Your Trading Objective: Why is that so Important?

You've decided to try your luck at trading stocks or commodities, but so called experts tell you that you need to determine your trading objective. What exactly does that mean and why is it so important? Well, it's really a question of your trading philosophy. A trading objective basically identifies the horizon on which you've chosen to trade. For instance, a day trader will have totally different set of objectives and goals than will a long term investor. They look at the market through different sets of glasses and it can be very dangerous to your trading account to try to mix and match trading styles.

Let's first look at the most common trading objective ? long term investing. Long term traders are usually more concerned with company fundamentals such as earnings, annual growth, and sales to name a few. They may use some technical indicators such as price charts and graphs to help time their entry points, but fundamentals are generally more important to them. Long term traders are looking for that home run trade that will pay very large profits. Therefore, they can be right as little as 20-25% of the time and stay earn a nice profit. They have been known to hold a given stock for several years.

The other end of the trading objective is the day trader. Day traders go into the market each day looking for quick small moves of less than a point ? known as "scalps". They use technical charts exclusively and typically buy large positions which they often sell within minutes. Their profits on a given trade is much smaller than those a long term investor would generally make, so therefore day traders must have a very high winning percentage of trades ? usually 60% or more to be successful.

These trading objectives are two extremes and are discussed here to illustrate a very important point. If a day trader takes a position based on short term indicators from a chart or other technical indicator, it would be a huge mistake to change that trade into a long term investment because the trade setup wasn't based on a long term trade. Inexperienced traders will often do this when a short term or swing trade goes bad. Instead of cutting their losses by simply selling the position, they change it into a long term trade hoping that the position will become profitable. DO NOT change your trading objective ? stick to you trading plan. This rule will protect your account.

Chuck Cox is a Technical Writer and Industrial Scientist by professional with a background in statistics. He has used mathematical and statistical methods to invest and trade in the stock, futures, and options markets. Chuck has owned various businesses and presently operates several websites. To investigate and learn more about trading stocks, visit his website, http://www.earncashathometoday.com/trading-stocks.htm

recurring cleaning service Des Plaines ...
In The News:

iOS 27 finally lets iPhone Shared Albums store photos and videos at full resolution in iCloud, but new items count toward the owner's storage.
A fake Facebook Marketplace text scam uses your real name as the seller to trick you into replying, and Malwarebytes warns even one response helps.
The Pentagon data breach exposed 2.76 million Social Security numbers and military records, raising long-term identity theft concerns for veterans.
Kodiak AI plans to haul IKEA freight on Texas highways with no one in the cab, raising urgent cybersecurity and safety questions for drivers.
Apple Intelligence in iOS 27 adds Extend and Reframe tools to Photos, letting iPhones generate new background areas beyond your original borders.
Microsoft's X account was hijacked to promote a crypto pump-and-dump scheme, exposing its more than 13 million followers to a scam campaign.
Scammers can combine your name, phone number and address with data breach details to attempt SIM swaps, phishing and even identity theft schemes.
ChatGPT Work, Meta Muse and Gemini Spark can monitor flight prices, sort your email inbox and track important deadlines, but savvy users start small.
iPhone, Samsung Galaxy and Google Pixel each hide a built-in tool that turns a video frame into a separate photo without any screenshot needed.
Operation KillSwitch dismantled KillSec's ransomware infrastructure, but investigators say a 16-year-old allegedly ran the entire cybercrime operation.
The Fox News Artificial Intelligence newsletter covers where voters will decide on AI data center ballot measures and Jeff Bezos' tech vision.
Apple's Impersonation Risk Detection in iOS 27 can flag suspicious activity inside apps, but the setting is off by default and must be enabled.
Federal Election Commission records can expose your name, address, employer and donation history once contributions exceed the $200 threshold.
Cybersecurity expert Morgan Wright says human skepticism remains the strongest defense against AI-driven phishing scams and voice cloning fraud schemes.
iPhone, Google Pixel and Samsung Galaxy each handle security updates differently, and one screen saying "up to date" may not tell the whole story.
Deborah Del Mastro heard what sounded like her daughter's terrified voice on the phone, launching a five-hour virtual kidnapping scam ordeal.
Hotel TV privacy risks go beyond forgotten passwords when you sign into Netflix or other streaming apps on shared devices you don't control.
Apple's iOS 27 Visual Intelligence now lets your iPhone search objects directly on screen, but Samsung Galaxy and Google Pixel have a head start.
x47.c Windows malware uses xAI's Grok to maintain persistence on infected PCs while stealing passwords, browser cookies and API keys from victims.
Frankie LaPenna fought three robots in a cage, including two modified EngineAI T800 humanoids that can kick with up to 850 pounds of force..
MacSync malware hides malicious commands inside iCloud calendar events to download additional payloads onto infected Macs without raising suspicion.
Joseph Holycross dismissed his racing heart for nearly two years until his Samsung Galaxy Watch detected atrial fibrillation and changed everything.
Home title fraud begins when criminals forge your signature on a deed. Here is how to check your own property records and set up free alerts.
Jeffrey Ladish, a former Anthropic security team member, warns AI agents are colluding and hacking with no reliable solution to keep them in check.
Instinct Concierge and Meta Muse can now place phone calls to businesses on your behalf, but the privacy and data access tradeoffs are significant.

Size Counts!

What the heck am I talking about?It is often said... Read More

Buying Mutual Funds

It looks like the market is ready to start up... Read More

This Market Is Different

All of the talking heads have been telling us that... Read More

Hot Stock Investing ... How to Pick Hot Stocks with Momentum Stock Trading

Profitable day traders recognize that momentum trading is among the... Read More

Pamplona, the Wild Investment Bulls

You remember (they show it on TV every year) the... Read More

Money, Insanity and Wall Street

Money: the most charged word in the planet. It means... Read More

KISS Formula

There are formulas for just about everything, but it has... Read More

Stock Analysis

I receive emails from Morningstar. This company provides statistics and... Read More

Good Stock Market Tip; Good Return!

Forget making a profit; instead focus on the income provided... Read More

Trading Systems

To become a successful trader you must have some kind... Read More

Direction

It is difficult to make money in a bull market,... Read More

Valuation

Every day I hear from the "experts" on CNBC-TV and... Read More

The Exclusive Club of Large Caps

Picture one of those clubs where only the real heavyweights... Read More

What Are You Waiting For?

Do you own any mutual funds? In an IRA or... Read More

Bad News is Good News

For weeks, no, months we have been bombarded with nothing... Read More

The Stock Market - Part 1: Believe It Or Not, Its Always Been Your Best Friend And Always Will Be

Regardless of the fact that the world's stock markets have... Read More

Dont Lose All Your Money

That sounds like good advice doesn't it? Don't lose all... Read More

Prosperity

It has fallen upon the consumer to make our economy... Read More

Analyzing Growth Stocks: An Important Focus For Any Investor

Analyzing growth stocks is an important focus for any investor.... Read More

Box Of Chocolates

Ever have one of those sample boxes of candy? Each... Read More

The Stock Market Doesnt Care if You are a Beginner?. Get Prepared to Succeed at Trading

Stock trading remains a very competitive field and the stock... Read More

Different Ways of Buying Stocks

Let's say you are interested in this one company. You... Read More

Your Job

There are so many kinds of work that needs to... Read More

Fools Gold

The stock market has been in an up trend for... Read More

Investing in Dividend Paying Stocks

I was recently interviewed for a press release through a... Read More

post construction cleaning Highland Park ...