Have you written down your goal of how many Pip you wanted to gain per week?

Beginner Questions
1

I was wondering if anyone have those pip goal written down (in addition) to their journal…

After I’ve read one of the post below, specially the “Risk Management” part, it helps me tremendously of how FX trading can be exciting :slight_smile:
http://forums.babypips.com/newbie-island/36328-what-every-new-aspiring-forex-trader-still-wants-know.html

My goal is to have 60 pips per week or 12 pips a day (as suggested on the above link). When I break down to 12 pips a day , for me, it is not too intimidating and it is actually more realistic (and less stress) as oppose to hoping for 50 or 100 pips in a day…

When I have my goals written down, I now know how much my profit will be (if I am consistently doing 60 pips per week), for the next 3, 6, and 9 months even in a year or 2…Writting a realistic goal is like a road map showing you the point “A” and inorder to get to point “B”, here are the steps (or pips) you need to take…
If you don’t follow your map, you will get lost…thats what happen to me. Now that I have my goals written down, I know where I am going…

This week I’ve reach my goal… I have gain 60 pips this week… :slight_smile: I feel very happy and confident…

I just wanted to share this with you… as a Newbie like me…:slight_smile:

Good-luck writting those goals if you haven’t done so…

2

thats pretty good. i guess pip goal is important, but how much lot size are you working with. which pairs/sessions are you trading. are you intraday, swing, or scalper.

3

My opinion is always plan your risk first before your profit. Second thing, weekly goal makes sense but imagine yourself when you are in a trade with possible gain of 30-50 pips, what would you do? Would you exit with 12 or let it run? What if you get 40-50? will you stop to trade for 4 days? :slight_smile:
I noticed a lot of people think trading plan is equal their desired profit/day,week,month, etc
Believe yourself and believe this fantastic opportunity. You deserve 100-200 pips daily for 2-3 hours of work. Let your old paradigm and beliefs go. Try to understand what the market says and trade with open mind. Do not start your trade with expectations because it distract your attention from that what is happening right now so you look forward to short and you do not notice those signs for a long what the market send you. I made that mistake a lot of times before without I have even realized it.
I belive trading plan is useful to minimize or remove the following depends on your discipline and how you stick with your plan: overtrade, unpatience, lazyness. I also noticed people tend to break their own plans, rules from time to time. It is simply not enough if you have a plan. The hardest part is to follow it all the time.
What I think about money and risk management. These cannot be exactly planned. Forget your nice detailed money management plan, calculated how much money you will get after 20-30 trading days. I will not happen like that. Just think about your life. Think about your perfect, exactly forward planned thoughs what you want to do. And what was really happened after it? Your TP and SL levels what are keys in your risk/money managementcan be figured out before you open your trade. So your first thing will be to look at your chart and see what the market is doing. What does she want to do? What do the people want who are manipulate her movements? Also do not let yourself to be distracted. Know your sources. Thrust in yourself and your system ( you did your tests, didn’t you??) When you decide your entry point from that you can determine your stop loss and target profit and you can judge that trade possibility. Would you jump in a trade with TP 22 pips, SL 67? Think about it. When these things are done money management part just beginning right now. From your SL you can calculate your risk (x % of your balance) finally you determine your lot or unit size. So do not waste your time to write money management plans in advance. The market will help you with all the information what you need to make your management of your just opened trade. This is why professionals have to be act quickly.
These are my thoughts I hope this helps to anyone.

Peace and trade well.

a NEWBIE

4

I originally had pip targets that I would go for each week. I started at 50 the to 100 then 150. Each after being able to achieve that goal consistently over several weeks. Although I wouldn’t stop trading if I had more pips or more viable trades to take. But I would make sure that I always ended the week up. Never allowed myself to become a losing week. As I progressed and was able to take out weekly pip targets in a day I realized that % capital goals are a much better measurement. Because different trades the pips are going to be worth a different amount. Unless every trade you take uses the same lot size which I would think is not the most efficient use of your capital. But I digress goals are good, taking good trades is even better. Sometimes the market won’t set up for you and as long as you don’t try to force it the goals are fine. If you start to see the week coming to an end and you are below your goal and then it starts to effect your trading that’s bad. But I would never restrict myself from trading after I reached my goal. i would just use a mental SL on my winnings to ensure a winning week. Trust me if you see phenomenal set ups take them.

