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Have you considered a weekly goal, if you must have one? Or even every two weeks? $500 in one day, $200 in another, $150 in 4 more, and 4 days of $75 in losses is still $1000
It's just a lot of pressure to try to make $100 when you are not "on." Making $100 a day for 10 straight days is possible, I've had 10 day win streaks, but even when I'm really on (which I'm not this week), I still usually have a losing day per week on average.
Just something to consider, good luck with your goal, cheering for you!
18 ticks in YM are not that much for letting a winner run. It moved more than 100 ticks (in hindsight).
How much do we need to be on a realistic path (commissions , slippage, etc)? If 18 ticks is a runner (...first time in a LONG TIME...), what is your average trade? And what R/R? 1/3 on 18 would be 6 tick, what could be noise in YM.
Just some thoughts without knowing your trading plan/system.
As for my weekly goal: my 9 day challenge is really an exercise in control and discipline. It doesn't really equate to my monetary goals. I want to make $900 over the next 9 days. Yes, I may have a bad day or two and make up for it with a big day (just like you said).
My ultimate goal is to become a disciplined trader who lives for banking @ 20 ticks on YM every day.
Sure, YM moves a lot and can be very liquid. I could have had 100 ticks...etc... I have played that game before in Forex and spent many, many sleepless weeks (WEEKS) trying to capture every move and every pip.
I have found a way to take a bite and stop, be satisfied. Sure after a year of doing this and my account is over $50,000 then I may scale back my contract size a bit and try getting 2 or even 3 trades under my belt, but in my experience it's all about market exposure.
See, if I can "lock down" 20 ticks every day with the same repeatable setups and gradually increase my contract size why would I want to "trade" more? Just make money and stop.
Eventually I can see myself sitting at home and making 20 ticks (trading 20 contracts of YM) @ $100.00 per tick.
I've traded this level in the past and it destroyed me because I would make money (this was in FOREX) like $600-1,200 in a trade and turn right around and try to make more and more and more. One day in particular stands out...I woke up at 01:50 AM to trade the london open...shorted USD/CHF for an amazing profit of 6,571.00 in < 2 hours. Went to sleep at 0500, woke up for work at 0640 and then started trading at work...scalping mind you. I had within 30 minutes whittled my profit down to $337.00 The difference between me then and me now is I have had success and failure and know that I prefer success. Only through moderation and control will I experience it again. It's not about "trading" or "systems" it's about putting money in your savings account.
Wow, I digress (seriously)
Point: Yes YM moves 100's of ticks in a day
Counterpoint: I only desire to take 20 of those
Thanks for the comments, I really appreciate them. Not trading (heck not even having my charts up) has been slightly painful yet rewarding at the same time.
Oh, sorry about that I got caught up in my own thoughts.
Average trade: 5-10 ticks
Ideally a good runner would move 15-50 ticks in <30 min
My stops are averaging 6 ticks. Last week I had a couple 2 or 3 tick stops and my default target is 20 ticks on every trade. I usually manage them to death and manually take myself out for a profit of 5-10 ticks.
Thus the whole point of my "runner" LOL today at +18 in one trade was a solid psychological event for me.
What a freakin' day. Big clear moves on YM and I got long at the open, chickened out and closed it for a loss when price pulled back before rocketing up to the 55 level.
1. I overtraded!! I'm done for the day at 8 turns ($40.00 in comms)
2. I got called into an un-planned meeting and was unable to watch the charts, so when I got back I scrambled (almost to the point of panic, that I was not in the market with those huge moves) Arrghhhh.
3. I found myself down -20 ticks. Exactly where I DO NOT WANT TO BE!!
How did I get there?
1. Did not follow the plan
2. Panicked...manually closed trades and did not rely on SL to take me out
3. Meeting screwed me up...just stay out until you are comfortable
4. Recovery: Really "traded" for the last hour...battling back..ID'ing S/R key level breaks (GOOD JOB)
Lessons learned:
1. TRADE THE PLAN (THE PLAN IS THE ENTRY with small SL) It's not hard...just do it
2. Wait for the exit on higher TF!!!!!
So I ended up getting a perfect short signal and entered quickly (good) and held it for quite a while (closed it out at +26 ticks...so ended up -$25.00 on the day (including commissions)
Another day of learning, but I'm proud of myself for not giving up and accepting the loss. I waited patiently for a good signal and then followed the higher TF. The only thing I didn't do was to wait for the exit signal...could have actually ended the day +$30-$50.