Thanks Nial, I have been a sucker for this. It seems funny, for a while you trade well @2% or 5% or whatever then you get a hit, then another, then another and pretty soon you’re so far under water that it seems insermountable to make up the difference, so yes you do over trade, and that leads to more losses, then you try a different method and the cycle is slow, painful and any wins you do seems to accumulate, especially after a line of losers make you wonder if you will ever get back to atleast break even. Say what you want but I do agree if you’re here to make it for the long haul, I’d rather know that I had a fighting chance rather than die a slow a death. This makes all the sense in the world. I may blow an account up learning, but hey I thought it was money we were supposed to be comfortable losing. I’ve heard it explained as the price of paying tuition. It’s terrible when you make $20 on a trade that lasts for days and is over 200 pips. It sure doesn’t do much to the trading account. I think I’ve also been joining the quanity over quality club. If I stick to great setups I can afford to wage more per trade. So much truth to this article………….

Having said that, it is equally important to note that Forex trading is a business and the sole aim of every business venture is to make money. If your goal is to master the game and make money like a pro, then give attention to what Niel teaches because his goal is to make his readers and students professionals like himself.

Timothy. Account balance is arbitrary. You can’t put a blanket over everybody and say trade 2% of the balance of your account. For example. Personally, I only put enough money in my trading account to cover the margin of several open positions. I don’t need lots of money sitting in the account. To decide how much to risk per trade, you need to look what your risk profile is, your risk tolerance, your skill level, how often you trade, the leverage of your account – ie: 100 to 1 or 200 to 1 etc, and many other factors. Only then can you come up with a figure on how much $ to risk per trade. Again, using a random figure plucked from thin air such as 2% or 5% is just not right.

David. I strongly disagree. Basing how much $ you risk on each trade simply by using a % of what is in your forex margin account is an arbitrary process. Your risk per trade should be based on your skill level, your risk profile, your net worth, and 100 other factors.

This dollar risk value is used to determine my position size based on the chart defined stop loss.

As my account grows (or falls) my emotional dollar limit may change or remain the same based on the overall chart pattern, market conditions, and my psychology at the time. What is important is that I am comfortable enough with that figure that I do NOT interfere with the trade once filled.

There is only ONE time in a trade that you can control risk; that’s before you enter it. After you enter a trade the best you can do is manage or shift the risk; you cannot control it.

thanks nial

“Biffo”
I respect your comments and opinions, however I think you may have mis understood the concepts of % risk vs fixed $ risk that I am trying to explain. There is no perfect way to compare % risk vs $ risk money management. I use the fixed $ risk, whilst others have their own opinions.

thanx.

great work nial. keep it up.

I will direct that person that believe the 2% rule to be a realistic approach to this article because I believe this great article.

Thanks Nial. Your article has confirmed my sanity that I was not the only one in the world who believes the 2% rule is not practical. Im just starting out now in forex. Luckily I came across your site. Cheers

Just a quick observation (based on successful long-term demo trading)…What you say about discretion regarding trade setups can be applied to discretion regarding risk:reward.

i.e Cutting losing trades short because the price is moving sideways can save a fortune as against hoping and waiting for the market to move, then its time to walk away and come back later on in the day or next day.

I’m very new to the trading game & haven’t even placed a trade as yet, still gathering information. I must say though this is a brilliant explanation on risk and reward. Clear, Concise & commonsense. Thank you so much Niall, excellent advice & easy to understand even for a begginer. :-))

So I guess the amount you put on your account is not directly correlated with your gains.
The most important aspect is the amount your risk.

The size off your account only allows you to lose more trades before being “ruined”.

I really like your articles. Very clear although I’m not a natural born english speaker!

Hi, what your saying makes sense, but for the example we chose to present it a different way. Theoretically you could put in $200 if you wanted, but it would be time consuming.

In your example, you use a $5000 account, but you “only” risk $200 per trade.

Wouldn’t it be simpler to put $200 on your account, and refill it everytime you lose?

Thanks!

thanks Nial.

Like Frank ( above – May 24th 2010) I like to move my stop to a break even position if a position achieves a profit level equal to the amount of risk originally taken, as I feel more comfortable protecting my capital with this approach. I do appreciate that I’m increasing my chances of being stopped out and therefore reducing my chances of hitting my 2X or more reward target, but am not psychologically strong enough to follow through that far at the moment!

Thanks for your shareing the acutal ways you trade.

Good article with sound logic. Example 2 becomes interesting if the same percentage of 2% is used in both scenarios.

The forex industry promotes this 2% rule, but I feel it’s to help traders “lose slower” , sounds horrible, but true. My idea is simply this .. if you use the 2% rule. .. if you draw down 50% of your account it will take literally a 100% return to refuel the account and grow it back to break even.. It all sounds great in theory the 2% rule. but it’s really very very hard to impliment once you have had a “hit” or drawdown. I try to show people the idea that the money in your account is merely the money you use for margin, it should not be the entire net worth of the trader (as in.. all his money should not ne on 1 account) What is the point of having a large sum in the trading account ..if forex margin requirements are still very low. My main point is to push people into fixed $ Dollar risk per trade. So if you apply the same $ risk per trade, and apply sound risk reward princinples, your effectively going to increase your chances of moving back into overall profit on the account. I am understanding people don’t like to hear contrarian views on money management, but this is how I trade, so tha’t why I wrote about it.

However, if you are only starting with $5000 for example, what should be your maximum risk? Or, the maximum risk does not matter so much as long as you have trades with a risk to reward ratio of 1 to 3 as a minimum. This would be a good way to quickly wipe out the $5000. Can someone please clarify for me? Thanks in advance.

I love the simplicity of your trading methods. Until recently, I was trading Futures Contracts and getting smashed from pillar to post. The risk is far too great for a small trading account.

Thanks to FOREX and your Course, I can manage risk, have wider stops if required, and sleep at night knowing I have a fighting chance of winning more trades than I lose. Choosing the right Price-Action Setups is the key.

For those that can afford Nial’s Course, I implore you to do it. He deserves to be rewarded for his work, and it’s worth its weight in gold.

Keep up the great work.

I totally agree, it is my view as well. It is amazing, I haven’t seen this explained by anyone to my knowledge. Well done. Perhaps, not deserve to win 2 to 1 against us yesterday in soccer, but certainly in this you win mate.

Regards
Vignesh

Thanks Nial for another way to look at things !

Great article. So you determine you position size by what you feel comfortable with and also by the quality of the setup. Is there a certain percentage of capital you won’t go above for a great setup? Thanks

I guess the reason being is because if you have a drawdown period you will not wipe out your account by only riking 1-2 % on your trades but after you get out of that drawdown period, trading and risking 1-2 % will take forever to get back to break even if you get lucky.

Now I understand! I will apply your risk to reward method as outlined in this article Nial! Thanks again for another eye opening experience!