Partial close is a type of exit strategy where the forex trader plan his trade exit in several increments as opposed to closing the entire position at once. Partial close method is performed by closing a portion of it’s overall trade size as the trade becomes profitable and continue to their profit target.

This technique allows traders to capture smaller profits faster while leaving the position open as the market moves farther in their favor.

One major drawback about the partial close method is an imbalance in risk versus reward. When a trader employs the partial close strategy, the amount of profit taken is rarely equal to the amount of risk assumed when the trade is opened.

This partial close method is commonly thought to reduce losses and increase profits, following the idea of banking your profits. However it has an unfortunate characteristic that has nasty effects on your profits.

Consider a trader who trades 10 currency lots at a time and a 40 pip stop loss. His total initial risk on the position is 400 pips. If the trader partial closes half of his positions out with a 50 pip profit, he will have covered 250 pips of the initial 400 pips. The remaining position must be closed out at a profit greater than 50 pips to maintain a risk to reward ratio of 1:1.

Traders usually exacerbate the problem by moving their stop loss to break even after partial close with profit. If their remaining position is closed out at break even, they have risked 400 pips to gain 250. If their next trade is stopped out for the full 400 pips, they have a deficit of 150 pips to overcome on their next trade, assuming they are still trading 10 lots per trade.

The imbalance in risk to reward requires the forex trader who partial close his trades to maintain a much higher success ratio than traders who do not, because just one losing trade can erase the profits from multiple winners. This imbalance ratio will force the forex trader employing this partial close strategy to achieve a high win rate otherwise he will have to a re- look at employing this method as part of his trading plan.

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Ask any new or aspiring trader about their preconception of a professional Forex trader and most answers conjure up images of men in pinstripe suits, sat in front of uncountable screens filled with charts buying and selling every minute. It is understandable why so many feel inadequate and at a disadvantage when sat in front of their 15 inch laptop trying to trade every set-up on every market at the same time. First things first, it must said that it is the Forex trader behind the screen that matters, his/her psychology, discipline and money management that determines the traders success and not whether or not the trader has the latest version of Dell monitors, high speed access to broker prices or an instant newsfeed. These things can contribute to the traders success but they are not perquisites for successful trading.

During your Forex trading course you could realize that there are benefits to trading from a single screen monitor or laptop and this can be used to the beginning traders advantage. It allows the trader to choose one single market to follow or one set-up to master on whichever timeframe they choose. With time and experience the Forex trader will build the necessary skills required to trade multiple markets or monitor for multiple trade entries. Once more advanced a Forex trader can start to create their own trading station and utilising technology in their trading. When using a handful of strategies on different timeframes in various markets, monitoring their correlations and watching how different timeframes relate to one another it can be imperative to have more screen space.

Having a multi-screen set-up during your Forex trading course is great way to keep an eye on various charts all at the same time. It also allows the Forex trader to access emails and newsfeeds which may be relative to their trading. Going beyond a four screen set-up is not normally a necessity and is more of a luxury rather than requirement. Having said so; for traders who also teach or act as a mentor to new traders; having extra 2 screens can be very useful as it allows traders to not only watch his/her positions but also provide training to trainees. The extra screens may be used as more of a command and control system whereby the main trader watches how trainees are progressing in order to correct mistakes and set trainees on the right path.

Some Forex trading course providers have many traders from around the world who trade from a laptop, anywhere with an internet connection. However, as time progresses it would not be surprising that their Forex training continues using a multi-screen set-up simply because the beginners to Forex can become more efficient and more productive.