In our experience, the most successful forex traders are not simply the ones who take the best positions. They are the ones that are
smartest about risk management and disciplined in their strategy. They are never emotional about gains or losses. They set their profit
target and loss limits for their positions, and use Limit Orders and Stop/Loss Orders to lock them in.
Limit Orders
A limit order instructs the system to automatically exit a position when your target profit has been achieved. This enables you to "lock in"
your desired profit on a winning position.
Stop/Loss Orders
A stop/loss order instructs the system to automatically exit a position when your maximum loss limit has been hit. This enables you to cap
your losses on a losing position.
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FX Trading Discipline
Professional FOREX Traders use Limit Orders and Stop/Loss
Orders as the cornerstone of a disciplined trading strategy. By setting both on all their positions, they have removed emotion from the
equation and are letting the market work for them.
Amateurs, on the other hand, dont use Limit Orders and Stop/Loss Orders. They stay glued to their screens, trying to juggle all their
positions in real time. They miss critical action points, and they let emotion rule their decisions.
Setting Limit and Stop/Loss Orders
As a general rule of thumb, you your Stop/Loss Orders should be set closer to the opening position price than your Limit Orders. If you do
this, then you can be successful while being right less than 50% of the time.
For example, if you use a 100 pip Limit Order with a 30 pip Stop/Loss Order on all your positions, then you only to be right 1/3 of the
time to make a profit.
Where you place your Limit and Stop/Loss Orders will depend on your risk tolerance. However, you need to be smart when setting them. If a
Stop/Loss Order is too close to the opening position price, it can be triggered by normal market volatility. This means that a temporary dip
can knock out a position before it has a chance to retrace. Similarly, if a Limit Order is set too far from the opening price, potential
profit may never be realized.