I’ve been thinking about that. I’m sure it’s broker dependent but how high can one go realistically? 
I’m guessing you need to open an institutional account to play with the big boys lots
I’d be aiming for weekly targets rather than daily ones, remember you’re only gonna be able to enter and exit at a profit when the opportunity presents itself according to your system - unless you’re scalping with a bot, going for position trades or just randomly (suiciding) there are probably gonna be days where the options look limited or just aren’t there.
Edit: Then again if it comes to the point that say monday and friday both sucked you’re gonna end up short of a weekly target anyway then feel obliged to make it up the following week - change that to I wouldn’t set a target at all
Averaging two percent per day is tough.
[B]But, even averaging 1% per day — if you can do it consistently — will produce remarkable results.[/B]
Here is a previous post where those remarkable results were demonstrated: 301 Moved Permanently
Clint
I’m going to stick my neck out and say yes it is possible to average 2% + per day.
There are many hurdles though that stand in the way and you have to be willing to jump over them, walk around them, crawl under them, or even tunnel under them if need be.
I mention just a few of the hurdles some have been mentioned.
- You - can’t be done without lots of time and experience…there is NO replacement …like all things in life trading becomes simple over time but it takes real determination and focus.
- You - You got a bunch of little obstacles running around in you that you don’t even know by name yet… Greed, Fear, Indecisiveness, Impatience etc the further you get along the path the bigger these critters become.
- You - at some point you have to shut out all the voices telling you it can’t be done and just do it over and over and over and over again.
I’m going to cut and paste a post from a lady trader which might encourage you even though it was in answer to a different but related question… In part it answers your question and shows how she goes about achieving her goals on a daily basis.
cut and paste:
This question has a straightforward answer. A small account, if traded properly, can become an big account from which you can then live. The small trader should not be looking to live off his or her profits until they can be withdrawn without adversely affecting the continued compounding of the account. This means defining, in advance, a capital target at which withdrawals will commence. This target will differ for every trader depending on his or her expenses and lifestyle choices.
So. How do we get there? Let’s dispel some myths.
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Undercapitalization. One of the biggest myths of trading is that we need a certain “minimum” capital amount to avoid overleveraging ourselves and trade effectively. This is simply not mathematically true. A $100 <brokers name removed since this is a fxcm forum> account can be sized to the penny. For instance, if you decide on a 20-pip stop loss, you can trade a size of 1000, or 10 cents/pip for a 2% loss. This formula works the same way with $100 or $100,000. The amount of money makes no difference at all.
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Pips. Seriously, who cares? The only thing we ought to be concerned with is ROI. In other words, percent. If you are risking one to two percent on a trade, you should be looking to make at least that amount in profit. A small trader should NOT define his or her goals by saying “I want to make 20 pips a day.” Rather, the trader should aim to grow the account by a certain percent every day or week. That amount can be satisfied by even a small number of pips. Don’t think you need to be a pipmaster to do this. This leads to overtrading, and ultimately, disaster. A small trader wants to make lots of pips due to impatience. But you must be patient.
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Only trade higher timeframes. Yogi Berra said, “It’s tough to make predictions, especially about the future.” And the more of it there is, the harder it gets. Predicting what a pair will do in 24-48 hours? Kinda hard sometimes. 24-48 minutes? A tad less hard. A small trader with a day job has a limited amount of time to trade. This trader needs to do one thing: compound. And do so relentlessly. Some of you will disagree, but I submit that the most effective technique for doing this is disciplined scalping. The key is to have an entry system to find your opportunity, and a money management system so you can calmly take it. Certainly you can use the higher timeframes to gauge the underlying trend, define support and resistance, etc. But trades can be sized rationally so that you can achieve your compounding target quickly. I do not think scalping is any more or less difficult than longer-term trading. It is a matter of knowing the market you’re trading, which takes time and practice. But this knowledge is necessary no matter what timeframe you choose.
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Frequency of opportunity. “Relentlessly” does not mean take every move. A small trader should be looking for the ONE opportunity that will yield the necessary % to compound the account for THAT DAY. When this target is achieved, trading should cease. Seriously, you have your 1 or 2%. Cut the BS already, take your profit, and STOP. If you look to trade every move, you’re going to lose. Greed and hubris set in quickly, as do revenge and desperation. Relentless compounding means boringly setting out to do the same thing day in, day out, much like that day job you’re trying to free yourself from. The market does provide many opportunities during the day, but you only need one. Wait for it, and set about your trade in blase, disciplined fashion. Then do it the next day. And then the next.
An entry system as your offense, a money management system as your defense, a % target as your exit strategy. And the discipline and sheer tenacity to trade and also stop trading. Put aside the greed, forget about the puny size of your account, and apply yourself. It works.
Here is one of the best tools that I have found to help anyone in compounding their account. It is a deceptively simple spreadsheet that allows you to simply adjust your starting capital, the % you want to do per day, the amount you withdraw out of the account, etc. The beauty of it is at the end of every day you just enter exactly your account balance and it then figure’s your percentage and shows you what your next daily goal is. So if you have a day were you lose 2% no big deal, enter your acct. balance and boom you have your next goal figured for you. Anyway play with it. I couldn’t attach it so I uploaded it and here is the link…if the link is a problem i will zip it later. Cant remember bp’s policy on this right off the top of my head.
BTW I use google docs when using this .xls so not sure how well it works in excel although it originally was created in excel.
Cross that bridge when you get to it.
Yes, it is possible. You have to make a decision, either you are going to be a “dealer” or a “gambler”. The dealers at casino must stick to the rules. In black jack the dealer can not hit 17. A gambler can hit 17 if they want to. Remember, the reasons why most casinos make money and most gamblers lose:
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casinos always play by the rules
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casinos never change the rules
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casinos have a tiny “edge”.
As a trader, if you have a system, method or indicator that gives you an edge, then all you have to do is trade. Over the long run, you will come out ahead because you have an edge.
I think it’s possible. I look at it like this:
Taken the example and math done earlier, you’re looking at pocketing 20 - 25 pips a day. Now even on days without much movement, take a friday or a slow monday, the is movement of 60, maybe 80 pips. If you’re confident in your trading method, and it does produce returns that identify these moves, taking 20 to 25 pips out of a day that has a range much larger than that is certainly doable.
Once again, barring emotion and overtrading, one could see this is a possible ploy. It’s a goal I set for myself when I began live trading. My goal IS to make 1% a day trading. Have I done that yet? No. Have I been profitable since I started, yes.
Having a goal is something to work towards and the math makes it seem plausible. The more experienced a trader is, the better they will be able to identify the trade, from then on, 20 pips can be pocketed with ease.
True but consistency is going to be a huge issue from paper to practicality, if you could bar emotion and overtrading 100% & 100% of the time you’d probably be one of the best traders (i.e. profitable ones) around. Personally I’ve found that they tend to return with every significant loss every now and then (even if it is only 2%) particularly after a lengthy winning streak (days-weeks) and the longer you have to wait for signals the more temptation creeps in. Not to mention in a worst case scenario it can take just half an hour to destroy a month’s work of profit and more - then again not everyone is that handicapped so to speak