refore, your total starting stake should be at least $9,000 - $10,000.

We've focused a lot on losses, because they are critical to success. Although futures trading is risky, and nobody can be 100% certain of the outcome, the beautiful thing about it is that you can be wrong more than right and still be quite succes

I love futures trading... because executed right, you can't lose!

All right, maybe that's a huge exaggeration. It is possible to lose money. But, I truly believe from my own experience that anyone will not lose money in the markets as long as they follow 2 simple guidelines:

1 - Don't trade under-capitalized
2 - Know where you're bailing out - and use a stoploss order

First off, you've got to have enough trading capital to even consider trading. While you don't have to have a boatload of money to trade successfully, you should have enough to stay in the game. I always suggest to aspiring traders to have at least enough to cover 10 times the average amount you expect to be risking on any given trade.

So if you normally risk $500 per trade, then you should have a minimum of $5,000 of capital on hand. If on average you expect to risk closer to $1,000 per trade, then you having $10,000 in trading capital is recommended.

Here's another method of calculation - your total potential loss on three straight losing trades should be equal to no more than one-third of your total trading capital. For example: If you're going to risk an average of $1,000 per trade, then three straight losing trades would amount to a loss of approximately $3,000... therefore, your total starting stake should be at least $9,000 - $10,000.

We've focused a lot on losses, because they are critical to success. Although futures trading is risky, and nobody can be 100% certain of the outcome, the beautiful thing about it is that you can be wrong more than right and still be quite success

r> 2 - Know where you're bailing out - and use a stoploss order

First off, you've got to have enough trading capital to even consider trading. While you don't have to have a boatload of money to trade successfully, you should have enough to stay in the game. I always suggest to aspiring traders to have at least enough to cover 10 times the average amount you expect to be risking on any given trade.

So if you normally risk $500 per trade, then you should have a minimum of $5,000 of capital on hand. If on average you expect to risk closer to $1,000 per trade, then you having $10,000 in trading capital is recommended.

Here's another method of calculation - your total potential loss on three straight losing trades should be equal to no more than one-third of your total trading capital. For example: If you're going to risk an average of $1,000 per trade, then three straight losing trades would amount to a loss of approximately $3,000... therefore, your total starting stake should be at least $9,000 - $10,000.

We've focused a lot on losses, because they are critical to success. Although futures trading is risky, and nobody can be 100% certain of the outcome, the beautiful thing about it is that you can be wrong more than right and still be quite succes

ough to cover 10 times the average amount you expect to be risking on any given trade.

So if you normally risk $500 per trade, then you should have a minimum of $5,000 of capital on hand. If on average you expect to risk closer to $1,000 per trade, then you having $10,000 in trading capital is recommended.

Here's another method of calculation - your total potential loss on three straight losing trades should be equal to no more than one-third of your total trading capital. For example: If you're going to risk an average of $1,000 per trade, then three straight losing trades would amount to a loss of approximately $3,000... therefore, your total starting stake should be at least $9,000 - $10,000.

We've focused a lot on losses, because they are critical to success. Although futures trading is risky, and nobody can be 100% certain of the outcome, the beautiful thing about it is that you can be wrong more than right and still be quite succes

e's another method of calculation - your total potential loss on three straight losing trades should be equal to no more than one-third of your total trading capital. For example: If you're going to risk an average of $1,000 per trade, then three straight losing trades would amount to a loss of approximately $3,000... therefore, your total starting stake should be at least $9,000 - $10,000.

We've focused a lot on losses, because they are critical to success. Although futures trading is risky, and nobody can be 100% certain of the outcome, the beautiful thing about it is that you can be wrong more than right and still be quite succes

refore, your total starting stake should be at least $9,000 - $10,000.

We've focused a lot on losses, because they are critical to success. Although futures trading is risky, and nobody can be 100% certain of the outcome, the beautiful thing about it is that you can be wrong more than right and still be quite successful, as long as you can manage your risk.

It's happened all too often, that's why I have a simple rule... Never cancel a stoploss order. It's as simple as that. I've seen it over and over... Whenever the market is close to stopping anyone out, they can come up with hundreds of "reasons" to cancel or move their stop. That would be fine except these are never good reasons - they just appear to be at the time. Expect and take your losses... the best time is when they're cheap. This isn't about being right or wrong, it's about profitable trading.

And those are the key foundations of successful trading. I know they're not as sexy as getting fancy entry and exit formulas, but I'd be doing you a huge disservice if I neglected them.