Earning 10-20% per month on 10k capital: Realistic?

To me, nothing makes less sense than setting yourself profit targets. Well thought out performance targets may help you develop your trading, but setting yourself a profit target will only push you to act recklessly in order to meet unrealistic goals.

Actually I have to kinda agree with this, especially if the broker is not that experienced. Yes, discipline is part of what makes a trader a professional trader. But even professional traders, may set a range, and in terms of pips than dollar signs..
Goals are great, as long as the said goal post does not make us reckless in trading..

Quoting matheszabi
{quote} lol http://www.forexfactory.com/realreason#87
Now thats Enough Said... =)

Take a look at this account now.

I just think the reason all behind the failure is failure to admit you're wrong and take a Loss.
Instead keep your trading to go Margin Call!

As long as you can accept loss, I'm sure you can make $ in this business.
Don't let it go into negative hundred of pips

possible indeed,just controll your patience and dont be greedy (best MM FOR SURE..) and you will success!

GL

Eitan.

It is possible to profit 10 - 20% per month..........which is what I do each month,and have done for some time. I began using £3000 capital as a day trader whenever I had days off from my "normal" job. That was back in 2011 and my initial investment has since reached over £33,000. Would have been more but I used £5,000 for my new motorcycle last year.

I would say I'm pretty strict about trades I place. I'll look at possible trades the day before and look at some trends in the market. If on the day I'm comfortable about a particular trade I'll place it.........and provided it is pretty volotile I'll scalp from it over several hours.Normally I'll achieve 1% (or more) on the day. The best ones that work for me really are when a pair is oversold,and then trades place at precisely the right times provide my profits as the markets settle back to normal.

We all have different strategies and success varies.What works for one person might not for someone else,you have to develop your own. It works for me and I'll continue with it.No plans to work Forex full time just yet. One tip I would say (especially to Rookie traders - be patient and ONLY trade at the right time,and not just trade blind).

............But yes,10 - 20% is possible if you trade with the right approach.

Hi forex traders!,

I think it is possible to make 100% in a month. To make 100% you need to make approx. 70-75% (rule of 72).

If you scalp the main 2 pairs for approx. 40 hrs a week there are approx 40 good trades a week (Tuesday to Friday).

The risk per trade: 2-3%, and trade generally with the trend, although with experience you can alter this, but generally with the trend.

Now, let's say out of that 40 trades you win 23 and lose 17, and your average win/loss is 2.5%, then that's 15%/week. So 5 weeks = double your money.

I am sure you can play with the above numbers a little to suit your circumstances.

If you look at the 30 second/1 minute charts of EUR/USD and USD/JPY over an average week (Tuesday to Friday) you will see at least winnable 40 trades.

Then it gets down to sitting there for those hours to make the money.

So, it is possible to make 100%/month for some.

N.B. There are many other pairs that at times give great returns, such as EUR/JPY.

And, there are endless variations of what I have typed above. It is up to you.

I do indeed trade in the manner described above.

I do not think that it is original. I am very sure that it is a very well-trodden path to riches.

It is reassuring as a pack animal (apes as we are) to have others of your species follow you. So. I would be happy to communicate with others who trade like this.

SW

I'm not saying I'm the best of the best, but I have made 98% profit from my initial investment in the last 10 months. I probably will hit around 110% after 12 months.

I think that figure is very doable 10% of 10k, even with trading half a lot or a little bigger.

I personally wouldn't go all-in. You don`t need to. If you can get just one good move a month, you practically meet your goal right there. I'm talking about a nice swing move, not some 10 pip intraday move.

Feel free to share your trading system/style as I am curious how you achieve your gains.

Thanks

Profit targets are pointless. You can't predict when there will be opportunities in the market. With that said, 10-20% is realistic. It will make you an emotional mess. Imagine having 100K and losing 20K in a day. Or 1000K and losing 200K in a day. "That's a house I just lost. I'm worthless. I need to go kill myself."

I have not yet lost a house, but I've lost expensive cars. Most recently in Feb/March. It's painful and you will need to figure out how to deal with those pains. Otherwise, it WILL affect your trading.

So if you're going all in with 10K and trying to make 10-20% a month, figure out how to deal with the big losses, first.

Undercapitaliza
tion - One of the Five Most Dangerous Problems in Forex Trading

"One of the biggest problems we see is trading undercapitalized. Too many traders are in a great hurry to get into the markets and to get rich quick. They have bought the lie that they can make a lot of money starting with a small account.

