FABRICATORX 

How did you start?

it's a long story, anyway to make long story short, when I sold my internet based company that I co founded with an initial capital of just 5k, I founded a prop trading company. I worked with some top level traders that taught their way of working. When that kind of working was starting not to work anymore, one of them asked me to run on a company account some automated strategies he had developed on futures, just to try something new.
Those strategies worked very well for two years so I started developing some myself. When I closed the company I continued working in that direction and I still do.

Zentrader2010 

Hi, this may be a controversial subject, but let;s assume a few facts, and then ask the same question, how much capital do you need? a. If you lost MOST of your capital through trading something and it didn't work? For instance, I lost about 3 K trading OIL not long ago ( never traded it before).....my account was down to about $400. b. Then, let's say that ( due to necessity), you decided you were absolutely going to WIN back that stake no matter what !!! What if you made that statement and meant it. c. Then you traded something you were more familiar with, and you were using a very rational, common sense approach - which the HUGE loss helped you STICK TO, and you followed rules because you HAD TO. d. The CHALLENGE then is - could you do it in 1 month??? I did it......and now I'm happy to really GO FOR IT because I realised something in this Big loss, BIG win scenario.... you'll never get rich trading 2% of your account size. And why should you trade 2 % anyway? What beginner trader has 50 K? It's an oxymoron to assume that, because lots of traders are hugely under-capitalised in relation to their trading vision ( I will make a living from trading etc). If you have 5 K, my challenge shows you don't need 50 K to get win enough to start trading..... e. If you lost $400 trying to make $3000 in a month, how may times could you do that, month after month before you threw the towel in? ( If you lose the $400, you can't trade until the next month)...... My answer is .....I would never give in....it's such a small amount compared to my day job income, it's totally worth the small risk, and the challenge.....why ? because 1) I'm not risking 50 K to start and pretending I'm not scared, and thus trading only 2 % and pretending that if I lose 2 % It wouldn't hurt me psychologically. Why? because, who makes $1000 per day? Not many, that's why. It wouldn't matter how long it took to make 50 K. It hurts to lose it for most mortal beings here ( be real please). 2) If I lose $400, that's my average daily takings from my day job, not bad you say? Well I think it sucks. That's why I would part with such a small morsel of funds and barely blink ( god knows the tax man takes more than that per week in Australia !)......If it meant gaining financial freedom through trading for a living.....If you can make 3 K from $400.....in 1 month, I'm sure you could make 40 K in a year. I don't care what anybody says on this site.... Just take the challenge yourself.........I've already proven to myself I can do, and I did it with the worst kind of stress, trying to get your losses back.....but that's my point in the thread.......ANYBODY can win their stake back IF THEY ABSOLUTELY MUST DO IT......well, if you have even some small ability trading......If you don't, you can't hide behind 2 % money management risk saving rules........why not prove to yourself you even have what it takes to be a successful trader and stop pussy footing around for years and years procrastinating..... Sorry, I just say what I think........scold me? I don't care.....just take my challenge...prove it to yourself.

To answer your original question, yes I can recover blown accounts, I have done so several times in the past. But, it is always smarter to not get into that position in the first place, generally it occured because I was simply pushing too hard/ overtrading.
Cheers John

Refreshing this thread with a new poll:

How much money do you need to trade futures successfully?

• Between $10,000 and $50,000 41% (454 votes)
• Between $50,000 and $250,000 22% (239 votes)
• Between $5,000 and $10,000 17% (187 votes)
• Between $1,000 and $5,000 10% (114 votes)
• More than $250,000 6% (71 votes)
• Less than $1,000 3% (35 votes)
• Something else 1% (10 votes)

Total votes: 1110

Discuss Poll

 

Please vote and discuss.

Mike

I voted $10-$50k for 2 reasons:

1. This is where I fit
2. But most importantly, it's sufficient enough to trade the market and see if you have an edge or not.

Adding money to an account is easy (2nd job, sell assets, TST, etc.), but what good is a big account if you don't have an edge?

edit- I should add that with an account that small, you should not expect to take money home until you grow your account. It's just useful for determining whether or not you have an edge.

I feel the higher end of the 10k-50k range is ideal to begin. Any more than that and I feel you'd be setting yourself up for a big loss if you don't know what you're doing. Any less and it's difficult to have a position with a proper stop or to be able to add effectively to it. Just my thoughts.

