Ok, this may be a sensitive topic, but…
What average lot size do you trade? And on what type of instrument? (FX, CFDs, Futures etc).
I’ve done some googling to see what lot sizes professional / full-time traders are using but can’t find anything to answer that question. I know for a fact that hedge funds/banks are using 400+ lot sizes at times.
:37:
Your trade size should reflect the size of your account. One of the drawbacks of demo trading is that because its not real and the demo account size is more than most newbies can afford when they go live, its easy to get into a bad habit of trading full lots or more.
I’m pretty sure banks/commercial trade ‘yards’, which is 1 billion units, or in most instances 10,000 Lots as you are referring to.
Regardless of this being true, it’s a different ballgame with retail traders. I’d be very surprised to see a retail trader push 100 lots with out a very significant account balance behind them of several million (USD). However, it does happen, and there is definitely some high rollers out there.
I trade fewer than 400 standard lots at a time.
What does [I][B]my[/B][/I] typical trade size have to do with the way [I][B]you[/B][/I] structure your trading?
[I][B]Maybe you should concentrate on what makes sense for you,
based on your available trading capital, your trading objectives, and your trading expertise –
– and worry less about how you compare to anyone else.[/B][/I]
.
Geez that’s insane!
I’m not asking this question to alter my own lot sizing. I’ve already sorted this out for my account/trading. I have 3 different lot sizes depending on how long I’m planning on holding the position. For longer-term I use less than 0.10 lots (YES – I’m still a ‘newbie’). But holding longer-term requires me to have a wider stop so I’m not willing to lose anymore than what I will with <0.10 lots !
I was trading 0.5 lots once but found, given the size of my account, any drawdown of more than 7 losses in a row took a huge hit on my account. I’ve dropped all my lot sizes right back and seen improved results ever since.
Will continue to grow my account. For every 25% increase in my account I slightly increase position sizes.
Carlos has right about the lots that every trader used to use in the demo account. You have to know a good money management and have planned a strategy before you enter into a live account. Every lot that you trade you need to know how much your account affords.