LOT SIZE CALCULATOR
Work out the exact lot size for your risk. Enter account balance, risk percent and stop-loss in pips to get a position size that keeps your risk fixed.
Formula: risk amount ÷ (stop in pips × pip value per lot). The tradeable size is always rounded down to the 0.01 lot step, never up.
RESULT
Gold reference: a $1.00 move on XAUUSD is 10 pips, so 0.01 lots earns or loses about $1.00 over that move ($0.10 per pip). Risking more than 1–2% per trade is how most beginner accounts end.
The position-sizing formula
Lots = (balance × risk %) ÷ (stop-loss in pips × pip value per lot). That single line is the difference between a trader who survives a losing streak and one who does not. Your stop distance should come from the chart — a level the trade is wrong beneath — and the lot size then adjusts so the money at risk stays constant.
A worked example
A $1,000 account risking 1% is risking $10. If the gold setup needs a 50-pip stop and gold is $10 per pip per standard lot, then 10 ÷ (50 × 10) = 0.02 lots. Widen the stop to 100 pips and the size halves to 0.01 lots — same risk, different position.
Rules worth keeping
- Fix the risk percentage first; never widen risk to fit a position you already opened.
- Round down to the nearest lot step your broker allows, never up.
- Two correlated trades (gold and silver, EURUSD and GBPUSD) are one risk, not two.
- Cap your day: after two or three losses at 1%, stop trading and review.
Leverage does not change your risk — position size does. This tool is education only and excludes spread, commission and swap.
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