I trade my own account for a living. Tell your story | Page 3 | Forex Factory

Options

Go to
Permalinks
Print Thread

Similar Threads

Tell The World of Your Experience With Your Broker 8 replies

Quit your jobs and trade for a living! no commercials! :) 1 reply

Living in China, trading for a living 18 replies

Tell Me What Trade Your In So I Can Do The Opposite 38 replies

living in europe, should i have account in USD or EUR ? 6 replies

Attachments: I trade my own account for a living. Tell your story
Exit Attachments

I trade my own account for a living. Tell your story

  • #41
  • Jun 18, 2012 8:00am Jun 18, 2012 8:00am
Quoting goods
I might be able to help. Most people dont realize they cant see the market because they do trade overleraged. (This means, their lot size is either too big or they might have appropriate leverage on 1 trade but they another trade(s).

I know its not get rich quick overnight. Just do me one favor and try to remove this from your thinking (you might already have). If you really truly want to see the market, trade naked charts, and just for the hell of it if not for you, do this for me. Your next trade place a 1K lot (.10 a pip). Look for a swing...
yes totally agree with you on that.

For now I'm taking trades outta H4 and D1 charts and pure naked chart. Sometimes I just think, there is no point training my eyes sitting in front of the charts for the past year and still using indicators. Just see how the price moves and trade it. Swing trade is more relaxing and I don't give a damn whether I gain or loss, if you know that I mean (sorry for the harsh word,its only the word that I can think about to express where my emotions right now lol). Anyway regarding your suggestion, I'll do it the next time I plan my trade, maybe bigger swing than I'm taking now, small lots for you haha.. It's ok if I have like 2-3 trades per week.. For now I have some swing positions, long 1.2000 usdcad, short 100.50 eurjpy and short 1.2730 for eurusd. My heart just screaming to close all positions now but a wise man said to me, leave your emotions out of the range and wait for sl/tp to be hit. Don't because of your 5 min worth of thinking, you missed out the profit that you have planned for like 2-3 hours.

Anyway, thanks for the advice, keep it coming man..
  • #42
  • Jun 18, 2012 8:04am Jun 18, 2012 8:04am
Quoting tradista
Yeah, sometimes you have to move away from the terminal for some time... I had a similar moment that lasted about 2 month. It's good for soul I guess (and the kids like the extra time and attention!)
Ditto - im just coming off a 9 month break - assimilating all I learned, digesting my mistakes and trying again.

saw this quote in someone's signature the other day, and I think it's very fitting:

“Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time.”
- Thomas Edison
- Look to the left, Trade to the right - I am the system
  • #43
  • Jun 18, 2012 8:04am Jun 18, 2012 8:04am
Quoting smokey_81
[font=Arial]Indeed I’ve already blown two micro accounts, and that gives me the terms of what this is all about. As for everything on which we have tested, or will test ourselves with in life, one must be consistent, prone to learn, avoid feeling accomplished and overconfident when things go fine or depressed and understated when the market slaps you in the face.
Thanks for sharing Smokey. It seems to me that your goal is very clear and should really give you the strength to achieve it. It's actually very similar to mine that's why everyday I ask myself "how bad to you want it?" ... same answer as yours, right ?
  • #44
  • Jun 18, 2012 8:12am Jun 18, 2012 8:12am
Quoting Madscientist
For now I'm taking trades outta H4 and D1 charts and pure naked chart.
This is good, but you need to narrow in your pa some. Look at it this way D1 then narrow it down to H4, Then h1, then m15, then m1 (make your entries on the m1 chart.) Yes I did say M1. You want a great entry this is where you need to be. Every trade is entered on the M1, after using Top down analasys.


Quoting Madscientist
It's ok if I have like 2-3 trades per week.. For now I have some swing positions, long 1.2000 usdcad, short 100.50 eurjpy and short 1.2730 for eurusd. ..
Sorry but... I am going give some friendly constructive criticism here. Before you have multiple trades, master consistency 1 trade at a time. If . I used to do that I had about 3 to 6 trades going on (fail lol)

Quoting Madscientist
My heart just screaming to close all positions now but a wise man said to me, leave your emotions out of the range and wait for sl/tp to be hit. Don't because of your 5 min worth of thinking, you missed out the profit that you have planned for like 2-3 hours...
My same thoughts as above... Mastery at 1 trade at a time.


