advanced · TRADING LEARNING GUIDE
Chapter 26 — Position Sizing, Fees & Slippage
Hypothetical price distances before fees and slippage.
What is this concept?
Size from a fixed risk budget, stop distance, contract multiplier and estimated costs. Round down to permitted size and distinguish margin from potential loss.
Daily learning workflow
1. Identify the instrument, venue and observation interval. 2. Read the chapter definition and reproduce its worked calculation. 3. Watch the supporting workshop and compare its platform conventions with your data. 4. Recalculate size after doubling estimated slippage. 5. Record what happened, what you inferred and what would invalidate your interpretation.
Evidence and interpretation
Keep three separate notes: observed transactions or book changes; your explanation of those observations; and a paper rule with a defined failure condition. Compare at least one counterexample. Do not turn an illustration into a live claim.
Worked example
Hypothetical worked example: Budget 100, distance 2 and multiplier 10 give at most 5 contracts before adding costs.
Common mistakes and limits
Do not treat this observation as a guaranteed signal. Check the venue, data classification, session boundaries and costs. A candle or aggregated order book does not reveal the identity or total holdings of traders.
Practice
Recalculate size after doubling estimated slippage. Use recorded or paper data. Log the observation before revealing the outcome.
Resources and further reading
These sources explain definitions and underlying mechanics. Worked examples are original illustrations; a source does not establish the profitability of a custom pattern.
Public creator-hosted education. Embedding does not mean open-source licensing or endorsement.
Primary reference for footprint display and bid/ask volume conventions. Platform-specific settings must be checked.