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Free forex calculator
Position sizing answers one question before every trade: how many lots can I trade so that, if my stop-loss is hit, I lose only the amount I chose in advance? Enter your balance, the percentage you are willing to risk and your stop-loss distance in pips.
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.
The prices pre-filled in the form are examples, not live quotes. Replace them with the current price from your trading platform before you use a result.
The calculator works backwards from the loss you can accept. First it turns your risk percentage into dollars. Then it asks how much one lot loses for every pip the price moves against you, which is the pip value. Finally it divides the dollars you are willing to lose by the dollars one lot would lose if your stop-loss is hit.
The answer is the lot size at which hitting your stop-loss costs about the amount you planned, no more. A wider stop-loss means a smaller position; a tighter stop-loss allows a larger one. The risk stays the same, only the size changes.
Both examples below are produced by the same function that runs the calculator above, so the numbers match what you get if you type the same inputs.
Beginners spend most of their attention on where to enter. The size of the trade has just as much influence on how a losing streak feels, because size decides how much each loss costs. Two traders can take the same trade with the same stop-loss and have very different outcomes if one risks one percent of the account and the other risks ten.
Fixing the risk per trade as a percentage of the balance makes losses a known quantity. It also scales naturally: as the balance grows or shrinks, the dollar risk follows. This calculator does the arithmetic so you can decide the percentage first and let the lot size fall out of it.
On EURUSD the quote currency is the US dollar, so one pip on one standard lot is worth a simple ten dollars. USDJPY is different. It is quoted in yen, so one pip is worth a fixed amount of yen, and to know that in dollars you have to divide by the current USDJPY price. That is why the form asks for the current price. For pairs where the dollar is not in the quote, such as EURGBP or EURJPY, it also asks for the rate that converts the quote currency into dollars.
Most brokers accept lot sizes in steps of 0.01. The calculator shows the exact figure and the figure rounded down to 0.01. It rounds down on purpose: rounding up would risk more than you planned. Spread, slippage and gaps can also make a real loss larger than the number you calculated, so treat the result as a plan, not a limit on what can happen.
The stop-loss distance should come from your analysis of the chart, not from the lot size you would like to trade. Choose the stop first, then size the position to fit it.
Multiply your account balance by your risk percentage to get the amount you are willing to lose. Then divide that amount by your stop-loss in pips multiplied by the pip value of one lot. The result is the lot size.
There is no single right answer, and it depends on your account, your experience and your tolerance for losses. Many beginners choose a small fixed percentage so that no single loss is large. Pick a number you are comfortable losing many times in a row.
When the US dollar is not the quote currency, the pip value in dollars depends on the price. On USDJPY, for example, one pip is a fixed amount of yen, so the dollar value changes as the price changes.
Down. Rounding up makes the trade risk more than the amount you chose. If the rounded-down size is zero, the stop-loss is too wide for your account at that risk percentage.
Not yet. This version assumes a USD account and gives results in US dollars. For another account currency, convert the result yourself.
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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