Profit Factor Target

How do you expect making this comment assist you in becoming a {better} Trader? You have been on this site for so long, why are you so impolite???
> I don't think you are.
Full of prejudice... you have no evidence to make this comment. Respect please!

Hi FXWildcat, PF is not what you think. It is Gross Profit divided by Gross Loss on your monthly statement. PF of 1% is a fatal result.

kk007,
u seem to be a math freak/math genius.
u seem way way better in math than i am. lol

Thanks supremeChaos, I just need to know to use + - * / to do this.

This poll will be closed in 3 hours. Take your last-minute chance to take part, if you like.

I will try to post some conclusions after the poll closed and try to start a fresh discussion based on the poll result.

Cheers.

Thanks for those who have participated in this poll. I would like to draw some conclusion from the result:

First, it is clear that there is a shape here. Not looking like a random distribution.

Although it seems that there were some pollers did not understand the concept of profit factors, I think most of the pollers are fine.
There are two peaks one is around 1.5-3 and the other is >10. What conclusion can be drawn from this?

1. A Profit Factor of >10 is achievable from the eye of few persons. I think within this 6 votes, at least some of them is realistically expecting this level of performance.

2. Most people are between struggle for surival and making a living. I may think targeting a profit factor between 1-2 are those who struggle for surival and 2 or above can make a living.

Constructive comment is welcomed.

Some of the most robust simple trading methods have profit factors of between 1.2 and 1.6 which are highly successful. Why you would put 3 to 10 on the scale is beyond me because the overall longevity of such PFs is really scarce, if available at all. For a PF of 1.5 you are averaging a return of $1.50 for every $1 you risk which over the greater timespan is phenomenal. To point out another PF fact, the game roulette at the casino has a 1.05 PF in favour of the house. That measly 5c turns into 10s of millions every year so you can see that a profit factor of 3 or more isnt really necessary unless your an adrenline junkie and your system calls for overleveraged over risked trades on a short term, the long term will usual unvail these systems to be less than 1.

Backtest some of your systems (with current PFs of 3 or more) for the past 30 years and you will see just how well your system compares through the boom and bust cycles, then compare them to some of the more tried and robust systems that have been in action for that long.

Razor

Yes, that is exactly a point that I wanted to test in this poll - A profit factor above 2 is completely achievable.

This view is demostrated based on the response of the poll, provided that most of them response properly.

I believe trading is a lot better than open a casino in terms of PF.

I have personal asked someone about his PF, he has been achieving a value of 3-6 each month for a period of 1-2 year.