how long did it take?

[oildaytrader]

when do I go from senior to veteran, 500?

When I go to OWNER

 

[neil]

how long did it take?

OOPS ! - Thought it was a thread about sex:whistling

 

[Sgt. Pipper]

To put an exact figure..... 2 years I reckon is what it takes to know what you are doing.

I agree. 2 years is about right. Especially if you have a business background and/or treat Forex like a biz and not a slot machine.

 

[oildaytrader]

There is a poll on this subject .

5 years was average poll count

http://www.trade2win.com/boards/trading-polls/21066-how-long-does-take-become-trader.html

 

[oildaytrader]

consistently profitable?

ive been trading 11 years for myself and others. ive never met anyone who is 'consistently profitable'. there are plenty who make a good living trading (which is what you mean i imagine) and that path typically takes a few years if good (read effort) before they can support themselves.

if you want consistantly profitable, get a job with a salary. traders tend to have quite big equity swings and holidays. you may see '6 months of salary' in a month, followed by 2 months of almost nothing or small loss (business cost), followed by 2 months of good money, followed by 5 months of little profit/loss. etc

i get the impression some people here approach trading with a monetary goal in mind each day/week/month/year. although this may seem like a good plan, imo, it aint. you cant control what the market will do, so you cant control what the market will give you.

setting a monetary goal will thus either limit what you take from the market (making the flat equity periods difficult to sustain) once achieved. this is true if you limit each trades potential with an order based target, or stop trading on achieving a target.

Well said.Your post is great,other traders have methods which make traders consistently profitable, you may not have a method to make you consistently profitable.

 

[meanreversion]

Every trader I've met makes loads of money, or at least that's what they tell me.

 

[barryb]

There is a poll on this subject .

5 years was average poll count

http://www.trade2win.com/boards/trading-polls/21066-how-long-does-take-become-trader.html

Do you honestly believe these polls?

 

[oildaytrader]

Do you honestly believe these polls?

Yes.I have no reason to doubt the statements of members.

 

[barryb]

You're more trusting than me then.

 

[oildaytrader]

Every trader I've met makes loads of money, or at least that's what they tell me.

Every shares trader I have met boasts about the one they made money on, the losers are not losers but considered as long term investments.They only talk when they are jubiliant, otherwise they bottle it up.

Last week I looked at me 3500 stock holding in Bioprogress.I wanted to cash it in , but was advised my long term investment does not exist.Nothing to shout to your friends about.

 

[Rossini]

Yes.I have no reason to doubt the statements of members.

In any case, the sample size is too small.

 

[sebby2468]

The mental side of it takes a couple of years,you will have heard that before, but if you can control the devil within you are 70% there,learn to be selective with your trades and trust your strategy,you will have losers,but let your winners run,few can do it,but like anything in life the more you practice the better you will become

 

[yiehom]

How did you find your mentor?

Took me about a year as a trader. But I had been a longer term investor for a decade before that so I had an understanding of the markets. I had my strategies sorted out pretty quickly but it was only when I found a mentor that I really understood what it was to be a trader and from that time on I have been consistently profitable. I make enough to earn a decent living but I also have a job as if i didn't I think my trading would get worse not better,

 

[oildaytrader]

If you have a good mentor you might be able to do it in months, otherwise its going to take at least a year, but more like several years.
But beware of all the scamer and charlatan coaches and mentors that lurk on this board and everywhere on the internet.

Let them brainwash new traders with loser's snake oil and earn their money, just pick out the free gems on this site and use them.

If you find a good mentor,new traders will do it in months,those mentors are busy making money trading , they are too busy to mentor for a few hundred bucks.

When my doctors stop me from trading ,I will mentor for my pension.

O D T

 

[simba00000]

How long it took me:
Eight months full time with 8 months before that of part time of 50 hours a week. Starting full time with an ave. of 12+ hours a day, 7 days a week and am still putting in at least 84 hours a week. The post D70 made I would generally agree with except from what I have gathered from other full time consistantly profitable (meaning profitable month to month) traders is that it will take months to years.

Advice:
In my experience and humble opinion learning to trade to a level of consistant profitability is a journey. For simplicity lets call a consistantly profitible day trader a pro. I believe that to get to the pro level within 2 years one needs to have the following:

* Education. One cannot become a pro from reading books or attending a seminar. Guidance and feedback from a consistantly profitible trader(s) is required. Even better if the pro trader(s) that help/mentor/teach you share the same education or methodology as you.

* Passion for the markets and the desire and dedication to succeed no matter what. The markets and for a lack of a better description your inner demons will push you to your limits and this is what destroys most traders.

* Sufficient capitol to attain the desired profits you seek, assuming you are realistic. For example, if one wants to day trade for a living they would need at least $60K account capitol ($50K starting capitol with $10K buffer), at least $10K for education and education support, $3K-$5K for the proper hardware you will need and enough $ to pay living expenses for at least a year. Trading must be treated as a business if any true level of success is desired. Of course as a side job say a swing trader, less capitol is required.

The list can go on and on. One last piece of advice, do not trade real money until you can trade for "at least" 3 months profitably on paper. Or you can do what most do (as I did) and that is throw money away until you are consistanly profitable. And when paper trading you must believe or treat the paper money like it is real money.

 

[charles roberts]

How long did it take
It seems to me that a lot of traders dont realy make a lot of profit they might sit in shirt sleeves making a small profit but realy need to pay themselves a decent salery bang goes the profit.So unless you enjoy sitting there for hours on end, get a job with a decent salery

 

[Black Swan]

How long it took me:

If one wants to day trade for a living they would need at least $60K account capitol ($50K starting capitol with $10K buffer), at least $10K for education and education support, $3K-$5K for the proper hardware you will need and enough $ to pay living expenses for at least a year. Trading must be treated as a business if any true level of success is desired. Of course as a side job say a swing trader, less capitol is required.

You do not need anywhere near that amount of capital as "starting capital", you should only obligate those kind of funds once you're proficient, not on the route to getting there. That amount of capital will not cause proficiency....

and you refer to being a forex swing trader as a "side job"?

 

[oildaytrader]

When does a trader get the ability to turn a lousy losing day into a profitable day?It has to take many years to get the knowledge and skill to turn 5hit into gold.It will take many years of practise,those thinking a few years are possibly deluded.

Chasing rainbows is normal for many years,traders think they have got there but they still lack the skills.

 

[Shanghai]

How did you find your mentor?

Yes not easy to find a good one. Mine was through friends and fellow traders that I trust. I also don't subscribe to the notion that mentors are failed traders. I only know of two but they are both very succesful in thier own trading. Trading is quite a solitary pastime and I think they enjoy the human interaction that mentoring give them.

 

[jaspertrademaster]

Some get lucky quickly. Usually like anything else you get out what you put in although not in equal measure. There are so many variables to consider. Have a main income and keep a slow and steady approach. You will find your groove when you stop obsessing about it.