How often do you use max or near max leverage for that gung-ho trade when you feel that the odds are really in your favor?
How often do I use leverage? Every minute of every trading day. How often do I use maximum leverage on one position? Never. Not even remotely close.
I use some margin quite regularly for day trades that are closed by end of day, but would I ever use it to load up on a "single gung-ho trade' ?? absolutely not ever. This is not Las Vegas. The most I would ever risk on a single trade is 4-5%, and even then 99% of trades I risk 2% max. At least in Vegas you can get free drinks while you watch your money go down the shitter. Why would you ever put yourself in a position where 1 trade could put you out of business? There will always be more opportunities. By never putting more than 2% of capital at risk on a single trade you could sustain a string of say 10 losses in a row and still be in the game. My Port is up 2.7% today and the overall market was not real strong and I never risked more than 2% on any one trade. cheers!
This is a bit of deja-vu topic isn't it? There was a thread on this subject a few days back. And yes I think you need to step on the gas when you perceive better odds - nothing close to risking it all, but at least a couple times more than the usuall. I vary my trades from as little as 1 lot to 100 lots depending on how well I'm trading and how much opportunity there is.
I've noticed in the journals forum that a lot of you prop guys trade with a million buying power. How much of that is actually at risk throughout the day?