Examining Draw Downs When Selecting A Forex Signal Provider

So, you are in the market for a third party signal provider. The maximum draw down of the trader is your first step in the selection process. To defin...


So, you are in the market for a third party signal provider. The maximum draw down of the trader is your first step in the selection process. To define the maximum draw down – this is the gap between the ultimate amount of loss between the absolute top and the absolute bottom. Included in this number is also the open positions, but not included is the account margin necessary to keep you away from a margin call. How much is too much of a draw down you may well ask. Of course, like many answers to many questions, it is – That depends. Many, many issues need to be examined when coming up with an answer to this very important question. It goes without saying that a person with an account in the high thousands of dollars can stand more of a draw down than a person with a much smaller account. So, that being said, what are some other things to consider?

You have the draw down number. How was that number derived? If the draw down number seems intolerable to you but other factors make the trader a good bet, examine the number of positions the trader opens at a single time. Say he opens 5 trades on whatever pair at one time, right away you can cut their recorded draw down by 5. If a trader’s number of open trades is limited, that alone severely reduces the entire draw down figure.

Sometimes you will find a trader who has a great track record aside from one major meltdown where a single trade ran out of control for days unchecked. This will produce an abnormal draw down in relation to the trader’s real ability. He may be the kind of guy who can’t recognize when a trade has no chance of coming back to even. He may also be a guy who lost his internet connection at an inopportune time once or twice. Either way you can keep this trader from doing this to your account by setting your own stops for him. Just make sure that you only stop out his trades that are well out of a realistic trading range.

At this point, we are going to visit again our original question. Now that you have accomplished all you can to limit draw down, I will caution you by saying any amount over 35% of your total account equity is way overdoing it. If you let yourself become in a situation where a 50% plus loss is incurred, coming back from it would involve some extremely risky behavior. A 50% loss demands a 100% gain just to get back on the level.

Historical information on the trader is another important consideration to take into account. A lengthy history being available can illustrate to you just how the trader handles rough seas in the trading arena. You want to know this because there will be rough seas in your trading future and you want a steady captain at the helm.

You must constantly monitor your traders on all of your accounts, whether live or demo. Should any draw down run rampant, you will need to reevaluate and possibly delete the trader from your active portfolio.

To learn more about 3rd party signal providers visit Automated Forex Trading Systems.

categories: forex,automated trading,trading,investing,investment,foreign exchange,foriegn exchange,currency trading,investing,finance,business

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