Position Size Calculator

How the position size calculator works

Position sizing starts from how much you are willing to lose if your stop loss is hit. The calculator takes that amount, divides it by the size of your stop loss in pips, and divides again by the value of one pip for a standard lot on the pair you chose. The result is the lot size that keeps your loss at the amount you set.

Position size (lots) = (balance × risk %) ÷ (stop loss in pips × pip value per lot)

Worked example

You have a $1,000 account and want to risk 1% on a EUR/USD trade with a 20-pip stop loss. The amount at risk is $10. One pip on a standard lot of EUR/USD is worth $10, so a 20-pip stop costs $200 per lot. $10 ÷ $200 = 0.05 lots, or 5,000 units.

Tips for using it

• Use the live price from TradeLocker. For pairs where the US dollar is not the quote currency, the price affects the pip value in USD.
• For cross pairs such as EUR/GBP or GBP/JPY, enter the conversion price shown so the result is in US dollars.
• Round down to the lot size your broker allows. Most brokers accept steps of 0.01 lots.
• Many traders keep risk at 1% or less per trade. Read our guide to managing risk in forex.

Frequently asked questions

What is a lot in forex?

A standard lot is 100,000 units of the base currency. A mini lot is 0.1 lots (10,000 units) and a micro lot is 0.01 lots (1,000 units).

Does leverage change my position size?

No. Leverage changes how much margin you need to open the trade, not how much you lose per pip. Use the margin calculator to check the margin for the size you get here.

Why is my JPY pair result different?

On JPY pairs a pip is 0.01 rather than 0.0001, and the pip value is converted from yen to US dollars, so it changes with the exchange rate. The pip value calculator shows this on its own.

Related: how to calculate pip value, TradeLocker leverage. Trading leveraged products carries a high risk of loss. Read our risk disclosure.