How much to risk per forex trade
Most accounts do not blow up because of one bad idea. They blow up because position size turned a normal loss into an existential one.
A common professional range is 0.25% to 1% of account equity per trade. At 1%, ten consecutive full stops cost roughly 10% before compounding.
A simple formula
Risk dollars = account equity × risk percent. Lot size ≈ risk dollars ÷ (stop distance in pips × pip value).
- Pick a risk percent you can repeat on a bad week.
- Measure stop distance from the posted level.
- Reduce size when correlation stacks.