Position size calculator
Enter your balance, how much you want to risk and your stop loss, and get the lot size for any of 36 markets: forex majors and crosses, gold, silver and indices like NAS100 and GER40.
Prices come from PropDrill's market data. Change the price if yours is different.
Position size
—lots
- Money at risk
- —
- Value of 1 pip, 1 lot
- —
- 1 pip is
- 0.00010
- 1 lot
- 100,000 EUR
How lot size is calculated
The right position size is the one that makes your stop loss cost exactly the amount you decided to risk:
Lots = money at risk ÷ (stop loss in pips × value of one pip on one lot)
Money at risk is your balance times your risk percentage, so 1% of $100,000 is $1,000. The value of a pip depends on the market: it's fixed for pairs quoted in dollars, and changes with the exchange rate for everything else. The calculator rounds the result down to the lot step, 0.01 lots for currency pairs and metals and 0.1 for indices, so you never risk more than you planned.
Worked examples
EURUSD, a pair quoted in dollars
One pip is 0.0001 and one lot is 100,000 euros, so a pip is worth $10 a lot. Risking 1% of a $100,000 account with a 20-pip stop: 1,000 ÷ (20 × 10) = 5.00 lots.
USDJPY, a pair with the dollar first
One pip is 0.01, worth 1,000 yen a lot. At a price of 150.00 that's 1,000 ÷ 150 = $6.67. Risking $1,000 with a 25-pip stop: 1,000 ÷ (25 × 6.67) = 6.00 lots.
EURGBP, a cross
A pip is worth £10 a lot, which has to be turned into dollars: with GBPUSD at 1.3000, that's $13. Risking $500 with a 15-pip stop: 500 ÷ (15 × 13) = 2.564, rounded down to 2.56 lots.
Gold (XAUUSD)
One lot of gold is 100 ounces. Brokers define a gold pip differently; here a pip is $0.10 of price, worth $10 a lot. A $5.00 stop is 50 pips, so risking $500: 500 ÷ (50 × 10) = 1.00 lot.
Indices
Here one lot of US30, NAS100 or US500 is worth $1 a point, GER40 €1, UK100 £1 and JP225 ¥100, converted to dollars at the latest rate. A 40-point stop on NAS100 risking $1,000 is 1,000 ÷ 40 = 25 lots. Index contract sizes vary more between brokers than currency lots do, so check the contract specification on your platform.
How much to risk per trade in a prop firm challenge
Prop firm challenges usually come with a daily loss limit of around 5% and a max loss of around 10% of the account. Your risk per trade decides how many losing trades in a row it takes to use them up:
| Risk per trade | Losses to use a 5% daily limit | Losses to use a 10% max loss |
|---|---|---|
| 0.25% | 20 | 40 |
| 0.5% | 10 | 20 |
| 1% | 5 | 10 |
| 2% | 2.5 | 5 |
Losing streaks of five trades or more happen to almost every strategy sooner or later, and losses often come out a little bigger than planned because of spread, slippage and gaps. That's why many funded traders keep their risk well under 1% a trade during an evaluation. Base your own number on your strategy's longest losing streak: the drawdown calculator shows how much room you have left at any point, and the guide to prop firm challenge rules explains how each limit is measured.
Questions
What is a pip?
A pip is the standard step in a price: 0.0001 for most currency pairs and 0.01 for pairs quoted in Japanese yen. For gold, silver and indices the size of a pip or point depends on the broker, so the calculator shows what it is for the market you choose.
What is a lot?
A lot is the unit position sizes are counted in. One standard lot of a currency pair is 100,000 units of the first currency in the pair; a mini lot is 0.10 and a micro lot 0.01. One lot of gold is usually 100 ounces, and one lot of silver 5,000 ounces.
How do I calculate the lot size for gold?
Divide the money you're risking by the stop distance times the value of one pip. One lot of gold is 100 ounces, so every $0.10 move is worth $10 a lot: risking $500 with a $5.00 stop (50 pips) gives 1 lot.
Why is the lot size rounded down?
Brokers only accept sizes in steps, usually 0.01 lots for currencies and metals. Rounding down keeps the loss at your stop at or below the amount you chose to risk, and the calculator shows the exact amount at risk after rounding.
Does the calculator include spread and commission?
No. It sizes the trade for the price distance between your entry and your stop. Spread, commission and slippage add a little to each loss, so it's worth leaving some room for them.
Is a pip worth $10 on every pair?
Only on pairs quoted in US dollars, like EURUSD and GBPUSD, traded on a dollar account. On pairs like USDJPY the value depends on the pair's price, and on crosses like EURGBP it depends on the exchange rate of the second currency, which is why the calculator uses current prices and rates.