So you're trading futures online? Are you minimizing your risks?
Trading futures online is risky business. The last thing you need is to raise those risk levels by not being prepared. Here's what to do to protect your own future.
Developing a written plan is essential to succeeding at trading Futures online. Your plan sets your risk and reward boundaries, creates a schedule for your research and analysis, and establishes your money management strategies. Consider this plan a binding contract. You are contractually obligated to use it no matter what happens. That will immediately separate you from 95% of futures traders who lose because they don’t have or use one. The commitment to use your plan no matter what happens demands discipline.
Begin analyzing and carefully evaluating every aspect of your recent trading patterns. We all repeat our mistakes, so focus on trade losses. From that review begin setting rules for trading futures online…in the future. For example, Stop (loss) and Limit (profit) orders should be placed within 1 minute of filling any order. Stop changes are never changed. Changes to limit orders may only occur under certain circumstances. Specifically identify them.
Begin establishing financial risk levels
Identify the length of time you will hold your trades. A week? A month? A year? Write down how much money you’ll put into your online account for trading futures. Now set the risk percentage. How much of your equity capital are you willing to risk? 1% to 3% is a good level. Establish the maximum margin level you will use. What percentage of your equity will be used for margins? 20% - 25% is a good level. It leaves 75% to 80% of your account equity for margin calls and gives you a comfortable cushion. Set a liquidation level. For example, if your account equity falls below 25% of your original deposit, liquidate all open positions and stop trading or set a dollar amount. Either way, remember to begin liquidating before you’ve reached your limit. There’s no guarantee that you will be able to close your positions immediately.
Next, establish a profit objective. These objectives should include weekly, monthly, and annual profits. By putting a percentage of each winning trade outside of your market account, you establish an emergency 'bucket' to pull money from should your market account fall into fatal ranges through a bad trade(s), margin calls, etc. This is a preferred alternative to taking out a loan. Decide what percentage of a winning trade will you withdraw. For example, on a 100% profit trade, 50% will be withdrawn and not used to trade.
Your plan also needs to include time for research and analysis. Set appointments on your calendar if needed to study the futures market, evaluate your open positions, examine your statement, analyze trades, or conduct your research and charting. If you don’t have the time, perhaps a managed account or commodity pool would be a better choice for you.
The key to having your plan help you with trading futures online is to use it from the moment you enter a futures trade. Set price decision points and the action you’ll follow at each.
Your futures trading plan is worthless if you abandon it when the market goes against you. Frankly, that’s when you need it most. Losing money creates fear and fear scrambles one’s thinking. Your plan is written without emotion and with clear levelheaded thinking, so don’t go against it.
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