Does anyone really make money trading futures?

Does anyone really make money trading futures?

I am just wondering.

I know I don't. I have tried all the indicators and the chat room gurus, and none of them make money.

I have a suspicion that a lot of the chat rooms for emini trading are just for hobbyists and market enthusiasts and not for serious traders trying to make a business out of trading.

For any new traders out there please be very cautious of paying anyone to mentor you or signing up for training or a chat room. From what I have seen the only people making money in these deals is the mentor, the chat room owner or the author of the training manual.

I would love to hear from you if you are a successful trader making 20% off your account or better over the past year. I know only 5 to 10 percent of traders are supposed to be successful, but I am beginning to think that zero percent of traders are successful over the long haul. Certainly anyone can have a streak of luck and rack up a few good months where they dramatically increase their account size, but these people are normally big risk takers and eventually they blow out their accounts by taking the exact same risks that help double their accounts in the first place.

Thanks in advance for any response.

aminm_3,

no need to be sorry, I just wanted daytrader to nip it in the bud before it turned into an advertising (hey come check us out and buy our system) thread...there are places for that on the forum

hunterone,

I will check for your email...I already have skype...I just have a hectic schedule. I personally know several people who use MP or MP with a combination of other things that are successful traders.

Due to the nature of my business I talk to many trader and lots of teachers and/or traders that run rooms...and the common element in a successful trader (at least in my experience) is their dedication and commitment to whatever system they are using.

I know successful traders that use MP, just a candle chart and nothing more (price action), moving averages, etc etc... I do have to take many of them for their word though...the ones that have actually proven their success can be counted on two hands (and feet). :)

Thanks for the update..

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Originally posted by jimkane

I am working with hunterone on this, but the hold up is my schedule, and my lack of free time. So far he has answered all my e-mails in a timely manner and given me the instructions as to how to prepare. Hopefully by next week I will be able to listen in on a session with him, and let everyone know how this works for this purpose.

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Just a quick update here. We did finally get something set up for next week. It took me awhile to find the time to set up Skype (not that it's really difficult or anything) and then test that we had communication. I'll post after we try this out in real time.

I had a session with Hunter, Thursday 11/15.
Hunter analysed price action in s&p emini using his multiple timeframe method / system and “called out” trades with stops and targets.
He talked price areas before these were reached and analysed price action once reached getting favourable risk/reward entries.

Does he market a course? How did it go? How did skype work? Thanks

Bruce

quote:

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Originally posted by BBJ

I had a session with Hunter, Thursday 11/15.
Hunter analysed price action in s&p emini using his multiple timeframe method / system and “called out” trades with stops and targets.
He talked price areas before these were reached and analysed price action once reached getting favourable risk/reward entries.

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I'm under the impression that he doesn't sell anything, or market anything, and has never charged anyone for any kind of training or mentoring. I think he decided to do this because it was mentioned it would be great to watch someone with such high rates of return trade live, and it went from there. If this is not right hunter, please correct me.

Jim is correct. I am not selling anything.Not that I have anything against earning a buck. Just doing this because the question asked in this thread is a question I have heard many times. Also I know several people that have paid many thousands for courses and still never learned how to trade.
Just want people to know you can earn a good living trading but it does take more than a 1 week course to do it.

Very Cool Hunter..and generous of you. I look forward to the feedback and thanks to all for keeping us up to date

Well look forward to the skype and Hunterone trade calls. I'm sure they will be people from this forum who will attend so the attendees feedback would be nice.

My take on trading is Simple is the way to go. Kbi in this thread did have a pt about scalping and it not being the right way to trade.

I agree. From the beginning of paper tradig in Dec 2005 to live trading in May 2006 it took me till july 2007 to make any money...I would scalp make and lose more..using MA, bolinger bands...etc, go to Paltalk chat rooms, eminitrding chat room on and on. I know how Bruce feels because in Nov 2006 I said its all random....NOT...if the mkt were random..WArren Buffet would not be a billionaire....( random most load of crap I hear ) and so I went short and hung on...well the mkt went up..and I got out with $3,000 loss on ER..1 lot...I did not enter a trade for another 4 weeks..I demo, but demo $$ are useles...cuz no emotion.

I found this to be a useless excercise.. futile and just going round and round losing money

Then wolfe waves got me thinking in May 2007 about oscillations and I made some good trds guessing these..other times I was wrong with the wave....and then I came across this site and it changed my trading.

The way I trade. I have a reversal day, so I know the mkt is going to reverse. I trade the weekly pivot..I run 1 or 2 lots on ER and 2 or 3 lots on ES...make enuf to weekly pivot. Then on another acct I day trade with DeMark and weekly pivot in mind and Cam R3-S3 routine for daily trading in mind...works 15-18 trading days..the other days maybe break outs...R4+ or s4-

Get your entry pt at extremes. Then the probability of getting stopped out is minimal and the moves up or down are all but guranteed.

It took me over 14 months to break the habit of how the rest of the daytraders trade...Time is the most important thing in daytrading..master time and you will NEVER lose. This is a concept or trading ideology very few understand or use. I know of a time that you can make 10-20 pts on ES easy. You just need to know to go long or short...most times I do.

