I often see them together with the same trader. Simply put, large swings in a trading account can be a sign that the trader is not sizing their positions according to their account size.  This is very common among newer traders, and sometimes with traders trying to climb out of a big drawdown, or a blown-out or nearly blown-out account. Of course, large swings in account equity are not just a matter of position sizing, there are other reasons including ignoring risk parameters such as stops.

 

Whenever I hear about a trader who just made a large percentage gain on one trade or in one day or a short period of time, I cringe, because I know what’s probably going to happen soon for this trader. It reminds me of my early days, and the merry-go-round, or maybe a ferris wheel is more like it.  And when we’re trading a highly leveraged instrument like futures, it can be deadly very quickly.

 

Entire books have been written about money management and position sizing, but it usually boils down to two things: 1) a matter of how many losing trades and much money can you lose and still be in business; and 2) how much risk can you tolerate on a psychological level. Many formulas exist for the first one, but the second one is all in our own head.