I go to bed anywhere from 9:00 to 10:00 p.m. get up at 3:00 and look for trades. Of course, it’s not that everyday. Today I slept in till 5:30.
That’s amazing. Have you always been such an early riser? The earliest I’m ok to wake up at is like 530ish AM. Any earlier and I’d probably fall asleep by 7PM lol.
No. I haven’t always been such an early riser. I’m self employed and can structure my days so that I typically get done working by 2pm. There are long days, but I can plan them in advance. I even plan the long days so that I can have short days or days off in between.
Because I drive up to 2 hours to job locations on many days, I got in the habit of leaving the house before 7 so I could arrive by 9. That sort of led to me getting up earlier.
Do you also agree that waking up extra early makes you more productive?
I don’t know about that. I just know 2 things. It gives me time to trade that doesn’t interfere with my work, and it allows me to be on the golf course a lot of afternoons.
I think scalping is the only way it works. When I can’t close trades before work, I prefer to close any still open before 3pm EST to avoid increased spreads, so those trades that take hours to go into profit have a better chance of success.
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You can set a specific goal for each day, for example, to earn or lose no more than $300 per day.
In the future, you can be guided by the current chart, perhaps you will get into a trend and earn more.
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Makes sense! Love that you still have plenty of time during the second half of the day!
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I know many traders place 2 trades and close 1 at TP1, then let the other one run to catch a trend. I’ve done it many times, but its not part of my overall strategy.
It is highly recommended that you set goals for your trading. You will find that it is easier to maintain your discipline as a result, as well as improve your performance.
Daily profit targets are a bad idea. Performance should be checked weekly to detect any weakening of strategy but monthly and yearly assessments are the way to gather enough data to make decisions about trading style and overall strategy selection - and even then, measure outcomes in % not $ or £.
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if you a frequent day trader then i think daily profit is fine. However, you need to have strict discipline and stick to it. I have seen trader just fail to stick to their target and tried to go for more and end up loosing more money.
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I totally agree! Also, define rules for when to enter and quit trades based on your tolerance for risk and return.
We agree. But of all things in trading, I find identifying the exit price for a profitable trade just the most difficult thing.
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Agreed, for seasoned traders.
I suppose its a preference thing. Ahh, those days of panicking over $10 daily losses and nursing each trade that was down $30 until it went up to a $0.90 profit, then CLOSE because I was just so happy to call it a win after waiting for hours in the red. I remember, because it was not so long ago.
During that time, I decided to have daily targets, but also a maximum daily loss so I would be ok if I don’t make the target. Just call it a day and quit trading until the next day. Too bad I was not disciplined enough to stick to the max loss.
But you are so right. Now its more like a monthly target with a schedule. I’m either on schedule or not, and not making my target just means it was a good month or a bad month. No revenge trading to try to get back on schedule!
I still have my day job, but I do plan to schedule a couple of days a month to do nothing but trade on 15M charts. Really good income prospects from a 15EMA (I Compass indicator) to determine trend and closing trade when price crosses it.
Now, limiting a loss to an acceptable amount feels like a win. Its also an opportunity set up the next trade.
Wishing you continued success, always.
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Okay I like this since you still also have your day job. Are you able to tell me how much monthly you’re able to make from trading? If not in $ range, maybe % wise?
Thank you!
I dont know , but I always set my SL , TP open to sky
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This makes the most sense to me. Just need some profits now. 
Nice.
A big SL changed my life for the better.
My TP needs a lot of work though.
Not making enough, yet. But staring at charts for hours every day and trying all kinds of really, really good looking strategies for months on end is such a valuable part of learning. I just came off of 2 consecutive very good days going back to good old price action after a retest of support on EAU/USD.
I’m still using mini-lots, so I am averaging about $20 for each 0.1 lot win. Lately I’ve been using 0.2 per trade. Some days I’ll have 6 or 7 trades. Others I’ll have only 1 because it looks like it has a real chance to be a big gainer. .
I do set a daily profit target because it helps me get better at what I do. But, given how volatile the forex market is, I don’t place a lot of faith in that.