Risk management for automated strategies
An EA executes your rules perfectly and without hesitation — which means bad risk rules get executed just as faithfully as good ones. These are the basics worth getting right before you automate anything.
Risk a fixed % per trade, not a fixed lot size
A fixed lot size means your risk grows and shrinks with stop-loss distance unpredictably. Risking a consistent % of account balance keeps every trade's downside comparable.
Position size calculator →Every trade needs a stop-loss, no exceptions
A strategy without a hard stop isn't risk-managed — it's a strategy hoping the market cooperates. StratoBot flags a strategy with no exit blocks, but it won't invent a stop-loss for you — describing one explicitly is on you.
Know your maximum acceptable drawdown before you start
Decide the drawdown level that would make you stop trading a strategy — before you're actually in it and reasoning emotionally.
Drawdown calculator →Check your risk of ruin, not just your average return
A strategy can have a positive average return and still carry a meaningful chance of blowing the account, depending on risk per trade and win rate.
Risk of ruin calculator →Account for trading costs before trusting an edge
Spread, commission, and swap are real costs that reduce expectancy — especially for higher-frequency strategies.
Trading cost calculator →All calculators · How to evaluate performance
Build risk rules into your EA from the start
Describe your stop-loss and position sizing rules along with your entry logic.
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