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How many pips should a reasonable trader make a month?

Feb 09, 2012 at 02:42
11,381 Views
52 Replies
Member Since May 30, 2012   134 posts
Feb 12, 2013 at 18:47
How about you calculate the % your trade is likely to succeed, based on that % you level your lotsize.
Boom!?
?
no?
I am the change in the market that causes you to lose :p / Watch out before I negative pip you! ^^
Member Since Oct 03, 2012   69 posts
Feb 12, 2013 at 19:41
I believe that you can only make as much as the market allows you to make. You can't force the market to give you a set amount of pips each month. Considering that the currency markets are cyclical / seasonal setting a monthly target is just setting yourself up for failure.

I.e. having 3 trading days left in the month, and only being half way to your target, you'll probably end up taking trades that aren't really there, and taking them way over leveraged.
The market will go up, failing which, it will go down.
funcky35
forex_trader_63702
Member Since Jan 30, 2012   9 posts
Feb 13, 2013 at 06:37
I like this base, with 0.10 lot, you need $ 300 availabilty in the hope to earn 50 pips to 100 pips per week
as c is not a full-time job for majrité, or there is necessarily a week or two and you're going to vegetate, 100 pips per month, it is huge with a capital of $ 300 for 0.10 lot., therefore it is
  $ 300 pure lot 0.10
$ 3000 for 1 lot
30 0000 dollars for 10 lots
300 0000 dollars for 100 lots
3000 000 for 1000 batch
, Hopes to win it all for 100-200 pips per month .. I think you are pros from 10 lots, or 50 pips to gain 100 pips per week, 5000 to $ 10,000 a week ... I risk 17 % max my capital per trade for 50 pips expect to win every once a week ...
Member Since Nov 21, 2011   1718 posts
Feb 13, 2013 at 10:04
A full time trader doesn't think about how many pips he has to make a month.
He defines how many pips he is ready to loose to get his target.
So, I'm still far away to be a pro... keep on working : )
Member Since Sep 23, 2013   45 posts
Jan 20, 2014 at 19:00
an old thread on a tired subject... but I have found a different way to work and I'd be interested in opinions thereon...

the only time I look at points (IE 1/10th of a pip) is when setting my lot size.

1 - I establish where I think my SL should be based on the last place the price bounced in the trend's direction

2 - I use MT4's crosshair tool to measure the distance from there to my price

3 - I calculate ($ I'm willing to risk)/(distance in points) and round down to the nearest .01 lot for my lot size

4 - I set a trailing stop equal to (distance in points)

if my TS gets dragged to my entry price I have broken even and I don't look at it again.

Yes I could theoretically earn more if I could accurately figure out when the trend will reverse, but I can't.

This seems to mean my trades stay open for weeks but the amount of risk has already been determined, and once the TS has moved in the direction of the trade, the only risk is swap.

January is the first month I have stuck to this system and so far I have over 1000 pips profit, but that number means nothing to me. What does mean something is that all of my trailing stops are at least 4x the original SL distance beyond my entry price.

I have 5 open trades like this, and currently no open losing trades

=5x Risk to (5x4) reward

I have lost my risked amount on 3 trades

= 5x risk to ((5x4)-3) reward

= 5:17 RR

= 1:3.4 RR

So for month-to-date, I have to say I'm pleased with the results. Swap is eating about 20% of the profits, by the look of things.

So I'm not really interested in pips or points as a measure of success, because I'm measuring myself by risk:reward results and my lot size varies as a function of my risked amount. I set that as a % of my account size.

What do you guys think? I'm trying to decide what improvements I should make for February.
"Press On" has solved and will always solve, the problems of the Human Race
Member Since Jun 03, 2010   696 posts
Jan 21, 2014 at 11:14 (edited Jan 21, 2014 at 11:16)
CrazyTrader posted:
A full time trader doesn't think about how many pips he has to make a month.
He defines how many pips he is ready to loose to get his target.
So, I'm still far away to be a pro... keep on working : )


T-R-U-E


For me , I don't even think how many I can 'win'. All depends on risk percentage and monthly profit in percentages.
Why?
If signal would be very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very strong, then even I can get 2 pips, but enter on 99% of my balance :)
PAMM MANAGER // Professional Fund Manager
Member Since Oct 25, 2012   63 posts
Jan 21, 2014 at 19:50
How many PIPs should you get?
Depends on your goals
Depends on your risk percentage
Depends on your stop loss
Depends on whether you are a scalper, intra-day, swing, position, or incredibly long term trader
When you lose, don't lose the Lesson
Member Since Nov 23, 2013   24 posts
Jan 21, 2014 at 22:00
17,000
If you don't have time to trade, let us do it for you!
Member Since Feb 22, 2011   4862 posts
Jan 23, 2014 at 12:33
It is better to make profit,

thought making profit from making pips is more safe:)
Member Since Nov 20, 2013   7 posts
Jan 27, 2014 at 11:05
'I think this is the seventh time. Lucky seven, maybe.' Terry Gilliam fancies yet another bash at making the Don Quixote film.