Although it is possible, it is not realistic. In a hurry to make money trading, most traders begin trading one contract. This is almost a sure way to losing what little capital they have. Everything is riding on a single contract, so the trader is forced to stay in too long or to scalp for only a few pips or ticks." - Joe Ross in "Conversations with Forex Market Masters"

What is leverage?
leverage is the ability to use something small to control something big. Specific to forex trading, it means you can have a small amount of capital in your account controlling a larger amount in the market.

Stock traders will call this trading on margin. In forex trading there is no interest charged on the margin used and it doesn't matter what kind of trader you are or what kind of credit you have. If you have an account and the broker offers margin, you can trade on it.

The obvious advantage of using leverage is that you can make a considerable amount of money with only a limited amount of capital. The problem is, that you can also lose a considerable amount of money trading with leverage. It all depends on how wisely you use it and how conservative your risk management is.

Leverage Amounts
Leverage is usually given in a fixed amount that can vary with different brokers. Each broker gives out leverage based on their own rules and regulations. The amounts are typically 50:1, 100:1, 200:1 and 400:1.

50:1 Leverage
Fifty to one leverage means that for every $1 you have in your account you can place a trade worth $50. As an example, if you deposited $500, you would be able to trade amounts up to $25,000 on the market using 50:1 leverage. It's not that you should be trading the full $25,000, but you would have the ability to trade up to that amount.

100:1 Leverage
One hundred to one leverage means that for every $1 you have in your account, you can place a trade worth $100. This is a typical amount of leverage offered on a standard lot account. The typical $2000 minimum deposit for a standard account would give you the ability to control $200,000.

200:1 Leverage
Two hundred to one leverage means that for every $1 you have in your account, you can place a trade worth $200. This is a typical amount of leverage offered on a minilot account. The typical minimum deposit on such an account is around $300. With $300 you would be able to open up trades up to the amount of $60,000.

400:1 Leverage
Four hundred to one leverage means that for every $1 you have in your account, you can place a trade worth $200. Some brokers offer 400:1 on minilot accounts. I would personally be wary of any broker that offers this type of leverage for a small account. Anyone making a $300 deposit into a forex account and trying to trade with 400:1 leverage could be totally wiped out in a matter of minutes. It's not as if the brokers force the trader to only deposit $300, but if they make it possible, I would suspect that there are also other ways that they will not act in your best interest.

Professional Traders and Leverage
For the most part, professional traders trade with very low leverage. Keeping your leverage lower protects your capital when you make trading mistakes and keeps your returns more consistent. Many professionals will use leverage amounts like 10:1 or 20:1. It's possible to trade with that type of leverage regardless of what the broker offers you. You just have to deposit more money and make fewer trades.

No matter what your style, always remember, just because the leverage is there does not mean you have to use it. In general, the less leverage you use the better. It takes experience to really know when to use leverage and when not to. Staying cautious will keep you in the game for the long run. Most of traders who start their trading adventure hope for high profits, but do not have the equity to stick to a proper money management rules.

SL of 30-40 pips even with an account where 1pip = 1 dollar requires the account to be a few thousand dollars least. Most of the beginners do not have that money so they will not be able to learn anything. Risking even 10% of their deposit is more likely to lead them to heavy losses than heavy profits.

To earn in 'normal life' we graduate colleges and universities - the whole process takes at least a dozen years or so. But many people think that Forex is different and they can make huge cash by using a first 'magic' system they can get on eBay and with their first account.

Too small equity causes bad risk management. By the way it is worth saying that the best money management plan is one that suits both trader's personality and his system. Common 1% or 2% of the capital might be too much in one's early days.

When opening too big positions you are like a driver who drives shiny muscle car over 100mph through crooked streets of a city centre (yeah, that is over 160kmph if you're using metric system).

Amongst the group of traders who we interviewed only one person ended up their first year in plus. The following story is a great example how proper conclusions drawn from your initial losses lead to ... profits.

"My problem was that I opened my first account with $2000 in it and I started to trade standard lots right away.... Boy, what a mistake this was... but nobody cared to tell me that $2000 is not that much if you want to trade standard lots. I had my share of stress because one bad trade that cost me 30 pips wiped out $300 from my account right of the bat. That was scary....

I can not complain about the winning part. Each trade on a plus looked really good too.... But that was not the right way to trade. We can have the best system in the world but we have take into consideration that the market doesn't care what we have, it does its own thing and we need to be prepared for some surprises. This means, we can not put half of our trading funds on one trade.

