Question about profit goal and some advice for new traders

I was told that a good profit in % was about 15% a month

so far I can make 2% a day without a problem and after I hit my goal I am done for the day, my maximum loss for the day is 100$ if I loose more then that I do not trade anymore during that day, (which still did not happen luckily)there is nothing worse then chasing pips which usually cost you money

what is a good profit goal in % for someone trading full time/ part time who is a starting out/ novice/ advanced… what do you guys think???


a story about my brother that happen this week for the once starting trading

my brother opened an account a week ago at cmsfx, they offer 1:400 leverage, fair spread, lest Friday he traded lots and only he only had 1k in the account made $500 got ****y and lost all of his profit and an additional 100 and I told em “if you cant afford to loose the money dont trade” and “dont think about the money you did not yet make because nothing is for certain”, it did not get to him. Well… today he lost more then 75% he broke so many rules( I list them down at the bottom), it all happened this morning when the euro fell against the dollar, after he lost it then he realized he should have been trading with 0.1s instead of lots. Actually lest year when I started trading I did the same of the same foolish mistakes… well not that foolish but I got ****y and lost it all over a much longer time span but nevertheless lost it all, so I hope you (the new traders) dont make the same mistakes

DONT GET ARROGANT and follow rules that you set for yourself

  1. dont trade lots if you have a small account
  2. trade demo if you dont know what you are doing yet
  3. dont chase trades (he traded more then 20 times, I plan 1 or 2 trades a day but at lest they are profitable and then I take the rest of the day off)
  4. if you loose certain % of money then stop trading for that day (I have a $100 loss limit)
  5. use stop losses
  6. he did not make a trading plan (and guys… plan trades ahead of time, prepare yourself, feeling that a pair will go a certain direction more likely then not cost you money so trade with your noggin)
  7. he traded fridays
  8. he allowed his losses to run in hopes that it will turn around, closed out his profitable positions with only a few pips (during that news I could have taken only 1 trades then later on I would buy at the resistance around 4150 I think… I dont have access to charts right now so im not 100% sure, and if you guys are curious why I did not take the trades… I was sleeping)
  9. looked only at 5 to 15 min charts (I tend to look at the big picture[4hrs] even when im day trading, only look at the 15min when i am entering or exiting)
  10. did not even look at the news for the day

well there were words that were blocked of, dont know why but you could replace the “…” with “arrogant” and in the post might not be clear here and there and thats because I dont have time… I got to get going because one of my classes is about to start

Hey Thnx for sharing your bro’s experience. I am a noob so I can’t offer too much insight but I know what your brother went through as I am sure most traders have. I have only made 2 trades so far in the in my short 3 week career as a trader. I did lose on my 1st trade. I was stopped out and immediately tried to enter another trade. Luckily my broker lock up the trading station (as they often do according to all the bad reviews I read about them) and I wasn’t able to chase. Good thing that happened because it gave me a moment to collect my thoughts. It made me realize that my mindset shifted to a gamblers state of mind as apposed to an investor or traders thought process.

Great to hear that… its better to stay out of the trade then risk your money on a foolish trade and fortunately your broker kept you out which is a bad thing in a way…

what helped me out was a spread sheet (well on regular paper) and then when ever I did a trade I would justify why I was going to do it which might help you stay out and dont put “its going to go up” as a justification for the trade because then your brain will look for all the possible reasons why it will do that instead of looking at the risk you are about to take

one more thing that is somewhat interesting… today I was talking to a stock trader and we got into a conversation about how there are many books out there about forex, stock and commodities trading written by professional WRITERS that are not necessarily professional TRADERS who give bad advise and probably more likely then not have a something written along these lines “The only trading system that comes with a 5 thousand dollar guaranteed” which I have to admit I had a book that said that when I went through all my books a week ago, threw it in the trash as soon as I saw that guarantee. I even found the link to it if you guys want to read the reviews which all say its full of crap. I wounder how in the world did I get that book, I would not be that foolish to actually pay money for that thing, im guessing it was a gift or something hmmmm.

Anyways… when looking at books make sure its written by a person who knows what he is talking about and if it comes with a guarantee its probably not worth the paper it was printed on.

First of all thanks for sharing this story with us. I am a noob as well. However I have set some rules right from the beginning. Right now I m only demo trading but i treat my demo account like a real one. if i cant make a profit on a demo acct then I cant possibly make a profit on a real one. secondly I only think in terms of pips. so I have a loss rule of no more than 50 pips a day. my goal is to make a minimum of 10 pips a day. that does not mean I stop at 10 pips. once I have captured 10 pips then I no longer need tomonitor my trade. I never go into a day without a plan. the first thing I do is read the news. There is a phrase I use to keep me on track. Proper Preperation prevents poor performance. using this keeps me from going on tilt when I have losses. i know that since i am very new to this I have alot to learn.

i have sooo been where your brother is right now. but hey, all i can say it was worth it so to speak. you cannot leanr these things on demo, and you brake your rules until it hits you very badly. but then you learn. i hope your brother learned a lot from this experience, because i know i learned a lot and it helped me a great bunch. Scr** the $500 i lost as a noob :smiley:

Good post I would like to add a few things to this list.

  1. dont chase trades (he traded more then 20 times, I plan 1 or 2 trades a day but at lest they are profitable and then I take the rest of the day off)

My rule is to never get back into the same pair. If I won or loss. If you get out then go somewhere else. Do not try to ride the wave you will only sink.

