Making a living with a $30K account

[l2tradr]

Hi,

A friend of mine is wondering if one can make a living trading the YM or the ES with a $30K account. He's been trading stocks for 5 years, with approximately 60% yearly returns (day-trading, no margin). Great money management in place, with very low drawdowns over this period.

He wants to trade mini futures for a living (currently works in the evenings). Is it possible for him to make a living with a 30K account? He has more money but wants to trade only 10 contracts intra-day.

Do you guys think that it's enough capital to achieve this goal? His living expenses are less than $2K a month and he could always go back to work if things don't work out.

Any advice for him? My opinion is that it would be very difficult to do it, but he insists that he can.

Thanks

 

[volente_00]

Have him trade spy or dia first. If his method works on them then he can probably adapt it to on ES or YM but the big difference is the speed that the eminis move at versus equities. If he has any flaws in discipline he will blow 30k in no time trading 10 lots. He should probably keep his night job at first as anyone will tell you it is far easier to make money trading when you don't have to worry about the money.

 

[l2tradr]

Quote from volente_00:

Have him trade spy or dia first. If his method works on them then he can probably adapt it to on ES or YM but the big difference is the speed that the eminis move at versus equities. If he has any flaws in discipline he will blow 30k in no time trading 10 lots. He should probably keep his night job at first as anyone will tell you it is far easier to make money trading when you don't have to worry about the money.

Actually, he;s been trading mainly ETFs and SPDRs for the past year..the QQQQ, QID, SPY, etc...he is wondering if it's realistic he could bring in 60-100K a year by using the same strategies he's employed trading ETFs but using the leverage of the E-minis (doesn't have to be 10 contracts at a time btw).

 

[callmate]

Quote from l2tradr:

Actually, he;s been trading mainly ETFs and SPDRs for the past year..the QQQQ, QID, SPY, etc...he is wondering if it's realistic he could bring in 60-100K a year by using the same strategies he's employed trading ETFs but using the leverage of the E-minis (doesn't have to be 10 contracts at a time btw).

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Ask your friend to get over his shyness and post here himself.
I suggest he reads and follows:

http://www.elitetrader.com/vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=83604&perpage=6&pagenumber=1
http://www.elitetrader.com/vb/showthread.php?threadid=99283
http://www.elitetrader.com/vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=64965&perpage=6&pagenumber=1

Also read anything he can lay his hands on written by Jack Hershey on these forums. I am sure he will arrive at some kind of conclusion himself.

Good trading

 

[daveb351]

Suggest he reads " Trade your way to Financial Freedom", by Van Tharp. Money management & having a trading plan is the key. Never enter a trade where the reward is less than 2X risk...if he adheres to this he can do it.

 

[l2tradr]

Quote from daveb351:

Suggest he reads " Trade your way to Financial Freedom", by Van Tharp. Money management & having a trading plan is the key. Never enter a trade where the reward is less than 2X risk...if he adheres to this he can do it.

He did he swears by it as well

 

[l2tradr]

Quote from callmate:

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Ask your friend to get over his shyness and post here himself.

I'm not sure what that would accomplish. I just wanted to get some opinions on whether that's a good idea for him. If it makes any difference, you can pretend it's me asking that question for myself . Which is not the case (unfortunately for me), as I am not confident enough in my methods to do this for a living just yet.

 

[Tums]

Why don't you begin your question by:

Hi,

I am wondering if I can ...

 

[l2tradr]

Quote from Tums:

Why don't you begin your question by:

Because *I* can't, and I know that...I want to know if some seasoned traders think *he* can due to his track record (mine isn't nearly as impressive, I still have alot of learning to do, no futures for me for at least a year or two, maybe longer )

 

[ess1096]

Quote from l2tradr:

Hi,

A friend of mine is wondering if one can make a living trading the YM or the ES with a $30K account. He's been trading stocks for 5 years, with approximately 60% yearly returns (day-trading, no margin). Great money management in place, with very low drawdowns over this period.

He wants to trade mini futures for a living (currently works in the evenings). Is it possible for him to make a living with a 30K account? He has more money but wants to trade only 10 contracts intra-day.

Do you guys think that it's enough capital to achieve this goal? His living expenses are less than $2K a month and he could always go back to work if things don't work out.

Any advice for him? My opinion is that it would be very difficult to do it, but he insists that he can.

Thanks

1) How did he daytrade without a margin account?

2) IMO, 10 contracts in a 30K account is risky.

3) Does he have a backtested system with a positive expectancy?

4) Is your "friend" really YOU?