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Trading styles

How much do day traders make?What the evidence says.

There is no typical figure, and the evidence on retail day traders is discouraging. A study of everyone who began day trading Brazilian index contracts from 2013 to 2015 found 97% of those who persisted over 300 days lost money. European regulators found 74-89% of retail CFD accounts typically lose money. A few profit; most do not.

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What the research found

The Brazilian study by Chague, De-Losso and Giovannetti followed every individual who started day trading one market over three years. Of those who kept going for more than 300 days, 97% lost money; only about 1% earned more than the Brazilian minimum wage from it, and the authors found no evidence that traders improved with experience.

The European Securities and Markets Authority reported that national regulators' analyses showed 74-89% of retail accounts trading CFDs typically lose money. These are different markets and products, but they point the same way.

Why a per-month figure misleads

Questions like how much a day trader makes per month, or what 1,000 dollars can earn, assume a steady rate of return. Trading results are not a salary: they vary widely month to month, include losing months, and depend on the size of the account, the risk taken and costs. A figure that sounds like an income usually comes from a survivor, a small sample or someone selling a course.

What a trader controls is risk per trade and costs. Whether there is a positive result after those is something only a long, honest record can show - see PnL and backtesting.

How a simulated funded account differs

A prop firm evaluation does not change the odds of a strategy; it changes what the trader stands to lose. At GFN, the trader pays a one-time fee for a simulated account, and a trader who passes and trades a funded account can receive a share of simulated profits as real payouts. The fee is the maximum loss. See how payouts work.

Step by step

How to identify it

Before believing any income figure, ask four questions.

  1. How many traders is it based on, and were losing traders included?
  2. Over what period, and does it include losing months?
  3. Is it net of commission, spread and other costs?
  4. Who is publishing it, and are they selling something?

Worked example

The concept,walked through

Why returns are not a salary, described

An illustrative twelve months in words, with no real figures. It is not a record of any trader.

  1. 1. Months 1-4Two small gains, one flat month and one large loss.
  2. 2. Months 5-8Three gains in a row, which the trader starts to think of as a monthly income.
  3. 3. Months 9-12Two losses that take back most of the year's gains.

Dividing the year's result by twelve would produce a monthly figure that never happened in any single month. That is why the income question has no useful average answer.

Common mistakes

Where tradersgo wrong

Planning around a monthly income

Trading results vary too much to pay fixed bills from.

Trusting survivor stories

The traders who lost rarely publish their results.

Increasing risk to reach an income target

It raises the chance of large losses faster than the chance of the target.

Limitations

What it cannottell you

No chart concept predicts price. These are the limits worth keeping in view.

  • The studies cited cover particular markets, products and periods; they describe retail traders as a group, not any individual.
  • No page can tell you what you will make. Past results, yours or anyone's, do not determine future ones.

In an evaluation

Using it on asimulated account

GFN accounts are simulated. Payouts are a share of simulated profit, paid to eligible traders, and passing an evaluation is never assured. Treat the fee as money you can afford to lose.

Trading rule

How often do I get paid?

How and when payouts are made.

Trading rule

How much of the profit do I keep?

The share of simulated profit paid to traders.

Trading rule

What is the daily loss limit?

The limit most evaluation accounts are lost to - 3% on Instant and 5% on 1 Step and 2 Step.

Questions

Asked aboutthis concept

There is no typical figure. Large studies found most retail day traders lose money, and results for those who profit vary widely from month to month.

A trader who opens and closes positions within the same trading day and holds nothing overnight - another name for a day trader.

Keep learning

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What Is PnL? Profit and Loss in Trading

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What Is a Retail Trader?

Who retail traders are, how they differ from institutional traders on capital, costs and access, and where a prop firm evaluation fits between the two.

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Trading Plan Template and Example

A fill-in template for a trading plan - markets, times, setups, risk and review - with a forex example and the gaps most plans leave.

Sources

What this pagerelied on

  1. Day Trading for a Living? (Chague, De-Losso and Giovannetti) - RePEc / FGV EESP working paper. Retrieved 23 September 2026. Of individuals who day traded Brazilian index contracts for more than 300 days, 97% lost money and very few earned more than the minimum wage.
  2. ESMA agrees to prohibit binary options and restrict CFDs to protect retail investors - European Securities and Markets Authority. Retrieved 23 September 2026. National regulators' finding that 74-89% of retail CFD accounts typically lose money.
  3. Day trading - Wikipedia. Retrieved 23 September 2026. Day trading as opening and closing positions within the same trading day.

Educational content only, not investment advice or a recommendation to trade. Chart concepts describe what price has done; none of them predicts what it will do, and trading any strategy can lose money. Get Funded Now accounts are simulated and trade virtual funds. Last reviewed 22 September 2026.

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