Thursday, August 31, 2017

Forex Trading Money Management – An EYE OPENING Article

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By in Forex Trading Articles on | 61 Comments
An Eye-Opening Article on Forex Trading Money Management
indexThis post was written to expose some truths and some myths surrounding the topic of managing your trading capital. Most information out there on money management is completely useless in my opinion and will not work well in professional trading. What most traders are taught about money management is usually ‘lies’ invented by the industry to help you lose your money “slower” so that brokers can make more commission / spreads from you. If your using the 2% money management rule, this article may put that theory into question, which is the point… to make you think about it from all angles and perspectives. I also believe that people who teach the ‘percentage of account’ risk management method don’t truly understand how arbitrary this idea is. The reason is simple… every traders account size will be different and every persons risk profile, net worth and skill level is different. If you simply take a percentage of money that is in your trading account to risk on each trade, it’s purely arbitrary. What you are prepared to lose or risk on each trade is much more complex than just plucking 2% or 4 % or 10% out of thin air. Let me explain…
I will warn you that what you are about to read is likely to be contradictory to what you may have already learned about forex money management and risk control in other places. I can only tell you that what am I about to divulge to you is the way I trade and it is the way many professional forex traders manage capital. So get ready, open your mind, and enjoy this article on how to effectively grow your trading account by effectively managing your money. Just remember, everything I talk about on this website is based on real world application, not recycled theory.
Everyone knows that money management is a crucial aspect of successful forex trading. Yet most people don’t spend nearly enough time concentrating on developing or implementing a money management plan. The paradox of this is that until you develop your money management skills and consistently utilize them on every single trade you execute, you will never be a consistently profitable trader.
I want to give you a professional perspective on money management and dispel some common myths floating around the trading world regarding the concept of money management. We hear many different ideas about risk control and profit taking from various sources, much of this information is conflicting and so it is not surprising that many traders get confused and just give up on implementing an effective forex money management plan, which of course ultimately leads to their demise. I have been successfully trading the financial markets for nearly a decade and I have mastered the skill of risk reward and how to effectively utilize it to grow small sums of money into larger sums of money relatively quickly.
Money Management Myths:
Myth 1: Traders should focus on pips.
You may have heard that you should concentrate on pips gained or lost instead of dollars gained or lost. The rationale behind this money management myth is that if you concentrate on pips instead of dollar you will somehow not become emotional about your trading because you will not be thinking about your trading account in monetary terms but rather as game of points. If this doesn’t sound ridiculous to you, it should. The whole point of trading and investing is to make money and you need to be consciously aware of how much money you have at risk on each and every trade so that the reality of the situation is effectively conveyed. Do you think business owners treat their quarterly profit and loss statements as a game of points that is somehow detached from the reality of making or losing real money? Of course not, when you think about it these terms it seems silly to treat your trading activities like a game. Trading should be treated as a business, because that’s what it is, if you want to be consistently profitable you need to treat each trade as a business transaction. Just as any business transaction has the possibility of risk and of reward, so does every trade you execute. The bottom line is that thinking about your trades in terms of pips and not dollars will effectively make trading seem less real and thus open the door for you treat it less seriously than you otherwise would.
From a Mathematical standpoint, thinking of trading in terms of “how many pips you lose or gain” is completely irrelevant. The problem is that each trader will trade a different position size, thus, we must define risk in terms of “Ddollars at risk or dollars gained”.  Just because you risk a large amount of pips, does not mean you are risking a large amount of your capital, such is the case that if you have a tight stop this does not mean your risking a small amount of capital.
Myth 2: Risking 1% or 2% on every trade is a good way to grow your account

This is one of the more common money management myths that you are likely to have heard. While it sounds good in theory, the reality is that the majority if retail forex traders are starting with a trading account that has $5,000 in it or less. So to believe that you will grow your account effectively and relatively quickly by risking 1% or 2% per trade is just silly. Say you lose 5 trades in a row, if you were risking 2% your account is now down to $4,519.60, now you are still risking 2% per trade, but that same 2% is now a smaller position size than it was when your account was at $5,000.
