Making a living with a $30K account

[Kevmeister]

Quote from jack hershey:



there would be absolutely no chance that you could do it simply because you have permenantly denied yourself the opportunity by past cummulative bad choices that are not distilled in your belief system.

Rcanfiel - You truly did not understand this very important message from Jack. Read the Nature of Personal Reality. You will be enlightened.

 

[prop_99]

Quote from Yrutman:

My brother in law makes 3-400 daily trading crude oil with a 15k account, so spare me the bullshit. So far its been two years now steady. If he were to get blown out, he does have back up capital to put more in, so he has confidence but he always sweeps everything out over 15k. So I now believe most people on ET are losers and the people that say 30k in a futures account is not enough probably never had that in their account anyway. My brother in law never posts on here either, I just thought it was ridiculous to ask advice on here, and then some of these guys come on here like gurus. I turned 5k into 75k got cocky gave most of it back as I started adding way more contracts then I should be trading and now, I only keep 20k in my account just to keep me in control. This is me of course. So can it be done with 30k? Answer yes very easily because your not going to go all in and leverage the whole amount. It should be there for some back up when there are draw downs. I wont go on and on, because some asshole will post and call me names and tell me Im full of shit. By the way we trade through mirus futures in Chicago and we get $500.00 margin on the CL so thats also is a factor in only trading with 15-20k. Again though please dont respond to me negatively as I will not reply and more than likely tell you to go F**CK yourself. I know what I draw every Friday and I dont have another job I live off of this.

Do you trade the large CL contract or emini? 500 BUCKS INTRADAY SOUNDS LIKE THE MINI ? hOW IS SLIPPAGE ETC ETC ?


Thanks

 

[007Arb]

Just once I would love to see someone come on here making extraordinary trading claims who willingly backs up such claims via multi-years of real money trading statements. In the real world where traders are judged on their performance and verified results, 20% to 25% per annum puts you in a select company of traders.

Dumb and old fashioned me, I didn't feel comfortable trading full time until I had built my account up to the $300,000 to $400,000 range.

 

[TraderZones]

Quote from 007Arb:

Just once I would love to see someone come on here making extraordinary trading claims who willingly backs up such claims via multi-years of real money trading statements. In the real world where traders are judged on their performance and verified results, 20% to 25% per annum puts you in a select company of traders.

true. Those who expect to regularly pull $50-100K profits out of a $30K for the longterm are living in lala land. Some here keep egging them on, but very few people entering the trading arena are ever likely to do this.

I would love just once, to get an accurate assessment of those who are TRULY dong this vs. those who CLAIM to be doing it.

 

[ssss]

l2tradr


Registered: Feb 2007
Posts: 109


08-24-07 01:39 PM

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
#################################

Author support your opinion - It is very difficult

must to have one man company in Monaco -not to pay any tax
must to be very good and invest 10-12 hours per days
must to limit expense only for eating by university caffee
( good lunch in EU -5 euro -8 $)
must to live in one roam student appartment ( lease 200-300
euro per month)

 

[pshinspections]

l2tradr,

Yes it is possible to net $30k per year, after taxes and expenses, from a $30k account, but not probable. It is possible to create a system, or work someone else's system, to deliver that kind of profit. It has been done. It is being done today. However, systems are slaves to the markets, which means that profit from such systems are slaves to the people who push the buttons to buy and sell, all around the world. All that means is that profitable systems don't last forever. Their effectiveness will disappear in time. Therefore, any system is subject to obsolescence at the whim of the market.

I work multiple ER2 and YM systems. Some days, nothing works for me, and I simply have to close down my platform and go play. I have yet to see a system that works in all markets and conditions, chop and trending.

Yes, it can be done. I have seen it done. But when it doesn't work anymore, a trader worth more than just one system will adapt and create, buy or lease another system that does work, at least for now.

There are brokers with $300 intraday margins for the ES for those who wish to hang themselves with leverage, but I think your friend is wise to trade with a $3,000 per contract margin. Don't get me wrong, I know people who built million-dollar portfolios in one year using such miniscule margins, but I don't think I would have the guts to try that. The idea of watching my entire portfolio go up 60% one day and down 50% the next is just too wrenching for me. But some people are made for that kind of action.

Good trading to your friend.