Strategies come and go; risk management is what lets you survive long enough to find out whether yours works. Here is a framework that fits on one page.
1. Risk a fixed percentage per trade
Decide the maximum you will lose on any single trade as a percentage of your account – commonly 0.5% to 2%. Then size every position so the stop-loss equals that amount. The position size calculator does the arithmetic.
2. Put the stop where the idea is wrong
A stop-loss belongs at the price that proves your trade idea wrong – beyond a swing high or low, outside a range, past a level – not at an arbitrary number of pips. If the logical stop is far away, trade smaller. Never widen a stop after entering to "give it room".
3. Know your reward-to-risk and expectancy
If your average winner is 1.5 times your average loser, you need to win more than 40% of the time to break even before costs. Track both numbers in a journal. Our drawdown calculator shows how win rate, reward-to-risk and risk per trade combine.
4. Limit correlated exposure
Long EUR/USD, long GBP/USD and short USD/CHF is essentially one bet against the dollar, three times over. Cap total risk on correlated positions – for example, no more than 3% across all trades that share a currency.
5. Daily and weekly loss limits
Stop trading for the day after a set loss (for example 3%) and for the week after a larger one. Most catastrophic accounts start with one bad day followed by revenge trading.
6. Drawdown rules
Losses compound against you: a 20% drawdown needs a 25% gain to recover, a 50% drawdown needs 100%. Decide in advance what you will do at 10% and 20% drawdowns – halve your risk, pause, review your journal.
7. Account-level safeguards
- Keep only the capital you need at the broker; hold savings elsewhere.
- Use a broker licensed in Europe so that negative balance protection applies.
- Enable two-factor authentication and withdrawal whitelists.
- Check that you understand the 50% margin close-out rule and how your broker applies it.
8. Plan for gaps and events
Weekend gaps and central-bank surprises jump stops. Reduce size or close positions before major events if the gap risk is larger than your per-trade risk. Guaranteed stops, where available, cap the loss for a fee.
9. Keep a journal
Record every trade: setup, entry, stop, target, size, result, and how you felt. Review weekly. Patterns in your mistakes are more useful than any indicator. See also trading psychology.
This guide is general information, not personal financial, tax or legal advice. Rules change; we review this page regularly and show the date of the last update above. Found an error? Tell us. See our editorial policy.
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