5

“[I]If you start to see the week coming to an end and you are below your goal and then it starts to effect your trading that’s bad[/I].” Unfortunately, it will, even if you do not admit.

“[I]I would never restrict myself from trading after I reached my goal[/I].” This is why goal targets are useless.

Take all what you can from what the market offers you and be happy with your gains. You can make your statistic if you would like but theres no real point. Do not compare yourself to others. That does not help at all. It just make you brag or feel pathetic. Know your entry, set your targets and execute the order then manage your trade. Review your trade but start with the positive things. Do not think like that:heck, I exited early, missed 80 pips. Think, you made a good entry for 10 pips. There is no point to worry, that train has already gone. Look forward.Accept your expenses(loss) or be happy with your gain( at least the money has worked for you ,not you for the money).Simple as that. :slight_smile:

6

I take it we are going to have to Agree to Disagree. I personally find goals helpful as pandras82 said for him he completely disagrees with their entire premise. But as with everything in trading everyone is different if you find it helpful use it if it is detrimental don’t. Always make your own judgement call that is a lesson I truly learned is a pillar to successful trading.

7

@Halba : Yes, it does help for me having goals…I am always that way even in real life. Goals is my map…

I can call myself a scalper. I usually trade US sessions specially in the morning… As far as pairs, it all depends what is trending. I usually review the chart, news, economic calendar, babypips blog, my broker’s news feed at night to see what was happening for the entire day to get a feel what I can expect for the next day. Last week I was trading GBP/USD and USD/CHF but like I said it all depends in a day.

I will update my thrend as well (if it will stays open) to see where I am in my goals and if I take more risk eventually.

Good-luck!

8

[QUOTE=pandras82;287989]My opinion is always plan your risk first before your profit. Second thing, weekly goal makes sense but imagine yourself when you are in a trade with possible gain of 30-50 pips, what would you do? Would you exit with 12 or let it run? What if you get 40-50? will you stop to trade for 4 days? :slight_smile:
I noticed a lot of people think trading plan is equal their desired profit/day,week,month, etc
Believe yourself and believe this fantastic opportunity. You deserve 100-200 pips daily for 2-3 hours of work.

@Pandras82

Thank you for your reply above and I am taking all in… I really do appreciate your feedback.

Since I am just started and trying to figure myself out of how much risk I can take and develop my strategies, I think (for me) this is a very good start. Sure I deserve to have 100 plus pip a day as well as everyone else but that doesn’t mean I should aim for that high as a beginner. Sometimes, there is people like me is content seeing a little pip gain in a day but it meant a lot because that will show that I am progressing little by little. I think that’s why this community called “Baby pips” to do Baby steps.

My Goal of 60 pips a week, 12 pips a day is not a set in stone… It is my living will that I can change as the time goes by… If can reach this goal consistently and build my confidence, I can revised my goal and aim for a little higher… but for now I will stick to my plan…

Cheers :slight_smile:

9

@ MeiHua : Thank you for your feedback…It is greatly appreciated…

I wish I can start my goal of 50 pips but I know myself I am not ready just yet… Sure, if I see an opportunity that my trade will go further than my set goals, I’ll take them… Eventually (when I am confident enough), I can move my goals to a little higher but for now I will stick to my 60 pip goals a week.

I will update my Thread from time to time to see where I am at as far as my goals…

Thank you…

10

Concerning goals, at this point I’m vaguely targeting “grow the account 5% or so per week” ~ I’m not sure what that is in pips.

