... that turning $50k into 500k in 24 months is not likely, normal or even remotely supported in the world of trading, despite the fact that it constantly get's tossed around (10% monthly) like a realistic figure...
turning 50k into 160k in 24 months has no support and that's only five percent...
sadly there is no evidence that the average trader can even generate 2% a month consistently.
Typically what follows here is; that's a crock I make "x" every month and have since the cows came home...
and,
If I can't make more than 5% a month what's the point of trading?
Which is a good question. It comes down to account funding, if a trader has to make more than 5% a month it typically means they are under funded and are trying to do something with their account that it wasn't meant to do - like pay monthly bills. That's a good way to get your cable and electric turned off in the same month...
It comes down to having realistic goals based on solid data, not hopes based on fluff.
At the end of the day, in twenty years of being in and around the markets I've never seen anything to indicate that average trader will ever make any money, and the average good traders will make much more than 12 to 18%...
That will raise some eyebrows, but its all context. What someone did six months ago or a year ago or two years ago doesn't trump the five, ten and twenty year averages. It just doesn't. A lot of systems exhibit momentary efficiency only to fall apart quickly after a period of time (2 to 3 years). It's not a mistake that most hedge funds want to see three years of returns with a well funded account and then drag you through another six months or so of "maybe".
I know people think there is a huge divide between what professional and private traders do, but it's not true. To think that a private trader has some execution edge over a fund just means there is a lack of understanding. Funds, Larger CTA's & CPO's etc, have extremely efficient pools of liquidity to execute into and often have some of the most advanced technology available to reduce latency. Contrast that with a retail platform that often has too pool together orders to get you in and there is no contest.
funds often gain an execution edge simply by the time frame they are trading... when you're going to be in a trade for weeks or months, building a position over hours is much more efficient than trying to jump into a trade on a news release and then get out twenty minutes later. not to mention it dramatically reduces transactional impact...
markets just don't care who you are and they don't forgive you for being a smaller trader, with different goals and funding levels. the money pit is just as happy to take your dollars as the next guys.
10% a month can't happen, not on the average, not for any group of traders. that won't stop people from believing it though. It's the nature of the beast - how could the bucket shops make money if people thought differently?