Thus, in the % risk model, as you lose trades you automatically reduce your position size. Which is not always the best course of action. There’s psychological evidence that suggests it’s human nature to become more risk averse after a series of losing trades and less risk averse after a series of winning trades, but that doesn’t mean the risk of any one trade becomes more or less simply because you lost or won on your previous trade. As we can see in my article on randomly distributed trading results, your previous trade’s results don’t mean anything for the outcome of your next trade.
What ends up happening when traders use the % risk model is that they start off good, they risk 1 or 2% on their first few trades, and maybe they even win them all. But once they begin to hit a string of losers, they realize that all of their gains have been wiped out and it is going to take them quite a long time just to make back the money they have lost. They then proceed to OVER-TRADE and take less than quality setups because they now realize how long it will take them just to get back to break even if they only risk 1% to 2% per trade.
So, while this method of money management will allow you to risk small amounts on each trade, and therefore theoretically limit your emotional trading mistakes, most people simply do not have the patience to risk 1 or 2% per trade on their relatively small trading accounts, it will eventually lead to over-trading which is about the worst thing you can do for your bottom line. It is also a difficult task to recover from a drawn down period. Remember, once you drawn down, using a 2 % per trade method, your risk each trade will be smaller, there fore, your rate of recovery on profits is slower and hinders the traders effort.
The Most important fact is this.. if you start with $10,000 , and drawn down to $5,000, using a fixed % method, it will take you “much longer” to recover because you started out risking 2% per trade which was $200, but at the $5,000 draw-down level, your only risking $100 per trade, so even if you have a good winning streak, your capital is recovering at “half the rate” it would using “fixed $ per trade risk.

Myth 3: Wider stops risk more money than smaller stops
Many traders erroneously believe that if they put a wider stop loss on their trade they will necessarily increase their risk. Similarly, many traders believe that by using a smaller stop loss they will necessarily decrease the risk on the trade. Traders that are holding these false beliefs are doing so because they do not understand the concept of Forex position sizing.
Position sizing is the concept of adjusting your position size or the number of lots you are trading, to meet your desired stop loss placement and risk size. For example, say you risk $200 per trade, with a 100 pip stop loss you would trade 2 mini-lots: $2 per pip x 100 pips = $200.
Now let’s you want to trade a pin bar forex strategy but the tail is exceptionally long but you would still like to place your stop above the high of the tail even though it will mean you have a 200 pip stop loss. You can still risk the same $200 on this trade, you just need to adjust your position size down to meet this wider stop loss, and you would adjust the position down to 1 mini-lot rather than 2. This means you can risk the same amount on every trade simply by adjusting your position size up or down to meet your desired stop loss width.
Let’s now look at an example of what can happen if you don’t practice position sizing effectively by failing to decrease the number of lots you are trading while increasing stop loss distance.
Example: Two traders risk the same amount of lots on the same trade setup. Forex Trader A risks 5 lots and has a stop loss of 50 pips, Trader B also risks 5 lots but has a stop loss of 200 pips because he or she believes there is an almost 100% chance that the trade will not go against him or her by 200 pips. The fault with this logic is that typically if a trade begins to go against you with increasing momentum, there theoretically is no limit to when it may stop. And we all know how strong the trends can be in the forex market. Trader A has gotten stopped out with his or her pre-determined risk amount of 5 lots x 50 pips which is a loss of $250. Trader B also got stopped out but his or her loss was much larger because they erroneously hoped that the trade would turn around before moving 200 pips against them. Trader B thus losses 5 lots x 200 pips, but their loss is now a whopping $1,000 instead of the $250 it could have been.
We can see from this example why the belief that just widening your stop loss on a trade is not an effective way to increase your trading account value, in fact it is just the opposite; a good way to quickly decrease your trading account value. The fundamental problem that afflicts traders who harbor this believe is a lack of understanding of the power of risk to reward and position sizing.
