Is it taking you all day to hit your trading goal?

7/29/2010

We have talked about the two point goal per day in the last article. Now let’s look at that in a new way. If you could start trading right now with no prior experience with the thought that you are going to make tow points a day everyday then stop trading. This is your goal but why is it taking you all day to get it?

There are many reasons we think having a small goal for the day is bad for your trading. It could even be changing you as a trader for the negative. There are many reasons why this is a bad idea in our opinion and let’s take the time to look at a few.

First off having a small two point a day goal will force your thought process into small segments. Instead of learning how the market really works your focus is just on making the goal. You will try anything to make the goal no matter if it is counter trend and very high risk it doesn’t matter. Remember when we were talking about having a narrow view on the markets with small time frames? Now we are talking about having a narrow view as your thought process.

Having goals with your trading is good in some ways and very bad in other ways. If it is taking you all day to make two points and 10 round turns something wrong with your trading. But instead of digging deep and finding the solution to what is wrong most people will not change. Humans do not like to change for the most part, but with trading you almost have to have an alter ego. Step outside your normal self and you have to become two people, two people that are having a conversation at all times when you are looking at the charts.

Within your mind in real time one person is asking the questions and the other is answering them. This is what most people are missing because they do not know the questions to ask themselves. It is a constant checking and re-checking to make sure it is right. Then once you have the outlook you then break it down further and apply the tools to make the thought a reality.

What if you have a two point goal for the day and you hit it? Now the devil inside you will say “you should really take another trade so we can pay for all the commissions for the day”! Oh , no , now what? Are you going to go outside your trading plan to pay for commission? What if you do take another trade and it is a loser? OH, NO now we have a situation on our hands, and we need to make back that loss really quick and act like it never happened.

The point is there are too many things that can come up when you limit yourself and you start to build a negative pattern within your mind. The pattern is that “this time I will do something because it is justified”. But we are human so if we get away with it once we will try to get away with it again and again. You are your own worst enemy when it comes to trading.

If you learn the foundation and follow the nightly video course and use the tools we have you will be a happier trader at the end of the day if you followed all the rules rather than just hitting your target. If you follow the rules hitting your daily target turns into something that just happens within the day, it is not your absolute goal.

So what is a good goal to have?

The best goal to have is to stick to the signals and trade with the trend and the outlook. Our job is to avoid the counter trend signals and once in a trade stick to the rules in managing that trade. The goal is to risk less than our profit target. Then taking it one step further you must learn to hold to the profit target. The only way to do this is to have confidence. And the only way to build confidence is education and seeing it yourself over a period of time.

Our goal is to be the best trader we can be and know what type of market condition we are in and then trade accordingly to that condition meaning; if the bigger time frame is making a base and it is contracting do not try to go for a homerun on the smaller charts. Trade the reality of the market not your gut feeling.

Our goal is to follow the rules and do not trade against the color of our indicators and bars. Our job is to wait for the trade to set up and then enter the trade. Once in the trade follow the rules and do not exit until we have a reason to exit.

Happy Trading,

www.eMiniSchool.com