The new poll is quite a different issue than the original poll and title of the thread. I think first one has to define what "trade successfully" means. To me it means trading as my sole or primary source of income, providing for my family, and building wealth for retirement (something I'm a long ways away from now). That's going to take at least 750,000 in trading funds. Preferably a lot more.

If you're skilled and can realize, say, a 20% annual return after taxes, that's 150,000 salary. Pretty good, but still basically working for a living. Keep in mind that your standard of living is going to keep rising, especially if you have children. Buying a home, health care, school tuition--it's all going to keep going up. Skyrocketing in some cases.

For all the people that voted such low amounts (10k, really?) I'd like to know what their definition of successful trading is. Making beer money? Being consistently profitable? I'm consistently profitable now, but nowhere near calling myself a full-time trader.

It depends if you have an edge and dicipline. Give @Rory or @Inletcap who have both five grand and I would bet they could quadruple it in a short amount of time. Give a inexperienced or average trader with no edge/dicipline 250 grand and they would blow it up in a month or two.

In this case, size does not matter.

Robert

Pariah Carey 

The new poll is quite a different issue than the original poll and title of the thread. I think first one has to define what "trade successfully" means. To me it means trading as my sole or primary source of income, providing for my family, and building wealth for retirement (something I'm a long ways away from now). That's going to take at least 750,000 in trading funds. Preferably a lot more. If you're skilled and can realize, say, a 20% annual return after taxes, that's 150,000 salary. Pretty good, but still basically working for a living. Keep in mind that your standard of living is going to keep rising, especially if you have children. Buying a home, health care, school tuition--it's all going to keep going up. Skyrocketing in some cases. For all the people that voted such low amounts (10k, really?) I'd like to know what their definition of successful trading is. Making beer money? Being consistently profitable? I'm consistently profitable now, but nowhere near calling myself a full-time trader.

Glad you brought up this.

For me, I find that 'trading successfully' means I can trade just as I want to, in order to prove my edge. Meaning I'm not passing up on setups that look good simply because the risk would be too high for my account.

Will I make enough $ to sustain my lifestyle? Absolutely not! But as someone who is in the early stages of their trading career and has potentially 30+ years left in their trading career, I don't need to be making 'take home' money right now.

As you prove your edge, you can find ways to add $ to your trading account. Get a second job, beat the TST, sell assets, etc. As time goes by, and if you have an edge, you will eventually have enough $ in your account to be able to live off of it.

Additionally, if you can prove you have an edge of let's say 40-60% annual ROI consistently, and a methodology that is scalable. You shouldn't have a problem finding investors who are willing to place some bets on you to beat the S&P and the bigger hedge funds, assuming you have a decent amount of business understanding of course.

Trade futures successfully?

Does that mean for a living without another job? If so, it requires taking into consideration your living expenses.

Either way, no amount of money is enough if you're not a consistent trader.

If you are a consistent trader you could probably stay profitable with the amount of money 10-20 trades worth of losses would cost before hitting margin. Even then you might have to refund or have money to live off of while waiting through uncertain times.

Trading without a second source of income isn't the smartest idea be it 10,000 or 10,000,000 unless you really know what you're doing.

Big Mike 

Refreshing this thread with a new poll: How much money do you need to trade futures successfully? Between $10,000 and $50,000 41% (454 votes) Between $50,000 and $250,000 22% (239 votes) Between $5,000 and $10,000 17% (187 votes) Between $1,000 and $5,000 10% (114 votes) More than $250,000 6% (71 votes) Less than $1,000 3% (35 votes) Something else 1% (10 votes) Total votes: 1110 Discuss Poll   Please vote and discuss. Mike

I just voted, and I found myself voting 'something else'.

The reason is, I think asking the question "how much do you think is needed to trade x successfully" can be misleading.


As someone else pointed out, if you know what you're doing (which needs to be broken down into experience, discipline, execution, etc.), then the amount it takes may be relative.

The other component can be your trading strategy. If you have a strategy that is successful but is subject to significant drawdowns, then the capital at play needs to take that into account.



So, to me, it's more of a question of approach than of capital.



Hope makes sense.


BTW @Itchymoku love ur Outrun avatar