sort of a strange question i think if you are pondering trading for a living. if it is a curiosity question like "hey how much do you guys trade with"...i would like to know as well. But, if it is the former... looking at the psycology of it, i would say that is not the right question for several years to come. the other day i read the post from someone asking other people if they "thought he could do it"..or something of that regard. this is VERY much a math game in many regards, and what isnt math...is psycology. (I told a non-trading co-worker the other day that i thought trading can best be defined as "the mathematics of psycology"...he laughed at me and said i was stupid...) but i digress. the simplest and nicest way i can say this is....if you are asking that question, you havent done your math. If you havent done that math, you probably arent mentally prepared. you'll know when you are really ready and with how much you will need.
============== As little as possible, that keeps your expenses/new trader mistakes low; but keep your power bill,insurance, whole/organic foods budget separate Preferably experience running a business also ; but that not necessary at all, just a personal preference.
$100,000 minimum. You will be required to maintain the $25,000 minimum Day Trading Account Balance. You will lose money when you start, count on it. This will give you breathing room. The $100,000 will give you 100,000 /.25 = 400,000 in long buying power and 100,000/.30 = 333,333 in short buying power typically as a margin account for Day Trading. Hopefully you have paper trading for a good time frame to establish a system that works. Trading with real money and in real positions is not the same so figure that the system will not perform as well as it did on paper due to the emotional impact of trading real money. I agree with some who posted here saying not to set a goal to make so much per day, that will mess you up mentally. I know you are saying "Yea, ok, sure", it will, trust me. Plan your trade, make sure the risk reward is acceptable and will not put your principal (this does not include the margin buying power) at risk. Make the trade and take what the market will give you, that is all it will give, period. You can make 10% a month if you only trade when a trade is there to be made, max your profits, and get out or reverse your position if you are wrong. Good Luck. Oh, and sit on your hands alot at the beginning so you do not trade to often.
Probably better than having a fixed amount per day is to have a fixed number of points per day if you are a day trader, or a total number of points you hope to extract over a certain period. Also, deciding on an amount to earn per day/week/month cannot be viewed in isolation. It must be viewed in conjunction with the amount of money that you can afford to lose, and the size of your account. It is another way of saying that you have a target of x% to make or that you have y number of points that you would expect to extract on a periodic basis. I say periodic basis here because sticking to a system could mean, say, 3 or 4 bad days in a row, that are made up for by one mammoth good day i.e It is better to have an average amount per day to aim for. The most important thing here is to BELIEVE in your system, trade it in a totally DISCIPLINED manner having predefined your entry and exit levels/signals. Equally important is to know your trading style. If you are a day trader, expecting to earn a living from this, then you may need to trade huge amounts to leverage off smaller movements. Hope this helps. All the best.
I think putting a target per day for profit is a bad idea. You'll hang on to losers and try to justify to yourself that it will come back up OR cut short a winner because it has hit your target. Play it by ear. I think paper trading is only about 10% helpful as most newbie may do well with papertrading and realize playing with real money is almost entirely different. Maybe paper trading to learn a technical strategy but it wouldn't help the psychology part.
for those of you who recommend NOT having a monetary goal to reach every day, what is your take on this opinion: "i've made enough today, i'm calling it quits. I don't want to give it back"
One thing to remember - you can NEVER make "too much" in one day. Never be too eager to call it quits. If a stock goes up 20% in a day and your exit signal/level has not been reached, JUST HANG ON. You never know if the stock will end the day up 129%. The key is to focus on your trading system and LEARN HOW TO SIT STILL and fight the urge to take profits too early. I also think that just as important as the psychology of dealing with huge losses is the psychology of being able to accept HUGE gains. As long as your closing out signal has not been triggered, LET YOUR PROFITS RUN. All the best.