How Realistic? $50k account, $500 / day

Quote from AFChao:

Hi everyone,

Was wondering if I could ask the more experienced traders how realistic is it to have $50,000 day trading account, and make $500 per day? I plan to use an alerts type software such as trade-ideas and find a pattern in new daily highs or lows. For those of you who have done something similar, is making $500 / day realistic?

Thanks for any info!
More...

The $50k in your account will have little to do with whether you trade profitable. To extract any amount of money from the market (which market??) consistently, you will need to exhibit technical mastery of trading, i.e. at which prices to buy and to sell.

If you have $50k in risk capital, trading 1 or 2 E-Mini S&Ps with tight stops might be a reasonable amount of leverage for you, but I wouldn't go beyond this.

You should focus on trading skills, which will be the ultimate determinant of your success or failure. Good luck
 
Quote from AFChao:

Hi everyone,

Was wondering if I could ask the more experienced traders how realistic is it to have $50,000 day trading account, and make $500 per day? I plan to use an alerts type software such as trade-ideas and find a pattern in new daily highs or lows. For those of you who have done something similar, is making $500 / day realistic?

Thanks for any info!
More...

There are about 20 trading days in a month. At $500/day, you'd be looking at ~$10K/month or ~$120K/year. The number of retail traders who make that is quite small, compared to the number of retail traders total.

So, you'd have to end up in about the top 5% or so of all retail traders, I'd estimate.

I'd say that you need to have some reason to think that's realistic because on the surface, it doesn't seem to be.

You'd probably be doing yourself a favor if you tried to do this on a simulator platform before going live with your capital.
 
Quote from logic_man:

There are about 20 trading days in a month. At $500/day, you'd be looking at ~$10K/month or ~$120K/year. The number of retail traders who make that is quite small, compared to the number of retail traders total.

So, you'd have to end up in about the top 5% or so of all retail traders, I'd estimate.

I'd say that you need to have some reason to think that's realistic because on the surface, it doesn't seem to be.

You'd probably be doing yourself a favor if you tried to do this on a simulator platform before going live with your capital.
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Well, that much on that capital base. A lot of retail guys with a million or so who easily do that.
 
Quote from AFChao:

Hi everyone,

Was wondering if I could ask the more experienced traders how realistic is it to have $50,000 day trading account, and make $500 per day? I plan to use an alerts type software such as trade-ideas and find a pattern in new daily highs or lows. For those of you who have done something similar, is making $500 / day realistic?

Thanks for any info!
More...

1% a day translates into a 1100% annual compounded return (assuming 250 trading days in a year). So, you are looking to beat virtually all mutual fund managers, hedge fund managers, investment banks, private equity firms, not to mention the small traders. There are probably only a few traders in the world who can make 200% annual return consistently year after year. You are looking to beat them 5 times over. And your plan is to use the third party alerts?
 
Quote from icarus618:

If you have to ask, then it's unrealistic for you. Also, if anyone puts the $500 as the numerator and $50,000 as the denominator in order to decide, then it's unrealistic for that person as well.

The way you decide what's realistic is by figuring out what the market you are trading offers for your operating fractal in light of your ability to extract from that offer. What you extract will always be less than what the market offers.
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was thinking the same thing, you could limit your losses to 1/12th of your acct per month,that would give you a year to go broke or get the bugs out, trade sim for the remainder of month if you hit your loss,it's very easy for an experienced trader as someone mentioned, but the way you are asking the question suggests you have little experience and will likely lose the money as tuition for your introduction to trading,not a put down just statistically likely
 
Here, I think, is a better question for you to ask yourself. In a business where no more than 2% of all the participants can generate 1% a day ... month in and month out, what level of skill does that tyype of performance require and, how can I get that skill and how long do I think it will take.

If your expectations on those variables is reasonable ... well, it is possible although not probable. If you think you can walk in and in 90 days or six months be generating multiples of what most hedge funds shoot for then you are not being realistic.

Hard to win, harder to generate 200% + returns a year and harder still if you need to perform that well. How about cutting your nut so you can live on $250? Domestic beer sucks but sometimes you just gotta suck it up!

Quote from AFChao:

Hi everyone,

Was wondering if I could ask the more experienced traders how realistic is it to have $50,000 day trading account, and make $500 per day? I plan to use an alerts type software such as trade-ideas and find a pattern in new daily highs or lows. For those of you who have done something similar, is making $500 / day realistic?

Thanks for any info!
More...
 
Quote from nonlinear5:

1% a day translates into a 1100% annual compounded return (assuming 250 trading days in a year). So, you are looking to beat virtually all mutual fund managers, hedge fund managers, investment banks, private equity firms, not to mention the small traders. There are probably only a few traders in the world who can make 200% annual return consistently year after year. You are looking to beat them 5 times over.
More...

$500 day x 21 trading sessions per month = $10,500 monthly

$10,500 monthly x 12 = $126,000 annual or +252% linear

$50k can leverage five emini contracts at $10k per contract

+5 points NQ per day on average = +$100 per contract / +$500 per 5-lot turned

All that above is easily doable by a skilled, experienced trader who has a firm grasp on trading and self-management. But fledgling traders who don't yet have those skills cast in iron cannot make $500 per day with a $5 million account.

They would still net-lose in the end, because account balance size means nothing... skill-set level means everything.
 
why does everybody worry about how much is in your account? its laughable.

a seasoned profitable trader (one in the same) will make money on most days with 50 grand in his account or 5 grand. it doesn’t matter.

a bad trader will lose most days with a million dollar account or a 50k account.

and why does everybody talk about percentage returns? its meaningless to a daytrader. day margin makes it irrelevant. this isnt a freaking mutual fund your investing in.

gosh.
 
I guess I just interpret the question a little different. With a 50k account is $500 a decent days work?

yes

and probably -900 should be a daily puke loss, where you just pack it up, even if it's early in the day and figure, "I just aint got it today."
 
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