Position size calculator.
Work out the correct lot size for a trade from your account balance, the risk you want to take, and your stop-loss in pips. Instant, free, and the formula is right below.
ZENKEI
ZENKEI
Work out the correct lot size for a trade from your account balance, the risk you want to take, and your stop-loss in pips. Instant, free, and the formula is right below.
A standard lot is 100,000 units. For a forex pair quoted in your account currency the pip value is about 10 per lot; for other pairs or instruments, enter the pip value from your broker.
Position sizing answers one question: how big should this trade be so that, if it hits the stop-loss, you lose only the amount you decided to risk? You fix the risk as a percentage of your account, and the lot size falls out of the maths.
The money you risk is your balance times your risk percentage. Divide that by the loss per lot if the stop is hit, which is the stop-loss in pips times the pip value per lot, and you get the position size in lots.
Say your account balance is 10,000, you risk 1% per trade, your stop-loss is 20 pips, and the pip value is 10 per lot. You are risking 10,000 × 1% = 100. One lot would lose 20 × 10 = 200 at the stop, so the position size is 100 ÷ 200 = 0.5 lots, which is 50,000 units. That is the number the calculator shows with these inputs.
Position sizing is the core of risk management. By fixing the risk per trade, every loss is the same controlled size, so a losing streak does predictable, survivable damage instead of blowing up the account. It is the discipline that keeps a strategy alive long enough for its edge to show.
Risk-based position sizing is standard logic in a well-built Expert Advisor, which computes the lot size on every trade automatically. We build custom EAs with risk management baked in. Turn your rules into a robot with strategy to Expert Advisor conversion.
This calculator is provided for educational purposes only and is not financial or investment advice. Always verify pip values and position sizes with your broker before trading.
Position size in lots equals the money you risk divided by the stop-loss in pips times the pip value per lot. The money you risk is your account balance times your risk percentage. So lots = (balance x risk percent) / (stop-loss pips x pip value per lot).
Many traders risk 1 percent or less of their account per trade, and rarely more than 2 percent. Lower risk per trade means a losing streak does a smaller amount of damage to the account, which is the point of position sizing.
The pip value is how much one pip of movement is worth for one lot. For a standard lot of a forex pair quoted in your account currency it is about 10 units of that currency per pip. For other pairs and instruments it varies, so the calculator lets you enter the exact pip value from your broker.
Position sizing decides how much you lose when a trade hits its stop. Fixing the risk per trade as a percentage of the account keeps every loss controlled and consistent, which protects the account through losing streaks and is the foundation of risk management.
Yes. Position sizing from a fixed risk percentage is standard logic in an Expert Advisor, which calculates the lot size on every trade automatically. ZenkeiX builds custom Expert Advisors with this and other risk management built in.
We turn strategies into Expert Advisors with risk management built in, source code included.