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Risk noun - exposure to the chance of injury or loss; a hazard or dangerous chance.
Much has been said about risk in trading. Suffice to say that risk is something that must be taken in order to create the possibility of a return. However, a traders' management of risk is a vital component of their trading plan. Without proper risk management, a trader won't have a lasting career in the Forex market.
As legendary trader Doug Zalesky says “You always want to come back and play tomorrow. Never put yourself in the precarious position of losing more money than you can afford. The worst feeling in the world is wanting to trade and not being able to because the equity in your account is too low”
Too many novice Forex traders focus on reward. They keenly anticipate how much they can make on each trade, on what percentage return their system should make them per week or per month.
In order to succeed they should rather be focusing on risk. Working out how they are going to ensure that they don't wipe their accounts out. By focussing on minimising your losing trades, maintaining your capital and following your trading rules with discipline and consistency you will succeed. The return will take care of itself if you take care of the risk.
The most effective ways of efficiently dealing with risk is to automate your risk management processes. When it comes to risk, auto trading programs have an edge over manual or discretionary traders. By building risk management into your automated trading you reduce the chances of your risk management failing.
Making intra-day trading decisions in the heat of the moment can be extremely stressful. By not having to make risk management decisions when placing trades, you will not be faced with making tough calls that could easily expose your account to unnecessary risk. Decisions like how much size to put onto a trade, or where to set your initial stop loss can be outsourced to your automated trading system of Forex robot to ensure error free, stress free trading.
Build the following risk aspects into your auto trading system to improve the odds of successful trading:
Initial stop loss: Predefine the maximum total loss you are prepared to take per trade based on either a fixed dollar amount or volatility to ensure you never lose more than your account can manage.
Trailing stop loss: Trailing stop losses ensure that your winning trades never turn into losing trades, whilst also ensuring that you do not close your winners too early.
Targets: I believe that programming your target price into your auto trading system is important. It’s done so that if the market makes a sudden big move in your favor, you lock it in. Sometimes these big moves retrace so quickly you are unable to manually take advantage.
Position sizing: This vital component of risk management can so easily get out of control. Often traders put on huge trades after a losing streak to try to win losses back. This invariably ends in a massive loss. Or put on a tiny trade due to fear, only to see it turn into a great trade and wish they had traded it with the correct size. Manage this risk by building a position sizing component into your Forex system.
Get a Life by Automating Your Trading
After analysing this period in my trading history I discovered that although I had been making more errors, the worst thing about being so tired and anxious was the marked reduction in my ability to remain disciplined in my trading. The more tired a trader is the more difficult it is to follow his trading plan.
Be Responsible for Your Own Trading Success
All traders are unique. There is no one size fits all automated trading system. Build your system based on your beliefs about the markets and according to your trading plan. It’s also easy for the seller of the system to create an unrealistic track record through over optimisation. The system may promise success but fail hopelessly in real world conditions. Blaming the system for your failures is too easy. Take responsibility and build it yourself.
What is the Future of the Markets and How Does Automated Trading Fit In?
Regulation of financial markets is increasing as they become more complex and computer driven. This is to the advantage of small investors who require legislation to protect them from unscrupulous operators and so called insiders. A more regulated environment means a better trading experience for automated forex traders.
