calculating net returns, what do you use

[vegamedic]

Bob, this remark is general and not directed to you, as I respect you:
I notice that on ET you should be a loser or have very low returns to be accepted as real. Looks like a meeting of depressive people that tell to each other how bad life is in the hope that others will feel better as their life is not as horrible as the life that is being told.
On ET being above average is forbidden.

realism is not the same as pessimism. those that make exorbitant returns are outliers (thanks to talent, luck, or a combination thereof). most of the traders on here realize consistency is more important than big cool numbers and fight for edges where they can find "small," consistent returns versus today's latest greatest 1000% p.a. SMA-cross strat

 

[schweiz]

realism is not the same as pessimism.

What is/became reality for someone, can be impossible for someone else. Realism is/can be different for each individual. For Soros, Buffet, Gates, Zuckerberg... making billions is reality, while for 99.9% of the world it is not.

most of the traders on here realize consistency is more important than big cool numbers and fight for edges where they can find "small," consistent returns versus today's latest greatest 1000% p.a. SMA-cross strat

I always speak about CONSISTENT returns, not about lucky shots every now and then. So in this case consistency AND cool numbers (the cool numbers came more then a decade later, after consistency with small returns).

But I think that 99% of traders on this site calculate their "career" from start till now in years or even months. I calculate in decades. I can write a book about my failures, losses (complete wipe outs), euphoric moments and disappointments, testing new ideas, analyzing markets....

There are 4 different combinations possible:

1. no consistency and low returns
2. no consistency and high returns
3. consistency and low returns
4. consistency and high returns

Why do you only take "no consistency and high returns" as argument? You assume that this is the only realistic possibility? Why do you blow up a 100% claim to a 1000% strat? Your logic is at least intellectual wrong, manipulative. Like a lawyer; making the story in function of what the conclusion should be. And omitting everything that does not fit in the story.

I started decades ago with high returns but no consistency, switched to consistency with low returns, to finally get consistency with high returns.

My intuition tells me that you never traded futures but are rather trading options. I speak about the futures market, because there I get the proof of what I post. Trading options and even more stocks make it much harder to achieve high returns. It is a completely different game.

Based on the calculations I added to explain the return, I can conclude that nobody can even make 1 tick a day trading the ES. I guess that is less then 1-2% average if the the daily range. That tells a lot about the "traders" (LOL) on ET. So take 1-2% of a move is impossible... for most people