Quoting Madscientist
Anyway, thanks for the advice, keep it coming man..

Glad to help anytime.
Know when to hold em, Know when to fold em!
  • #45
  • Jun 18, 2012 8:16am Jun 18, 2012 8:16am
I posted this a last week. Hope this helps

http://www.forexfactory.com/showthread.php?t=367810
Know when to hold em, Know when to fold em!
  • #46
  • Jun 18, 2012 8:57am Jun 18, 2012 8:57am
Yeah what I can do is to analyse all major pairs and just trade the highest probability of them all. Some might call it a hot hands, or maybe not?

Quoting goods
I posted this a last week. Hope this helps

http://www.forexfactory.com/showthread.php?t=367810
Huh this is the kind of post that makes me think for a second, and I like it. Thanks for the link, good stuff..
  • #47
  • Jun 18, 2012 11:22am Jun 18, 2012 11:22am
Quoting tradista
Thanks for sharing Smokey. It seems to me that your goal is very clear and should really give you the strength to achieve it. It's actually very similar to mine that's why everyday I ask myself "how bad to you want it?" ... same answer as yours, right ?
I guess so I want to prove I can do it.

I have read the posts of fellow traders / aspiring traders above, it's nice because I think we all share the same attitude. I too am trying to approach a new method, no more relying simply on indicators that “switch” the green light on when it’s time to buy or sell, rather in price action, patterns and fibo ratios.

I’m reading “Trade What You See” by Larry Pesavento and I think it’s a good starting point. Especially when in the foreword he stresses the concept of acquiring the right mentality and the right habits first, instead of plunging headlong into charts and systems. Most of traders fail because they cannot control the psychological side of this biz, and I think he’s quite right. I too believe there’s more than a mere 5% succeeding in trading, although many probably give up in the long run. If you do so probably it's because you're lacking the will to grab that “freedom” word and make it yours, prefering to stay within the boundaries of your well known daily routines instead of trying something different.

In the end it’s all about how much we want to risk of ourselves, and I’m not thinking about money solely.

Cheers,
  • #48
  • Jun 18, 2012 3:03pm Jun 18, 2012 3:03pm
Quoting Sebastiaan76
“Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time.”
- Thomas Edison
It says everything!!
  • #49
  • Jun 18, 2012 3:07pm Jun 18, 2012 3:07pm
Quoting smokey_81
I guess so I want to prove I can do it.
In the end it’s all about how much we want to risk of ourselves, and I’m not thinking about money solely.
I would say that to achieve sucess in trading you will have to almost come to the DO OR DIE TRYING attitude!
  • #50
  • Edited 10:10pm Jun 21, 2012 9:53pm | Edited 10:10pm
Quoting goods
Your next trade place a 1K lot (.10 a pip). Look for a swing trade that will last 1 to days of being in that trade.

Tell me once you do this if you feel the pain in a trade or if you feel calm, relaxed, focused, and able to see the true market.

Nothing to be ashamed of to cut that trade to 1K lot just to test this out. I did it, and it truly works. You will be amazed to find yourself soon grabbing 50 pips per trade, then 100 per trade then 150 per trade and so on. You will be able to trade like the big money does. Not this measly in and out...

Trading for a living is relative.
To the amount in your account. return on invesment
To the cost of living.
To time invested.
various.

I began trading in 1999, as a slow learner it took me 3.5yrs to turn the corner and I blew several accoutns out. I was trading eminis in the ES and NQ at the time. I had 2 simple techniques. I did not trade for a living but was able to turn a 15k account into a return of 700-1000 a week...12-16hours a week for a long period. Was I overleveraged? yes. But, my stop was close and my accuracy and consistancy was high. At the time I made the equivalent of my salary. So yes making a living from trading is possible. I wasn't rich to the point of multimillionaire status, but I was working with 15-20k futures account. If I had a 100k account at the time it'd likely be scaled accordingly if I wasn't blinded by profits and losses.

Because I'm a slow learner, becoming a profitable trader in FOREX has taken me a long time another 3-5years(WTF?), in large part due to my misunderstanding of the markets and inability to relate my lessons from the futures markets. BUT I have learned it the hard way and 'believe' I have figured many of the idiosyncracies out now. : ) If I went back to NY futures I feel I'd do well.

