Is it possible earn 20% a year swing trading stocks.

In a strong rising market that goal is easy. I did about 30% last year in small caps, reg T no leverage (taking profits way too soon, argh) just using subjective "buy the dip" methods on up trending stocks.

Note the key phrases: "rising market" and "up trending stocks" - two conditions that are now going out of season. 2014 is shaping up to be a more difficult year.

*edit- just saw you're an "average" person without a lot of experience. In that case I would get a good subscription service (or five) and keep the one that comes out ahead. I'm in my fourth year as a trader and the Gurus I hired in the beginning really sped up the learning process. The least serious looking Guru whose website looked the most like a scam ended up being the best. He had a method that I hated and refused to use, until 3 years of losing money changed my mind :eek:

you are proud about underperforming the index?:confused:
so much time wasted...
 
What's up, failed? Long time no post. I figured you must have given up and gotten a job because you were nowhere when the market topped a couple months ago. :confused:

Yeah, I could have made a few more percent and matched the S&P index last year but it was my first year not losing, so I ramped up the position size slowly and didn't really get the strat dialed in until the last third of the year. I'm not exactly proud of finally breaking down after three years of trying to outsmart The Market, and settling on something so simple and easy that I could basically tell a trader like you how to do it, and you probably wouldn't screw it up :eek:

The essence of successful trading is to provide a service to The Market and get paid, whether it goes up or down.

Are you still long?
 
What's up, failed? Long time no post. I figured you must have given up and gotten a job because you were nowhere when the market topped a couple months ago. :confused:

Yeah, I could have made a few more percent and matched the S&P index last year but it was my first year not losing, so I ramped up the position size slowly and didn't really get the strat dialed in until the last third of the year. I'm not exactly proud of finally breaking down after three years of trying to outsmart The Market, and settling on something so simple and easy that I could basically tell a trader like you how to do it, and you probably wouldn't screw it up :eek:

The essence of successful trading is to provide a service to The Market and get paid, whether it goes up or down.

Are you still long?

No, sell in may is going on. I will most likely short 1 July to 30 july and 1 September to 30 september.:cool:

I didnt even relaize I replied to you:D

Good luck going LONG
 
the starter of this thread ,forgot to mention timeframe of his choice,if there is stock trader because he trades in daily timeframe ,he can have maybe 20 % profit annually ,he may make approximately 100 trades in a year(if he trades stocks 2-3 times each week which is too much activity and needs a lot of capial) .if he is a trend follower or break out trader ,he can apply his strategy with some changes to the future market.he can trade in 5 minute time frame with the same strategy and also benefit from short positions alongside long positions which will increase his opportunity factor twice.also he can choose 4-6 future markets and have 2 trades per day .in two months he can have the equal number of trades as a stock trader can have in a year(5-6 times more opportunity factor in future trading compared to stock trading).so if a strategy is able to make 20% in stock market yearly , it can generate at least 200% profit in future market.( 20% *2 (add short positions )* 5(five times more opportunity factor).i've ignored application of compound interest .

if i am wrong please correct me.
 
COLOR=Red]so if a strategy is able to make 20% in stock market yearly , it can generate at least 200% profit in future market[/COLOR].( 20% *2 (add short positions )* 5(five times more opportunity factor).i've ignored application of compound interest .

if i am wrong please correct me.

I guess in theory you are right. All you have to do is to increase the number of trades you make to increase the percentage return.

I have trouble finding 100 set ups per year swing trading stocks. I scan the entire market daily and may only find a couple trades a week. There are weeks I find none. There are weeks I might find 10 but I am limited by account size as to how many positions I can hold over night.

Then you have to consider the trader. Will they take every set up? Can they stand the inevitable draw down? How much of your account will be at risk with each trade? How big is the account? Is double your account size worth the time and effort involved in sitting in front of a monitor all day, not to mention the stress?

I tried the futures market and dabble there occasionally on days that I’m bored. I find swing trading stocks much less stressful.
 
Back
Top