As an experienced trader I say that the question asked cannot be answered as it stands.
It depends on a million factors, with many of them unexpected and unforseen factors.
How often to you trade?
What if you fall sick?
What if you strike a string of losses.
etc, etc, etc, etc, etc…
I think it is very unreasonable to expect to double your money in a certain amount of time.
Take your estimated time and triple it, or maybe x10. :o :o :o
Why, you might end up doing exactly the opposite, that is, losing it all.
I agree, Pete’s a great guy, he sent me the PDF also. Thanks for all your input on my original question everyone, I’m starting to get some perspective on what to expect from real trading.
True there are lots of variables and what if’s but I was just trying to get an idea of what a consistently successful trader typically experiences in terms of account growth. I’m just a beginner and will make lots of mistakes along the way but hopefully someday I will be successful.
that is… if there is a such thing as a typical successful trader… everyone is different and gets different results of course.
Wow, sounds like someone has blown an account or 10.
How often to you trade? Everyday, in my underwear.
What if you fall sick? As long as I have eyeballs I can make $ in fx.
What if you strike a string of losses? Then you are not trading right…period.
Just cause you havnt seen it, doesn’t mean it cant be done. If you are going to stick with fx, go back to the drawing board and trade a demo till you are profitable 4 months.
This topic can bring alot of different opinions, and it is dependent on the volatiliy of the market as well, what pairs you trade… etc … etc…
But I can say that doubling your account is possible int 5-6 weeks, thats why G/J traders pick that pair, beacause of the volatility, I picked up 600 pips yesterday off one trade 2% risk over 40 pips = 30% account gain. It was a perfect bounce off the 4 hr trend line. Learn the flow of the pairs you trade, and that is better than any indicator you can find
Now on the flip side, that pair can also ruin you, and cause you more frustration than you can imagine…
this isn’t some pie in the sky dream boat question. I’m smart enough to know that as a noob I’m facing a huge learning curve and a high probability of failure. But who cares, I’m not going to invest a whole lot and certainly won’t invest money that I can’t afford to just toss in a trashcan.
As for the question, doubling is an arbitrary measure of success, I could just have easily asked what kind of average APR would a good trader expect. Like I said in my original post. just want a reality check. Apparently the answer to my question is, it depends on luck and the skill of the individual trader and the rate of return on investment can be miniscule or tremendous. So there is no ‘average succes rate’ right?
I enjoyed your ‘weather’ system in another thread. funny!
That was little late for an April fools joke though lol
Speaking as someone who dabbles in theoretical physics, I think the Friedman equations of GR may apply…
R Carter, thanks for that reply. That sounds like good advice. You make a lot of sense and that’s the kind of answer I was looking for. Congrats on being able to make it your profession. I’m 47 and just getting interested in it.
Great post R Carter, following my rules rigidly is a constant struggle but I’m getting better at it with time. My problem is always seeing my account balance as it was before a losing trade, instead of seeing it and accepting it where it is at the present time. Anyway, I should revisit your post after losing trades. I should also say that I like the format of your post as well. It’s just like a paragraph out of a book. Those of us that read books should do fine with consecutive sentences laid out in a paragraph format.
Funny how you are still able to take an indirect cheap shot at tymen you obviously don’t like him even though he’s only been nothing but helpful on this forum.
As a 32 year old professional forex trader I couldn’t disagree more!! It is VERY possible to be a pip positive but dollar negative trader. Even though everyone, including me, uses them, pips (by themselves) are a useless indicator of how much money you’re making.
For example, say I made 3 trades and risked 1% of my account per trade…
1: Risked 100 pips, trade closed for +100. Account grew by 1%
2. Risked 20 pips, trade stoplossed at -20 pips. Account lost 1% of value.
3. Risked 50 pips, trade stoplossed at -50 pips. Account lost 1% of value.
As of now I have “made” 30 pips, but my account is in the negative 1%.
I’m new so this may be a dumb question but, how can -20 pips = 1% of your account and -50 pips is also = 1% of your account? and +100 pips is also = 1% of your account. pips are = to different dollar amount per pip for each trade? Would a pip always be the same dollar value for a given lot size?
(proof that I have a steep learning curve before I even begin real trading!)
Well what I say is, that a better measure than pips is your risk reward ratio and win loss ratio.
I don’t care anymore for systems of 100 pips a day or so. You can even hear about systems of plus 300 pips, but the amount you have to risk is even the same or more, so what’s the point with that.
You better look for a method or system with a good risk reward ratio in order to be consistenly profitable.
In 20 or 30 pips you can grow your account up to 3% if your money management is acceptable, risking the same 3% or less. Add to that a great win loss ratio and you’re on the other side.
So for example if you have two different systems, both with a risk reward ratio of let’s say 1:1 wich one would you choose?
One that makes 100 pips a day but also risk them, or one with 30 pips in your pocket risking the same 30 pips?
I would definitely would chose the one of the 30 pips, because for me it’s harder and longer to make the 100 pips than the 30 ones.
Also be careful with systems with few pips and large stop losses, those are the worst ones I guess.
So in conclusion, for me, it’s better to talk about risk reward ratio and win loss ratio, than of the number of pips or amount of money that you make. With rrr and wlr on your side you DEFINITELY are going to make plenty of money!
Yes, a pip will always be the same dollar value for a given lot size, but you can trade different lot sizes to make your dollar per pip values different on each trade.
If you trade 1 mini lot your pips are worth $1 each, but if you trade 5 mini lots your pips are worth $5 each… You can (and should) use this to tailor each trade to be 1-2% of your account balance.