Well, let’s see, all the leverage I’ve got at 1000 USD is about 3 dollars per pip, so, 50/3 is roughly 17 pips. As I’m scalping to do this, add a typical eurusd spread, guess it might take ten trades (some might lose, of course) to get that far. So that’s maybe 12 pips of spread… plus a few losses, let’s add 10 pips to cover those. 17 + 12 + 10… that’s roughly 40 pips of ‘gain’ and 10 pips of loss.

But this is exactly the kind of calculation that will be pointless; the real goal is more like this: “find a few decent strong trends that stand a chance of lasting half an hour to an hour. Maybe 2 or 3 this week. And trade them intelligently.” That should generate pips just fine. No trend? I’m out, no regrets.

Or even more particular: “Be awake around 11pm ~ 1pm weeknights and see what comes along.” That’s around London Open for me. Nothing more than that. If there’s a strong trend going and I’m awake… yeah I may stay up.

All that said, I’m still on demo and still verifying that the whole scalping thing isn’t some massive, fortunate accident that has repeated multiple times… it’s either that, or a real breakthrough. A key test will be trying it with more delay on the trade actions; it may turn out slightly higher time frames are necessary. But that doesn’t change the strategy all that much, other than staying awake a bit longer. I’ve sworn off trading while sleeping for now (a strange revelation, but, somehow, I do better paying attention).

If there were to be a goal… perhaps a ‘maximum pips lost per week’ might be a more useful one; if down say, 50 pips in less than a week then yes, its probably time to stop and re~assess!

11

[B]PipnRoll[/B]:

One of the surest things to take away from goal setting is this… aim at “nothing”… you will hit it 100% of the time. :wink:

If you have a target and a plan to follow should you fall short of it and ideally meet it or exceed it… you are light years ahead of the majority of the newbies trodding through Forexland. You can make millions with 60 pips per week… don’t get caught up chasing daily pip goals that you are not ready to take down. Build confidence with bread and butter weekly harvests and let your Trader’s Psyche develop and the money will deposit into your account. That’s really what matters in the end of the week… not how many pips we post we made of any given day.

I’m of the opinion forums find a way of really showcasing the good times and rarely do those trading put up the results of their egg facials we all encounter. Great job aiming for low hanging fruit… make Trading easy and fun… if you set your scope on farther targets… you might find yourself permitting emotions and the two worst enemies we as Traders encounter… Fear & Greed. You will Fear you aren’t making as many pips as the next guy on here… and or you will allow Greed to direct your trading… in the path of not being content with the 60 pips you have found is reasonable for your personal style.

Focus on the task of seeking your weekly goal but be flexible and admit you might fall short from time to time… but you will be moving in the right direction. It’s a journey… not a Trophy Case for pip hauls and nobody really cares when you post big hauls in pips… it’s the bottomline that matters in the end. Destination… Consistency!

[B]GLGT [/B]:57:

12

Well put! Don’t say I do not agree with anything you mention. :wink:

I’d even go a little farther though than a week: Businesses use a quarter for statements of equity sheets etc. That seems obviously the best of all time periods for that. As it is a common period. I found it funny that one of my bots shows recovering of any drawdown exactly within 3 months, btw. lol.

The point behind is that we can’t control the market. If the setup is not there, don’t chase it.

13

We focus on the money. For example, $100,000/day is our target. If, we get that amount from our first trade, we are ok. The rest is play-station.

14

[QUOTE=Desmond Sterling;288075]Concerning goals, at this point I’m vaguely targeting “grow the account 5% or so per week” ~ I’m not sure what that is in pips.

Well, let’s see, all the leverage I’ve got at 1000 USD is about 3 dollars per pip, so, 50/3 is roughly 17 pips. As I’m scalping to do this, add a typical eurusd spread, guess it might take ten trades (some might lose, of course) to get that far. So that’s maybe 12 pips of spread… plus a few losses, let’s add 10 pips to cover those. 17 + 12 + 10… that’s roughly 40 pips of ‘gain’ and 10 pips of loss.

