Money Management

By Lawrence G. McMillan

This article was originally published in The Option Strategist Newsletter Volume 17, No. 15 on August 15, 2008. 

Trading or investing involves several facets of operation: trade analysis, money management (including trade execution and position size), and follow-up action (including exiting the trade). Most successful and experienced traders agree that trade analysis is the least important – contrary to what a novice would expect. In fact, I have seen a successful system trader state that he could turn any reasonable system into a profit through proper money management (i.e., through proper position sizing and follow-up action).

If one is too conservative, he can ruin a successful system (by stopping himself out at the tiniest hint of a loss, for example). On the other hand, if one is too aggressive – say, leveraging position size up too aggressively when profits exist, he will also fail because one small downturn will eventually be a disastrous loss.

By Lawrence G. McMillan

This article was originally published in The Option Strategist Newsletter Volume 5, No. 3 on February 9, 1996. 

While speaking at two locations last week — Futures Magazine's "Futures South" and Option Vue's Seminar — it became apparent that traders and investors want guidance on money management. Not only do they want trade recommendations, but they want some guidance in the realm of how much to invest in a position, and how to properly place stops.