As soon as I realized how big of an issue money management is I switched to mini lots right away. That took away a lot of my fear from trading. After I "calmed down" and started to get the pips that I wanted I slowly increased my funds and my position size." - Monika Korzec in "Conversations with Forex Market Masters"

Recommendations:

If you think seriously about trading, follow a 'normal path':

* Gather your capital so that you can start serious trading. Think that you would have to earn 10% a month, so save one thousand a month for your trading capital.

* First things you have to do is learn the basics, be familiar with market moves and know what causes them, and know your emotions in those new situations. You may not believe it, but mental aspects are responsible for 60 to 80% of your success in trading.

* Treat trading as a business that requires knowledge gathering and serious investments.

* Treat trading as a business that requires knowledge gathering and serious investments (think about it twice because it is that much important).

* After getting familiar with the platform, open a micro account [1 pips = 1 cent, so $200-300 should be enough] and start trading.

* If you cannot managae to get profits with a micro account, you will not be able to get anything with a standard account as well. Bigger lots are not a proper way to get motivated. If trading micro lots is boring - you should know that you should be feeling like that! But if it is too big of a burden - maybe you do not have what it takes to be a trader and the best way is trying to realize yourself somewhere else.

* Get familiar with a few systems that are based on different timeframes. The simpler they are - the better. They should not use more than three indicators.

* You might be surprised, but here in Forex trading slower means faster and less means more.

"Most beginners nowadays are over-leveraging, emotional and always looking for the Holy Grail that never exists. A trader does not need to have a big capital investment, but rather, he needs to know that for 2,000 dollars as principal capital, he should not risk more than 3% on a single trade. It is usually by over leveraging oneself that leads to margin calls, thus became emotional and act irrationally. Therefore, a trader should look to change his mindset within, not looking outside for solutions." - Wilson Neo in "Conversations with Forex Market Masters"

"Don't trade with what you can't afford to loose an old cliché but very important and make sure you have enough to trade with in the first place. No business starts with such low funding that they can't pay employees or other bills and if they do they don't last long. If you cant afford a starting capital paper trade. Get some practice in while you save enough to start realistically trading with." - Phil Newton ibid.

The "Don't trade with what.." is an oldie but is spot on..something that most newbies need to consider before blowing their accounts.
Just remember that trading online is not easy, requires discipline and you will need a trading strategy to trade successfully..

on 10k account aiming for 20-30% gains is gambling.

couple short stories of mine from the past with examples why.

when i started forex almost 5 y ago,theres was this brokers lets call him a bit dodgy in nature of the business,where i would not trust it with 100$.
but this particular broker had promotions like Christmas,Easter or whatever.So one day i see 50$ free in account that wasnt used for ages,to cash it out only thing needed was to raise account to 150$,and i gave that account to someone who was a bit into trading and after about 3 months of slow trades risking low it grew to 140$ then final step took one big trade for almost 1 mini lot and couple pips later cashed it in.took almost week to hustle the broker to get cash,but eventually they did.
Success in this story lies between the person who was trading as he wouldn't risk much but enough to raise it by couple $ every day,and most important thing was person treated account seriously even thou it was only 50 bucks-adding to this that it was free cash so no pressure if it went to 0.

One of mine stories is similar started with 200$ and close to three months raised it to 900$-if i remember correctly it was usually 2-3 open positions between 15k using of 50% leverage.but that's just plain luck,as down the road i managed to blow several accounts of 1-2k in months or some even in days.
moral of the story it hurts like shit when you get such blows,end up in the morning to see 100 pips in red and no way to back down since over 70% of account is already lost.Only thing that keeps you together at such times knowing that the money you lost was yours and savings of some sort that don't affect your daily life.
its better to build it small and if you are good it will grow as you go,then risking a lot on your lucky streak where couple lots could wipe you clean within hours and morale being so disturbed that you wish it never happened.

very easy to do if you know what you're doing.

Making consistent profit is not so easy task. You need to make a good and profitable plan to achieve your goal in this risky market.

it depends on your trading knowledge including most powerful analyzing trade money management.

actually percentage generally we count according to our trading balance , if you have a smart amount then of course you can expect 10-20% of return. for that reason deposit is very much important than others issue.

There is no guarantee of profits in forex and a minor profit and loss is very common so don’t worry about it.