¿Qué es un lote en trading?

Es la unidad de medida con la que se ejecutan las operaciones. En forex, un lote estándar equivale a 100.000 unidades de la divisa base; un minilote, a 10.000, y un microlote, a 1.000. En oro, un lote suele representar 100 onzas, y en índices el tamaño depende de la especificación de cada bróker. El lote determina cuánto vale cada pip o cada punto, y por eso es la pieza que convierte tu riesgo en dinero en un tamaño concreto de posición.

¿Qué es spread en trading?

Es la diferencia entre el precio de compra (ask) y el de venta (bid). Se paga de forma implícita al abrir cualquier operación: entras perdiendo el valor del spread o, dicho de otro modo, compras un poco más caro de lo que podrías vender en ese instante. En pares líquidos suele ser muy ajustado y se amplía en horarios de baja liquidez o alrededor de noticias. Cualquier estrategia debe cubrirlo antes de hablar de ventaja: un sistema con muchos trades y objetivo corto puede tener una esperanza positiva en teoría y negativa después de costes.

¿Qué es sintéticos en trading?

Son instrumentos creados por el bróker que replican un comportamiento de mercado con un nivel de volatilidad definido (por ejemplo, Vol 10, 25, 75 o 100). No cotizan un activo real: el precio lo genera el propio bróker, suelen estar disponibles más horas que el forex tradicional y no dependen de una sesión concreta. El riesgo se calcula igual que en cualquier otro mercado —riesgo por operación, stop loss y tamaño— usando el valor del punto que publique el bróker para ese activo.

¿Cómo aprender trading forex?

Con orden y con muestra. Empieza en cuenta demo con una sola estrategia escrita, define el riesgo por operación antes de buscar entradas y registra cada trade en R. Solo cuando tengas 50–100 operaciones registradas podrás evaluar si hay algo ahí. La formación útil enseña gestión de riesgo, contexto de mercado y psicología; desconfía de cualquier curso, grupo o herramienta que prometa resultados concretos, porque nadie puede garantizarlos.

¿Cómo funciona forex trading?

El forex es un mercado descentralizado en el que se intercambian divisas por pares (EURUSD, GBPUSD…) a través de un bróker. El precio se mueve por oferta y demanda y por factores macroeconómicos: tipos de interés, inflación, datos de empleo y flujos de capital. Operas con apalancamiento, lo que significa que controlas un nocional grande con un margen pequeño; eso amplifica el resultado en ambas direcciones. El bróker cobra vía spread y comisiones, y tu resultado final depende de tres cosas: la calidad de tus entradas, el tamaño de cada posición y cuánto aguantas las rachas.

Home › Trading and risk › Trading strategies

Trading strategies: how it is applied with numbers

By Luis Sanches y Milton Bertillo, mentors of SHEFA Trading Academy · Updated on 20 October 2026 · Reading time: 8 min

A trading strategy is a set of written rules that defines which instruments you trade, when you enter, when you exit and how much you risk on each trade. What separates profitable trading strategies from those that end up flat is not the entry signal, but position size and risk management: two systems with the same entry can end up with one in profit and the other at zero purely because of how each trade is sized. Before choosing a strategy, you have to solve the arithmetic.

The problem, in one sentence

Hardly any account is blown by a bad entry; it is blown because position size is decided on intuition and a perfectly normal losing streak takes the capital with it.

The streak is not a system failure, it is statistics. A system with a 50% win rate strings together five losses in a row more often than most people tolerate. If the size is not calculated in advance, each loss weighs more than the previous one and the next decision is made with fear instead of rules.

How it is calculated (with numbers)

The unit of work is not money, it is R. One R is exactly what you lose if the price touches your stop loss. Everything else is measured in multiples of R: a trade that wins twice what was risked is +2R.

The procedure is always the same:

Set the risk per trade as a percentage of capital. Usual reference: 0.5%–1% per idea.
Place the stop loss where the idea stops making sense (price structure, average volatility), not where you would prefer to lose less.
Calculate the position size with this formula:

Size = risk in money ÷ (stop distance × point value per lot)

The broker publishes the point value per lot in the instrument specification. The full mechanics are in how to calculate the lot.

Example with a 1,000 account

Risk per trade: 1% = 10.

EURUSD: 20-pip stop. A standard lot (100,000 units) loses $10 per pip, so 20 pips equate to $200 per lot. Size = 10 / 200 = 0.05 lots. If the stop is hit, you lose 10 (1R). If the target is 40 pips away, you make 20 (+2R).
Gold (XAUUSD): one lot is 100 ounces and a $1 move moves $100 per lot. With a $3 stop: $300 per lot → 10 / 300 = 0.03 lots.
Synthetic index: the point value per lot depends on the asset and the broker; the calculation is identical, but never open the position without first checking that figure in the specification.