The Power of Risk to Reward
Professional traders like me and many others concentrate on risk to reward ratios, and not so much on over analyzing the markets or having unrealistically wide profit targets. This is because professional traders understand that trading is a game of probabilities and capital management. It begins with having a definable market edge, or a trading method that is proven to be at least slightly better than random at determining market direction. This edge for me has been price action analysis. The price action trading strategies that I teach and use can have an accuracy rate of upwards of 70-80% if they are used wisely and at the appropriate times.
The power of risk to reward comes in with its ability to effectively and consistently build trading accounts. We all hear the old axioms like “let your profits run” and “cut your losses early”, while these are well and fine, they don’t really provide any useful information for new traders to implement. The bottom line is that if you are trading with anything less than about $25,000, you are going to have to take profits at pre-determined intervals if you want to keep your sanity and your trading account growing. Entering trades with open profit targets typically doesn’t work for smaller traders because they end up never taking the profits until the market comes swinging back against them dramatically. (I think this is very important, go back an re read that last sentence)
If you know your strike rate is between 40-50% than you can consistently make money in the market by implementing simple risk to reward ratios. By learning to use well-defined price action setups to enter your trades you should able to win a higher percentage of your trades, assuming you TAKE profits.
Let’s Compare 2 Examples – One Trader Using the 2 % Rule, and one Trader using  Fixed $ Amount.
Example 1 – -you have a risk to reward ratio of 1:3 on every trade you take. This means you will make 3 times your risk on every trade that hits your target, if you win on only 50% of your trades, you will still make money:
Let’s say your trading account value is $5,000 and you risk $200 per trade.
You lose your 1st trade = $5,000-$200 = $4,800,
You lose your 2nd trade = $4,800-$200 = $4,600,
You win your 3rd trade = $4,600+$600 = $5,200
You win your 4th trade = $5,200+$600 = $5,800
From this example we can see that even losing 2 out of every 4 trades you can still make very decent profits by effectively utilizing the power of risk to reward ratios. For comparison purposes, let’s look at this same example using the 2% per trade risk model:
Example 2 – Once again, your trading account value is $5,000 but you are now risking 4% per trade (so that both examples start out with a risk of $200 per trade) : Remember, you have a risk to reward ratio of 1:3 on every trade you take. This means you will make 3 times your risk on every trade that hits your target, if you win on only 50% of your trades, you will still make money:
You lose your 1st trade = $5,000 – $200 = $4800
You lose your 2nd trade = $4800 – $192 = $4608
You win your 3rd trade = $4608 + $552 = $5160
You win your 4th trade = $5160 + $619 = $5780
Now we can see why risking 4% (or 2% etc) of your account on each trade is not as efficient as the trader using the fixed $ amount. Important to note that after 4 trades, risking the same dollar amount per trade and effectively utilizing a risk to reward ratio of 1:3,  using fixed $ risk per trade, the first traders account is now up by $800 versus $780 on the %4 risk account.
Now, If  the trader using % risk rule had a draw down period and lost 50% of their account, they effectively have to make back 100% of their capital to be back at break even, now, this may also be so for the trader using the fixed $ risk method, but which trader do you think has the best chance of recovering? Seriously, it could take a very long time to recover from a drawn down using the % risk method. Sure, some will argue that you can drawn down heavier and its more risky to use the  fixed $ method, but we are talking about real world trading here, I need to use a method that gives me a chance to recover from losses, not just protect me from losses. With a good trading method and experience, you can use the fixed $ method, which is why I wanted to open your eyes to it.
In Summary
The power of the money management techniques discussed in this article lies in their ability to consistently and efficiently grow your trading account. There are some underlying assumptions with these recommendations however, mainly that you are trading with money you have no other need for, meaning your life will not be directly impacted if you do lose it all. You also must keep in mind that the whole idea of risk to reward strategies revolves around having an effective edge in the market and knowing when that edge is present and how to use it, you can learn this from my price action forex trading course.
