Risk & position sizing
Work backwards from accepted risk and a fixed size to the stop distance that fits.
Work backwards from accepted risk and a fixed size to the stop distance that fits. The page states the equation, the units it expects and the rounding it applies, so the result can be reproduced by hand.
A calculator gives you a number. This one feeds the next: account to risk, risk to position size, position size to the trade, and the trade to expectancy, drawdown and risk of ruin.
See the performance tools →This is the position-size formula rearranged. Use it when the size is fixed — by a broker minimum, or by a decision already made — and the stop is the free variable.
A $25,000 account risking 1%, holding 0.5 lots on a USD-quoted pair:
If the chart wants a 70-pip stop, the position is too large — not the stop too wide. Reduce the size rather than tightening the stop into noise.
Where the trade idea is wrong — beyond the swing, the level or the range. This calculator tells you the widest stop your risk budget allows, which is a different question.
Reduce the position size until it fits. Tightening the stop to fit the size puts it where the market has no reason to respect it.
A mental stop is a stop you have not placed. It works until the one session where it matters, which is the session it was for.
A calculator answers one question and raises the next. These are the ones this figure feeds into.
Average true range, for stops and targets that scale with volatility.
Turn an account balance, a risk percentage and a stop distance into a size in lots, shares or contracts.
Compare reward with risk, and read off the win rate that ratio needs to break even.
Stop Loss Calculator · rounding shown to the precision displayed