Generally speaking, there are two ways to practice successful money management. A trader can take many frequent small stops and try to harvest profits from the few large winning trades, or a trader can choose to go for many small squirrel-like gains and take infrequent but large stops in the hope the many small profits will outweigh the few large losses. The first method generates many minor instances of psychological pain, but it produces a few major moments of ecstasy. On the other hand, the second strategy offers many minor instances of joy, but at the expense of experiencing a few very nasty psychological hits. With this wide-stop approach, it is not unusual to lose a week or even a month's worth of profits in one or two trades.
To a large extent, the method you choose depends on your personality; it is part of the process of discovery for each trader. One of the great benefits of the forex market is that it can accommodate both styles equally, without any additional cost to the retail trader. Since forex is a spread-based market, the cost of each transaction is the same, regardless of the size of any given trader's position.
Money management is an essential skill for traders. Learn how to manage your capital and risk effectively in this informative webinar with senior trader and forex researcher, Oto. This webinar will cover the key money management concepts all traders should know, such as:
- Price action vs. mean reversion in risk management
- Setting risk levels in forex
- Currency trading dangers
Date: 19 May 12:00 PM GMT