While I do not recommend traders use a set risk percentage per trade, I do recommend you risk an amount you are comfortable with; if your risk is keeping you up at night than it is probably too much.   If you have $10,000 you may risk something like $200 or $300 per trade.. as a set amount, or whatever your are comfortable with, it may be a lot less, but it will be constant.  Also remember, Professional traders have learned to judge their setups based on the quality of the setup, otherwise known as discretion. This comes through screen time and practice, as such; you should develop your skills on a demo account before switching to real money. The money management strategy discussed in this article provides a realistic way to effectively grow your account without evoking the feeling of needing to over-trade which so often happens to traders who practice the % risk method of forex money management. Learn to use my price action strategies with the power of risk to reward ratios and your trading results will begin to turn around.

About Nial Fuller

is a Professional Trader & Author who is considered ‘The Authority’ on Price Action Trading. He has a monthly readership of 250,000+ traders and has taught 15,000+ students since 2008. Checkout Nial's Professional Forex Course here.
  1. ömer atay December 10, 2016 at 12:02 pm
    Smart boy…
    Reply
  2. Pedro July 30, 2016 at 3:53 am
    Thank you for the article Nial. I´m new to this world and although I undestarnd you should alt least trade for 1:2 risk/reward ratio, what do you do if you see a resistance/support level before getting to your target price based on 1:2 risk/reward ratio.
    Thank you very much for your answer.
    Reply
  3. Rezanades July 19, 2016 at 11:40 am
    Great !
    Reply
  4. Glorious April 23, 2016 at 2:10 am
    Great article Nial,
    You can begin with the 2% rule at start of your trading and keep that as your dollar risk whether the account grows or not. Forexample, if you start with $1000, your dollar risk will be $20 per trade even though the account falls to $800. If your account grows, then you can compute the new 2% of your new grown account balance and make it your constant dollar risk. That is the only way to recover from your drawdowns. If you have mastered your trading edge with proper risk:reward ratio, then recovery should be easier and faster
    Reply
  5. Amos April 17, 2014 at 11:44 pm
    Another great article by the Forex coach, Nial. In my opinion, the risk philosophy he teaches in this article is another one of his contrarian approach (as he likes to put it) to trading that has earned him great success over the years as a professional trader of repute, with his vast followership. He writes from a professional viewpoint backed up with years of experience. I totally believe in his trading philosophy and have been implementing the fixed $ amount risk per trade with noticeable improvement in my overall trading results. What is most important here is to be a master of your trading strategy and stay with the rules. The fixed $ risk management approach pays better in the long run.
    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.
    Reply
  6. David January 21, 2014 at 12:05 pm
    A fixed % equity is better than a fixed $ amount – it is proven by stats. Nial, you can continue to trade like that but you are not trading with an edge.
    Reply
    • Nial Fuller January 22, 2014 at 5:46 pm
      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.
      Reply
  7. Timothy January 19, 2014 at 4:12 am
    Thank you Nial for this article and your great info. If the 1 or 2% risk on a trade is not sustainable then one must choose a dollar risk amount like you say. However one also needs to determine what this is based on what is in the account. So if there is $50k in the account – I could risk $1k on each trade and that would be 2%. If there is $50million – the risk could be $1million. In each case it would be 2%. Do you have any thoughts about what percentage of your account would be a good dollar risk. Surely one would need to consider the account balance to choose a wise dollar amount risk. Or is the account balance not relevant?
    Reply
    • Nial Fuller January 22, 2014 at 5:51 pm
      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.
      Reply
  8. Joshua Adelakun October 4, 2013 at 3:58 pm
    Nial is a man i do respect. What i do think is that traders should know the probability of loosing if they want to use the fixed percentage rule. I use it and it works for me. This is born out of my experience in the market.
    Reply
  9. Dave B September 17, 2013 at 6:44 am
    I’ve used the 2% rule for many years. Then I read Mark Douglas and Nial Fuller. The truly successful traders seem to set a loss limit based on what they can emotionally handle without interfering with the trade strategy. Thus, if I have a $10,000 account, what am I willing to risk on THIS trade to make the expected profit target. That is a fixed dollar amount that I am willing to lose if the trade goes against me.
