If all the marketing hype and misinformation is to be believed, this is a very easy business which allows one, with little or no experience and a small amount of seed capital, to make a six to seven figure income quickly.
After several years of striving, I can safely say that nothing is further from the truth. Here are some of my observations:
- Is day trading eMinis and Forex an easy way to make money?
Definitely Not. It requires a lot of hard work, diligence, patience and above all discipline. - Can you start this business with very little capital?
Relatively speaking, yes. Realistically speaking, be prepared to lose money in the early part of your quest.
The biggest problem I personally faced was finding the first trade that worked for me. I must have trialled hundreds and even with the most thorough of testing I eventually had to go live with the final shortlist to lock down the ones that work and it would be safe to say that none of my first live attempts cut the mustard.
Dumb as it may seem, it took a while for me to catch on that not every trade works in every market e,g, a trade that is successful in a strong trending market may fail miserably in trending but volatile market and vice-versa.
And finally, no trade is bulletproof. Even the best of the professionals get it wrong from time to time.
In fact, it is not the number of times you get it right or wrong that dictates success and failure, it is how profitable you are at the end that really counts. - How many good trades does it take to be successful?
Before we launch into this, lets define a trade. What I call a successful trade is a consistent set of signals and/or events that trigger a profitable entry and corresponding exit.
The short answer is one. Having said that, it is not really realistic to rely on one trade unless it occurs reasonably frequently during your trading session.
Imagine sitting in front of your computer for 24 hours waiting for a trade only to miss it because of a moments distraction. - How long does it take to be successful?
This depends very much on the individual. For some, this may never happen. The average in our small community, for those who persisted, is about 2-3 years. This of course includes the learning curve of our original group who had no mentors to guide us.
But even with the knowledge and tools available within our community, I would allow at least 12 months as a minimum.
The biggest issue is not the knowledge and/or tools but the rate at which the individual can attain the correct discipline that is so vital for success in this business. - Was it worth it at the end?
Absolutely. Once you get it right, you have a fully scalable business which allows you to work at your own pace and under you own rules.