Why go to FOREX when I was/am profitable in the futures market? Mostly the ability to trade 24/5. Trading NY was harsh on my life. I got dumped by my gf, my life and schedule became a mess, going out with friends and weekends were ruined and I looked like a zombie. My preferred times to trade are now Tokyo Open, Shanghai Open and London Open/Lunch. In my time zone this means I begin looking at the charts at noon, to midnight. With a break between 4-7:30pm.


Recently, in FOREX, I have been working to holding trades over longer than one session. This technique the poster above works wonders if you have enough chart time down. Wager something that is minuscal, then begin to ramp up as confidence builds.

I haven't posted much in years, but this poster above recommendations is one of the best and useful posts I've seen on FF from my own experience.
  • #51
  • Jun 21, 2012 10:20pm Jun 21, 2012 10:20pm
This may be limiting belief for some, but depending where people are at in their curve of success...
consider using a quota. A percentage that is attainable, but challenging. Maybe 2% a week for a beginning trader with a mini account, 3-5% a week for someone who has more experience and success in a mini account as well.
Pip count or tick count is another way to use a quota system.

Personally, I don't think people should risk more than 0.5% a trade when starting out using micros and minis. When they get success begin to ramp it up slowly, maybe 0.5-2.0% a trade. Even with larger accounts I'm of the view that due to FOREX awesome ability to scale risk the use of mini lots should be done. Like 14mini lots. etc.

4% a week compounded is about 300% in a year on an account.

To the people who always parrot how hedge funds and professionals only make xyz% a year on their accounts, that's a limiting belief and you should get out and meet succesful people who know how to trade. More on that point is, as your account increases in zeroes, if you're wise you scale risk down. The 12% on 50mil is a lot different than 300% on 10k. Liquidity and the goals of funds differ.
  • #52
  • Jun 21, 2012 11:30pm Jun 21, 2012 11:30pm
One of the major obstacles for me going from futures in minis to FOREX is understanding the difference in support/resistance.
S/R in minis is a point(maybe 4-6ticks with 4ticks being a point in ES) ES moves so much slower than say the GBPJPY.
S/R in FOREX can be a zone maybe 15-20pips wide, thus StopLoss needs to be a zone.

Another obstacle was volume. I relied heavily on volume when trading eminis. Volume, and a naked chart.
When trading FOREX there is no such thing as accurate volume(as far as I know). Thus commitment and confirmation of a move must be done thru other means(imo).
Last and likely most important key has been time. Understanding time, and flow of money when going from only trading NY to trading ASIA, London, NY had to be viewed differently than trading only NY as a scalper.
Trading Eminis I could do from 1-2monitors succesfully3-4charts up and an order sheet underneath(past so may have changed). Watching DOW/NQ/SP
Trading FOREX I use 4-5monitors watching 4-10 different markets.

My advice is to get a mentor or at the LEAST trade in a room of traders who are more advanced and profitable. There is a saying my friend used to say 'training with people weaker than you makes you weaker' in essence train with people who are better than you so you reap the most benefits. It was how I turned the corner the first time trading with LindaRaschkesLBRgroup. It is how I beleived I turned the corner this time trading in another room with experienced forex traders. I am now currently looking for mentoring to take my trading even further. Many people may gripe how much mentoring cost, seriosuly the cost is relative and after a while minuscal to what you gain from a good mentor imo. If you gain the ability to trade, and eventually to trade any market, how can you put a price on that?
  • #53
  • Jun 21, 2012 11:40pm Jun 21, 2012 11:40pm
Quoting peregrine
4% a week compounded is about 300% in a year on an account.

To the people who always parrot how hedge funds and professionals only make xyz% a year on their accounts, that's a limiting belief and you should get out and meet succesful people who know how to trade. More on that point is, as your account increases in zeroes, if you're wise you scale risk down. The 12% on 50mil is a lot different than 300% on 10k. Liquidity and the goals of funds differ.
So many people here parrot that exactly, so disheartening, saying that pretty much anything over 1-5% a month is fantastic, which over a year comes to 12-60% (uncompounded) growth. Is it too unreasonable to expect a good trader to grow an account by even 4% a week, which would require them to pull off two "net" wins a week? (if 2% risk, 1:1) And so with patience would amount to 4%x52=208% for the year, and be on the way to compounding a living.

I start thinking...really...are you f*king serious? For a sub 6-figure account (most likely below 5 figures!) you're saying that all that time and effort you put into learning to trade and then trading live is all worth 1-5% a month on a small account?

