Is 10% return per month possible?

[ladex142]

Hi, am a newbie and am wondering how much percentage returns per month is possible/achievable/attainable (lol) when mixed with a good trading system, money management and psychology. Is 10% returns possible or too much to ask for? plus i would love it if you guys tell me how much % return do you make per month and how consistence?

[Tess]

Well, lets have a look at what it would take to put your profit objective in line with a $10k account, trading the EUR/USD.

$10,000 with a 100:1 leverage, risking 2% of the account, working an avg stop-loss risk barrier of 20 pips per trade (for calc purposes only), would afford you initial margin requirements of $1,367.

True leverage on those calcs would be 10:1, so you wouldn't be over extending your capital.

So, trading a std 1 lot contract ($10.00 per pip) & aiming for your desired 10% monthly return, would equate to you profiting by 100 pips (after costs) per month.

If you then divide that target by the avg number of trading days in the month, 22: that equals a daily return (after costs) of 4.5 pips.

However, I wouldn't guess there would be trading opportunities every session, so take 5 days off those figures & divide your target up over 17 sessions: 5.88 pips per day...lets call it 6

Ok, you now know what you need to do to return your expected % target, alls you gotta do now is build a strategy/system based around your anticipated aims, yeah?

Do you want to adopt an intraday strategy to clip in & out of the daily oscillations of the Euro? or would you prefer to take a slightly longer timeframe perspective?

The preferred method of your trading structure or plan will directly affect both your risk profile & trading style.

At your entry level, if I were you I'd begin at the trading plan/strategy end & register for a demo or simulator to begin familiarizing yourself with how the markets work & how best you might attack them!!

Don't concern yourself so early with the monetry aspect of your plan. Get used to researching your working template, becoming familiar with the behaviour traits of your instrument(s) & the psychological obstacles of trading.

Slowly, slowly catch a monkey

There are plenty of threads on here & other forums for you to investigate on all aspects of your plan - take your time to gen up on all the elements!

and good luck!

[stol3n]

I too would like to know this and from personal experience how long did it take to start having consistant profits?

[grxlwpf]

Originally Posted by stol3n

I too would like to know this and from personal experience how long did it take to start having consistant profits?

I started two years ago, and I'm now in the 'getting break-even most of the time' phase.
Ok, I have a full-time job, and am learning and trading on the evenings and week-ends only. But I think it wouldn't be different if I make trading my full-time profession (danger of overtrading!)

The most important thing is to get the right mind-set. And it seems there is no easy and quicky way to gain this, only year-long experience which has to build slowly. Don't underestimate this time, as in any profession you need your time of apprenticeship and hard learning. You won't want to become a cardiac surgeon after only two months of training, don't you?

You can look in this forum for an entry 'The five steps of trading', this is an extremely interesting essay on this topic, including some time estimates for the different steps on the way to become a master trader.

Here is the link: Five Levels!

As I've heard from some successful traders, plan for several years until getting profitable. The trick is a) not to lose all your money in the learning phase and b) not to give up frustrated in the learning phase.

[ladex142]

Wao, thank you for your advice. I'll definitely try demo trading and all that you've advised me.

Originally Posted by Tess

Well, lets have a look at what it would take to put your profit objective in line with a $10k account, trading the EUR/USD.

$10,000 with a 100:1 leverage, risking 2% of the account, working an avg stop-loss risk barrier of 20 pips per trade (for calc purposes only), would afford you initial margin requirements of $1,367.

True leverage on those calcs would be 10:1, so you wouldn't be over extending your capital.

So, trading a std 1 lot contract ($10.00 per pip) & aiming for your desired 10% monthly return, would equate to you profiting by 100 pips (after costs) per month.

If you then divide that target by the avg number of trading days in the month, 22: that equals a daily return (after costs) of 4.5 pips.

However, I wouldn't guess there would be trading opportunities every session, so take 5 days off those figures & divide your target up over 17 sessions: 5.88 pips per day...lets call it 6

Ok, you now know what you need to do to return your expected % target, alls you gotta do now is build a strategy/system based around your anticipated aims, yeah?

Do you want to adopt an intraday strategy to clip in & out of the daily oscillations of the Euro? or would you prefer to take a slightly longer timeframe perspective?

The preferred method of your trading structure or plan will directly affect both your risk profile & trading style.

At your entry level, if I were you I'd begin at the trading plan/strategy end & register for a demo or simulator to begin familiarizing yourself with how the markets work & how best you might attack them!!

Don't concern yourself so early with the monetry aspect of your plan. Get used to researching your working template, becoming familiar with the behaviour traits of your instrument(s) & the psychological obstacles of trading.

Slowly, slowly catch a monkey

There are plenty of threads on here & other forums for you to investigate on all aspects of your plan - take your time to gen up on all the elements!

and good luck!