Hello,
Fun reading!!!
My 'trillion dollars worth':
I personally think what happens with these HUGE claims to profits is this:
A new trader will 'battle along' for a while and then all of a sudden they 'hit a big one' and not two minutes later they're posting that they've found it!!! 'The Holy Grail' of systems!!! How do I know this and why do I say this??? Because this is EXACTLY what I did last year!!! Eighteen months or so later I look at my first post on that thread and feel totally idiotic!!! (OK in fairness to ME of course I made 'no bones' about posting my subsequent losses as well which is something else that I notice does not get posted too often i.e. the threads are REAL busy when the money is 'flowing in' but the moment 'the wheels fall off' they tend to go REAL quiet).
Don't get me wrong here either i.e. I'm not saying that you CANNOT make thousands of pips on a trade BUT what's important is making those same thousands of pips on EVERY trade MOST of the time and, as others have correctly stated, it does not really matter if you're making thousands of pips per trade if each pip is only worth a fraction of a dollar in my opinion. If that's the case then this can only ever be a 'hobby' or something to 'pass the time' or something to 'master' 'for the hell of it' i.e. if it's your main or sole source of income then it's the amount of $$$ you make that counts.
Also: 'not all pips are created equal' e.g. a ten pip movement (profit) on GBP/ZAR is not going to nett you anywhere NEAR what a ten pip movement on GBP/JPY is going to nett given the same lot size and / or money management rules (as a matter of fact you'd not even have covered the spread on GBP/ZAR with a ten pip movement) so be careful when using the 'number of pips gained' when 'judging' the success of a system.
Me: I work only on the percentage gained on my capital on a monthy basis. If I've reached my goal then I don't really care whether it was reached because I made a two pip profit or a twenty thousand pip profit!!! What's more I (try to anyway) ONLY check my percentage gain at month end i.e. I try to concentrate on TRADING as opposed to concentrating on whether or not I'm going to reach my monthly goal or not.
To 'jsese' (the thread starter):
No offense is meant by this comment BUT with all the experience and opportunities that have been affored you by virtue of the fact that you have worked at some 'primo' trading firms you should really be making a WHOLE LOT more than 5% or 6% per month. Hell: I've only been at this for two years or so and even I'm doing way better than that 'NOW' and I stress the word 'NOW' i.e. for the past four months or so. Whether or not consistent gains over a period of four months can indeed be deemed 'consistent' I don't know (and I suppose if not then only time will tell). With the amount of money ($50 000) that you're trading with you should have NO problem. If you're interested then take a look at my 'not so' NEW thread (and no I'm not 'peddling'):
Trading Systems in 'New Concepts In Technical Trading Systems' by J. Welles Wilder. If you've been in 'the game' as long as I'm presuming you have based on your post then I'm sure that I don't have to tell you who J. Welles Wilder Jnr. is of course. As a matter of fact I'd like your 'take' on it the reason being that it concerns me deeply that (not only because of your post but since things have 'turned' for me) I find myself CONSISTENTLY worrying that the gains that I am indeed making are 'too good to be true' and it's almost as if I'm just waiting for the 'bubble to burst' and even MORE of a concern to me is the fact that this type of attitude could very well become a 'self fulfilling prophecy' as it were (those 'old hands' on the forum know full well the extent of the losses that I incurred last year and the pain that it's caused me so of course I'm concerned especially since we're talking sort of 'night and day here' i.e. HUGE CONSISTENT losses and margin calls and wipeouts to HUGE CONSISTENT % gains i.e. no 'in between')!!!
One last thing: this 1% / 2% / 3% 'rule' concerns me deeply i.e. the 'rule' where you NEVER risk LOSING more than 1% / 2% / 3% of your capital. It seems to me that MANY people don't understand the implications of this 'rule' as it pertains to leverage (and I know that it took me an AGE to make the 'connection' between the two and John 'rhodytrader' has gone to GREAT lengths to explain this 'connection' but still I don't think it 'sinks in' with most people. Not at first anyway). The reason I mention this is because with the exception of only one of Wilder's systems (funny enough it's the WORST performing system of the lot) none of the systems use stop losses 'as such'. I'm just mentioning this because maybe THAT is a possible reason why your gains are in the 5% to 6% region??? All I'm saying is that sometimes even although we're doing everything 'by the book' it does not necessarily mean the 'the book' is always right. (Now I'll 'duck' to avoid all the arrows coming my way)!!!
Edit:
Uh. One question: do you think that if I could CONSISTENLY make 50% - 280% gain on capital per month then the likes of Morgan Stanley would offer me a job??? Man I'd love that!!! It'd be a 'classic' 'rags to riches' story!!!