  1. he did not make a trading plan (and guys… plan trades ahead of time, prepare yourself, feeling that a pair will go a certain direction more likely then not cost you money so trade with your noggin)

Yes trade with your noggin! By trading with a plan he means know your entry, exit and stop loss befor you get into the trade.

  1. he traded fridays

I have no problems trading on fridays. Last friday I entred 2 trades, I was down 4% on the month. I closed both trades today to bring my account up to a 15% profit on the month. (note I was down only because I have not been trading this month). So this trade made me 19%.

  1. he allowed his losses to run in hopes that it will turn around, closed out his profitable positions with only a few pips (during that news I could have taken only 1 trades then later on I would buy at the resistance around 4150 I think… I dont have access to charts right now so im not 100% sure, and if you guys are curious why I did not take the trades… I was sleeping)

He did not have a plan!

  1. looked only at 5 to 15 min charts (I tend to look at the big picture[4hrs] even when im day trading, only look at the 15min when i am entering or exiting)

Too much noise on these time frames. You need at least the 4 hour to see the trend.

  1. did not even look at the news for the day

I never look at the news. I find it as boring as talking to my ex-wife. All of these mistakes are because he is a newib trying to get rich quick by scalping and he got scalped himself. Most traders do not scalp because it is too risky. I just enter a trade look at it a few times a day and thats it. I could be in the same trade for weeks. Nice and simple.

Hey nice to see you out here You were the one posting on the thread about candles with me and tymen.How have you been trading lately?What is your process?I have been messing with candles still. About done with steve nisons book on candles,informative book.Trying to do tymens little system with the bollinger bands,You been having any luck?

After read the book take a few days off and then read the book again. I forgot what is bollanger band system is give me a quick reminder.

I have what I call the set it and forget it system. I wait until I see a trend forming and then I buy or sell, set a s/l of 100 pips and every 100 pips I add to the psoition and move my s/l to 100 pips. I lose big but I win really big and I am well over 50%.

Starting a new candle post because I failed to make I question understandable. So I am trying a new way.

I have some books and some dvds from a friend by steve nison but I still did not get around to watch it, what is your opinion on his teachings, style and what other books helped you a lot??

I spent $65.00 USD on his book “The Candlestick Course” Thats about 3 cases of beer! Thats about a week of not dealing in reality! If I am going to spend that much money on a book you better be sure I checked it out real good. If I read it a 2nd time you better believe me that it is worth it. The book is kind of set up like babypips where they give you a test after each chapter. But this is the only book of his I have and I have not seen any videos. I guess I will have to youtube him.

I’ve been trading on a demo account for 2months and am trying out a lot of indicators and systems to see which ones suit me best. I attended one of Nisons free webinars about 2 weeks ago and got his candlestick course book out of the library (never pay when you can get it for free). I use his ideas after I’ve done sone homework and am waiting to jump in or out of a trade. If the candles are weak I wait before entering and jump when they turn bullish or bearish. Check out Babypips School for more tips on candles too. Good luck;)

I like this thread, discussing our flaws and the way forward, good way to go.
i personally have a goal of 5%/week, last monday, i made 4% and instead of taking things cool, i got excited and overtraded, and lost half of that yesterday.
hopefully, i will make up before the week runs out, but in retrospect, i could have calculated properly, defined my entries and exits well before going in. :rolleyes: :rolleyes:

good job y’all.

Hey guys, I am also a noob and was also looking for the same answer. What is a good/realistic goal for %/month? Also if you guys are willing to share, what kind of trading system are you using and what kind of risk management are you using (how much % are you gaining or losing per trade)?

Hey CoolCat,

Welcome to Babypips, even though you’re account was created in 2008 (looks like you’ve decided to take another shot at it). :slight_smile:

The questions you asked are very personal and really it comes to the trader themselves. You’ll find people are using all sorts of risk management and trading systems and they are more or less profitable to a certain degree (or losing!). Keep searching and you’ll find what suits you best.

Do some searching around the place and you will find a lot of answers.

PS. The thread you posted on was from 2007, chances are you won’t get a response. And on Babypips, it’s usually not a good idea to bring up old threads “from the dead” again. :stuck_out_tongue:

Clark

I rarely appreciate all your advice stated in your post. It is rarely very helpful- Everyone should take this into consideration while trading.
I started my trade recently (i.e from last six month). like everyone i too had many problem while trading. i think that for the success one should be hardworking and skilled enough in forex. as i said i had many problems during my trade but i didn’t give up instead i tried my best to learn more and more form those difficulties. i frequently used to see for the reason behind my mistakes. so it was really hard time for me to get profits. But as i began to learn more about forex, i have been profited reasonably which of course according to my expectation. Now i am a happy person- because i am taking out enough profits from it- normally - $50-100 a week.

Newbie’s goal is to protect capital.

That’s all.

freakin’ FIVE YEAR OLD thread…

Yea it is a 5 year old thread haha, my bad!

Peter, it is good to hear you are getting the hang of things! Any more specific advise you can share?

I know this a couple of years old, but I couldn’t help but comment.

One of the biggest problems traders have is they are overconfident about their ability. This is a human condition not just trader specific.

As a software developer for retail FX traders we have a database of more than 3,500 and 80% of the database blow up within 6 months. The database is 60% institutional managers and 40% retail so it is a good cross section.

The bottom line is average return across the entire database was a loss of 30%. The point I am making is that talking about 15% a month or 2% a day is simply not sustainable.

Nobody does those kind of numbers on a sustainable basis. If you asked me what should the number be, I will say that attempting to go for more than 15% - 20% per annum is not a realistic goal. Especially when you look at the performance of the best FX managers in the world.