Splitting the Daily Risk Budget Between London and New York
Posted: Thu Oct 08, 2026 6:54 pm
Traders who work both main sessions often use one daily loss limit. Splitting it between sessions can prevent a bad morning from also ruining the afternoon.
A simple split:
Do you treat sessions separately in your risk plan, or use a single daily limit?
A simple split:
- Daily limit 2%: London budget 1.25%, New York budget 0.75% (or the other way round, depending on where your results are better).
- If the London budget is used, London trading stops, but the New York budget remains available.
- Unused London budget does not carry over to New York.
- It stops the pattern where a losing morning leads to forced, oversized trades in the afternoon.
- It makes session performance easier to compare in the journal.
- The fixed afternoon budget keeps the New York session from becoming a "recovery" session.
Do you treat sessions separately in your risk plan, or use a single daily limit?