I mention it only because I too used to chase the key question down the rabbit-hole of subterranean trading: 'How many pips, oh god somebody please tell me how many... before the fat lady sings.'

Then I came to know that tradnig about the numbers, its about the approach i.e. it actually depends on the style of your trading, the, as it were, cut of your gib.

Market keeps going up and down. Or, to quote Don Quixote (no, really), '...he who's down one day can be up the next, unless he really wants to stay in bed, that is...'

If a trader follows 5-minute time-frame, he might get 2 Buy opportunities and 1 Sell opportunity on a single currency pair in a day. A trader who follows 15M time frame, he might get only 1 trade on that currency pair on the same day. On the other hand, things might not work at all for those who follow 4HR time frame on that day.

Needless to say that the bigger time frame is used by a trader, the more chance he gets to be consistent in terms of making money. Is that true? Dunno. I don't have the time for intraday trading or the patience for position trading. Swing trading suits me fine.

'Finally, from so little sleeping and so much reading, his brain dried up and he went completely out of his mind.' - Don Quixote

...yeah, read the book instead.
I Think, Therefore I'm Guessing
Member Since Apr 21, 2013   101 posts
Jan 29, 2014 at 16:56 (edited Jan 29, 2014 at 16:56)
A reasonable trader does not need to focus on the pips, the pip amount is not relevant. your main focus is total percentage of the account 'return' increased.
pipinvestments
forex_trader_55569
Member Since Dec 04, 2011   29 posts
Jan 29, 2014 at 21:06
PayPip posted:
It has nothing to do with pips per day, week or month. Some traders are negative pips an make a profit. Some traders are are positive pips and lose their ass. Positions sizing, giving yourself time to be right and position management are key.

Pip Investor says pips are what makes us money. You must have a Positive Pip to make money. However at the end of the day, your Pip Gain can be Negative overall and still be at a profit if variable risk is applied to your positions.

This means the overall Pips do not matter in general of a successful system however a Positive Pip gain is the only way to make Money in FX with your trading. This means you must Make Pips at some point to make money. If you want to learn more, follow the link in my signature to learn how we capitalize in the FX markets with controlled risk management.


Our systems has 60+ weeks of trading resulting in 300% ROI even though some pairs are near Breakeven in Pips.
https://www.myfxbook.com/members/pipinvestments/pip-investor-1-year-history/605364
Member Since May 02, 2011   32 posts
Jan 30, 2014 at 07:34
Sounds great Erik.
Can i copy your trades by joining your broker?
Member Since May 30, 2012   16 posts
Jan 30, 2014 at 20:56
Position sizing is the answer along with money management.
The only important pips that one has to observe is the 'expectancy': if this parameter is not too low in relations to the spread, the system can be fine
forexeasignals
forex_trader_174229
Member Since Jan 28, 2014   2 posts
Jan 31, 2014 at 23:32
PayPip posted:
If I'm down 100 pips at @ 1 lot on a pair but I'm up 60 pips @ 2 lots on another and I close both trades. Net Net I'm down pips but Im profitable.

That's true. You can also have an account that is highly positive in total pip count and be negative on ROI because of different position sizing throughout the run of the system. At the end of the day - only ROI matters.
Member Since Feb 22, 2011   4862 posts
Feb 13, 2014 at 14:16
On live account I do about 1,000 pips/mo
https://www.myfxbook.com/members/togr/newr11/752288
Member Since Jul 01, 2012   2 posts
Feb 14, 2014 at 09:33
I'd expect a solid trader to make somewhere around 200-500 pips a month, maybe more or less but that range seems reasonable to me. Pip accumulation is a great measure of system viability but you'll definitely need to figure out suitable risk parameters to optimize a strategy. After all, I've had ended one month with negative net pips but positive net cash.
Member Since Sep 23, 2013   60 posts
Feb 20, 2014 at 08:25
my pips is minus but profit ...LOL
Member Since Feb 22, 2011   4862 posts
Feb 20, 2014 at 08:58
pipinvestments posted:
PayPip posted:
It has nothing to do with pips per day, week or month. Some traders are negative pips an make a profit. Some traders are are positive pips and lose their ass. Positions sizing, giving yourself time to be right and position management are key.

Pip Investor says pips are what makes us money. You must have a Positive Pip to make money. However at the end of the day, your Pip Gain can be Negative overall and still be at a profit if variable risk is applied to your positions.

This means the overall Pips do not matter in general of a successful system however a Positive Pip gain is the only way to make Money in FX with your trading. This means you must Make Pips at some point to make money. If you want to learn more, follow the link in my signature to learn how we capitalize in the FX markets with controlled risk management.


Our systems has 60+ weeks of trading resulting in 300% ROI even though some pairs are near Breakeven in Pips.
https://www.myfxbook.com/members/pipinvestments/pip-investor-1-year-history/605364

Demo updated last time on 31st JAN? Are you kidding?
Member Since Oct 14, 2013   8 posts
Apr 07, 2014 at 18:30
Hello All,

I have around 8 years in trading experience and i make around 500 to 2000 pips a month... I think the most important is the monthly profit in percentage ;)

Have a nice day.
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