What is risk per trade?Risk per Trade
How much you're willing to lose if a trade hits its stop-loss, usually 0.5%–2% of the account.
Learn “risk per trade” in an animated lesson
- Forex: Pending Orders & RiskSizing Your Position from the Stop
First decide the most you'll lose on this trade, then work back to the lot size from the stop distance. That's the heart of risk control.
- Risk Management & Trading PsychologyLosing Streaks and the Risk of Ruin
The same profitable strategy can produce wildly different equity curves with different luck. Use a Monte Carlo simulation to run hundreds of possible futures and see how bad it can get.
- Risk Management & Trading PsychologyMultiple Positions: Adding Up Total Risk
Risk 1% per trade and hold 8 at once, and that's 8%. If those positions are highly correlated, they'll hit their stops together: diversified on the surface, one big position underneath.
- Risk Management & Trading PsychologyPosition Sizing: Risk Only 1% per Trade
How much you buy isn't about how much is in your account; it's about where your stop is. Decide the most you'll lose first, then work back to the position size.
- Indicators in Practice & BacktestingPosition Sizing and ATR Stops
Even the best signals lose sometimes. Deciding how much to lose per trade matters more than finding the perfect signal.
Related terms
See how “risk per trade” works for yourself with an animation you can drag and play.
Go to “Sizing Your Position from the Stop”