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Re: [EquisMetaStock Group] Re: Why 1~3% risks for investment ?



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Like Ed says below,,,, money management is pretty complicated for this  
forum...
 
Ed took the time to spell out reality....  
 
You can simulate what he said below very easily in an Excel spreadsheet  
taking the winners and losers, and ave %win and ave %loss and set up a random  
number generator with the trading results.  That way the order of winners  and 
losers is truly random.    I've done this and it is an eye  opener.  The 
drawdowns will astound you....
 
Another way is to run a trading system test on a security using increasing  
amounts of leverage.  Plot the results, it will be  an eye opener  also....  
After getting this plot the peak in the equity curve vs. % of  capital is the 
Optimal F point.   You will notice that it is very  steep on both sides, meaning 
if you aren't exactly right for position sizing,  you can lose big....
 
Complicated, but non-the-less reality..... worth exploring....
 
Kevin Campbell
 
 
In a message dated 2/28/2006 10:59:27 AM Central Standard Time,  
reefbreak_sd@xxxxxxxxx writes:

First,  the subject of position sizing and risk management is
complicated.   I'm not sure that it is possible to adequately cover the
topic in this type  of forum. The following should get things started.

I will use an  example:
Say you have a portfolio of $100,000.
Say you have a trading  system that produces 60% wins 40% losses
Say the average profit is double  the size of the average loss
Say you want to have a maximum drawdown of 20%  each year

Question:
Every time you get a buy signal, how much of the  100K do you invest?
If the trade goes your way, when do you sell? (Your  expectancy)
If the trade goes against you, when do you sell? (your  risk)

Academic studies have shown that portfolio returns can be  greatly
enhanced by correctly answering the above questions.  Some say  that
the MAJORITY of the returns you get come from correct position  sizing
and risk management.

One of the reasons that this is so  important is the assymmetry between
gains and losses.  If you lose 10%  of your portfolio value from a
string of losses, you have to gain 11% to  break even.  If you lose
50%, you need to DOUBLE your money (100%) to  get back to break even.

The following comes from Tharps book (cited in  an earlier post)
Definition: RISK is max allowed loss on each  position.  1% risk is max
loss of $1000 per trade.

A 1% risk  yields 7.2% annual return and 13.2% drawdown.  So if you
used a  POSITION SIZE of $5000, you could lose 20% ($1000) on each
trade and attain  a profit of $2000 (gain is double loss).  Also with a
$5000 position  size you could put on 20 positions.

You may say a 7.2% return is not  that good.  In Tharps table the
maximum return was 93.5% per year when  you set your position size at
25% but your maximum drawdown would be 83% !  !  So during the year on
your way to nearly doubling your money your  account balance could
dwindle to from $100,000 down to $17,000.  I  would say that virtually
no one would trade through a DD like that.   

So there is some balance point between trade system  selection,
position size, risk control, drawdown etc etc where you can  trade to
get maximum profit with minimum drawdown and minimum sleepless  nights.

Such is the importance of POSITION SIZING and RISK  management.

Ed Hoopes









--- In  equismetastock@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, "Lionel Issen" <lissen@xxx>  wrote:
>
> Using higher risk levels, couldn't these drawdowns be  limited using
stops?
> 
>  
> 
>  Lionel
> 
>  
> 
>   _____   
> 
> From:  equismetastock@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:equismetastock@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]
>  On Behalf Of Ed Hoopes
> Sent: Monday, February 27, 2006 11:29  PM
> To: equismetastock@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Subject: [EquisMetaStock  Group] Re: Why 1~3% risks for investment ?
> 
>  
>  
> For those interested, Van K. Tharp writes in "Trade Your Way  to
> Financial Freedom" an excellent explaination of position sizing  and
> risk management.  Specifically you should refer to Table 12-4  in
> Chapter 12.  A moving average crossover system is discussed  where risk
> is varied from 0.1% to 35% of the total portfolio  value.
> 
> At 2.5% risk level, the maximum drawdown is  29%
> At 5% risk, the max DD increases to 46%
> At 35% risk, max  DD goes to 104% - ie your portfolio value goes to zero.
> 
> Put  in simple terms, in a typical trading system, if you risk 1/3 of
> your  portfolio on each trade, in a relatively short time you can
> expect to  trade the account to zero.  What actually happens is that
> after  several consecutive large losses the individual simply stops
>  trading  -  hopefully above zero equity.
> 
> Even at  the 2.5% risk level, few traders would be willing to keep
> trading a  system where they would lose nearly 1/3 of their equity. 
> THAT is why  you see the 1-3% number come up.
> 
> As an individual investor, I  use a risk of about 0.8% - that produces
> drawdowns around 10% - a  number I can live with.
> 
> Ed Hoopes
> 
> 
>  
> 
> 
> --- In equismetastock@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, "Jose Silva"  <josesilva22@>
> wrote:
> >
> > > Many people  use 1~3% risks for their investment, but does anyone
> > > know  why?
> > 
> > No one knows what lurks in the minds of  traders, otherwise we could 
> > preempt the public and become quite  wealthy practically overnight.  ;)
> > 
> > I suspect  that the main reasons for a fixed (1%~3%) trade capital 
> >  allocation are based on a misunderstanding of risk, or an
inability to  
> > measure and act on risk properly.
> > 
> > The  main reason for capital allocation (money management), is to 
> >  control risk to some extent.
> > 
> > Allocation of capital  (i.e., exposure to risk), should be done on an 
> > individual  security basis.  That is, look at individual trade history 
> >  for each security, and allocate x% of capital to it according to 
> >  historical risk.
> > 
> > For example, a risky/volatile  stock may require caution and a smaller 
> > capital outlay, whereas  a more stable/trending security with less 
> > historical risk, can  cope with a larger trade size.
> > 
> > In other words,  don't allocate capital % on hearsay or fixed 
> > percentages.   Be smarter, and allocate capital according to
individual 
> > risk  exposure.
> > 
> > More on this in the current issue of  MSTT.
> > http://www.metastocktips.co.nz
> > 
> >  
> > jose '-)
> > http://www.metastocktools.com
> >  
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > --- In  equismetastock@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, chichungchoi <no_reply@> 
> >  wrote:
> > >
> > > Many people use 1~3% risks for  their investment, but does anyone
> > > know why? Does it have any  approach to determine the risk level
> > > based on the  performance of any strategy?
> > > Thank you in advance
>  > > Eric
> >
> 
> 
> 
> 
>  
> 
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