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

[SimpleTrades]

Quote from Soon2Bgreat:

1min charts are clearly noise. There are definitely strategies that can make money off this noise, but retail TA scalping aint one of em, I'm actually with marketsurfer on this one, lol.

Its all relative. The one minute chart is noise to the one hour chart. The one hour char is noise to the one year chart.

Our day to day lives is noise in geological time, yet there are clear trends and patterns in our day to day lives.

 

[oldtime]

Quote from SimpleTrades:

Its all relative. The one minute chart is noise to the one hour chart. The one hour char is noise to the one year chart.

Our day to day lives is noise in geoligical time, yet there are clear trends and patterns in our day to day lives.

if you are looking for a sure thing, it is almost universally agreed that some day the sun will burn out, so that is a good bet as a straight wager. Where most get screwed up is in small time prop bets, like, "But before the sun burns out and all life on earth will be destroyed, we will be hit by an asteroid."

so, the smaller the time frame, the smaller the payout, but the smaller the risk

so yes, you are correct, it is all relative,

and that is where cost analysis comes into the game

the smaller the time frame the more frequent the bet, and the higher the monthly cost

that is why I like betting on the sun, because you only pay the vig one time

but in an efficient market, it should all be equal, you really need to get the calculator out and see just how efficient the market is

 

[marketsurfer]

Quote from cornix:

One of this thread participants, Wrbtrader has YEARS of every day track records posted on his site. He was around already when I was just starting to trade and he's still here, still shows profit almost every day from PA based day trading.

How is that not a proof I don't know.

Cornix,

You first struck me as a legit trader, now I'm not so sure. First you caught the mini crash in another thread and your trading buddies must be the best on earth. They never lose, just see above. It's really starting to sound ridiculous.

surf

 

[SimpleTrades]

Very true Oldtime.

Cost is a very significant issue in any account, but it somehow seems more noticeable in a small account. Just holding one mini lot is costing $0.9/day (Roll), and about $2.4 every time I trade it. Still I'd rather hold than spend, $2.4 X 2 per round trade, 50 times a day. I mean think about that. Scalp one mini lot 50 times and lose $240/day. That's $60,000/yr - a full salary for a family. That's what many of us are handing the broker so that 95% of the time we can lose all of our money. Even if I only did 10 trades a day, that's still $12,000/yr - 12 times the mini account I am trading.

 

[oldtime]

Quote from SimpleTrades:

Very true Oldtime.

Cost is a very significant issue in any account, but it somehow seems more noticeable in a small account. Just holding one mini lot is costing $.9/day (Roll), and about $2.4 every time I trade it. Still I'd rather hold than spend, $2.4 X 2 per round trade, 50 times a day. I mean think about that. Scalp one mini lot 50 times and lose $240/day. That's $60,000/yr - a full salary for a family. That's what many of us are handing the broker so that 95% of the time we can lose all of our money.

it's not quite that simple, cost has to be compared to what everybody else is paying

that is why I don't go up against HFT (not that I could even if I tried)

it kind of comes down to how good you have to be to overcome the cost

and if your cost is too much more than what the big boys are paying, then you can no longer compete

it's like the local hardware store against walmart, yet some of them survive, because they are just that good

 

[Daring]

Quote from marketsurfer:

Cornix,

You first struck me as a legit trader, now I'm not so sure. First you caught the mini crash in another thread and your trading buddies must be the best on earth. They never lose, just see above. It's really starting to sound ridiculous.

surf

You strike me as a loser who never got it so everyone else deserves the same fate to prevent your fragile ego from breaking.

 

[SimpleTrades]

Yes, oldtime, that is partly my point. I don't see the value in scalping - atleast not with the resources I currently have. The cost is simply too great. I can't compete with the big boys. A swing trade approach, as you have discovered, seems to work much better for me. Given the nature of large pairs like EUR/USD this is also a less risky approach in my humble opinion.

 

[marketsurfer]

Quote from Daring:

You strike me as a loser who never got it so everyone else deserves the same fate to prevent your fragile ego from breaking.

No, I get it and have made a killing in the markets over the years. In fact, some of it was documented here since 2002. I am far from a fragile ego and likely have more experience and success than you. Remember the markets are full of deception and those who have been deceived are easy to spot and don't even realize it.

One of the PA TA gurus has already been banned for not being fully legit. Who do you think will be next?

 

[SimpleTrades]

Marketsurfer, with all due respect, I really question people who use expressions like: "made a killing." 95% of the time, this is a massive exaggeration.

 

[oldtime]

Quote from SimpleTrades:

Yes, oldtime, that is partly my point. I don't see the value in scalping - atleast not with the resources I currently have. The cost is simply too great. I can't compete with the big boys. A swing trade approach, as you have discovered, seems to work much better for me.

yes, I agree, same with me, there is a middle point after a while where things even out

but still, cost is only a consideration after you have done the math. Just because it is a lot of money doesn't mean the whole deal can't be profitable.

I can't believe what I paid in carry some months, I would have been happy just to make that much, but then again, some months I did and much more

the same myth has been sold, usually about every four years in the new crop of trading books, and now internet sites, that somehow a bracket trader can overcome the cost. And usually, when you are in a drawdown and look back, you see, if you had just bracket traded you would at least be even, if not profitable.

wouldn't it be nice if it was all that simple?

just put it on with a stop and a target somehow you will overcome the spread and the commish (and sleep well at night to boot!)