My 2.5% Weekly NAV Growth Forex Target: What's It For?

Yesterday, Sunday, was day one for Forex trading for this week (and it's really only about half of a day). These days I only trade the eur/usd pair, which I find to be rather easy and profitable to trade during the opening Sunday session in particular. Last week I hit my weekly NAV growth target - 2.5% - with just two trades that Sunday evening, and last night I stopped trading up .99%, nearly half-way to my weekly target (I would have shot way past the weekly target with a single trade if I were better at setting my stop loss orders to let winning trades run, but that's probably best left to another post).

Last night I was going short eur/usd over and over again. The U.S. Dollar is experiencing a rise against other currencies right now - something that happens any time global financial markets get a bit nervous (despite its present crop of warts, the USD is still the world's safe haven). The Euro is also experiencing some headwind due to manufacturing and credit woes within the Euro zone. I could have kept going all through the night and probably be past my weekly target many times over. I have work today, however, and besides that sleep is important.

That's why having a reasonable goal to reach each week is such a good thing: it serves as a "reality check" you can reference that will make it easier for you to turn off your computer and avoid over-trading. My trading last night is a perfect example - I knew I was setting stops too tightly and cashing out of winning trades too soon, leaving a lot of money on the table. Without a weekly target, this might have caused me to lose perspective and stay up all night chasing those potential gains, meaning no sleep, a harder work day the next day, and poorer health. With my 2.5% weekly NAV increase target, however, I instead looked at the clock, pulled up my calculator and did some quick figuring, realized that I was nearly half-way to the weekly goal just on day one of the week, and then shut everything down and went to bed instead.

I used to trade without targets and while tired, and my performance was garbage. I've come to understand, through experience, that when it comes to Forex, it is best to rest. You can't push this thing too hard or it will push back. Take your time with it, get to know one currency pair, pursue a manageable target, and perhaps remember the saying, "a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush."