How many positions will you have open at one time?

The number of positions we have open at any given time varies widely. Sometimes there will be none, sometimes five. Sometimes we'll have 10% of our portfolio in a trade, sometimes 80% in various trades. It's important to differentiate trading from investing. With our investment portfolios, be that an IRA, 401k, or just long-term stock holdings with a brokerage, we will leave those open and expect them to roughly match the overall stock market. With our trading accounts we are looking to outperform the markets by putting money at risk. We actively manage the risk but it is at risk just the same. Because of this, we have specific accounts for different goals. When we are talking about having 10% of our account in a trade, we are talking about our trading account. It's also important to us to have cash actively available in those accounts in order to be able to act immediately when we see opportunities present themselves.