Risk management starts before position size

A trade idea is incomplete until it says where it is wrong. That place is the stop. The stop is not a decoration. It is the statement that the idea has failed.

Position size comes after that statement. The distance from entry to invalidation, and the amount of capital a person is willing to lose if that happens, determine size. Starting from a preferred lot size and hoping the stop can be stretched to fit it reverses the logic.

Risk/reward is a comparison between what is being risked and what the plan hopes to gain if the idea works. It is a planning tool. It is not a guarantee that the reward side will be reached.

Drawdown is the decline from a peak in an account or in a practice record. Traders who never look at it tend to discover it during a bad week. Awareness does not prevent losses. It makes the loss part of the plan instead of a surprise.

MARKEX teaches these ideas as discipline, not as a promise that disciplined traders avoid losses. Losses are part of trading. The educational goal is to understand them before size increases.

This is not personal financial advice. It does not tell you how much to risk.