@ Desmond Sterling:

By reading your response above, I think you might want to re assess what your expectations are for trading.

For 1000 USD trading equity on 3 dollars per pip, I think you are leveraging a lot. You should only risk .02% , per trade, of your equity which is $20.00 then divide that to say 20 pip stop loss then your lot size (on a mini account) should have been 10k or $1 per pip.

If you haven’t read InnerCicleTrader post specially under “Risk Management” part of the presentation, I suggest that you read it first. These will put you on the right direction: What Every New & Or Aspiring Forex Trader… Still Wants To Know Read more: 301 Moved Permanently

We are all different how we manage our risk and what our expectations are. Some people like to chase a lot of pips in a day and some are very successful doing it and it works for them. But for some (like me) it doesn’t work for me… I am probably more a conservative…

You can trade 24/7 but that doesn’t mean you should…I like to trade in the morning (US session) because I am more relax… If I lost 1 or 2 trade in a day, I stop… I re assess what I did wrong then I wait for the next day…If I consistently losing trade for that week. I stop for 2 or 3 days (NO trade). Then, when I get back again, in my surprise, I was consistently hitting my goal (so far)… You should try to relax a little bit…if you are too stress, you might need to take a break and do something else (Go to SPA, movie, or golfing …:slight_smile: )

Trading should be enjoyable and not too stress out…

Set up a realistic goal that is attainable to you…

Good-luck :slight_smile:

15

InnerCircleTrader:

Wow… Everything you said was perfect… Fear and Greed is what I am trying to avoid. I am in this for the long haul and I wanted to enjoy every minute of it.

I can’t thank you enough for all the information that you contribute in Baby pips Community. Because of this, I think I am in a very good start :slight_smile:

I will keep watching your post.

Take Care.

16

That’s very good advisement ~ and yes I’ve seen most of ICT’s presentations, and took them to heart.

I’m running (roughly) a 2 pip stop, with a ‘hard’ stop at 5 pips ~ meaning, Oanda won’t let me set a 2 pip stop. It has gotten away from me once or twice, things can really move sometimes, so I’ll take this opportunity to figure out what the risks are.

1000 USD, 2 pip “click it quick by hand!” stop + typical 1.2 spread on eurusd, that’s 3.2 pip x 3 dollars/pip = 9.6 USD, or, .96 %

Let’s say it gets away from me (it has once or twice!) ~ 5 pips x 3 dollars/pip = 15, or 1.5%

If a two pip stop seems… insane, it seems to be largely working after many nights of testing, some but not all mentioned here:

http://forums.babypips.com/newbie-island/40823-shroomheads-scalping-log-4.html#post287229

http://forums.babypips.com/newbie-island/40823-shroomheads-scalping-log-4.html#post287684

It’s a sort of scalping strategy that I picked up here. Statistical fluke? After so many positive gains night after night I suspect not; the real ‘catch’ may be the difference between demo order entry processing time, and real trading. If so, the stop gets bigger, and yes, it would be critical to turn the leverage down to keep it in a reasonable range.

Truth to tell I am in the “what’s the catch?” phase; though it’s certainly not every night that conditions are good enough to trade like that. I wanted to be a swing trader but much of the action is happening exactly when I like to sleep (2~7am California time) and it has made learning to swing trade difficult.

I would really like to hear from any other scalpers and see if my experience is the norm or not. Yes, I was absolutely shocked to get such great results night after night, on so many trades. Yes I am going to be testing this again and again and again… probably for some months before going live. If there is a several second delay between clicking a trade and seeing it executed on a live account, that may destroy the advantage. Not sure yet; I am certainly no experienced trader.

17

As a newbie my first goal is proper risk management in every single trade. Then of course, at least break even at the end of the week BUT [U]not chasing losses[/U]. If there is a plus after a week, no matter if its just 10pips, im happy. So far i did manage to gain ~200 pips since starting with my forex demo acc, so im very happy.

18

That is fantastic Phenex!!!.. way to go!! 200 gains I think is pretty good…