New Positions

I'm going to be throwing out some new positions, when I say speculative size for an Equity long or short, I generally mean half of my maximum position size which is 15% of portfolio (before margin), so Speculative size is often 5% to 7.5% and I ALWAYS (well I don't have time, but I've done it long enough I can guesstimate), but you SHOULD ALWAYS BE APPLYING RISK MANAGEMENT PRINCIPLES. I use the 2% rule which can allow a position to be as large as your entire portfolio, in that case I default back to maximum position size. It can also mean the position size is 7.5% which would be half of a full position FOR ME (BUT I HAVE A HIGH RISK TOLERANCE), never violate position sizes, so if risk management says maximum position size is 5% of portfolio, then 5% it is, not 15% because you are then adding 300% more risk.

For Options, they are generally risk managed through different options trading strategies, I don't have time to model the best strategy, strike and expiration on a position that may have 2 or more different buy/sell/call/puts to it, I use simple buy and sell of calls and puts, you'll have to deal with risk management, all of your premium paid upfront is your maximum loss. I typically keep these around 5% of portfolio value, but that's very high in my view for a straight buy/sell.

I prefer wider stops on new positions than taking more shares-give it a chance to work.

I often prefer to enter a position in stages, between 2 and 3, so when I say "Partial Position", that's what I'm doing, but you MUST know your risk management on the intended full size position before you enter, NEVER DOLLAR COST AVERAGE unless that was part of your risk management BEFORE you entered the trade.