    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.
    Reply
  10. shuai June 21, 2013 at 9:19 pm
    Well said dude! Love it!
    Reply
  11. felipe December 11, 2012 at 4:00 am
    I have been trading with fixed amount for a few months and it DOES work but you have to increase the fixed amount as your account grows otherwise u’d be stuck over time and won’t be able to make a profit in this business, do not change the fixed amount every week or when you think the trade is a winner….that is emotional trading, stick to a fixed amount the whole year and then change it the next year, as simple as that.
    thanks nial
    Reply
  12. biffo November 14, 2012 at 12:46 pm
    If you go for risk reward ratio of 3/1 Then risk 2% per trade on 5000 account and lose 5 trades in a row your account would be 4519.6. Two winning trades (not 6) at 3:1 r:r Would have your account back to 5078.21.What you talk about Mr Nial?
    Reply
    • nial November 15, 2012 at 7:38 pm
      “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.
      Reply
  13. shirish November 4, 2012 at 2:03 am
    First master the price action set ups and after that only try fix $ risk method on demo account. if you are satisfied with your winning % using price action set up u learn from nial go on live account without any fear.
    thanx.
    great work nial. keep it up.
    Reply
  14. Oged Olat November 1, 2012 at 7:08 pm
    Nial is one of the smartest trader i know. i love this article.
    The strong point of a fixed dollar trading is effective trading system. Everyone who will prefer this way should ensure they learn this price action strategy effectively.
    Remember $200 is 4% of $5000 and risking 4% with a good method will always be better than 2%.
    i continued your trading analogy and realize that after 75 trades, the 2% method started paying off better, though it started slow but after about 75 trades, it came off better than the $200 fixed.
    My conclusion was one will need to shift the goal post from $200 to higher fixed dollar, like once your account gets to $10000, you change from $200 to $400. that is the only way you can continue to beat the 2% rule.
    2% rule is still reasonable and commendable for beginners, it will help their psychological state of mind, that which separates professional from amateurs.
    if you are an amateur that uses the fixed dollar system like
    the $200 for $5000 of the analogue above, a losing streak of about 25 trades will wipe you account out.
    if you use the 2% rule, you will need losing streak of about
    400 trades to wipe your account out. which of the 2 is more likely.
    Trading is different for everyone, it is important to attain some level of expertise before you make certain decisions
    Remember here that Nial said that is the way he trades, he is a professional, and he expects you to have mastered the price action VERY WELL to follow this model.
    Thank you Nial
    Reply
  15. Norman October 11, 2012 at 8:29 am
    Very good article Nial, thanks for your sharing, like your site. thanks again.
    Reply
  16. Jimmy June 29, 2012 at 3:08 am
    The first time I heard someone spoke about the 2% rule I thought it was a joke. Yeah sure in the extreme case not matter how many times you lose in number of trades you could virtually never lose your money completely. However like Nial said, what’s the point of protecting your losses? You’d probably end up still at a loss even after your account is at break even considering opportunity cost of your time invested.
    I eventually thought yeh.. He must know what he’s talking about since he have read and seen many “pro” articles and seminars.
    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
    Reply
  17. DRS June 27, 2012 at 9:38 am
    Hi – I just read this article again and it is spot on.
    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.
    Reply
  18. Andrew June 17, 2012 at 11:22 pm
    Hi Niall,
    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. :-))
    Reply
  19. Corentin June 15, 2012 at 9:55 pm
    Ok thanks,
    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!
    Reply
  20. Corentin June 15, 2012 at 9:10 pm
    Hi,
    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!
    Reply
    • nial June 15, 2012 at 9:40 pm
      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.
      Reply
  21. steven coleshill March 12, 2012 at 6:36 am
    Hi
    I love your site. keep up the good work!
