Do full-time forex traders exist or is it just make believe?

[Jack_Larkin]

Quote from SimpleTrades:


As for the comments earlier from one member who was so negative about this thread. I say: tough luck! Since arriving at ET, I have had many longer term members go on the attack with me. Everytime I show any vulnerabilty on this forum, the same members go on the attack. I see a bunch of liars, frauds and deluded people, and only once in a while do I actually see a sane person who can actually trade with real money. So although I understand why the successful may not want to show their face, I have little sympathy for thise of you who question me when I ask for some proof of their success.

Oh, didn't mean for you to take that personally. (Your question was fine in itself... I still think no one owes proof to anyone given the nature of posts in the thread, but asking for it is understandable.) I know I quoted your post, but it was just that question you asked that triggered my little rant. What I wrote about was really more about some other's in the thread, not you. I should have been more exact but I wasn't out to name names or that sorta thing, just give my thoughts in general.

Specifically, it was not what was asked, but how it was asked or what was stated by others: insinuations, inferences, falsehood/opinions presented as fact and based on anecdotal evidence at best, with the sole aim of getting others to respond negatively in return... not actually talk about the subject where they might be open to learning and exchanging knowledge (being what these forums should be about,) but just bullheaded personalities just wanting to say their piece, cause a little splash in the pond, and shut out anything that might prove otherwise. That was more or less what I spoke out against.

Really, it's like the way some people here conduct themselves spills over from the politics and religion section across the whole forum.

Anyway, I'm not going to drag on about it. I know it sounds negative and such, but it's with the intention that this thread might be able to turn into something positive that others can learn from. Your posts were actually contributing to it turning around, so again, my rant wasn't directed at you.

--

Side note: I noticed you said you trade with Questrade; just FYI, you're actually trading with Gain Capital / Forex.com, Quest uses them for FX in a whitelabel type fashion.

 

[oldtime]

Quote from SimpleTrades:

Marketsurfer,

There may be the random guy with a few grand who can generate a a steady income with forex, but for 99.999% you need a substantial amount of money tucked away to really make a go of it.

Oldtime is giving me a hard time about my approach, but the simple reality is that he is forgetting he has already built up substantial capital to trade with. I don't have this capital. All I can do right now is scratch together a few grand once in a while in a perhaps futile effort to buld up an account that is large enough to trade well. He can call this gambling if he wants, but I enter and exit my trades with considerable thought, and risk the quantity of money I am comfortable risking.

With the exception of a small few, I think this limitation is the reality for the vast majority of us. So, yes, full time traders do exist. Are they profitable? Perhaps, the large players are, but most of the small players aren't.

As for the comments earlier from one member who was so negative about this thread. I say: tough luck! Since arriving at ET, I have had many longer term members go on the attack with me. Everytime I show any vulnerabilty on this forum, the same members go on the attack. I see a bunch of liars, frauds and deluded people, and only once in a while do I actually see a sane person who can actually trade with real money. So although I understand why the successful may not want to show their face, I have little sympathy for thise of you who question me when I ask for some proof of their success.

hey kid, when I blew up my first account I got a real job, and didn't trade a day, it took me 9 years to build what at the time I thought was a sensible acccount 30k, plus two years living expenses in the bank. I didn't piss it away 1k at a time in a bucket shop. I take this job seriously, even though I joke about it on the internet.

2 years later my account was worth 28k and my money in the bank was about gone.

I got a job on the night shift at the local c store and started trading es exclusively on globex.

I got lucky and I'm still living on that money.

but it's not like I can make a bet and if it doesn't work out refund my account from a job.

like I said, every spring I fund a baseball betting account, but it's just for fun

sounds like that is what you are doing with forex

shut it down, get a plan, and treat it serious, or stop posting on threads about fulltime forex trading

 

[oldtime]

but that first account was fun man, wheat corn beans, cattle and swiss francs, a wife and 3 kids, no plan, anytime anybody needed money I just took it from the account

started with less than $400, added 2k one time, and that lasted 13 years

highwater mark on that account was only 160k, but what the hell? I could make whatever I needed anyday.

those were the days my friend, I even bankrolled another trader

I just believed I was so good I didn't need a plan

I had a "gift" for reading the market

then I fell in love with a trade and ended up with nothing

 

[SimpleTrades]

Quote from oldtime:
shut it down, get a plan, and treat it serious, or stop posting on threads about fulltime forex trading [/B]

I've saved/profited over $9000 in 2013, you fool. I'm taking it quite seriously. Judge not what your are incapable of understanding. This is nothing but a demonstration of your own mental limitations.

