Risk Disclosure
Please read this notice before using any part of this website, and before buying any licence, course or subscription. It applies to every product and every piece of content on the site, whatever page you reached it from.
Trading on margin is speculative
Trading foreign exchange and contracts for difference on leverage involves a substantial risk of loss and is not suitable for every person. Positions are opened with a deposit that is small relative to the value of the position, so a price movement against you is measured against the full exposure rather than against the margin held.
You may lose all of the funds you deposit to your broker, and in some circumstances more. Whether losses can exceed your account balance depends on your broker's terms and on the protections applying in your jurisdiction; it is a question to settle with the broker in writing before you trade, not an assumption to carry into a trade.
Leverage multiplies both directions
Leverage does not change how far a market moves in pips; it changes what each pip is worth against your balance. High leverage can compress a normal losing run into an account-threatening one within a single session, and it can do so irrespective of whether the analysis behind the positions was sound. A stop-loss order limits the exposure of an open position but does not guarantee the exit price: during fast markets, thin liquidity or a weekend gap, the fill can occur materially beyond the level chosen. This is slippage and it is a normal feature of the market rather than a fault to be complained about.
Currency, country and market risk
Prices in these markets are affected by events that no participant controls or fully anticipates: interest rate decisions, political developments, intervention, unexpected data releases and shifts in liquidity. If your account is denominated in a currency different from the account currency of an instrument, exchange rate movement changes the value of both positions and profits independently of how the trade performed. Profits earned in one currency may convert at a less favourable rate than the one applied when the margin was taken.
Past performance and automated systems
Past performance is not indicative of future results. This applies to any figure shown anywhere on this site, including historic results of a strategy and any period of live trading that may be reported in future.
Backtests, simulations, projections and any other hypothetical result carry limitations of their own, and they are different limitations from those affecting live trading:
- A backtest is arithmetic on historical data and is calculated with knowledge of the period being tested.
- Its result depends materially on the assumptions entered — spread, commission, slippage, leverage, tick data quality, contract size and the pip convention used — and changing one of those can change the conclusion.
- Rule sets can be tuned so closely to one historical sample that the result describes that sample's noise rather than repeatable behaviour. This is curve fitting, and a strong in-sample figure is a reason to look for an out-of-sample test, not a reason for confidence.
- Demo and simulated execution is generally more forgiving than live execution: fills are instant, liquidity is assumed and no money is at risk, which also removes the behavioural pressure that affects real trading.
- Expert Advisors apply coded rules without judgement. They cannot recognise that a strategy has ceased to fit market conditions, and they will continue to open positions under circumstances their author did not anticipate.
Where an assumption is broker-dependent or varies by instrument, it is stated rather than assumed on your behalf. Read the assumptions before the result.
Your responsibility
IDEAL FOREX sells software licences and educational material. We do not accept client investment capital, we do not hold or manage client funds, we do not place or execute trades for anyone, and we do not give personal investment advice or recommendations. Decisions about whether to trade, what to trade, how much capital to commit and what lot size to use are yours alone, taken with your own broker.
Trade only capital whose loss would not affect your ability to meet your obligations. If you are unsure whether margin trading is appropriate for your circumstances, take independent advice from a qualified adviser who is regulated to give it; a software vendor or an educator is not that adviser.
Changes to this notice
This disclosure may be updated to reflect regulation, product changes or clearer wording. The version published at this address is the one in force.