Another easy method is to see the range for the week..last 3 weeks or 2..now if it went up 30-60 pts that week..in all likelihood it will do only 2 things go up or down for the week. So if the range was 50 pts for the last week try to get only half....25 pts for the week...or even 10. It really is simple if you keep it SIMPLE and just sell or buy at the extremes and wait....works all the time...but very few do it.

And I have no fear when trade. I make not get the exact low..sometimes I do..other times not..but I hang on because the mkt is going to turn either going up or down for most of the week..and since July I make $$$ every week.

Apart from Bruce M and maybe daytrading ( does not say much abt trading prowess)...the best trader I ever came across was a guy by the name of

TRADERGOD. He had a website..www.tradergod.com now defunct.

I came to know him thru a trading acquaitance in Dec 2006..unfortunately. My trader acquaintance got to know him in June 2006.

Tradergod started an account with $10,000 on Jan 1, 2006. On his websites he had a daily log of his winnings and losses. NO Bull****...he was honest.

He would enter a trade with 2.5 stop..one trade a day..and this trade would either stop him out or give him 10-20-25 pts+...at close. He knew his stuff.

Now, On Jan 1, 2006 he started his acct with 10,000 and trade 2 lots ES. By the time Sept 1 2006 came by his ACCT WAS NOW NEARLY $225,000...He MADE OVER 2,000 PERCENT IN A SPAN OF 9 MONTHS AND WAS NOW TRADING 45 CONTRACTS with ONE trade max 2 trades a day if he got stopped out. There is NO other TRADER I have come across with such confidence and astutness that would run 45 contracts the whole day....but he started with 2 and added 1 for every 5,000 he made...this guy was AMAZING.

He was truly amazing...My trader friend from June 2006 till Sept 2006 made so much money....he could not believe it...set and forget...

Then he pushed off to get married in Sept 2006 and refunded peoples money who paid in advance for his subscription..real honest guy...subs were ONLY $60 A WEEK...

He came back in latter part of Dec 2006 and by early Jan 2007 closed shop as he was taken by some big fund or the like...He just stated he got an offer he could not refuse.

NO one I have come across has come close to his abilities...and all this for only $60 a week..he was well worth it..pity I did not come across him in Jan 2006....I would have made a killing.

Funny...he never had any courses to sell etc. He believed...you take my calls and see if they make money. He told in an email as I asked him did he have a course to sell. He told me he would never divulge his method to anyone for any amount of money and to only pay for calls never courses.

This from a guy who made nearly 2,500 percent in 9 months. Proof was his daily calls and his log on website...no bull**** or cheating. Can't say that abt two many people.

And thats my motto I learned from TRADERGOD...pay for calls not courses. Its worked real well for me.

Wherever you are TraderGod...Happy Thanksgiving.

The end.

I was curious what your business is.....must be quite interesting to encounter all the different personalities that make us traders function

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Originally posted by subq



Due to the nature of my business I talk to many trader and lots of teachers and/or traders that run rooms...and the common element in a successful trader (at least in my experience) is their dedication and commitment to whatever system they are using.

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I consistently profit from futures/futures options, but it took me a long time to figure out the best way for me to do so.

While a set of trading rules is very important, I have found that it is just as, maybe even MORE important, to develop "trading callouses" from getting your butt handed to you repeatedly along the way.

Here's the thing: Any set of rules will only work until they don't. It is normal human psychology that there will come a time (again and again) where you deviate from the rules because A) you have had a string of losses, B) you have had a string of wins and now you have a loss and can't believe you're really supposed to "lose this one," C) you get greedy, D) you get scared for whatever reason, or E) any one of a thousand other things that will cause you to screw up.

I had ups and downs for many years until I thought I had it figured out and had a couple of years of really solid profits. I had my own private island picked out :) (not really, but I did have a condo in mind O/N an island). Then came the financial crisis of 2008 and I learned that while I had a generally good strategy, because times were good I had not developed an appropriate risk control system.

Hundreds of thousands of dollars later... (and that didn't take long at all!) I learned the hard way that my strategy was woefully inadequate when the unexpected happened. It took me a while to brush myself off, but eventually I did.

Since sometime in 2009 my cumulative returns are somewhere around 450%. Over the past 9 years I've found that proper risk control continues to be where I tend to fall short, so I've had some choppiness during this time. About two years ago I tightened things up some more to try to make for a smoother equity curve... this mean that, theoretically, my losing months should NOT be as large as in the past, but my winning months will also not be as large as they were in the past.

That's okay though -- even my cumulative success over the past 9-10 years, when averaged out by month, comes to < 2% a month. I suspect that 2% a month, long term, is about where I'll stay, but the ride should just be smoother along the way.

A return like that may or may not be enough for a particular person--it is for me--but keep in mind if you want to shoot for the stars there's a really good chance you're going to eventually crash land back on earth. It really does come down to being adequately capitalized and having a reasonable return be "enough" for you. By all means, trade even with a small account, because you need that experience to get to the point where you'll know what you're doing when you have the larger account. Just don't expect to turn a tiny account into a massive one along the way or you will probably be disappointed.

-PDG