Hi folks, I've struggled for years to become a profitable trader. I've had to overcome all the bad habits like overtrading, removing stops and taking big losses etc. What's funny is that I've known for the last couple years that my biggest problem was not setting realistic goals in my daytrades. How many times have you got up several points and then sat there and watched the market come right back out and take your stops? Thousands for me. I think the problem is that a couple points didn't represent real money for me. If I saw a $50 or $100 bill on the ground I'd grab it in a second. But I've watched a positive 8 or 10 sp mini ticks dissolve into 4-6 tick losses many times. I've been told many times in the past to take 2-3 points everytime and I've finally started doing it! Geez it's fun watching that account go up during the day instead of go down.
I take 2 pts on ES now. Ive struggled with exits for quite awhile but I seem to do pretty well with a 2 pt. target. You miss longer moves but overall I think it comes out ok. I also use a 2 pt stop on average.