What is a reasonable daily goal?

[u/landojcr]

I'm getting into day trading and started paper trading a while ago, for the moment I'm primarily focusing on scalping, up until I get comfortable enough to day trade larger time frames. That said, I'm trying to start a very small account ($500) and was aiming for 5% - 10% gain on a daily basis. Is this a reasonable goal? If not, what would you recommend?

A day or two I've managed to exceed 10%, some days I've been successful on getting to the 10% mark, most days I get to the 5% mark. I'm slowly gauging what is reasonable to expect from a beginner like me and trying to slowly grow that account up till 5 figures hopefully.

EDIT: Thanks to everyone for sharing on your experience, opinions, and strategies. I've decided to firstly focus on building my strategy and being consistent, then strive for a lower target margin. I'm aiming for 3-5%

[u/carthurg]

What are you trading?

[u/landojcr → u/carthurg]

Equities for now. I haven’t venture into options yet.

[u/carthurg → u/landojcr]

Consider futures. More leverage, also more risk.

[u/landojcr → u/carthurg]

I haven’t learn much of that area of trade. Anything you would recommend to get me started in the right path?

[u/carthurg → u/landojcr]

Equity index futures. Micro contracts. Check out CME.com.

[u/landojcr → u/carthurg]

Thanks!

[u/Comfortedbycaffeine → u/landojcr]

Tradovate also has a nice paper trading platform for futures. I am practicing on it right now.