Say an account is $5K, 1-5% growth for the month is $50-$250, in exchange for hours and hours every day/weeknight. Say someone only trades 4 hours a day, that's 20hrs a week, 80hrs a month, so per hour this example trader should be happy with $0.62-$3.13 an hour...with the possibility of making a living after several decades!
  • #54
  • Jun 22, 2012 4:02am Jun 22, 2012 4:02am
Quoting Andrew_S
With a $50k account early this year I made 45% in 17 weeks. Without that money available for personal reasons I am making a $100 - $200 per day off a $1,000 account.

Currently, i would say some time in 2013 I plan to go full time
Thanks for sharing your story. Wish you success in your journey in becoming a full-time trader!
  • #55
  • Jun 22, 2012 4:06am Jun 22, 2012 4:06am
Quoting peregrine
...One of the major obstacles for me going from futures in minis to FOREX is understanding the difference in support/resistance...
Thank you very much for such a detailed overview of your journey towards becoming a profitable trader. The points you make are very right and most interesting. Feel free to post further and share your knowledge and difficulties.
  • #56
  • Jun 22, 2012 4:46am Jun 22, 2012 4:46am
I trade full-time, manage accounts etc.

Took me a long-time to understand how to trade and be profitable long-term.
Basically it isn't so much about analyzing but planning.

Have written an article about it:

http://www.dukascopy.com/fxcomm/fx-a...ons-The&id=786

The article was written for the previous month contest.
Its basically the first step which led me to full-time trading and earning a living from it.
Oh by the way, when I say full-time trading and earning a living from it, I mean I earn from forex have diversified my portfolio to include fixed incomes, commodities, etc.
  • #57
  • Jun 22, 2012 5:23am Jun 22, 2012 5:23am
Quoting neo1599

Have written an article about it:

http://www.dukascopy.com/fxcomm/fx-a...ons-The&id=786
Great article!
  • #58
  • Jun 22, 2012 6:28am Jun 22, 2012 6:28am
Quoting cesare76fx
Great article!
Second that!!
  • #59
  • Jun 22, 2012 6:30am Jun 22, 2012 6:30am
Quoting Jazznos
Hi all,

This thread has been amusing. Some parts i relate to some I think show a scary amount of ignorance. I dont say that to be rude, but hopefully constructive.

I dont make a living from trading yet, but I am on the way now. After over 3 years of wasting time and money on traditional technical analysis methods, I now trade Martin Cole's "Market Maker" method.

His custom software is pure genius. Forget all your bulls*** indicators and stop wasting your time on crap that will never work. Its not about managing your emotions...
your intention is not to be rude but you go on to say everthing is crap apart from your new found genius.the traders who have posted are making there living with ther crap methods.whilst you are still learning,im not being rude to you just stating the facts,

i think many of the traders that are making regular gains are quite aware of the manipilations in forex,as they are in the general day to day observations in anything.

as for your instructor,im sure hes very good,he certainly has had a profound efect on you,but i believe these types of training programs are actually just holding your attention to focus on markets weres you had previously strayed from topic to topic,so i can see the use in this way of learning,but i always ask myself the question why these teachers after 20 years still need to sell books and front trading software ect,ect.i can only presume ther very kind or missed there vocation to be school teachers.

on a more positive note ,good for you to have found a way to understand and take some money .
  • #60
  • Jun 22, 2012 6:41am Jun 22, 2012 6:41am
Quoting Jazznos
Hi all,
I dont make a living from trading yet, but I am on the way now. After over 3 years of wasting time and money on traditional technical analysis methods, I now trade Martin Cole's "Market Maker" method.
I wouldn't like to discuss this type of things in this thread... the idea is to share each other's pathway to making it full-time, but I have to say this, in a construtive manner:

A friend of mine purchased Mr.Cole's dvd course and really enjoyed the first part where the man makes a strong point on claiming that MM go many ways to induce the "herd" into thinking upside down (i.e. manipulate the retail guy)... sure... we all know that. It OLD NEWS... Then the other half of the course focuses on using the guy's PAT software to work-around the "facade" of Market makers... This means that if you trade from any other platform, for instance MT4, and will not purchase the software, your are left with a mixed feeling of "now what?"... My friend didn't purchase the software and ended up regretting the money spend on the course.

Anyway, Jazznos, I hope you make it to success, one way or another! We all do what we have to do!
0 traders viewing now