This is a pretty broad question because a lot of different variables come into play — how much capital you trade with, your skill level, market conditions, etc.
Highly skilled traders can make 7 figures a year while new traders that are profitable can be anywhere from $200-$500 a day.
The markets are open about 253 days per year so if you’re average $200 per day, that’s $50,600 a year. Not bad!
If you’re doing $500 in profits a day, that’s $126,500 for the year!
I turned $500 into over $53,000 in 17 days of Day Trading!
In January of 2017 I began a $500 trading challenge to turn $500 into $100k. It took me 45 days. In December of 2019 I decided to try a $500 to $50k challenge, and I did it in just 17 days.
How was I able to grow my account so quickly? First of all, I used an offshore account that allowed me to day trade on margin with just $500. They do not enforce the PDT rule. The broker is called CMEG.
Additionally, CMEG offers 4x leverage up to $2,500, and then 6x leverage above $2,500. That means with a $500 cash balance, you have $500 x 4 = $2,000 in buying power. With a $5,000 cash balance, you have $5000 x 6 = $30,000 in buying power.
Once the brokerage account was setup, I just needed to follow the rules of my strategy. My strategy allowed me to risk up to $50 on each trade I took.
On my first trade I made $158 for a 3:1 profit vs loss ratio. I continued to increase my risk each day, as my account grew.
On four days during my challenge I doubled my account in 1 day. The only way you can double your account in 1 day as a day trader is by focusing on stocks that are volatile!
Keep in mind that you will have commissions, exchanges fees, data fees, software fees and taxes that will dip into your profits.
My total commission fees for the month were about $3,900, and my software fee was $125.00. My gross profit (before fees) was approximately $57,000 and my net profit was $53,000.