When people learn how much a pip is in Forex trading, they wonder how many pips are needed to be successful in trading Forex.
Do you need tens? Hundreds?
How many pips should you make per day to be successful in day trading?
How many pips per day is good in Forex trading?
When you have a good risk-reward ratio and you’re consistent, even 10 pips per trade can be enough, with one to two trades every single day.
If you’re risking 1% of your account per trade with a 10 pip stop and a 10 pip take profit, working with a 1:1 risk to reward ratio, you can make 1% of your account balance every time you gain 10 pips.
So on a $5000 account, that’s $50 per day.
We’ve done the math for you on a special kind of trading system where you target 10/15/20 pips per trade with increasing lot sizes. On the 30th successful trade(in a row), you’ll have a $50,000 balance.
It’s highly unlikely that any Forex traders can have 30 successful trades in a row, but if you have the fortitude to go through with this system, you can skyrocket your account in no time.
What is a pip in forex trading?
A pip is the smallest decimal value a currency can move in the market. For most pairs, one pip is 0.0001. For pairs with the Japanese Yen, one pip is 0.01.
Most brokers now offer 3 and 5 digit quotes, in which case 0.0001 is still one pip, but 0.00001 is one micro-pip.
Some currency pairs move quite slowly and as a result, your stop loss may be in micro-pips, too.
Calculation of Pip Values
The pip value for every trade is calculated by the number of lots you enter a trade with.
Pairs that have the US Dollar are fairly easy to calculate pip values for.
For all USD pairs, 1 pip on a standard($100000) lot is worth $10.
That’s because you’re buying $100000 worth of the currency, so if the price of the currency rises or falls by 0.0001, that’s $100000 x 0.0001 or $10.
For Yen pairs other than USD/JPY, you have to factor in the price of the USD/JPY as well, and the pip value will fluctuate.
Why lots matter more than pips
As you can see, it doesn’t matter how many pips you make – it’s all about how many lots you go in with.
If you enter a trade with 1 standard lot and get out at 10 pips, that’s $100 right there.
If you enter a trade with 10 standard lots and get out at 10 pips, that’s $1000 right there.
So the number of pips really doesn’t matter!
Are more pips always better?
Yes, definitely! Pips mean money, so if you can make more pips, you can make more money.
But you should not compare how many pips you make to the number of pips other traders make.
For example, your trading strategy may be such that you risk 1% of your account with a stop loss of 10 pips to make 10 pips. If you win the trade, you’ll make 1%.
Other traders may risk 1% of their account with a 50 pip stop loss because that’s how their trading strategy works. In this case, they’ll make 1% of their account when they make 50 pips!
Forex traders all have their unique strategies, so don’t compare yourself directly to someone else.
Why you should not focus on specific pip targets
Getting caught up in trying to catch X number of pips per day is a recipe for disaster. First, you’ll have to accept that there will be days that you have losing trades. Instead of worrying about the number of pips you need in a single day, think about the percentage gain you want on your account on the whole month.
Sometimes, market conditions will be such that you can take multiple trades, and as a result, you’ll make many pips. Other days, market conditions will be bad and you may not take a single trade.
Day traders tend to try to take at least one trade per day, but you won’t always find a trading opportunity, meaning there will be many days that you walk away with 0 pips, or worse, negative pips.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the number of pips made per day in Forex trading is not necessarily the most important factor for success. It is more important to have a good risk-reward ratio and be consistent in your trading approach.
The number of lots that you enter a trade with also plays a significant role in the profitability of your trades. Additionally, it is important not to focus solely on specific pip targets and instead think about the overall percentage gain you want to achieve on your account over a period of time.
Market conditions can vary greatly and it may not always be possible to take trades, so it is important to be flexible and adaptable in your approach to Forex trading.