Advisability of setting a monthly target

Anyone having success stopping after X% gain and taking the rest of the month off?

I suppose there are 2 ways of looking at it;

1) If what you are doing is making money you take every setup available.
2) You play the odds - because you can't win them all.

What do you think?

I think setting a monthly target is wrong, you should grab what the market gives you , you cant dictate how much the market should give you, but instead do your best, and accept what the market gives you.

And always constantly improve your strategy so that you should get the most you can get, but dont settle yourself at a fixed %, because thats imposible to achieve.

Trading is not a fixed income business, you reap what you sow!!

While I agree that you can earn a year's expenses in a week, you need an account size capable of doing it, and a budget you are happy to live within. If you do not have that account size yet, then you have to keep trading until it is.

It is a great feeling to know you do not HAVE to work, but there is so much talk of a one-world currency that, in my opinion, it seems you better trade your butt off while you can. Someday soon you could be out of business and stuck back in the fickle equities markets. YUCK!!

I'm not sure I'm getting my point across, what I am saying is;

I increased my account by 13% from the 1st to the 15th of September, are there statistical or psychological advantages from not trading the rest of the month?

​I understand how arbitrary a month is in this situation, but hopefully you get the point.



Dave.

You either have an edge or you dont. Now if that edge contains only trading certain days of the month then so it. But to say that you must stop after you win is almost counter productive. Isnt the saying something like risk more when you up, cut back when you down?Thats what I would do anyway.

No. The market activity is arbitrary and our "month" calculation is arbitrary as well.

Those 4/5 weeks could be the most productive tail-end or beginning of the previous or following 'months', so why not trade them?

Now, taking a break for real-life commitments, like holidays, etc., is very different. But just due to hitting a certain amount or percentage? Nope, doesn't make sense to me. Carry-on profit taking...why stop if you're doing well. ;-)

In my industry(Ag) the saying is "Make hay while the sun shines". You need to make those profits while they are available. You may not have hardly anything next month!