$1,000 (or 1%) a Day

Account balance: $106,107.49.

I had a great morning of trading.

First, I woke up early! My alarm went off at 6 a.m., and I didn't automatically hit the snooze button. The goal of rising early wasn't to be prepared for FOREX trading. My intention was actually to attend a morning yoga class. I misjudged the amount of time it would take me to get dressed and walk over to the studio though, so I actually missed the class. This gave me plenty of time to pull up my Oanda account and dailyfx.com chart and trade.

Trading on the EUR/USD started off slow and confined. There wasn't much volatility. Then, as if out of nowhere (but actually because of a Spain downgrade), the price hit the lower Bollinger Band and kept descending.

I posted a $3,000 profit executing about three sell trades.

It was a bit unexpected considering that before the start of trading on Friday, I was almost certain we were in for some kind of EUR/USD bounce back. I suspected this after spotting the RSI divergence on the daily EUR/USD chart.

The Spain downgrade caused a change in the tide, and instead of fighting the flow ... I decided to go with it.

I've been thinking a bit about daily goals I can set for my Oanda demo account. Short, attainable daily goals seem like a practical way for a practical gal like me to trade without the emotional ups and downs that I know would accompany my risk-taking.

Aiming for 1% a day (or $1,000 on a $100,000 account) seemed right. On a day like today, $1,000 is not only doable, it can probably be accomplished in about a five-minute trade. On days where the price movement is tight and confined, I might have to look into breaking that $1,000 goal into four $250 sub-goals or 10 $100 sub-goals.

I do have concerns about setting any goal in monetary terms. I don't want to be distracted by the cliched dollar signs flashing in my face, playing to my ego. But so far, I seem to be letting the charts determine my entry and exit strategies--just as I had originally planned.

Emotions are in check and profits are up ... go figure!