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Writer's pictureScott Richter

Annual rates of return


As a trader, how do you know how well (or poorly) you’re doing? Well, there’s a standard metric for this, called an annual rate of return (or annual rate, or yearly rate of return), and it’s a simple calculation: You take the amount of money gained or lost at the end of the year, and divide it by the initial investment at the beginning of the year. So, for this example, to keep the numbers simple, if you were to invest $1,000,000 at the start of the year, and turn it into $1,200,000 (for a $200,000 profit) by the end of the year, then your annual rate of return would be exactly 20%.


For me, at the beginning of the year, as you probably know, I actually started with a $5,000,000 investment. And a few weeks ago, I was doing incredibly well. We turned that investment into nearly $7,000,000 by week seven! That was a two million dollar profit, or – according to the calculation above – a 40% rate of return by that point. Can you imagine if I had been able to keep up that rate of return for the rest of the year at the same pace? That would have become a 297% annual rate or a $15 million profit on my initial $5 million investment – crazy!


Of course, those numbers are pretty unrealistic and unsustainable – wishful thinking, really. Since then, my trades haven’t performed quite as well, but fortunately, I’m still up overall. At the time I’m writing this, I’m now up to over $6,000,000 total (for a profit of more than $1,000,000), which is a rate of return of 20%, so I can’t really complain! At the end of the day, my methodology ultimately calls for greater risks that have the ability to turn into much greater returns. And, if I can get this rate of return back up even a little beyond 20% by end-of-year, we’ll actually be outperforming most of the best money managers on Wall Street – indeed, money managers are always striving for an excellent rate of return, and the best get 15-20% annually.


Obviously, I don’t expect everyone watching me to be able to invest five million dollars. But the principles, and the percentage rates of return can be exactly the same no matter how much you personally invest. I’ve made 20% so far. So, had you personally only invested $5,000 on January 1st, and if you had been one of my Patreon members, doing the exact same trades as me at the precise moments that I made them, then you’d be up 20% right now, as well. Your $5,000 would now be $6,000. The good news: Even if you didn’t do that yet, it’s never too late. If you’re confident that I’ll continue to make money (which, of course, is never a guarantee), then it might be wise for you to join my Patreon now, so that you can experience the same annual rate of return (or, losses, in a worst-case scenario) that I do. If you can take the same risk with your investment – however big or small – that I take with $5,000,000, then you can certainly make the same return.


After all, return for the year is the only thing that should matter for a conscientious Money Maker!

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