How to trade: The War in Ukraine
Posted on 8th March 2022
The appalling events of the last two weeks during the Russian invasion of Ukraine has had a huge impact on the financial markets.
Whilst we have not seen the impact on Global Indices that we did at the start of the Covid pandemic, nonetheless, we have seen increased volatility and Global indices pull back from their all-time highs. At a time when there were already inflationary issues and increasing energy prices, the volatility is likely to remain for a while.
There is a large dependence on Russia for supplies of Oil and Natural Gas, and whilst we do not know the final outcome of the current crisis, the geopolitical landscape has certainly changed for the foreseeable future. This will require a period of adaptation, and as governments have quite rightly warned, actions for the greater good will come at a cost.
Without delving too deeply into the wider impact this will have on the Global economy, as traders we need to be aware of the impact this will have, so that we can adapt and keep ourselves safe in the changing market conditions.
“If you can learn to create a state of mind that is not affected by the market’s behaviour, the struggle will cease to exist.” - Mark Douglas
The market is always right, and as traders, we are often wrong. It is of paramount importance that we accept when we are wrong and take our stops when they are hit. One of the biggest reasons retail traders fail is an inability to accept they’re wrong and keep moving their stop to avoid the loss, only to end up closing at their maximum pain threshold, which ultimately ends up with a blown account. With the moves we are seeing in the markets at the moment, this can happen extremely quickly.
We should risk manage our trades aggressively, taking risk off the table at opportune moments. Do not leave ourselves with high amounts of risk exposure when the markets are closed, overnight or over the weekend (in the case of the FX markets). This opens us up to huge gaps in the market where we are unable to react to events that are out of our control.
Do not get married into your position and do not be greedy. Due to the volatile nature of the markets and the uncertainty around events, the market can move very quickly and very sharply in reaction to any news event, again that we have no control over.
It is always important to be focused on your risk as a trader, but it should be stressed even more so during current market conditions. You should always be thinking about how to manage and mitigate your risk, to make sure you remain safe in the markets.
Our thoughts are with all of those suffering in Ukraine at the moment and their families, and we pray for a return to peace as soon as possible.
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