4 Key Risk Management Principles For Forex Traders

By James Kupe


Risk is one of the things forex traders must always be willing to deal with. Of course it's impossible to eliminate risk from trading completely - it's inherent in the business. But we can implement appropriate risk control strategies that let us manage the occasional loss and live to trade another day.

Because risk management is such a big part of forex trading, many training courses focus on this topic more heavily than anything else. And because business of trading revolves around us minimizing losses and maximizing profits, let look at four risk management principles you can use to stay safe in the forex market.

Principle 1 - Take Profits At Predetermined Targets

It's very important that you train yourself using a disciplined methodology if you want to succeed as a forex trader. In other words, create a game plan and stick to it no matter what happens. For some reason, some traders tend to get carried away when confronted with unexpected moves in market trends, especially when those moves are against them.

Knowing when to get in and when to get out of the market should be a part of your trading plan. If you find changing your game plan during a trade is easy for you, always use limit orders, because they will save you a lot of heartache by automatically taking you out of trades when you have reached your target price.

Principle 2 - Limit Losses

All traders are going to have losses - it's a part of the business. But the best thing you can do is to work hard at minimizing them. Becoming a successful forex trading means letting your profits run while minimizing your losses. You should always have a preplanned course of action regardless of what the market throws at you.

Principle 3 - Be Careful Placing Orders

Stop and limit orders are great because they give you a total for your exposure at any give time. That means it's critical that you are able to place accurate stop and limit orders every time you trade. Placing accurate orders is important because it can make a huge difference to your profits long term.

Principle 4 - Always Analyze The Market

It's really important to remember that continued market analysis is a major factor in determining whether you'll be a successful trader or not. In the forex market, everything happens for a reason, even if we can't see what that reason at the time. Because of this, you need to be sure you are always on top of the market's price action. That's where the big money is going to be made as a trader.




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