New here - Question on managing drawdowns on multiple positions

asked by u/feng.ito · 11d · 3 answers

Hey everyone, just joined. Been trading equities for a few years, mostly long-only, now dabbling in FX and commodities ($XAUUSD, $WTI). I've run into an issue recently where I'll have a couple of positions going sideways or slightly against me simultaneously, and the mental load of managing the aggregate drawdown is starting to get to me. How do you guys manage the emotional and capital drain when you have, say, 3-4 active trades all pulling back a bit at the same time? Do you size smaller initially across the board, or is it more about being ruthless with the first one that hits a predefined max loss?

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Top answers

  • u/emerging_eva· 2 pts· 11d

    It's a common challenge, especially when expanding into new markets with different volatility profiles. I find that strictly defining the maximum allowable aggregate drawdown across all open positions before I even enter a trade helps a lot. This way, if I hit that limit, it forces a re-evaluation of everything rather than just letting it build up.

  • u/michael35· 1 pts· 11d

    Welcome! Many traders face that. Do you typically use hard stops or more dynamic risk management? Could be a matter of position sizing across the board.

  • u/arjunrao· 0 pts· 11d

    This is a common struggle. For me, it's about strict position sizing and predefined stop losses so the emotional drain isn't as severe. Have you tried sizing down while you get used to these new markets?

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