Trading is often thought of as a game of odds and probabilities. But even with an 80% profitable setup, for every trade those odds reset. 20 trades out of 100 are not going to work for you.

That's Russian roulette with a 5-shot pistol. At 60% profitable odds, you just put two bullets in that gun.


The best way to improve your odds is to guarantee yourself as many chances as you can get. Go for the long haul, not the quick money. You MUST protect your trading capital.


A few ways you can do that;

1) Do not trade with real money unless you have proven you can be consistently profitable in simulation. If you don't know your odds, you can almost guarantee they are against you. Know your trade inside and out before you put real dollars on the line.

2) Never double up to make up for losses. Or triple up. Or any version of additional leverage. It will take your trading capital. Quickly. The correct way to make up losses by letting winners run, only taking the best setups, and studying to be a better trader.

3) Never trade anywhere even close to your broker's allowed margin, especially for extreme leverage instruments. If you can't be sufficiently profitable with conservative leverage, higher leverage is not the right answer. Leverage will eat your account.

4) Do not move your stop. It is there to protect you. If you are not comfortable with having your stops hit, you are not ready to trade. See item #1.



If you trade full time, you are going to have a lot of losing trades. Make sure you keep those losses small and you'll greatly improve your chances of success.



Good trading, stay safe.

I do occasionally read my own posts. This guy keeps me in line...