Do you have a goal for the next six months?

[Rambo35]

I am asking out of curiosity as I have met several traders who set monthly, quarterly or annual targets and since the financial news were filled with talk about the end of the second-quarter and first-half of the year plus all the predictions and expectations for the second-half of the year I was wondering if anyone here in this forum has a specific goal?

I think annual performance targets are more for professional portfolio managers as they need to communicate with their clients, but I see nothing wrong with individual traders setting a target. I plan to keep doing what I have been doing so far as I am satisfied with my results and target 5% per month for myself.

 

[The Leopard]

No. Why set yourself a goal? What possible good can it do you?

 

[Hoggums]

NEVER set goals. Either daily, weekly, monthly.

If you do - you will stop trading when the conditions are favourable and your target is met and trade more when your system isn't working - exactly the opposite of what you should be doing!

 

[The Artist]

I think it's a bit like position management. Do you always use a profit target on a trade? The previous posters seem to be saying that one should always let their profits run as you would invariably make more money overall when really it's probably edge/system dependent. For some systems probability of profits increases after a drawdown and inversely so you can't assume that having a target would systematically hinder performance when it could very well protect realised profits.

Besides, if you trade for a living I think it also can be very useful to have quarterly or monthly targets aligned to costs. If I decide to earn 2X or 3X costs over the course of a month/quarter, reaching my target has positive psychological value which for me is superior to that of not having a target and run the risk of making more money or lose it, plus I trade less.

As long as with experience you can determine a target which is a fair assessment of expected system P/L I think it's fine. Personally I would for instance prefer to make exactly £20k/quarter for the rest of my life trading 2 days out of 3 rather than make on average £25k/quarter and trade every day. But that's just me.

The Leopard and Hoggums may be right in hinting that targets stifle profits but trading is not always just about making as much money as you possibly can. If you have a good understanding of your strategies and trader psyche I think targets can also have advantages.

 

[Vasco da Banana]

My goal is to loose as much money as possible, then I'm never disappointed.

 

[The Leopard]

The Leopard and Hoggums may be right in hinting that targets stifle profits but trading is not always just about making as much money as you possibly can.

It's not about stifling profits.

 

[markmc27]

my goal is to stop muttering "ffs" to myself whenever i click on new posts and its multiple threads by rambo35 and multiple gibberish by resistance

 

[Shakone]

I disagree with the others. You should always have goals. Whether you stop because you've reached the goal early or not is another issue, but always have a goal or a target in mind.

 

[neil]

my goal is to stop muttering "ffs" to myself whenever i click on new posts and its multiple threads by rambo35 and multiple gibberish by resistance

Agreed - but it is so difficult, is it not

 

[Rambo35]

I disagree with the others. You should always have goals. Whether you stop because you've reached the goal early or not is another issue, but always have a goal or a target in mind.

I agree with you. I don't see anything wrong with setting a goal.

 

[malaguti]

I do not even think about tomorrow. Present is all to me. and this is type of attitude works really well in Forex market. Forex is ever changeable and mysterious market. If you make a six month or yearly plan it would make you greedy to achieve it by any means, even taking high risk. Just open trade whenever you feel confident after analyzing the condition of the market.

so as a coach/trainer, you are recommending NOT making a plan, because it makes us greedy?
Thats very interesting, I definitely need to change my mindset now. I wish I'd had a coach ages ago

 

[NVP]

Focus on a goal of at least 90% of your trades being executed perfectly*** in line with your system strategy.......

perfect Entry and Perfect Exit

thats a goal
N

 

[NVP]

Yes I do have a goal for the next six months and I think its really important to have a goal in the forex market. Because if you won't have a goal in the forex line of work, you will always be confused about opening positions and closing your opened positions. You just won't know when is the right time to move out of the market with your profits. So basically if you won't have a target in forex trading, your entire trading experience would just be pointless.

why is this person allowed a signature area and I am being told by members that my signature area is hidden ?

N

 

[mike.]

why is this person allowed a signature area and I am being told by members that my signature area is hidden ?

N

Neil, ive just noticed that i had the option to vew signatures turned off in my profile, my bad... I can see your sig now

 

[elisab]

My target is the same as the total return funds, 3-months Libor + 300 basis points.

 

[NVP]

Neil, ive just noticed that i had the option to vew signatures turned off in my profile, my bad... I can see your sig now

ok thanks

 

[Giovan]

Guess the same old 1200 pips in profit.\
Gio

 

[Rockfeller]

I have a monthly target of 5-10% per month. I don`t have a 6 month target.

 

[MJGrae]

I keep my goals centered around execution, as well as coming up with new strategies. Profit targets are tricky, as has been mentioned before, because it can contribute to the kind of mindset that gets you into trades that you shouldn't take.

I try to develop 2-3 new profitable strategies every six months, and also retest my existing strategies every quarter or so depending on the length of the data set that I targeted with my original backtest.