Dmitriy

I'm a new trader here and still in the sim. Please forgive me if my example is off in any way. I recently explained the difference between day trading and gambling to a relative of mine. I talked mainly about risk/reward but the example also applies to daily max loss and profit target. Simple put, I explained that there are two basic outcomes: you either lose money or make money. But unlike gambling you have much greater control over those two outcomes. When making a trading or sitting down at your station, you accept these two scenarios: you will loss X amount of money or you will gain X amount of money. (of course you can breakeven, or fall anywhere in the between, but this explanation was for someone who had very little knowledge of trading, so I kept it simple.) These apply to both a single trade as well as the day. Setting a profit target takes away all the uncertainty, stress, and emotion, at least for me. The key is setting a realistic goal based on your skill level. Then all the other pieces such as share size, risk/reward, and strategy can be scaled relative to your goal.