Thoughts on using volatility-adjusted position sizing for less liquid stocks?
I've been trying to get more disciplined with my risk management, specifically position sizing. For highly liquid, large-cap stuff, I can pretty easily calculate a reasonable stop loss based on a daily range or ATR, and size my position accordingly to keep risk per trade consistent. But for some of the smaller, less liquid stocks I look at, the daily ranges can be wild, and a small move against you just eats up too much capital if you're using a standard %-of-account risk.
I'm toying with the idea of adjusting my risk percentage lower for these less liquid plays, or perhaps using a wider absolute stop and just significantly reducing the share count. Is there a better approach that more experienced traders here use? I'm trying to avoid just winging it, but the standard methods feel a bit off here.
That's a really good point. For those less liquid stocks, the ATR can be so wide that a standard position size based on it could mean taking a tiny number of shares, or it just doesn't feel right for the actual price action. Do you find you're adjusting your stop placement strategy too, or just the sizing?