Quick background:
I bought a forex simulator and have been hand~trading it extensively, typically on EURUSD or GBPUSD, picking a random spot to start between 2001 and 2010 or so, and pretending it’s live data. H1 and H4 swing trading, usually taking trades around London Open or a little later. Typically “trading the strong trends only” and using a mix of ICT wisdom plus some other things like SMA not as an indicator per se, but just to add ‘warning’ if I’m about to accidentally trade against trend, &c.
So, simulated [I]decades and decades[/I] of trading later…
…I find that I don’t really make a lot of money, I don’t really lose a lot either, but sort of muddle along usually slightly positive, occasionally slightly down a bit. Increasing trade size makes it worse. Messing with stop loss strategy, and adding a few really basic S/R type trendlines now and then has helped some. I tend not to trade at obvious news times like non farm payroll and so forth, but am otherwise totally blind to past news.
Now, the big question, for those who might know…
Since this is purely technical trading, and I’m not really paying attention to the year or the business climate or anything, it seems this would limit almost anyone’s effectiveness. What kind of result should be expected from historic data trading by hand, if you are even marginally good at this?
[I]Can the making~a~living~at~forex types really rack up simulated profits like a top video game player on his favourite game? Or is there some inherent limitation to pure technical trading that makes even someone really good just sort of look a bit pale, when going back on a historic data simulator?[/I]
I guess I’m wondering what sort of skill level to shoot for. I don’t blow accounts, but, just waffling along seems kind of pointless. And perhaps there are limitations to simulation that just aren’t obvious?
Any and all insight greatly welcomed!