There's a recent thread started yesterday much on the same subject. Check it out:
https://www.elitetrader.com/et/threads/anyone-here-actually-profitable.373538/
From most I've talked to 10 years seems to be a good approximation of what it takes to reach consistency - if at all.
Curious to hear some more details on this. Exactly how did you make $250K and with what working capital?
Further - you said you went broke. Does this mean you blew your entire $250K? If so, how did that happen?
I'll admit most of the money I made the first two years was a mix of a lot of luck and being early to narratives. I made $100k on $GME but not bc I was following the hype on WSB. I was experimenting with custom stock scanners at the time and they seemed to be working. I caught some major moves like $KODK and $SPI and when I saw $GME pop up one day, I figured it was worth a shot as it was looking to break above $30 and the chatter had increased on the subreddit.
After having won big, I gained some ego & started throwing around tens of thousands into plays that obviously didnt end well bc I really had no strategy. After losing about $30k, I realized it was time to take things more seriously and dived deeper into learning everything I could. I'd say I gave back about 30% overall to the market and the rest of the $ was spent on spoiling my fiance & I with material stuff and little vacations here & there.
I had traded mostly options and crypto to make $150k 1st year and $100k the 2nd year, but again, without any solid strategy. My third year I didnt really trade after I lost the remaining balances on my accounts and tried to find something that would work for me. I simply started posting ideas instead of trades to see if I had any substance at all without having to risk capital.
Now, I have a few strategies in my playbook that I'm still tweaking but seem to work well for me. I started focusing more on price action and trading only on my support and resistance lines. My primary focus has been weekly options bc I like the volatility, so if the overall market sentiment is bearish, I'll look to buy puts at tops like the previous day's high or wherever my resistance line is, then sell once PA reaches VWAP or my support line - and vice versa.
I use 9/21 EMA's, stochastic slow, & VWAP to gauge market momentum, trendlines to find areas of interest, and mix it with PA + volume analysis to help read the direction we might be going.
