Understanding volume / lot

Going to be contrarian here. Personally I think get the most leverage you can from your broker.
Why ? So you don’t have to worry about a margin call (ie forced position closure). The more leverage- the more breathing room you have in your account - why restrict it - I see no benefit.

To use the business analogy above - Leverage is not a loan that you take out that has the risk of monthly re-payments, - it is like an overdraft facility, available IF you need it.

Your RISK is controlled by the position size and stop loss position - I work on two platforms (OANDA and cTrader) and both of them calculate your risk for you based on SL and position size so you can adjust as required.
I think a lot of the leverage advice comes from when you were unable to be flexible in exactly how much volume you traded, now you can and should always define your risk to the penny.
Of course if you trade without a plan and controlled risk then you will blow your account irrespective of leverage!

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@Wightpips

Yes, why not get the most leverage you can. I agree up to a point.

Its like, why not get a Lambo that can go 300 mph. But just because it can, it does not mean you should drive it that fast or drive that fast all the time. You will eventually have an accident.

At the end of the day, you are the driver, the car does not drive you.

Exactly - but it’s like a Lambo that has the same costs to buy and run as a Prius. All the benefits none of the downside - EXCEPT if you drive without brakes you get to have a bigger faster crash!

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