GOod morning, Davenz!
I agree with EddieB…
Growth is all relative to size, of course… the smaller the account, the smaller the growth in absolute terms…
My second account was bashed to 10% of its original size, but since Christmas of last year I have doubled it in size…
I am now at a crossroads with regards to the trends that I am trading (NZD short; FTSE100 short; EUR/GBP short)
but the outlook for the year has already been very positive…
I was all ready to give up on the account, with less than 100 Pounds left, but I stuck with it and used very small
exposure, focussing on a very small area of the market: when you check the same charts every day, you get to
know not only how they move within a market’s daily activity but also how they respond to certain levels… Memorising
those levels really helps to speed things up… The more charts you look at during each day, the more levels you would
have to remember, and the less secure your knowledge and memory of those levels becomes… at least, for part-time
traders like me (although from the hours I put into it, you would think I was not)
So, it was a ‘success’ story for me, but there is no guarantee that it will be the same in the future, so the ‘exponential’
growth of which you speak, Davenz, is not a given, especially in Forex… once again, look at this table, which I posted before:
see how each year those hedge funds’ returns swing in size?
Barclay Hedge Fund Index | BarclayHedge, Ltd.
Sure, SOMEONE will grow exponentially, but, on average, this does not happen… so be prepared to have mini-cycles also
within a trading year: my year, for example, is only eight months in, so until the final four months are over, I cannot call
it a ‘success’ because by my target I want to assess an entire year, January - December… Even if I did end the year with
that 100% profit that I have at the moment, there is no guarantee that this will happen again next year: trading conditions
change, your health may suffer (we all get ill), you may become a parent(!), you may get a job that makes trading impossible
(you are too busy), you fall in love and you just want to spend more and more time with that special someone, etc.
Some changes will happen within you, some outwith you (in the market area that you trade), so nobody knows, truly,
how ‘success’ today will translate into ‘success’ next week, month, or year…
So, the bottom line is, it can be done with a small account, but even a 100% return one year is no guarantee of
similar returns into the future; however, what you can do, is giving yourself a ‘bonus’ at the end of a successful
trading year, say, and pay into your trading account some extra funds, maybe those that you were able to put
aside from your day job, if you can afford to part with that money… That is how I intend to proceed at the end
of this year, if I end my account around that 100% profit that I have now; if not, then I will just continue to trade
what I have in my trading account.
What is your situation, Davenz?
I am not sure what you mean by ‘professional’ traders… I am not, obviously… I am not registered as a trading business
or do not work for any trading firm, nor do I pay my bills/food/living expenses through my trading…
Maybe I should start a group here called the ‘ATC’? (Amateur Traders’ Club) It may catch on