Table by instrument volatility

Profile	Example	Relative volatility	Reference stop	Risk per trade	Open positions at a time
Low	EURUSD in the Asian range	1×	15–25 pips	1%	up to 3
Medium	EURUSD in the European session, Synthetic Vol 25	2×	1.5× ATR	1%	2
High	XAUUSD, Synthetic Vol 75	3–4×	1.5–2× ATR	0,5%	1–2
Very high	Synthetic Vol 100, data release	5× or more	2–3× ATR	0,25–0,5%	1

Risk in money terms does not change with volatility: what changes is position size. The lower percentages in the table are not a trick, they are prudence when the stop is wide and slippage is possible. If you double the stop distance, you halve the size and you are still risking the same amount.

What the data say: streaks and drawdown

You don't need a broker to calculate this; it comes from basic probability. With 100 trades and a 50% win rate, you can expect around three streaks of five consecutive losses. With a 40% win rate, that figure rises to about seven. That is: losing streaks in trading are not a warning that the system is broken; they are part of the system.

The drawdown is the fall from peak equity. This is what each risk level produces:

Risk per trade	5 consecutive losses	10 consecutive losses	Gain required to recover those 10
0,5%	−2,5%	−4,9%	+5,1%
1%	−4,9%	−9,6%	+10,6%
2%	−9,6%	−18,3%	+22,4%
3%	−14,1%	−26,3%	+35,6%

The asymmetry is the key: a 20% drawdown requires a 25% gain to get back to the starting point, and a 50% drawdown requires 100%. That is why the risk limit per trade is not chosen based on what you make when you are right, but on what you can withstand when you are wrong. Rule of thumb: your system's worst historical drawdown, multiplied by two, should still be a number you can tolerate and trade through without changing your behaviour.

How it is applied day to day

Before the session: check the calendar, choose one or two instruments and calculate the size before looking at the price. The stop is written before entering, not after.
During: do not move your stop in the adverse direction. One trade is worth 1R. Add up open risk: two correlated positions (EURUSD and GBPUSD, for example) are in practice a single 2R trade.
Cut-off limits: for example −3R per day and −6R per week; when you reach them, you close the platform. The limit is decided when calm and respected when under pressure.
Log: record the entry, stop, exit, result in R and whether you followed the rules. Without that log there is nothing to evaluate.
Trading plan review: every 20–30 trades or once a month, with specific metrics: win rate, average R, maximum drawdown and number of trades outside the plan. A rule is changed when the data justifies it, not when a run of three losses annoys you.

You have the full framework in risk management and the rest of the section in trading.

Typical mistakes

Sizing by intuition or fixed lot. A fixed lot on a volatile instrument and on a quiet one are two different risks with the same name.
Mental stop. If it is not on the platform, it does not exist, and slippage eats into the calculation.
Thinking in money and not in R. Counting in euros makes a loss of 40 seem worse than one of 10, even though they are the same badly sized rule.
Increasing size after a loss. It is the logic of martingale: it turns a normal streak into an account at zero.
Confusing correlation with independence. Three positions in correlated pairs are a single bet with triple commission.
Judging the strategy on ten trades. With that sample, you cannot distinguish luck from a real edge.
Changing the plan every time it hurts. A plan that changes after every streak is not a plan, it is a reaction.

Frequently asked questions

What is a lot in trading?

It is the unit of measurement used to execute trades. In forex, a standard lot equals 100,000 units of the base currency; a mini lot, 10,000, and a micro lot, 1,000. In gold, a lot usually represents 100 ounces, and in indices the size depends on each broker's specification. The lot determines how much each pip or each point is worth, and that is why it is the piece that converts your risk into money at a specific position size.

What is spread in trading?

It is the difference between the buying price (ask) and the selling price (bid). It is paid implicitly when opening any trade: you enter already losing the value of the spread or, put another way, you buy slightly above what you could sell for at that instant. In liquid pairs it is usually very tight and widens during low-liquidity hours or around news. Any strategy must cover it before talking about an edge: a system with many trades and a short target can have positive expectancy in theory and negative after costs.

What are synthetics in trading?

They are instruments created by the broker that replicate market behaviour with a defined level of volatility (for example, Vol 10, 25, 75 or 100). They do not quote a real asset: the price is generated by the broker itself, they are usually available for more hours than traditional forex and do not depend on a specific session. Risk is calculated in the same way as in any other market —risk per trade, stop loss and size— using the point value published by the broker for that asset.

How to learn forex trading?

With discipline and with a sample. Start on a demo account with a single written strategy, define the risk per trade before looking for entries and log every trade in R. Only when you have 50–100 logged trades will you be able to assess whether there is anything there. Useful training teaches risk management, market context and psychology; be wary of any course, group or tool that promises specific results, because nobody can guarantee them.

How does forex trading work?

Forex is a decentralised market where currencies are traded in pairs (EURUSD, GBPUSD…) through a broker. Price moves on supply and demand and on macroeconomic factors: interest rates, inflation, employment data and capital flows. You trade with leverage, which means you control a large notional with a small margin; that magnifies the result in both directions. The broker charges via spread and commissions, and your final result depends on three things: the quality of your entries, the size of each position and how well you ride out streaks.

Risk first

All the academy's trading revolves around one question: how much do I lose if I get it wrong. The Spanish-language training is built on that.

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Risk warning. Synthetic indices and CFDs are leveraged products with a high risk of loss; most retail accounts lose money. Educational content, not financial advice.