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Gold trades as XAUUSD, priced in US dollars per troy ounce, and one standard lot is usually 100 ounces. Enter your balance, your risk percentage and how many dollars away your stop-loss is, and the calculator returns the lot size.
This version is for USD accounts only, so every result is in US dollars. If your account is in another currency, treat the numbers as a guide and convert them yourself.
With a 100-ounce contract, each one-dollar move in the gold price changes the value of a one-lot position by 100 dollars. A ten-dollar move against a one-lot position therefore costs 1,000 dollars. The calculator uses that fact to work out how many lots keep the loss at your chosen amount if the price reaches your stop-loss.
The stop distance is the difference between your entry price and your stop-loss price, in dollars per ounce. Using dollars avoids a source of confusion: brokers do not agree on what a pip means for gold, so a distance in dollars is unambiguous.
Both examples are computed by the function behind the calculator, including the rounding down to 0.01 lots.
In a currency pair, a pip is a defined step of the price, and its dollar value comes from the pair and the lot size. Gold is not a pair of currencies. Its price is a number of dollars per ounce, and the contract size sets how many ounces one lot controls. Because the quote currency is already the US dollar, no conversion is needed: the value of a one-dollar move is simply the number of ounces.
The 100-ounce lot is common, but it is not universal. Some brokers offer smaller contracts, or show gold with different lot steps and different minimum sizes. Look up the contract specification for XAUUSD on your platform. If the contract is not 100 ounces, the calculator's answer will not match your account.
Gold can also move fast, and a stop-loss may fill at a worse price than the one you set. The calculator shows the loss at your stop, not the worst case.
Many brokers let you trade gold in steps of 0.01 lots, which is one ounce. The calculator gives the exact lot size, then the size rounded down to 0.01, and it shows the loss you would take at that rounded size. Because it rounds down, the loss at your stop is a little below the amount you chose, never above it.
On most brokers one standard lot of XAUUSD is 100 troy ounces. Some brokers use a different contract size, so check the specification on your platform.
With a 100-ounce contract, a one-dollar move in the gold price is worth 100 dollars on one standard lot, and 1 dollar on a 0.01 lot.
Multiply your balance by your risk percentage to get the amount at risk. Divide it by your stop distance in dollars per ounce multiplied by 100. The result is the lot size.
Brokers define a gold pip differently, so a stop given in pips can mean different amounts on different platforms. Dollars per ounce means the same thing everywhere.
Yes. XAUUSD is gold priced in US dollars per ounce, so no currency conversion is needed for a USD account.
A calculator gives you the arithmetic. If you are new to trading, the free forex course explains pips, lots, leverage and risk in plain language, and the free weekly demo League lets you practise on a demo account.
Pipstone is not a broker and gives no financial advice. Trading involves risk of loss.
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