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Professional Risk Calculator

Calculate exact position size for 1% risk per trade. Includes 1.5R, 2R, 3R, and 5R profit targets.

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Position size = (account balance × risk %) ÷ (stop distance × value per unit of distance). A $10,000 account risking 1% with a 25-pip stop on EURUSD (pip value $10 per lot) is $100 ÷ (25 × $10) = 0.40 lots. This calculator applies the same rule across 27 forex pairs, 5 metals, 8 cash indices and 13 CME futures contracts, and returns 1.5R, 2R, 3R and 5R targets alongside the size.

Why size the trade, not the stop

The two things genuinely under your control are how much of the account a single trade may cost you, and the price at which the idea is wrong. Everything else follows. Once those are fixed, the position size is arithmetic rather than a judgement call — and a wider stop stops meaning a bigger loss, because the size shrinks to compensate.

That is what makes 1% mean the same thing on a tight EURUSD scalp and a 400-point gold swing. Traders who size by feel end up with a risk that quietly doubles whenever conviction rises, which is exactly when it should not.

The traps this calculator handles for you

JPY pairs quote to two or three decimals, so one pip is 0.01 and not 0.0001. Miss it and a 25-pip stop is counted as 2,500 pips and the size comes out 100× too small. The pip value also moves with the USD/JPY rate — about $6.67 per pip per lot at 150.00, against $10 for a USD-quoted pair.

Futures trade in whole contracts, so the answer is floored, never rounded — and if your stop is tight enough that even one contract exceeds the risk, it says so rather than returning zero. Indices are quoted in their home currency, so a DAX or Nikkei point is converted to USD before the size is worked out. Metals size off contract size: 100 oz for gold, 5,000 for silver.

Pip values, contract sizes and FX conversions are approximations kept in step with the RB Trading journal. Your broker's contract specification is the authority — check it before trading a size you have not used before.

Common questions

How do I calculate position size for a trade?

Position size = (account balance x risk %) / (stop-loss distance x value per unit of distance). For forex that is pips x pip value per lot: a $10,000 account risking 1% with a 25-pip stop on EURUSD ($10 per pip per lot) gives $100 / (25 x $10) = 0.40 lots. Futures use ticks x tick value and return whole contracts; indices convert the index's own point value into USD.

What is 1% risk per trade and why does it matter?

Risking 1% means a single losing trade costs 1% of the account, whatever the instrument or stop distance. It is the most common professional setting because ten losses in a row still only draw the account down about 10%, which sits inside most prop firm maximum drawdown limits. Position size is what keeps the risk constant: the stop moves, the lot size compensates.

Why is the pip value different for JPY pairs?

JPY pairs quote to two or three decimals, so one pip is 0.01 rather than 0.0001. Miss that and a 25-pip stop counts as 2,500 pips and the position comes out 100 times too small. The pip value also tracks the USD/JPY rate: roughly $6.67 per pip per standard lot at 150.00, against $10 for a USD-quoted pair.

Which instruments does this risk calculator cover?

27 forex pairs, 5 metals (gold, silver, platinum, palladium, copper), 8 cash indices including the DAX, FTSE 100 and Nikkei 225, and 13 CME futures contracts covering the E-minis, their micros, crude oil, natural gas and the grains. Most position size calculators are forex-only.

What are 1.5R, 2R, 3R and 5R targets?

R is the risk on the trade: the distance from entry to stop. A 2R target is twice that distance in profit, so it returns double what the trade risked. Thinking in R rather than dollars makes trades comparable across instruments and account sizes, and it is how this calculator reports its targets.

Once you have the size, the next question

Sizing is the first decision. These answer the ones that follow it — which target to take, what a run of losses does to the account, and how to tell whether the sizing is actually working.

Track whether the sizing is working — the RB Trading journal, 20% off. It reads your MT4, MT5 or cTrader history and shows your real R-multiple distribution, so you can see whether the 2R targets are being reached or cut early.