Risk management
Weekend gaps and how to protect against them
A stop loss does not protect you across a gap. A planned 30-pip risk can become 110 pips at the…
Risk management
31 articles in this section.
Risk management
Running several positions without running out of margin
Long EUR/USD, GBP/USD and AUD/USD is not three 1% risks — it is one 3% short-dollar risk. How to measure…
Fundamentals
What a prop firm is, and how it differs from a live account
The daily loss limit is measured on equity at any moment, open trades included. That is the hardest rule and…
Fundamentals
A forex learning path that costs least in tuition to the market
Most curricula begin with indicators and candlestick patterns. That is why so many people blow up before reaching them. There…
Trading costs
Seven ways to cut your forex trading costs
Pick the right account type, trade the liquid hours, stop holding overnight without reason, collect a rebate — seven measures…
Fundamentals
How much capital you need to start: work back from cost, not from the minimum deposit
Brokers accept $1-5. That is what the broker will take, not what is enough to trade with. The real figure…
Risk management
A withdrawal that will not go through: six causes, in the order to check them
A stuck withdrawal does not automatically mean fraud - most cases are incomplete verification or withdrawing through the wrong channel.…
Fundamentals
Forex for beginners: the complete guide, in the order worth learning it
Start with cost and position size rather than indicators. Most accounts are not lost by guessing direction wrong but by…
Market analysis
GBP/USD: more volatile than you expect
Its daily range runs 30-50% above EUR/USD, so using the same stop distance is a recipe for being swept out.…
Risk management
Risk management in forex: the complete guide, from rules to psychology
70-80% of retail accounts lose money, according to the figures European brokers are required to publish - and mostly not…
Regulation & markets
Scalping, hedging and EAs: which brokers allow them
Every broker that publishes the data allows all three. The item that separates them is the one almost nobody asks…
Risk management
Hedging in forex: when it helps and when it costs
In most cases, hedging a retail account is a stop loss with a fee attached: the same financial result, plus…
Risk management
What drawdown is, and what level is acceptable
A 30% drawdown needs a 42.9% gain to recover; 50% needs 100%. Why this figure matters more than profit when…
Fundamentals
Calculating lots, pips and margin
Three calculations that set your real risk. The same $50 risk gives 0.2 lots of EUR/USD but 0.06 lots of…
Market analysis
Trading silver (XAG/USD) and its volatility risk
One lot of silver is usually 5,000 ounces, so a $0.01 move is $50 to the account. This is the…
Risk management
Copy trading: the advantages and what they cost
You keep control of the account, but you inherit the lead trader's risk as well. Six selection criteria — and…
Risk management
Why traders hold losers and cut winners short
A loss hurts about twice as much as an equivalent gain feels good. Six measures that work, and a simple…
Fundamentals
Sizing a position from the risk you accept
Risk decides size, not the other way round. The same $50 of risk gives 0.2 lots of EUR/USD but only…
Risk management
If my account goes negative, do I owe the broker?
When price gaps past the stop-out level — a weekend gap, an unscheduled headline — the account can fall below…
Fundamentals
Do brokers hunt your stop loss?
Your broker can see your stop loss — that is true of every broker. Whether it has a reason to…
Fundamentals
Balance, Equity and Free Margin: what each one means
Balance stands still for as long as you hold a position, so an account deep in loss still shows the…
Fundamentals
Bid and Ask: the price you actually trade at
You buy at the Ask and are marked to the Bid, so a new position is down by the spread…
Risk management
What traders actually earn: read the published figures, not the screenshots
This question is usually answered with a screenshot of a profit. There is a far more reliable source: the loss-rate…
Risk management
Risk-reward ratio, and why win rate alone tells you nothing
At 1:3 you break even winning 25% of the time; at 3:1 you need 75%. Why a 70% win rate…
Risk management
How to place a stop loss properly
The stop belongs to the chart, not to your wallet. Four sound methods, and why a short position's stop fills…
Fundamentals
Which broker has the lowest minimum deposit - and why it barely matters
HFM from $0, XM from $5, Exness from $10, Vantage from $50. But the deposit threshold does not reduce risk…
Market analysis
Trading gold (XAU/USD): the complete guide
One lot of gold is 100 ounces, so a $1 move in price is $100 to the account. The sizing…
Risk management
Money management: the 1% rule and how to apply it
A 50% loss needs a 100% gain to get back. The 1% rule, three limits to set at once, and…
Risk management
Margin call and stop out: the two levels that decide whether the account survives
Margin level is equity divided by used margin. Margin call usually sits at 100% and stop out at 50% —…
Risk management
Slippage and requotes: why the fill differs from the price you saw
Slippage runs in both directions and is normal. It is most dangerous on a stop loss — a position's real…
Risk management
Spread widening around news: when one lot of gold costs eight times as much
Gold spreads run from 6 cents in London to over 50 cents around a data release. Entering at the wrong…