Set Realistic Forex Trading Goals

Many new Forex traders begin with the idea that they are going to hit the home run right off the bat. So with great expectations they open a mini account with the minimum of $200-$2000 and immediately jump in. These expectations, while exciting, are completely unrealistic. More than not, newbie traders will wind up on the wrong side of the trade, depleting their mini accounts. The expectation of always getting in on a 200 pip run and riding it to the end is far too high.

A more realistic way to trade is to set a goal of a few pips per day. For instance, you have a goal of netting five pips per day at a set margin ratio. After a while, you can increase the number of contracts traded to stay consistent with your set margin ratio. Making steady gains of five pips per day at that ratio will increase your overall gains as the number of contracts will increase. This acts as a multiplier. Keep in mind that you are still only netting 5 pips per day. But if after two years of five pips per day per contract, you are trading 100 contracts, you are netting 500 pips per day. Not too shabby, and very realistic.