1. What is the typical average annual return percentage for an "average" intermediate futures trader?
Minus 100 to 200%, reason I say more than 100% is because for many traders they have to do over 100% return just to cover commissions. "intermediate futures trader" is like they been at it 2-4 years and working towards being breakeven. And this is for day trading. Now going to Long Term trading an "intermediate futures trader" should be profitable.
2. What is the typical average annual return percentage for a "very good" experienced futures trader?
Until you are making 250k, most likely still doing retail brokers, and leasing fees go up and down, so it can be little under a grand to few grand each month, then in order to make it advantage you have to be doing so much volume to get exchange fees down in like ES and the rest. You have to maintain there min balance, I have forgotten what mine is but have ample funds. When you account is under half million, you can make 100-200% plus once you figure how to day trade. Long term is much different cause until you learn how to play this game, way different than day trading, man it I been learning long term since 1985 and still learning how to expand more, I think there are many more secrets in long term than day trading and why I would not mentor anyone how to do. My accounts are greater on long term duration side than all countless hours of day trading to include all the coding for automation.
3. How common is it for a futures trader to consistently make 200% or more per year for a long time? How rare is this to achieve?
Where biggest problems comes into play is how to get your size into the markets without triggering HFTs or others on going the other way, you never want to do stops as whatever size you doing will cause slippage if there is not volume at your price, and you don't want to use limits as you advertising to whole world, and protective stops-forget it, chances are I am not only one trying to get out, so fair losses can becomes huge losses. I have never had most profitable day trading more than amount of which I have lost. Now in long term trading, best you do off monthly/weekly/daily charts, as you build size, at some point you just get use to open equity swings like "Oh boy I just made a BMW or oh crap there goes a Bentley", very limited days of making/losing airplanes in one day, usually some major going on.
4. What is the approximate upper account size to where making 200% or more becomes mathematically impossible due to too much capital to make that kind of high return trading futures? (Something small like $500,000? Or something big like $50,000,000?)
Thank you.
That is rather of funny question cause some days almost unlimited volume and other days volume dries up, you have to already have the answer to the question and taking action before even thinking about it. So say you went long ES, bad news comes out and no volume to get out, what do you do? I have practiced the answer hundreds of times and even now I do twice a month, and no, won't say, but I don't have to think what to do.
So to say what makes for a good trader to better trader is practicing even though something might only happen once every ten years.
Hey, so long as you paying more taxes each year, you have a roof over your head, food to eat driving a nice 1958 Edsel, you are doing alright.
I think the best deal around is trade your 401k and Roth accounts and enough taxable if you need that to live on, if I had to do it all over again, not even do day trading and concentrate on Long term trading and Stock/ETF options now. You just have so much to compete against in day trading and the time to get good is like WOW, I could build full house each year by myself and after handful of years be drawing money for life time, and yet in day trading, have to be behind screen. Automation way to go f you are good at knowing what works.
Good luck to you.
