when I give out "advice" to new traders I always say don't trade, as the first one.

but if they insist on it, I always say keep sensible risk , and always play it safe.

the thing is that's not how I've done it, and always feels a bit hypocritical to say it.

but I can't say to do the same things I did as a lot of it was luck and being at the right place at the right time.

but growing a 4/5 figure account ain't going to happen running vols of 20% like the professionals do.

the new trader must know his edge, but even more importantly, be willing to max extract the capacity of that edge, sometimes at the risk of severe drawdown or even blow up.

how else is he going to grow that account? sure, you can add to it over time, keep sensible risks, and just treat it as a separate investing portfolio.

but if one wants to grow it aggressively, he has to be willing to take on risk, that many times will not be advisable.

the tradeoff that only real aspiring traders have to deal with.

the theoretical kwants can go back to writing about optimal sizing and never assume real risk.