Scaling up
Sooner or later every trader asks: when do I trade bigger? This lesson gives you a way to think about that question that protects the account you have worked to keep. It is process advice, not a schedule: when and whether you increase size is your decision.
Micros first
You met the micro contracts in Runner Lesson 5 and their tick values in Runner Lesson 6. The key fact for this lesson:
| Micro | Dollars per point | Full size | Dollars per point |
|---|---|---|---|
| MES | $5 | ES | $50 |
| MNQ | $2 | NQ | $20 |
A micro moves one tenth of the dollars of its full-size partner for the same price move. That makes micros the right place to learn. Every lesson you pay for with a loss costs a tenth as much.
The hidden jump
Look at what happens to a single trade when a trader goes straight from one micro to one full-size contract. Same 20-point stop:
- 1 MNQ: 20 times $2 = $40 at risk
- 1 NQ: 20 times $20 = $400 at risk
That is ten times the risk in one step. It feels like a small change (“still just one contract”), but it is the same as going from 1 MNQ to 10 MNQ overnight. Most traders would never jump from 1 micro to 10 micros in a day. Switching to full size does exactly that.
What “the process works” means
The covers line for this lesson says to stay in micros until the process works. That does not mean “until I have a good week.” A good week can come from luck. Before stepping up, look for evidence like this in your journal (Seat Holder teaches journaling):
- A long record, not a short one. Many trades over weeks, not a handful over days.
- Rules followed. You kept to your risk per trade, your stops, and your daily limit, trade after trade.
- Steady behavior on bad days. You hit your daily limit and stopped, rather than breaking it.
- Results you understand. You can explain your wins and losses using your plan (Lessons 5 and 6), not just “the market was good to me.”
If you cannot point to these, the honest answer is: not yet.
Step up gradually
When you do increase size, do it in small steps, and keep your risk rules in dollars.
Example path (made-up, not a recommendation):
- Trade 1 MNQ while learning.
- Move to 2 MNQ. Risk on a 20-point stop goes from $40 to 2 times $40 = $80.
- Later, 3 MNQ: 3 times $40 = $120.
- Continue in small steps. Full size is just one possible stop on the road, not the goal.
At each step, re-do the Lesson 4 math. Bigger size means bigger dollar swings, so your risk per trade must have room for it. If your risk per trade is still $50, you cannot trade 2 MNQ with a 20-point stop, because that is $80. Size comes from the risk plan, never the other way round.
Also expect it to feel different. The same chart at twice the dollars can make you hesitate, cut winners early, or hold losers. Give yourself time at each step before taking the next one.
Step down when it stops working
Scaling has a reverse gear. If you hit a meaningful drawdown at the larger size, or you notice yourself breaking rules, go back down to the size where your process worked. Lesson 8 showed why: the deeper the drawdown, the harder the climb back. Dropping size early keeps you near the top of the recovery table.
Stepping down is not failure. It is the same risk management you have learned all level, applied to size.
Leverage, again
Larger size multiplies leverage. The CFTC’s risk disclosure statement warns that leverage can work against you as well as for you, and that you can lose more than you deposit. The NFA advises trading only with risk capital. Neither of those warnings gets smaller as you trade more contracts.
Key ideas
- Micros move one tenth of the dollars of full size: learn there.
- Going from 1 MNQ to 1 NQ is a tenfold jump in risk.
- “The process works” means a long record of following your rules, not one good week.
- Step up in small increments, re-doing the position sizing math each time.
- After a drawdown or broken rules, step back down.