    Reply
  22. yusuf January 29, 2012 at 10:58 pm
    That’s great idea. In my sight, it will better to try trade with 2% system and also fixed dollar at the same time with different pairs couple each system (choosing less correlation pairs). And one thing for sure…the only thing to gain profit is to add volume either using 2% size or fixed dollar. The way to add volume is so vary. Thank you for share.
    Reply
  23. How Nial Fuller Trades Price Action « eStock Trading December 24, 2011 at 6:40 am
    […] He has many excellent price action forex strategies which are simple to understand and that make use of the raw price action of the market; thus there is nothing to complicate or confuse you like with indicators and “robots”. When you trade with nial fuller price action strategies, you’ll know how to trade the market with simple yet effective price action strategies and also how to manage money forex trading. […]
    Reply
  24. Milbrun Pearson December 19, 2011 at 10:59 am
    Nial great article I subscribed to % rule but now I see that you risk less as your balance goes down. I have learned a lot from you so far I am definitely considering taking your course.
    Reply
  25. Monica October 27, 2011 at 10:37 am
    Great article….went through all you said about large stops, recovery and now position sizing. You’re the first trader I’ve heard say the truth about the 2% rule being for the birds!! you make good sense!! Thanks for sharing!!
    Reply
  26. Jdog October 4, 2011 at 9:04 pm
    Thanks Nial another golden nugget of knowledge. I have changed my approach to money management. Im finding my trading alot less stressful.
    thanks Nial.
    Reply
  27. chris October 4, 2011 at 8:13 pm
    Very well said Nial, getting to identify quality setups is key….no matter what money management one use, one is not going to make it unless one can identify and be disciplined enough trade only quality setups…
    Reply
  28. Paul October 4, 2011 at 6:38 pm
    Excellent article as always Nial, thank you
    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!
    Reply
  29. Larry H. October 4, 2011 at 11:18 am
    Hi Nial,
    Thanks for your shareing the acutal ways you trade.
    Reply
  30. Anton October 4, 2011 at 7:38 am
    Perfect article, deep experience, immediately suitable for use – thanks Nial very much.
    Reply
  31. Anton August 22, 2011 at 5:38 am
    Thanks Nial, it sounds logically and I will use your practical recommendations.
    Reply
  32. Paul April 8, 2011 at 7:29 am
    Superb article and its a view that I naturally feel is not just mathematically correct but also commonsense. Ofcourse the whole idea of sound money management and following it successfuly applies to people who have a solid trading plan with an ‘edge’ in the market. Unless you have this, no matter what your understanding of money management is, you will go broke sooner or later.
    Reply
  33. joaquin February 20, 2011 at 1:26 am
    thanks, really good article!!!
    Reply
  34. Eric August 20, 2010 at 12:05 am
    Hi Nial,
    Good article with sound logic. Example 2 becomes interesting if the same percentage of 2% is used in both scenarios.
    Reply
  35. David June 12, 2010 at 4:10 pm
    I am a little confused. I understand what position sizing is and how to set stop losses. I understand the frustration and temptation to over trade if you are only risking 1% or 2% per trade and how many trades it would take to make that money back should you lose it. This is where the temptation to over trade occurs.
    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.
    Reply
    • nial June 12, 2010 at 4:21 pm
      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.
      Reply
      • Gary May 14, 2014 at 11:42 am
        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………….
        Reply
  36. Butch June 1, 2010 at 9:14 am
    K.I.S.S. I’m totally on board with this strategy. Can’t wait to start my course work. Thanks Nial
    Reply
  37. Darren May 25, 2010 at 9:42 pm
    Great article Nial.
    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.
    Reply
  38. Vignesh May 25, 2010 at 7:41 pm
    Hi Nial,
    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
    Reply
  39. Giles May 25, 2010 at 5:35 am
    That’s got me thinking !
    Thanks Nial for another way to look at things !