By the way, it looks like you're well on the way to losing it all again because you've fallen in love with one losing direction - short.

That first $1000 deposit has allowed me to trade aproximately 20 times, and based on the calculation on EUR/USD past performance, I should only have to refund the account about 4 times a year. In the meantime, I am transferring substantially more than that into my saving acccount through profits generated.

Sorry, I'm not willing to risk $28000 on this right now. I'm willing to risk while learning and getting better trading, exactly $1000 at a time.

Now, read the initial question on this thread: It asks, "(do you trade forex full-time)". This question leaves the thread open to everyone. Of ccourse, I could have remained silent and you would have only heard from liars, frauds, and the deluded (which category do you fit into?)

 

[sheda]

I could have remained silent and you would have only heard from liars, frauds, and the deluded (which category do you fit into?) [/B]

Thank goodness the newbie with 600 pip SLs came in to save the day!! Every one else is a fraud.

Good bye "elite trader"

 

[SimpleTrades]

Quote from Jack_Larkin:

Oh, didn't mean for you to take that personally. (Your question was fine in itself... I still think no one owes proof to anyone given the nature of posts in the thread, but asking for it is understandable.) I know I quoted your post, but it was just that question you asked that triggered my little rant. What I wrote about was really more about some other's in the thread, not you. I should have been more exact but I wasn't out to name names or that sorta thing, just give my thoughts in general.

Specifically, it was not what was asked, but how it was asked or what was stated by others: insinuations, inferences, falsehood/opinions presented as fact and based on anecdotal evidence at best, with the sole aim of getting others to respond negatively in return... not actually talk about the subject where they might be open to learning and exchanging knowledge (being what these forums should be about,) but just bullheaded personalities just wanting to say their piece, cause a little splash in the pond, and shut out anything that might prove otherwise. That was more or less what I spoke out against.

Really, it's like the way some people here conduct themselves spills over from the politics and religion section across the whole forum.

Anyway, I'm not going to drag on about it. I know it sounds negative and such, but it's with the intention that this thread might be able to turn into something positive that others can learn from. Your posts were actually contributing to it turning around, so again, my rant wasn't directed at you.

--

Side note: I noticed you said you trade with Questrade; just FYI, you're actually trading with Gain Capital / Forex.com, Quest uses them for FX in a whitelabel type fashion.

Thanks Jack, sorry for reacting the way I did to your comments. I try to be as open as possible on the forums, but seem to get attacked on a regular basis. It has made me quite cynical and perhaps I am becoming what I am complaining about.

 

[SimpleTrades]

Quote from sheda:

Thank goodness the newbie with 600 pip SLs came in to save the day!! Every one else is a fraud.

Good bye "elite trader"

That's actually not what I meant. Read what has been written, by jack Larkin, for example. The successful forex traders who trade for a living, aren't replying to this thread because of the nature of these forums. Only those who don't trade forex for a living are replying, or the unsuccessful, with the apparent exception of the frauds or deluded such as Xspurt, are replying.

 

[oldtime]

I've said with no wife, no kids and a 500/mo rent I think I could make a living trading nothing but forex starting with just 25k, maybe 50k to be safe

but I would hate to have to do that again

it's a young man's game

and the mental anguish can at times be quite instense

just put it on the credit card at the bucket shop 1k at a time

and bet until it is all gone

then do it again

you always have that day job

 

[oldtime]

Quote from oldtime:

I've said with no wife, no kids and a 500/mo rent I think I could make a living trading nothing but forex starting with just 25k, maybe 50k to be safe

but I would hate to have to do that again

it's a young man's game

and the mental anguish can at times be quite instense

just put it on the credit card at the bucket shop 1k at a time

and bet until it is all gone

then do it again

you always have that day job

just don't ever look back and see what you would have had if you put that 1k in a low expense index fund instead of the bucket shop or you might cry

 

[oldtime]

Quote from oldtime:

just don't ever look back and see what you would have had if you put that 1k in a low expense index fund instead of the bucket shop or you might cry

especially if you have a day job and can shelter it in a 401k or IRA.

aint no tax shelter for trading profits