10k account.

Right now I keep my account at 100k and in 2 days I got 30k, so right now I'm at 130k.

I originally when I started trading Forex had a 10k account and I got it to 25k in a couple of months.
  • #89
  • Aug 31, 2008 1:40pm Aug 31, 2008 1:40pm
I think what sf0d is saying is that when opportunity is knocking - open the damn door. August was a once in a year opportunity. Some traders probably made their whole years projected returns in just this month. Sept is shaping up to be a door buster also. Two once a year opportunities - back to back - very possible.


Quoting sf0d
I'm talking about the beginning where they said you could make 2,500 in 2 months off of 10k account.

Right now I keep my account at 100k and in 2 days I got 30k, so right now I'm at 130k.

I originally when I started trading Forex had a 10k account and I got it to 25k in a couple of months.
In trading, there is no bullshit. You either make money or you don't.
  • #90
  • Aug 31, 2008 2:01pm Aug 31, 2008 2:01pm
I would agree with you In the month of august I almost doubled my acct. I did take some extra risk, but there is a time and a place for every thing. I got several really big positions for my size of account , but it was when I was already up in a major way, so I doubled down for a risk free trade with sl brought to BE. This is one of the methods that my mentor Roland Campbell has taught me. I think it was WH tenn who told me along time ago to find a mentor to help get started. That was the best advise I have ever gotten on this forum. The biggest trick to that was finding some one who is a legitimate professional who is willing to mentor. THANK YOU ROLAND
Quoting mrgreen
I think what sf0d is saying is that when opportunity is knocking - open the damn door. August was a once in a year opportunity. Some traders probably made their whole years projected returns in just this month. Sept is shaping up to be a door buster also. Two once a year opportunities - back to back - very possible.
  • #91
  • Aug 31, 2008 3:14pm Aug 31, 2008 3:14pm
that is definitely one way to trade.... but if it stops out at break even, you have to rely on trades in less reliable markets to make money, which can be tough.

Quoting George B.
I got several really big positions for my size of account , but it was when I was already up in a major way, so I doubled down for a risk free trade with sl brought to BE.
  • #92
  • Sep 1, 2008 3:12am Sep 1, 2008 3:12am
Quoting tdion
that is definitely one way to trade.... but if it stops out at break even, you have to rely on trades in less reliable markets to make money, which can be tough.
Did i hear my name???

Your correct.. but the dollar was breaking out of its range so it was a very good gamble that paid off big. I'm glad we held our dollar long position over the weekend (something i rarely do) because as expected we caught traders long the other pair on hope the hurricane would cause a sell off. In a classic way this news was all hype and built into it already.

Thanks for the props George.. but its your patience and hard work that has gotten you such fantastic returns.

Ro
  • #93
  • Sep 1, 2008 8:20pm Sep 1, 2008 8:20pm
Quoting George B.
.........I was already up in a major way, so I doubled down for a risk free trade with sl brought to BE.........
If I have an position that's already in profit, and I "double down" by adding a new order, then when I set the stoploss for the new order, I risk forfeiting some of my original profit (i.e. if the trend happens to reverse at that point, causing the second position to get stopped out).

I understand that if I set the SL for the second order tight enough so that the profit made to date can't possibly be lost, then overall that's a "risk free trade". But that is still introducing new risk, i.e. risk of forfeiting profit that's already been gained. Ultimately, all losses equally affect one's bottom line.

August's trend was a relatively rare event. If the profits gained by "doubling down" are offset by losses suffered on the occasions when one doubles but the trend doesn't persist, then any benefit of doubling is negated. Without owning a crystal ball, how does one know in advance whether a trend is likely to persist for long enough, in order to make doubling the position worthwhile?

What am I missing here?

David
  • #94
  • Sep 1, 2008 8:37pm Sep 1, 2008 8:37pm
You aren't missing anything.... nobody knows the future with any certainty except the bankers.

Quoting hanover
Without owning a crystal ball, how does one know in advance whether a trend is likely to persist for long enough, in order to make doubling the position worthwhile?

What am I missing here?
  • #95
  • Sep 1, 2008 10:10pm Sep 1, 2008 10:10pm
Hello you arnt missing anything, It was hard for me to risk a nice profit by doubleing up. But Roland is the mentor and i am the nuubie. His system works and I am working at learning it. Therefore i figured there is no reason to have a mentor if you dont listen to him. Roland has set a goal for me of 6-10 % per month. Some times i may not make that much and other times its obvious that it can be surpased. My only point is that there are no guarantees in this business and when the market conditions are right for the system you are trading ( like now for us) then its worth while taking the chance, We trade alot of news and round number breaks which often get us in good positions so that we can let things develope with fairly low risk.take care GB
  • #96
  • Edited 10:33pm Sep 1, 2008 10:12pm | Edited 10:33pm
Quoting hanover
If I have an position that's already in profit, and I "double down" by adding a new order, then when I set the stoploss for the new order, I risk forfeiting some of my original profit (i.e. if the trend happens to reverse at that point, causing the second position to get stopped out).