    Reply
  40. Frank Page May 24, 2010 at 4:15 pm
    Nial good article. For me I will risk 1-3%/ trade with a profit target of 2 or 3:1 (reward/risk). Also I sometimes like to take 1/2 profits when profit = amount risked and move my stoploss to break even for the the remaining other half of the trade. If a trader does not aim above 1:1 then it is only a matter of time before they lose all there money imho.
    Reply
  41. Alex May 24, 2010 at 11:38 am
    Nial,
    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
    Reply
  42. Felix May 24, 2010 at 10:16 am
    Thanks Nial for the article and all other free training material published on this website. They are really eye-opening. I think the most important (and also tje most difficult) thing is to have a strategy that consistently gives you an edge to make money. I am paper-testing the price action strategy here and I will be happy if I get 55-65% winning ratio here. Will see how it works out.
    Reply
  43. joe May 24, 2010 at 7:16 am
    great article so plain and simple to understand
    Reply
  44. Kenny May 24, 2010 at 4:19 am
    WOW!! I feel like I’ve been cheated lol. So many people stress the importance of only risking 1 to 2 percent of your capital per trade. While as you stated it is ideal in theory, in everyday practical trading you have to have ridiculously high winning percentage to stay within that 2% risk model.
    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!
    Reply
  45. Anthony Flanders May 24, 2010 at 3:25 am
    This article makes perfect sense to me Nial……
    The four trades example seals it.
    Reply
  46. Sam May 24, 2010 at 3:02 am
    Thank you for the article…I do my best to keep within my limits on each trade as the article has explained…very tempting to increase the percentage when on a winning streak, i must addmitt…thank you for your time…
    Reply
  47. Zack May 24, 2010 at 3:01 am
    This article is simple and to the point. Aloha!
    Reply
  48. Haig May 24, 2010 at 12:16 am
    A very apt topic. Very well done. As professional traders put it, proper “Money Management” is 40% if the edge on your side of the line.
    Reply
  49. Charles May 23, 2010 at 11:53 pm
    Excellent article Nial. People deffinitely need to set 2.5 to 3 times that risk as targets on each trade. If they learn your price action trade mehtods and gain that edge in their trading, they can have the relative comfort of controling their risk by using the proper position sizing per trade. In other words, if a 2.5 to 3 R/R is not readily seen as a viable target per your teachings, wait for a set up that has it.
    Thanks again Nial for helping me and other traders around the world with what your course teaches, and for your ongoing input in the traders forum.
    Reply
  50. Martin May 23, 2010 at 11:40 pm
    Nial, thanks very much for this lesson. I have been trading without understanding an knowing actually how to size my lot in regard to my portfolio. I think i got some titbit here. thanks once more.
    Reply
  51. Shanna May 23, 2010 at 10:59 pm
    Nial thanks for your experienced insight. I have to admit I’ve just recently gone through this myself. After starting with a very small account and winning a number of trades I started on a losing streak. Then the over trading started. Trading based on 2% of my account. Which as you say in the article make it almost impossible to recoup your losses without an extraordinary run of really good trades. After reading your article I plan to implement your style of risk to reward in my own trading. It just makes more sense. Thanks again.
    Reply
  52. T Allen May 23, 2010 at 10:50 pm
    Thanks Nial – great article.
    Reply
  53. Robert Daley May 23, 2010 at 10:48 pm
    That’s very clear now. Risking the same dollar amount per trade using the risk reward strategy is definitely the way to go for me. Thanks for explaining.
    Reply
  54. Arjun May 23, 2010 at 10:38 pm
    Greetings Nial,
    I completely agree with you wider stops has nothing to do with an increase in risk. Position sizing it what determines it so glad you make this point here. Too many trades get caught up in how wide the stops are.
    I also like the idea for traders like myself who have smaller accounts should take profits at pre-determined intervals. The target should be clear before entering the trade and not left open because the market can change too quickly for those large profit targets to be had.
    Some good points overall and glad you shared.
    Arjun
    Reply
  55. Raymond Toh May 23, 2010 at 10:02 pm
    Nice article.
    Reply

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