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It most definitely does not require rocket science, it does not take some elusive quant algorithm you need to invest lots of PhD work hours and millions into hardware on first, no, all it takes is a simple, robust system that is compoundable.
It doesn't even need a high win rate NOR a high Risk : Reward ratio.
What is perfectly sufficient to achieve the stated objective is by trading a system that - on average, as always - wins "only" 50% of the time...
offers a Risk : Reward of 1 : 2...
a system that is based on very conservative and extremely feasible assumptions in other words...
a system that gives you say 2 trades / day...
which in reality is again extremely conservative just for the sake of this argument (in reality one should be able to get lots more signals with a system that has such parameters than my example of only two)...
a system that has you risking no more than 1% of your account per trade, which again is extremely risk averse...
You now have a system with which on average you have one losing trade per day, which loses you one percent of your equity, and one winning trade, which wins you two percent of your equity, and that leaves you with a net profit of 1% for your trading day.
Make on average 1% per day, and, just to err on the conservative side again, we will not compound that, but downplay the possible results, and end the month up 20%.
Now lets enter the power of compounding, which is the short term traders by far greatest weapon in their arsenal.
Compounding 20% gains per month for a full year, translates into overall gains for your book at year's end of a mind boggling, staggering 1000% !!!
Keep that up for a few years and you are well set to achieve absolutely whatever objectives you may have for yourself, trade a system that you can compound, and there are absolutely no limits - outside of yourself and your own potential inner fears and limitations - at all to keep you from achieving whatever you may wish for.
Of course one needs to keep in mind that with growth of your assets your returns will diminish over time.
Making 1000% / year is extremely feasible with say 50K, but somewhat less so if you've managed to compound up to 100 mill, let alone if you're up to trading with 1 billion.
The very best of the hedge funds with assets of around there can therefore be very satisfied already with an average annual compound rate of return of around 30% p.a
But even there the odd superperformance is still feasible, as Taleb proved with his one billion dollar hedge fund that returned 110% last year.
Or just have a look at TraderDaily and their top earning traders list of 2008, eg top dog John Paulson, who is running 9 daughter funds of cumulatively around 29 billion - one of his funds started out at 130 million in 2007, and he turned that into 3.2 Billion within ONE single year - earning himself a total of 3 billion cash in the process.
THAT is ALL trading is about, NET PROFITS that are COMPOUNDABLE.
You do not need the Holy Grail.
You do not need to be able to predict what markets do next.
All you need is to tweak the only aspects of trading we have influence over, when we enter, and when we exit, in a way that offers us a positive expectancy.
All you need is a simple, robust and above all Compoundable System with a Winning Percentage of no more than 50%, a Risk : Reward of no more than 1 : 2, Trade Opportunities of a lonely 2 trades per day, and Position Sizing that has you risking no more than a paltry 1% that any self-respecting, gunslinging gambler would probably laugh his head off at, in order to achieve whatever you want, and be it the sky !
=================================================================================
EDIT for further clarification:
PS, we are talking ON AVERAGE here...
that means some days you may have 5 losses in a row, the next day you get 3 winners in a row, followed by another loss the day after, and then followed yet again by another 4 winners the day after that, etc etc...
OF COURSE one does not have exactly 2 trades / day, one a winner, one a loser, that is just what you on AVERAGE end up at with a system that is right only 50% of the time, and only has a risk/reward of 1:2.
It doesn't even need a high win rate NOR a high Risk : Reward ratio.
What is perfectly sufficient to achieve the stated objective is by trading a system that - on average, as always - wins "only" 50% of the time...
offers a Risk : Reward of 1 : 2...
a system that is based on very conservative and extremely feasible assumptions in other words...
a system that gives you say 2 trades / day...
which in reality is again extremely conservative just for the sake of this argument (in reality one should be able to get lots more signals with a system that has such parameters than my example of only two)...
a system that has you risking no more than 1% of your account per trade, which again is extremely risk averse...
You now have a system with which on average you have one losing trade per day, which loses you one percent of your equity, and one winning trade, which wins you two percent of your equity, and that leaves you with a net profit of 1% for your trading day.
Make on average 1% per day, and, just to err on the conservative side again, we will not compound that, but downplay the possible results, and end the month up 20%.
Now lets enter the power of compounding, which is the short term traders by far greatest weapon in their arsenal.
Compounding 20% gains per month for a full year, translates into overall gains for your book at year's end of a mind boggling, staggering 1000% !!!
Keep that up for a few years and you are well set to achieve absolutely whatever objectives you may have for yourself, trade a system that you can compound, and there are absolutely no limits - outside of yourself and your own potential inner fears and limitations - at all to keep you from achieving whatever you may wish for.
Of course one needs to keep in mind that with growth of your assets your returns will diminish over time.
Making 1000% / year is extremely feasible with say 50K, but somewhat less so if you've managed to compound up to 100 mill, let alone if you're up to trading with 1 billion.
The very best of the hedge funds with assets of around there can therefore be very satisfied already with an average annual compound rate of return of around 30% p.a
But even there the odd superperformance is still feasible, as Taleb proved with his one billion dollar hedge fund that returned 110% last year.
Or just have a look at TraderDaily and their top earning traders list of 2008, eg top dog John Paulson, who is running 9 daughter funds of cumulatively around 29 billion - one of his funds started out at 130 million in 2007, and he turned that into 3.2 Billion within ONE single year - earning himself a total of 3 billion cash in the process.
THAT is ALL trading is about, NET PROFITS that are COMPOUNDABLE.
You do not need the Holy Grail.
You do not need to be able to predict what markets do next.
All you need is to tweak the only aspects of trading we have influence over, when we enter, and when we exit, in a way that offers us a positive expectancy.
All you need is a simple, robust and above all Compoundable System with a Winning Percentage of no more than 50%, a Risk : Reward of no more than 1 : 2, Trade Opportunities of a lonely 2 trades per day, and Position Sizing that has you risking no more than a paltry 1% that any self-respecting, gunslinging gambler would probably laugh his head off at, in order to achieve whatever you want, and be it the sky !
=================================================================================
EDIT for further clarification:
PS, we are talking ON AVERAGE here...
that means some days you may have 5 losses in a row, the next day you get 3 winners in a row, followed by another loss the day after, and then followed yet again by another 4 winners the day after that, etc etc...
OF COURSE one does not have exactly 2 trades / day, one a winner, one a loser, that is just what you on AVERAGE end up at with a system that is right only 50% of the time, and only has a risk/reward of 1:2.
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