Are you a profitable trader ?

[achilles28]

I'm really surprised to hear traders boasting profitability after a few months, or even years. There wasn't much to go on, in terms of literature, before Al Brooks came along. Some guys get mentored, by a friend or at their work. For me, I did it alone. Took 5 years to filter out the crap and become marginally profitable. Then another 3 or so, to really kill it.

Unless I saw a traders blotter or live journal, I'd be very skeptical of anyone who made claims of profitability after a year or two. It's certainly possible, cause most of the good stuff is easy. But it's extremely uncommon.

 

[daniel33]

Quote from textrader4:

It took me about 6 months. The key is to study, study, study! Start trading 100 shares and see if you can cover commissions. If you are successful slowly increase your share size.

6 months ? That's incredible.

Never met anyone that was able to do it in so little time.

 

[mm19]

Quote from daniel33:

6 months ? That's incredible.

Never met anyone that was able to do it in so little time.

he may be in front of couple of large drawdowns, hitting rock bottom. Been there. Soros needed 17 years - 23 to 40. However his method is for large money and clearly based on true edges.

Smaller edges disappear quicker. I bet no intraday edge that works today will be around in 5 yrs time.

 

[mark_mm]

Quote from daniel33:

6 months ? That's incredible.

Never met anyone that was able to do it in so little time.

I think there needs to be clarification about what constitutes the starting point. Is it your first trade or the moment you started researching trading. It would be wise to study a while before jumping into the market, or trade small amounts while you are learning.