Lot size calculator

Turn "risk 0.5% with a 20-pip stop" into a lot size, and see how many losses you can take before today’s loss limit.

Position size

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Lots

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$ at risk (at stop)

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% of account

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$ per pip/point per lot

Verify the contract size. Presets use common retail CFD conventions: 100,000 units for forex, 100 oz for gold, and 1 unit per index point. Index CFD contract sizes vary a lot between firms and platforms (1, 10 or other units per lot), so check your firm’s symbol specification and change the contract size field. A wrong contract size can make your real risk 10 times larger than planned.

The formula

lots = (account × risk%) ÷ (stop distance in price × contract size × quote-to-USD rate + commission per lot)

For EUR/USD a pip is 0.0001, so one standard lot (100,000 EUR) moves $10 per pip. For USD/JPY a pip is 0.01, worth ¥1,000 per lot, which is $1,000 ÷ the USD/JPY price, about $6.67 at 150. For gold on a 100 oz contract, a $1 move is $100 per lot. Gold "pips" mean different things on different platforms (0.1 or 0.01), so the price-distance unit is the safest choice.

Lots are rounded down to your lot step, so you never risk more than you planned. Your real loss can still be bigger than the stop: spreads widen, and price can gap through a stop, especially around news and the weekly open.

Next: put the risk per trade you chose into the pass-odds calculator, and read position sizing for prop challenges.