I understand that if I set the SL for the second order tight enough so that the profit made to date can't possibly be lost, then overall that's a "risk free trade". But that is still introducing new risk, i.e. risk of forfeiting profit that's already been gained. Ultimately, all losses equally affect one's bottom line.

August's trend was a relatively rare event. If the profits gained by "doubling down" are offset by losses suffered on the occasions when one doubles but the trend doesn't persist, then any benefit of doubling is negated. Without owning a crystal ball, how does one know in advance whether a trend is likely to persist for long enough, in order to make doubling the position worthwhile?

What am I missing here?

David
Your a bit confused about my definition of what a free trade is. Your unrealized gains are not profits and therefore should not be considered as such. When you double down and move the stop to breakeven your trading with the houses money. You have no risk of losing money, which is what George was trying to tell you. Therefore you have the opportunity to make big money and nothing but unrealized profits are risked. It's impossible to lock down unrealized profit and double down.. Your asking to have your cake and eat it too. Of course you wouldn't use this strategy in a ranging market or when you expect a support/resistance level to hold. In most cases we put this type of trade on when a major level has been broken and we expect stop losses reside within that area.

Once again George has knocked down another big trade. In this case he did the opposite of the above mentioned strategy. We avg. into our position as it was going against us. Once GBP dropped like a rock we came out looking very good. It just goes to show its not the strategy, but proper useage of it that really makes the difference.
  • #97
  • Sep 1, 2008 10:57pm Sep 1, 2008 10:57pm
Quoting Rolandlc33
.......Therefore you have the opportunity to make big money and nothing but unrealized profits are risked. It's impossible to lock down unrealized profit and double down.. Your asking to have your cake and eat it too.......
Roland, many thanks for the explanation, that's exactly how I understood it (i.e. can't have it both ways). Sorry, perhaps the terminology used in my question was unclear.

BTW, congrats on being part of the Millionaire Traders book.

George, many thanks for your reply also.

David
  • #98
  • Sep 2, 2008 12:12am Sep 2, 2008 12:12am
Quoting hanover
Roland, many thanks for the explanation, that's exactly how I understood it (i.e. can't have it both ways). Sorry, perhaps the terminology used in my question was unclear.

BTW, congrats on being part of the Millionaire Traders book.

George, many thanks for your reply also.

David
Thanks David!

George & I just used this strategy again on the AUD rate announcement. Shorted GBP/AUD right before the news.. It dropped about 50 pips and retraced for us and we added more. Finally the round number broke and we closed the entire set for a nice profit.

Ro
  • #99
  • Sep 2, 2008 1:23am Sep 2, 2008 1:23am
That sounds dangerous.... speculating when

1) GBP is half the pair.... very volatile
2) you played the retracement.... which could have gone against you

I am guessing you use an ECN to trade news.... and have a tight stop in place. but why not just use a straddle, instead of guessing short prior to the release and then "hoping for the best?" And I don't see where doubling down is risk free in this case.

Quoting Rolandlc33
George & I just used this strategy again on the AUD rate announcement. Shorted GBP/AUD right before the news.. It dropped about 50 pips and retraced for us and we added more. Finally the round number broke and we closed the entire set for a nice profit.
  • #100
  • Sep 2, 2008 1:39am Sep 2, 2008 1:39am
Quoting tdion
That sounds dangerous.... speculating when

1) GBP is half the pair.... very volatile
2) you played the retracement.... which could have gone against you

I am guessing you use an ECN to trade news.... and have a tight stop in place. but why not just use a straddle, instead of guessing short prior to the release and then "hoping for the best?" And I don't see where doubling down is risk free in this case.
I'm assuming your confused because doubling down was risk free.. as stated in the above post only the unrealized profits are exposed. If your up 50 pips and you double down then 25 is your break even price. It went on to drop another 50 pips from there. My student made 1k in about 20 mins. and I made a handsome profit as well.

Of course this pair is dangerous.. Its the sister of the beast! Forex trading is risky.. but we calculate how much were willing to take in the first place. The trade was not a gamble. I shorted ahead of the IR because i knew some people were hoping for a 50 bp cut.. When it didn't come you saw the AUD rally temporarily. I chose GBP because it has been most weak against everything.

Plus when you have a 52 win to 3 loss record you can do these types of things.

Ro
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