Getting rich in stocks like Dan Zanger or futures like Larry Williams not possible anymore?

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NoEmotionTrader

Hello everybody,

I am wondering what the consensus on this is:

1. Is it still possible to take a small amount of money ($10,000/$20,000) and turn it into 15 million or more like Zanger did (40 million) swing trading stocks at a proprietary firm (or is that doubtful due to less available leverage today)?

2. What about turning $10,000 or $20,000 into a million or more (like Larry Williams did) at the World Cup Championship of Futures Trading?

Honestly, I can't even find a broker that would allow overnight trading (FUTURES) unless your account is much bigger.

That being said, neither of these seem possible to me unless:

For #1, you are treating stocks like a gamble and only using prop leverage to Day-Trade.

For #2, I'm unsure of, but it seems possible with a larger deposit (like 40k+) and a broker that would allow you to play by certain rules.
 
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NoEmotionTrader said:
Honestly, I can't even find a broker that would allow overnight trading (FUTURES) unless your account is much bigger.
More...

I have had no problem holding overnight positions in futures on TradeStation, Interactive Brokers, or AMP. As long as I met margin no one really cared.
 
NoEmotionTrader said:
1. Is it still possible to take a small amount of money ($10,000/$20,000) and turn it into 15 million or more.
More...

Yes. There are many stocks that are up 30-100X in the 10 years since the 2009 lows - so it's not like the type of stocks that Zanger made big money on have suddenly vanished.

The biggest price appreciation in the history of markets was seen between 2011-2017 in Bitcoin (10 cents to $17,0000), so we are still in the "good old days" in that regard.

Best opportunities in last 10 years (in my opinion):

Bitcoin 2011-2017
Silver run in 2011
Weed stocks 2013, and again in 2018
Chinese stocks run in 2014-2015
Biotech run 2013-2014
Cloud stocks 2016-present
Natural gas run 2017
Lumber 2016-2018
Palladium 2009-2011, and now

If you went crazy with leverage in any of those markets you could have made a fortune.

Heck, I turned a $50,000 account to $150,000 being long the 2X China ETF (XPP) and using account leverage, during the 2014 bull run. Unfortunately, I gave it all right back on the ride down. Maybe there is a lesson there for both of us - express these trades in options where we can define our risk.

But yes, there is still tons of opportunity in the markets.
 
NoEmotionTrader said:
Hello everybody,

I am wondering what the consensus on this is:

1. Is it still possible to take a small amount of money ($10,000/$20,000) and turn it into 15 million or more like Zanger did (40 million) swing trading stocks at a proprietary firm (or is that doubtful due to less available leverage today)?

2. What about turning $10,000 or $20,000 into a million or more (like Larry Williams did) at the World Cup Championship of Futures Trading?

Honestly, I can't even find a broker that would allow overnight trading (FUTURES) unless your account is much bigger.

That being said, neither of these seem possible to me unless:

For #1, you are treating stocks like a gamble and only using prop leverage to Day-Trade.

For #2, I'm unsure of, but it seems possible with a larger deposit (like 40k+) and a broker that would allow you to play by certain rules.
More...

You tell me then whether Zanger and Williams made so much from trading because (1) they were able to find prop shops that allowed overnight trading or (2) they knew how to trade better than 99.9% of their peers. For me, it's a no-brainer. They simply had better genes than you or me.
 
SteveM said:
Heck, I turned a $50,000 account to $150,000 being long the 2X China ETF (XPP) and using account leverage, during the 2014 bull run. Unfortunately, I gave it all right back on the ride down. Maybe there is a lesson there for both of us - express these trades in options where we can define our risk.
More...

Steve, during that run did you lock in any profits at all? Did you use any safeguards like trailing stops as your profits were going up?
 
I wonder weither OP realized that there was this incredible run from 300$ to 20.000$ only a couple of years ago of...what is it called? Bitthingy...yea, right Bitcoin.

There are multiple rags to riches stories much crazier than Zanger et al. It is possible...just not for you...cause also Zanger worked his ass off before he got the dough
 
It is very much possible. But you would need years of experience first, and second - proper opportunity to arise. I'm speaking from personal experience, the opportunities were insane and i;ve spotted them before they happened... BUT did i capitalize properly on them? Nope, mainly due to lack of experience and thus lack of confidence.

People talking about bitcoin going from 300$ to 20k$ in a span of 7 years is irrelevant. We had a bull run just few months ago. It went from 4k$ to 14k$ in 3 months. That's one of such opportunities where fortunes can be made for real. When market is trending it will just keep breaking up and you can long on high leverage and your entry will not ever get hit again.

As they say though, trading is a skill that takes years to learn and lifetime to master. Don't expect to come in the markets and make millions. People like Larry Williams have devoted their life to trading.
 
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