Week 1 results: $70 gain. I am $19 below the 2% daily goal of $1089. I am off to a great start. From AMP's report for the day, showing the last 4 days: I am off a dollar here and there, but it will all work out. I will try to catch up to the $1089 I should have been at today, and then next week get up to $1179 total.
fwiw..I would not go for 2% per day..or $20 with a $1000 account..I would concentrate on being net positive every time I sit down to trade..as I might not trade every day..it all depends on the volatility and what opportunities arise some will tell you stay at it..discipline is the key..but what about what the market does..as you said yourself..not trading at times is as good..or even better..than trading all of the time available to you you should also be conscious that it is very easy to sit back and look at a $50 drawdown..much different when it is $500..or even $5000..so everything must be exactly as if it were full ES contract.. otherwise it is all a total waste of time!!!
Well said that the trading must not be forced. We must take what the market will give us. I personally think the market will give me more than 2% per day. While I think I can get the 3.8% I did on Thursday on many days, I am also HAPPY with Wednesday's .02%. Why? Because it was net positive, like you said. And this is not a race. I am building a foundation of discipline and consistent profits. If I do not reach 2% per day but my account has more than $2,000 in it in 6 months, then I will be happy.... And your comments about making it just like the full ES contract are right on. I am growing this account slowly so I can train myself to have no additional stress when I reach the $10k mark and begin to trade just the full E-mini NQ or YM. A $50 drawdown is indeed like $500, which is too big of a loss on a $10,000 account.
No, a $50 drawdown is not the same as $500 drawdown, as far as psychology goes. We can bang on all night about percentages, but psychologically there is a major difference. Here's an idea...I do not recall the software you are using to trade, but see if it has a way to show PnL in terms of percentage of your account balance, rather than dollar numbers. Maybe that would help you reach the goal of percentage gains per day?
I'm not a day trader, but I have no set goal for profits. it is not likely to do everyday +2%. Some days will be minus 3% or more, or plus profit of 5% or more. Because my account is small, (here come the haters) I use high leverage and on one trade netted about 70% gain in less than 24 hours. And then several losing trades in a row. Still up 26% since beginning on August 15. And I do use stop loss orders on all trades.
Mr Cramer..I wish you will change your avatar is correct..talking and doing are not the same thing..if you do not have the exact same feeling with a $25 loss as a $250 loss..then forget it..seriously..the knowing is the easy bit..the actual doing is the hard bit so far so good..but I am very sceptical about your reliance on volume analysis..I spent many hours testing various combinations of bid/ask volume analysis..as well as VP and POC..what I found was all it done was to stop me looking at what i should be looking for!!!
I think I see what you are saying about $50 vs $500. But remember, I am trying to train my brain to be more relaxed about the $500 little by little as my account grows. If my max daily loss is 5% then I should not be in the realm of a $500 draw down until I grow my account to $10,000. Along the way the $50 turns into $75, then $100, then $200, then $300, $400, and $500. Interesting idea about the PnL display, thanks.